We Who Have Been Transformed

We who have been transformed are without excuse.


You opened the eyes of the blind.
Who are we to sing the songs of darkness?


You opened the door to the Kingdom.
Who are we to defend the way of the world?


You were beaten and tortured and killed.
Who are we to side with the aggressor?

You were born into poverty and had no place to lay your head.
Who are we to justify sending the poor away hungry?

You were forced to flee a violent dictator's sword.
Who are we to turn our backs on immigrant children?

Your mother carried the shame of an unexpected pregnancy.
Who are we to shame the unwed mothers?
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.


Our hardened hearts were transformed by your irresistible love.

Who are we to condemn sinners?

Our darkness was changed into light.

Who are we to say there is no hope for others?

Our violent souls were calmed by your voice.

Who are we to stand with those who do violence?

Your Kingdom subverted the glorification of power and redefined the meaning of authority.

Who are we to return to the worldly system of hierarchy and domination of others?

Now, let the transformed rise up to heal the wounded.
Let those who have been made new follow the way of the cross.

Let every creature that has been made new stand with the oppressed and the homeless and the orphan and the voiceless.

Let every child of the King point out the path to your everlasting peace.

Let those who hear your voice kneel down to wash the feet of our enemies.

Let those who follow the Prince of Peace lay down their weapons and fall to their knees.

Let those who are called by your name humble themselves and seek your face and turn from their wicked ways.


Now, let those who have received so great a mercy, extend that same mercy to everyone else.

We who have been transformed are without excuse.


We who have been made new are held to a higher standard.

Now, let the redeemed of the Lord please say so.

Please. Say so.

And do so.

-kg

 
 

Detoxing From Detox

Everyone who has made the transition from Institutional or Traditional Church into an Organic church understands what I mean by “detox”. It’s the period of time where you have to unlearn all the bad habits and screwy theology that you picked up in the man-made, pastor-centric church you grew up in.

That means unlearning everything you thought you knew about tithing, about spiritual covering, about pastoral authority, and about what it means to “be” the church rather simply attend a meeting once a week.

The process can take months, even years, to fully take effect. During that time you probably undergo a variety of emotions like anger (at yourself for not seeing how wrong you were), frustration (at your christian friends who continue to blindly accept the same assumptions you did for so long), and sadness (because so many of your brothers and sisters remain oblivious to their identity in Christ and the freedom Jesus intends for them in His ekklesia).

If you’ve been through that process already, you know that it can end up tainting your fellowship with other believers – even in (maybe especially in) – an Organic church setting.

This can make for some overly toxic church gatherings that linger on everything that’s bad about the Institutional Church rather than simply centering on the goodness of God and the “unsearchable riches of Christ.”

In fact, I think these sorts of Organic Church gatherings where the attention is still on “how they are wrong and we are right” can be MORE damaging and ineffective than simply sitting through a sermon and a song at the church building down the street.

There are some Organic Churches that need to detox from their detoxing and move on to enjoying the freedom of “being the Church” as Jesus intended. They need to stop pointing fingers at those who are doing it wrong and start simply doing it right. This means coming together with your brothers and sisters to seek the face of Jesus. Only listen for His voice. Only wait for His prompting. Only speak of His excellent greatness. Only rest in His faithfulness and mercy.

Certainly, there is a time for venting our frustrations. There is sometimes a need to remind one another why were are here and thank God for what He has taken us out of. But perhaps that time is not when the Body comes together to gather around Christ? Maybe we could get together for coffee to detox and keep the focus on Jesus when the Church meets as one?

In fact, I would like to insist on it.

-kg

**
NOTE: This article originally appeared on House2HouseMagazine.com

SWEET TWEETS

I realize that not everyone who reads my blog actually follows me on Twitter - or even uses Twitter.

So, if you're not following me on Twitter that means you're missing a lot of great stuff every single day.

We must remedy this.

First, go to www.twitter.com and sign up for your free account.
Next, find me @keithgiles and follow me.

Or, just enjoy these Tweets below to see what you've been missing.

MY TWEETS:

"Jesus lived the life we could never live so that we can live the same life He lived."

