JESUS UNTANGLED: The book in progress

Over the last few weeks I've been taking some time to start writing my next book.

The title of the book is "Jesus Untangled" and it's inspired by the 14 part series of articles I wrote a few months ago.

Just to summarize it: The book will look at how the Christian Church has become entangled with nationalism, politics and denominationalism. We'll also examine why it's so important to become untangled, and how we can set ourselves free.

So far I've finished writing the first 3 chapters of the book and if I can keep on pace to write a chapter each week I should have the first draft completed by sometime in early July.

After that I'll go back and do re-writes, edits, and add in any missing quotes, references and foot notes before going to the final edit stage.

That should take me until the end of July to wrap up.

Hopefully by then I'll be ready to publish this project and then we'll start thinking about the cover, sending out pre-pub copies for review and lining up interviews with various Blog Radio shows and podcasters to get the word out about it.

If you're really curious about the book and my progress going forward, I've created a closed group over on Facebook called "Jesus Untangled" [pretty creative huh?] where people who want the "inside scoop" can follow along with me as I go.

Would you like to be in that group? If so, please follow me on Facebook and then message me about being added to the group. I'll add you and then you'll get to hear how things are going.

Some of what I've shared so far with the group is:
*Chapter updates on the book so far
*My outline for the book
*My process for writing the book
*Articles, posts, quotes and videos related to the topic that have inspired the book

Going forward here's what I plan to share:
*Chapter-by-chapter updates on my progress
*Insight into my research process before I write a book
*Other books that have fueled my research on this topic
*Additional notes or thoughts that may - or may not - make it into the final book
*Updates on getting the book published
*Cover ideas and designs  [Vote for your favorite!]
*Ideas for Guerilla Marketing the book online and in the real world
*And more!

Honestly, I'm not entirely sure what else I'll share in the group, but I'm also asking everyone to share their own videos, quotes, links, etc. on the topic to help keep us focused on the subject matter and - who knows - maybe even influence what I write in the final draft of the book.

My hope is that this group will also help me to stay focused on the goal of writing at least one chapter per week and staying on track to finish everything up before August, if at all possible.

In short, I need your help!

Thanks for your prayers and your support as I write the book.

I appreciate it more than you know.

Peace,
Keith

[Subversive Radio Podcast] The Anabaptists: An Introduction

Who were the Anabaptists? Why did Luther and the Reformers oppose them so violently?

VIDEO INTERVIEW: CHUCK MCKNIGHT AND KEITH GILES

Listen as Keith and Chuck talk about Organic Church, Nonviolence and different Christian views of Hell.

The Incarnation of Love by Mary Emily Duba

The Incarnation – by which we mean “God coming to dwell with us in the person of Jesus” – is God’s radical act of peacemaking. God subverted every expectation humankind had for what peace would look like; what the Messianic expectation was. The people of Israel were expecting a warrior King. Someone who would come to save the people through a military victory over their enemies and rule as this righteous warrior King. God subverted their expectation by coming in the form of a vulnerable and dependent infant.


For Christians, peacemaking begins with the body of Christ; with this child Jesus who has subverted every expectation we have for what peace – “shalom” – will look like.


Shalom is this state where “all is well”; where people have access to the food they need, the healthcare they need, the opportunity for just relationships with one another and with God and with the Earth. It’s more than what we think of as “peace”. It’s more than a cease fire. More than a starry night and songs around the campfire. It’s something much more holistic. Much more grand and whole. It’s God’s vision for the Universe as He created it to be. So the work of peacemaking, the practice of peacemaking, really begins there.


It’s about imitating Christ who is “the revolutionary face of the God of nonviolence.” I love that because it really encapsulates that this person of Jesus, this reconciling activity that God is doing in Jesus, is more than what we could have expected. It subverts our inclinations towards violence. And it subverts our idolatry of fear. That we would raise our fears to a level of an idol. That we would need to respond violently because we are so afraid. Because violence does reign in our world. And that’s a reality that we can’t escape. But we have the opportunity as Christians to choose not to idolize our fear. To choose instead to worship the One God who made heaven and earth and who’s vision for us is “shalom”.


Jesus tells a parable about a woman who puts just a little bit of yeast into a bowl of many measures of flour – enough for many dozens of loafs of bread – and he says, “This is like the Kingdom of God”. 

So, I think about yeast as this tiny little speck of life, this little growth that, even though it is tiny it can give life and leaven to the whole batch. So, I like to think of our acts of peacemaking – the Body of Christ in the world – as this little bit of leaven that, as small as it may seem in a world that is so incredibly violent, in a world that is at war, it is enough and more. It will give life and leaven to the whole creation. God has promised that it will be so. That what is small – these daily acts of peacemaking; those moments where we chose to not to say what we might have said, not to send the email that might have damaged a relationship, not to retaliate when we are provoked –those seemingly small choices give life and leaven to the whole bowl of wheat; the whole batch of creation.


God does not come as a warrior king. God comes as a baby. God’s power is hidden under the signs of vulnerability. God comes in poverty. God comes to a young woman who had no status in the community. God’s glory is hidden in the ugliness of our lives. In places of violence, in places of suffering, God is there, hidden among us. This is the theology of the cross. That in the horror of the cross, in the violence, in the ugliness, and the weakness of a man stripped and beaten and hung to die there is something more powerful at work. Hidden under these signs of weakness is the glory of God.


So as Christians we refuse to take up what the world sees as signs of power. We refuse - we don’t always, we fall short in this - But we want to say, “We refuse to be oppressors. We refuse to be dominators. We refuse all of the signs in the world that make for power.” 

Instead we choose weakness. We choose vulnerability. We choose to love. To have our hearts broken. We chose this because we know that under those signs, in the manger, among the cattle, on the cross, among the poor, God is there. We are not afraid of being poor. We are not afraid of imprisoned. We are not afraid of standing on the side of those who are weak. We are not afraid to be with God’s little ones. Because there is vulnerability, there is the glory of God. Where there is suffering God’s peace is stronger. No matter how hidden it may seem. In death there is abundant life.


God has already done the radical, the subversive revolutionary act of peacemaking and reconciliation in Christ. God has made peace between Himself and Creation. There’s no bigger gulf than that. There’s no bigger disconnect than between the Divine and the Human. All we have to do is make peace among human beings. 

God has done the radical thing. We just have to live into that promise.


- Mary Emily Duba