"If only our hearts would be still as the wind and the waves at the sound of His voice."

“Where are all the pastors in the New Testament? Why are they absent if the are so crucial to the life of the body?"

"It honestly feels like the world is going insane. Malaysian airliner shot down; Gaza invasion; Immigrants crisis; Militarized Police; etc."

"Jesus wasn't concerned with the storm but with the Disciples lack of faith."

"Who are we to look at ourselves instead of at the face of Jesus? What can we do apart from Him?"

"One way God transforms your mind is by having people tell you things that you don't want to hear." - Stacy Harp

"It breaks my heart to see Christians cheering on those who oppress their own brothers & sisters in Palestine. Praying for peace and sanity."

"FYI: If a woman teaches you something from God's Word, she's not in authority over you. God's Word is."

"The deep magic and mystery of prayer is this: Earth moves Heaven, and Heaven moves Earth."

"Jesus and his parents were refugees who fled their nation to escape an oppressive regime. Lucky for us they didn't try to come to USA."

"What we've learned from History is that no one learns anything from History."

RE-TWEETS:

"I intend to live forever. So far, so good." - Steven Wright

“The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.” ― C.S. Lewis

"The reason so many people focus on Kingdom to come is because they don't live in the Kingdom that has come." 
- Unknown

Question Of The Week: What Bugs You Most About Church?

In the interest of increasing the dialog here on the blog, I'll be asking a "Question of the Week" every Monday for the next few months.

People are encouraged to share their thoughts and provide feedback on the comments section all week long.

So, what are you waiting for? Let us know: What Bugs You Most About Church?

Is it long prayers? Boring announcements? The 3 point sermon structure? Or maybe it's something more fundamental than that?

The point is, we won't know until you tell us.

So...let us know!

[Subversive Radio Podcast] God's Chosen People?

What were the Jewish people "chosen" to do?
Who is the "Chosen One"?
Who are the "chosen people" of God today, according to the New Testament and what are they chosen for?

Listen as Keith explains in this special podcast.

Questions about the Old and New Covenant.

Why do you say the Old Covenant is “obsolete”?

Because in Hebrews 8:13 we read:

“By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.”

But, how can the OT be obsolete if Jesus said he did not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it?

Jesus said: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” ( Matthew 5:17-18)

There are two qualifiers here: One is that the Law will not disappear “until Heaven and Earth disappear”, and the second qualifier is that the Law will not disappear until “everything is accomplished.”

So, first Jesus assures us that His mission is to fulfill or to accomplish the Law, and then He tells us that the Law will not disappear “until everything is accomplished.”

The question is: “Was everything accomplished?”

And the answer is: Yes!

“When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” (John 19:30)

The Greek word Jesus used here is literally “accomplished”.

So here, on the cross, Jesus declares that He has accomplished His mission to “fulfill the Law”, just as He set out to do.

What does that mean, then, according to the two qualifiers Jesus placed on the Law? It means that since everything has been accomplished, the Law has now disappeared.

Maybe this is why Paul the Apostle told us that, on the cross, Jesus actually DID “abolish the Law” by fulfilling (or “accomplishing”) it?

"For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace." (Eph. 2:15)

Elsewhere Paul also affirms for us that “Christ is the end of the law.”  (Rom. 10:4).

Furthermore, Paul explains for us the differences between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant – not once but twice.

The first time, in 2 Corinthians, Paul contrasts the Old and the New Covenant saying:

“Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, [that’s the Old Covenant] came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was, [the Old was “fading”] will not the ministry of the Spirit [that’s the New Covenant] be even more glorious?”

“If the ministry that condemns men [the Old] is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! [that’s the New] For what was glorious [the Old] has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was fading away [the Old] came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts! [the New] - (2 Corinthians 3:7-11)

So, Paul tells us the following about the Old Covenant:

• ·         It brought death
• ·         Its glory was fading
• ·         It condemns men
• ·         It was glorious (past tense)
• ·         It now has no glory
• ·         It is fading away

The New Covenant, in contrast :

• ·         Is More glorious than the Old Covenant
• ·         Brings righteousness
• ·         Has a glory that is surpassing
• ·         Is everlasting

The second contrast and comparison that Paul does between the Old and the New Covenant is here in Galatians:

"The women (Hagar and Sarah) represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother." (Galatians 4:24-26)

"But what does Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.” Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman." (Gal.4: 30-31)

Now what does Paul say about the Old Covenant?

The Old Covenant:

• Is from Mount Sinai (where the 10 Commandments were given)
• ·      Bears children who are slaves
• ·      Corresponds to the earthly Jerusalem
• ·       Is in slavery with her children
• ·       Should be cast out of our presence
• ·       Will not share in the inheritance of Christ
• ·       Is not our Mother

Paul says the New Covenant:

• ·         Bears children who are free
• ·         Is of the heavenly  New Jerusalem, not the physical city
• ·         Is our true Mother
• ·         Shares in the inheritance of Christ

To drive the point home even further, Paul tells us many times:

"We are not under the law" (Rom. 6:14; Gal. 5:18).

“We are dead to the law” (Rom. 7:4).

“We are delivered from the law” (Rom. 7:6).

Therefore, those who are in Christ are not under the Ten Commandments but under the “Law of Christ” as Paul says:

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2)

But what about the Jewish people, then? Aren’t they God’s Chosen people?

That depends on what you mean by “Israel” and “Chosen”. Paul pointed out to us that not everyone who claims to be “Israel” is actually, truly “Israel” in God’s eyes.

 "For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children." (Romans 9:6)

John the Baptist said the same thing to the Pharisees who wanted to claim that they were “Children of Abraham” (or “Israel”) and therefore blessed and favored of God. He said to them:

“And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Matt. 3:9-10)

So, the true “Israel of God” is actually found in Galatians where Paul assures us that:

"If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise." (Galatians 3:29)

Where does that leave the unbelieving Jewish people? The answer is troubling, and it should give us sincere pause and cause us to fall on our knees and cry out to God for their salvation.

Consider this:

"Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son." (1 John 2:22)

The Jewish people today who deny Jesus is the Messiah have neither the Father, nor the Son. They are anti-christ and they are lost without Him.

But I thought they were God’s “Chosen” people?

Consider what the Apostle Peter says about the Christians he writes to in his epistle:

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2:9-10)

Who, then, is the true Israel of God according to the New Testament?

Anyone who is in Christ.

Who are the “Chosen people” of God?

Those who put their hope in Jesus as their Lord and King.

So, the Jews are no longer the “Chosen people of God”?

Let’s go back and look at what the Jewish people were “Chosen” for in the first place. Were they chosen to be saved? No, because salvation depends upon trust in Christ as Lord and Savior.

What we find is that God chose the Jews to be the people group from whom the Messiah would be born.  That’s it.

So, since Jesus was born a Jew, they have fulfilled their calling. There’s nothing more for them to be “chosen” for.

Christians, according to Peter, are now the “Chosen of God” to carry the message of the Gospel to every nation. This is our calling as God’s “chosen people”.

How can you say the 10 Commandments are no longer relevant for Christians today?

Because the 10 commandments were the terms of the Old Covenant (which is obsolete and vanishing).

“Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.” (Exodus 34:28)

“He declared to you his covenant, the Ten Commandments, which he commanded you to follow and then wrote them on two stone tablets.” (Deut. 4:13)

The Ten Commandments are only mentioned (by name) three times in the entire Bible. Here in these two scriptures referenced above, and also in Deut.10:4. But in each case it is clear that God gave the Ten Commandments to the Jews as a Covenant. (Note: There are many other terms used such as “Tablets of Stone”, “Stone Tables”, etc.)

Also because the 10 Commandments were a covenant between Himself and with the Nation of Israel, not with the entire world:

“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” (Exodus 34:27)

Without this Covenant, the Jewish people had no basis for being called a nation. If this Covenant was in force, then they would have a claim to the promises included in the Covenant, but if they broke this Covenant then they would lose all their status as God’s chosen people and their status as a nation.

“Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.” (Exodus 19:5-6)

In much the same way that the Constitution is a document that outlines the laws of our nation and establishes our system of government, the Ten Commandments (or the Law) outlines God’s terms for establishing the nation state of Israel.

The terms of Israel’s nationhood are dependent upon a few things. First, it says, “If you obey me and keep my covenant, THEN you will be my treasured possession.”

That’s a conditional covenant. We know that the History of Israel records their continual disobedience to God and to His covenant. Because they broke their covenant with God, they were scattered over and over again, until finally they nation of Israel was judged in AD 70 during the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, as Jesus predicted it would be (Luke 21) and in the Parable of the Vineyard (Matt. 21:33-46).

Did you know that the promises connected to the Old Covenant have now been offered unconditionally to those who are under the New Covenant?

It’s true! The very same conditional covenant terms spoken to the Jews are repeated in the New Testament as being unconditionally applied to the Church:

“As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:4-5)

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2:9-10)

Here, Peter declares that Christians “ARE a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession…”. The very same conditional promises originally offered to the Jewish nation in Exodus 19:5-6 are now spoken to the Church as being now in effect. So that anyone who is currently found in Christ is the recipient of these promises to be chosen, of the priesthood, a holy nation and God's special possession. We are also promised to be called the people of God and to receive mercy.

The Good News is that Jesus first came and fulfilled the terms of the Old Covenant, and then He made a New Covenant with anyone who would receive Him as Lord and Savior.

THE TERMS OF THE NEW COVENANT

 “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people…and they will all know me from the least to the greatest for I will remember their sins no more.” (Jer. 31:33-34 and Hebrews 8:7-9)

We are now under one Covenant, not two. The first has been fulfilled and is now obsolete:

“In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.” (Hebrew 8:13)

 -kg

[Subversive Radio Podcast] Peace In The Middle East by Keith Giles

What will it take to bring real, true, lasting peace in the Middle East? Listen as Keith shares some ideas that just might reveal a spark of hope for actual peace between Jews Muslims and Palestinian Christians.

[Subversive Radio Podcast] Let's Talk About Israel.

Why is it so hard for Christians to talk about Israel? And what is at stake if we get it wrong?

In this podcast, Keith explains why it matters and how misunderstanding this key New Testament teaching can distort our views of the Church, our purpose and our identity in Christ.

[Subversive Radio Podcast] The Obsolete Old Testament?

The Old Covenant had a great run for a few thousand years, but now it is old, and fading, and obsolete and vanishing - at least according to the New Testament it is.

Listen for yourself as Keith explains why the Ten Commandments and the Old Covenant are no longer binding for anyone, especially those who are in Christ.

Hard Lessons

Love is painful.

It is also beautiful, sublime, fantastic and awesome.

But love is also painful.

The sooner we learn this, the sooner we can move on to maturity in our faith, and in our life.

**
We all stood together in a semi-circle under the late afternoon sun, our heads hanging low.

Our eyes red with tears.

"Do you want to say anything?" my wife asked my sons. There was a silent pause as we stood around the hole my wife had dug in the ground near the back fence.

"No," my youngest said.

"It's not fair," my oldest said.

And it wasn't.

A few hours ago my youngest son had found her body, what was left of her, in our back yard.

"I found Little Momma," David said over the phone. "She's dead."

Those words hit me hard. I knew they would hit my wife and my oldest son even harder.

But now here we were, standing around this hole in the ground and doing our best to hold our emotions in check.

There were many lessons to be learned in that moment. Most of them went unspoken. But I did my best anyway.

"She was a gift to us," I said. "She knew that we loved her, very much."

It didn't take the pain away. It might even have made it worse. I'm not sure.

One quote that came to my mind in that moment, as I leaned against the shovel, went unspoken. It was a quote by C.S. Lewis that says:

"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.”

Later, when we had said all we could say, when we had each placed our own handful of dirt over her, when I had buried what was left of her and our boys had slowly walked back into the house, my wife and I stood alone on the grass.

We reflected on what our boys would learn from this; how it would affect them at this stage of their life. My wife suggested that it would help them to develop more compassion for the pain of others; that it would soften their hearts more.

We both remembered the pain that others we know are suffering now. The passing of a brother, or the end of a marriage, or the sudden death of a spouse.

We were the lucky ones. In comparison, our pain was minimal, yet still deep enough to take our breath away. Real enough to make us thankful for what we still have left to hold on to.

There is a saying - a myth really - that Christians often quote to one another in times of suffering. They say, "God never gives us more than we can handle." As if our suffering is proportional to our level of faith. As if our friends die because we're too spiritual, or our children get sick because we're so close to God?

No.

The scripture we mangle to arrive at this platitude is actually about being tempted and God always giving us a way to escape that temptation.

The truth is that God almost always gives us more than we can handle.

Because He loves us. Because He wants us to know that we can lean on Him - hard - for everything that life can possibly throw at us.

God portions out our suffering in relation to our need to know that He is able to carry us through it.

Because of love. Which is beautiful, and marvelous, and wonderful, and yes, sometimes, very painful.

Our promise is not that we will never endure suffering. Our promise is that, when we do, we will not endure it alone.

He is with us. He will never forsake us.

We will never have to say goodbye to Him, or His love.

For that we are very grateful.

-kg

GUEST BLOG: Two-Sides To The Cross by Brandon Chase

The Path of Jesus led Him up a hill with a Cross on His back. Ultimately, He would be nailed to this Cross, and breathe His last upon it.

Those who seek to come after Him will assuredly encounter the same.

“Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps”

Most Christians are only familiar with one side of the Cross, that being of the side of Christ bearing the weight of the world’s sins, ultimately to death, for our atonement and Salvation. Thank God for this finished work that makes us one with Him.

But Christ was not only on the Cross, suffering for us; He was on the Cross as an example for us. The first side of the Cross is for the sinner; the second side for the follower, the disciple. The Gate was for the sinner; The Path is for the follower.

Jesus said the way to The Path, The Gate, was narrow. He is the only Way. But as The Gate is narrow, so too is The Path, and few find it.

But Jesus said that Life was at the end of The Path, not at the beginning, just inside The Gate. Again, He was speaking of something much richer than an ending destination of Heaven versus Hell. He was speaking of an Eternal reality of Divine Abundance in Life in the Kingdom now.

This is a process. This Life, while promised at the end of The Path, is realized little by little along the Way – as He is increased, and we are decreased. This is the Law of Life. He will become more; we will become less. Life and Freedom are manifested in the process.

Jesus is both Substitute and Example; both Savior and Lord; both Author and Perfecter; both the Narrow Gate and the Difficult Path.

If there is any doubt as to the reason for a lack of Freedom in our lives as Christians, we need only examine our ultimate posture towards the Cross. Is the Cross something that Jesus saved us from, or something that Jesus saved us for? The fruit, or the lack thereof, will bear witness either way. The fruit of Freedom cannot be ripe and abundant without the full, two-sided work of the Cross.

So we may ask: Can we enter the Gate but not walk the Path? Can we be saved and go to heaven and not follow? Can Jesus be Savior and not Lord? I believe, as I’ve said, that these can, by His Grace. But this forfeits so much, and is most assuredly not Freedom. So my question to the question is then:

How free do we want to be?

Freedom is not merely embracing one side of the Cross, the side for Salvation, or simply Jesus as The Gate, as Savior. We must “continue” in His Word. We must put what we say we believe into action. We must make our faith seen in works. Jesus said make disciples, not simply believers. He wants a people who will follow Him in The Path, not just step through The Gate.

Jesus’ side of the Cross was done for us, 2000 years ago, once and for all, for our Salvation, the forgiveness of our sins – The Gate. Our side of the Cross is required of us daily, a continual following in discipleship, for our Spiritual Growth, maturity and Freedom – The Path.

Jesus came to announce a new King and a new Kingdom. This is the full Gospel. When we die, we then are raised – new species as citizens of this new, upside-down Kingdom, where:

*Wisdom is foolishness

* Winning is losing

* Lower is higher

* Servants are leaders

* Power is weakness

* Life is through death

The Kingdom Way, the Way of Freedom, is not to be delivered from death, but to be delivered by death, and through death, as resurrected into a new Life, one that is no longer ours. An acorn must fall to the ground and die to fulfill its purpose – that not only a new tree would grow in its place, but an entire forest of trees!

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” –Jesus Christ

-Brandon Chase

**

Go check out Brandon's blog, Zōē Perissos (www.brandonchase.net), and make sure and subscribe (http://brandonchase.net/subscription-form/) to receive all of his blog posts, as well as the FREE eBook The Path of Freedom: Few find it. Fewer walk it. Be one of the few."

 

 

[SUBVERSIVE PODCAST] Casting My Cares On Him

We all know that scripture tells us to cast our cares upon the Lord because He cares for us, but what about when we do that and nothing happens? We still have our pain, our sadness, our despair and our loneliness. What good is that?

In this podcast, Keith shares some intimate and honest reflection on what the Lord has been showing him about how to actually receive the peace and joy that God intends us to take away when we actually cast our cares upon the One who loves us.

The Gospel According to Philip K. Dick

In case you don’t know, Philip K. Dick (PKD) is one of the most prolific and unique science fiction authors of the 20th century. He's also one of my favorite authors of all time. His novels (36 of them) and short stories (121 of those) explore philosophical themes and metaphysical concepts including the nature of reality, and the questions of sanity, perception, identity and spirituality.

Several of his novels have been made into films since his death in 1982. Most notably, “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”, (which became the basis for the film “Blade Runner”), and “Minority Report”, as well as “A Scanner Darkly”, "Adjustment Bureau" and “Total Recall”. However, his body of work has yet to be fully discovered by Hollywood just yet, and that is fine with me seeing as most of his ideas have been ruined by film and not particularly enhanced by it.

As a resident of Orange County, California, I am also interested in the fact that PKD lived and died here. His novels include streets and restaurants that I am familiar with. The library near my house includes several first editions of his books with authographs on the inside front cover. This is the very place that PKD lived his life and wrote most of his stories.

I recently read (and reviewed) his book “Radio Free Albemuth” which was discovered and published after his death. In the book, Dick incorporates many of his own spiritual, political and philosophical views into the story, even going so far as to include his own personal experiences as well.

The book is about PKD himself as a main character and also a fictitious person named Nicholas Brady who begins receiving messages and visions from a being who may, or may not, be God Himself.

At one point near the end of the book, PKD encounters a former pastor while he is imprisoned for crimes against the fascist dictator of America. The pastor, Leon, and PKD engage in a dialog about several of their friends who have died and entered a better, spiritual reality.

“Did believing that, about a heavenly father, get them anywhere?” Leon asked presently.

“Not in this world, maybe,” I said.

“Then I’m going to tell you something you maybe don’t want to hear. If your friends were here I’d tell them too. It’s not worth it, Phil. It has to be in this world.” Leon nodded firmly, his lined face hard. Hard with experience.

“They gained immortality,” I said. “It was conferred on them, for what they did, or even what they tried to do, and failed to do. They exist now, my friends do. They always will.”

“Even though you can’t see them.”

“Yes,” I said. “Right.”

Leon said, “There has to be something here first, Phil. The other world is not enough.”

I could think of nothing to say: I felt broken and feeble, my arguments used up during all that had happened to me. I was unable to answer.

“Because,” Leon continued, “this is where the suffering is. This is where the injustice and imprisonment is. Like the two of us. We need it here. Now.”
I had no answer.

“It may be fine for them,” Leon said, “but what about us?”

“I—“ I began. He was right and I knew it.
Later on Leon concludes this conversation by saying:

“I’m sorry,” Leon said. “I can see you loved your two friends and you miss them, and maybe they’re flying around somewhere in the sky, zipping here and there and being spirits, and happy. But you and I and three billion other people are not, and until it changes here it won’t be enough, Phil; not enough. Despite the supreme heavenly father. He has to do something for us here, and that’s the truth. If you believe in the truth…well, Phil, that’s the truth. The harsh, unpleasant truth.”

While the rest of the novel is anything but an endorsement of Biblical Christianity, I read this section above and marveled at how close PKD came to the Kingdom. This is exactly what Jesus was proclaiming when he preached the Gospel of the Kingdom – “the Kingdom of God is at hand”, “the Kingdom of God is within”.

If even a sci-fi writer in Orange County, California can see the Kingdom and understand that it must happen here or it doesn’t matter, then perhaps there’s hope for the people of God to get it too?

“…thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven..”

The Church, the Body of Christ, the ambassadors of Jesus, the citizens of the Kingdom, must become agents of change in this world, in their own neighborhoods, in their actual workplace, so that people can see the love that defies logic and the peace that passes understanding. The followers of Jesus must not only proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom, they must (like Jesus) demonstrate the compassion of God for the poor, the broken, the outcast, the lonely, and the marginalized.

“Blessed are the drugged out, poverty-level science fiction writers in Orange County, California, for they shall see the Kingdom of God and publish it in their writings for people to read long after they are dead.” – kg

The Mechanics of Grace

The other day I spent some time with someone who has been through the meat grinder of life. He's endured the loss of a family member, the abandonment of his closest friends, and experienced a loss of passion in his career. That's only the beginning.

As he shared his heart with me I found I could identify with a lot of his pain. Not all of it, obviously, but much of what he confessed to me resonated with what I have been feeling lately.

Then he asked me to pray for him. So, as I began to lift him up in prayer to God I found that I was really praying for myself as well. I began to ask God for the same measure of blessing, and hope, and comfort, that I required in my own empty heart.

During the prayer I confessed to God, and to my friend, that I really don't know how to give God my burdens. Too often when I am depressed or discouraged I find something to distract myself from the pain. Rather than going to God with my problems, I turn to entertainment, or activities, or food, or other people, to help me forget the pain and dull the sorrow.

I know that we are told to "cast your cares upon Him, for He cares for you", and I really believe that all of that is true, but to be very honest, I'm not very good at doing that. Not at all.

So, as I prayed for this brother in Christ, I began to ask God to teach me, and to help my friend, to learn how to actually take our burdens, our pain, our suffering, our disappointments, and cast them at the feet of Jesus.

Again, I do not know how to do this. I know that God's word instructs me to do it. I know how to pray those words. I know how to say, "Jesus, I give you my pain. Please take this burden away." But I do not know how to actually leave my burden with Jesus. I don't know how to come to Him with my pain and walk away with hope. I don't know how to come to Him with defeat and walk away with joy. That is what I want to learn how to do. That's what I need to do.

Maybe you know what this feels like? Maybe you're struggling with some of the same issues of doubt, of defeat, of apathy, of sadness, of pain. Maybe you also tend to look for relief in places other than the presence of God. Maybe you turn to food, or television, or video games, or film, or sex, or drugs, or other people. If so, maybe you've already started to realize that those things do not work. They only delay the pain, at best, and accentuate the sensation of emptiness at worse.

Maybe, like me, you're ready to learn how to put these words of hope into practice. Maybe you're ready, out nothing more than desperation, to discover how to actually turn to Jesus with your pain and surrender your burden to Him, and walk away filled with hope and life and, yes, perhaps even joy.

How does it work? What are the magic words? How many steps are involved? Do I need to attend a seminar or purchase a book to make it click?

Here's what I believe: God knows that we are weak. He remembers that we are made from dust. If there were six steps then He would have told us what those were. Since He told us to simply "cast our cares upon Him because He cares" then, by faith, I think we need to start there.

By faith. That's the secret. We stop trying to map everything out and we just do what He says. We believe. We put our hope - all of it - in His power to heal us, and change us, and restore us.

We turn away from all of those other distractions that we have tried and failed to receive our hope and life and joy from, and we instead turn straight for Jesus with our pain. We come to Him first. We make turning to Him our first, and our immediate, act when the pain and the sorrow begins to wash over us.

This is what I have decided to do. I put my hope in Him. I trust in Him. I am calling His bluff because I am convinced it might not be a bluff at all.

"Why are you so downcast, oh my soul? I will yet praise Him, my savior and king."

-kg

Subversive Radio Podcast: Jesus Is For Losers.

Subversive Radio Podcast: Do I Need To Love Myself?

Jesus commands us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. So, does that mean we need to love ourselves before we can love others? Listen as Keith explains the meaning of this passage and connects it with the Leviticus 19 teachings on the "Shalom Community".

The Incarnational Gospel

One aspect of the Incarnation which fascinates me is how God, in human flesh, manifested Himself as a common, simple person born into humble circumstances who traveled the countryside telling stories.

Jesus was a storyteller. He was a creative personality. His stories were allegorical snapshots of what life inside the Kingdom of God was like.

Only one of his stories, which he called “Parables”, was ever actually explained to his disciples. All the rest he left up to interpretation and discovery.

The Parables of Jesus provoked thought and invited those who were curious to explore for themselves what the Kingdom of God was really all about. By internalizing the search for Truth contained in his stories, Jesus entrusted the human mind with the task of working it out in due time.

Jesus was comfortable with loose ends. He didn’t feel any anxiety over how many understood the parable. He knew that those who were truly hungry for real spiritual sustenance would discover what they were craving after in their own time.

There was an organic quality to the ministry and teaching of Jesus that appeals to me in ways that are deeper than I can even comprehend at a conscious level. He had ideas that were subversive to the status quo of the culture and he transmitted the code of this social rebellion through simple stories about farmers, widows, travelers, sons, fathers, and fields.

Jesus was comfortable with unanswered questions. In fact, I think that many of us who call ourselves his followers could learn something from adopting his style of asking questions and telling stories without getting hung up on the answers.

Too often we in the Church are too quick to provide answers to questions we’ve never been asked. That is a serious problem, in my mind. It paints us as people who are more concerned about results than we are about other human beings. We provide answers without taking the time to really listen to the questions being asked. Often we are answering the wrong questions.

For example, no one cares about your answer to spiritual poverty if you have yet to address the very real physical poverty all around you. When you show an indifference to the very real poverty that is easily detectable with the naked eye, it doesn’t paint you as someone who is particularly skilled at relieving poverty. Your poverty-relieving skills come into serious doubt.

Those who have yet to embrace Christ are skeptical of the slogan- “Jesus Loves You” when those who claim to be transformed by this love look and act just like everyone else.

It matters, then, who we are and what we do. Our reputation has become soiled. This is what makes the pursuit of personal Holiness and ethical behavior essential to the Christian life. Not just for our own personal need for sanctification, to be transformed into the image of Christ, but for the purpose of demonstrating that Jesus does indeed change lives and make us a new creation.

It shouldn’t take faith to believe that Jesus has the power to set us free. It should not take faith to accept that Jesus is capable of making us into better fathers and mothers and employees and citizens.

Our lives should serve as proof that Jesus is alive and transformation is possible.

-kg

The Hokey Pokey

"You put your left hand in, you take your left hand out..."

We do this all the time in our spiritual life. We surrender to Jesus on Sunday, and we take it all back on Monday morning. We mean well. We intend to serve Jesus with our life, but the daily pressures of life wear on us and we end up returning to the old patterns of life.

The good news is, God knows that we're dust. He knows we're weak. He understands that the flesh is willing, but the maturing of our spirits takes time.

"If we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot disown Himself."- 2 Tim 2:13

God is patient with us, and because of this we still have hope.

"...you put your right foot in, you take your right foot out..."

I've been tested lately about some of the same things I've been through many times before.

Why does God keep putting me through these tests of faith? I look to the sky and ask, "Haven't I already learned this lesson three times before? I thought I passed this. Why are we having to go through this again, Lord?"

A dear friend reminded me the other day that God's purpose for allowing challenges in our life is to draw us nearer to Himself. "We just want God to fix it, or do it, or make it better, but God wants us to take His hand and walk through these things alongside Him," my friend said.

Still, I'm weary of putting my faith into action again and again. I'm tired of wondering if God will work this miracle and save my family (again), or if this time we'll have to endure the pain.

God whispers to me, "Seek first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all of these things (food, shelter, daily needs, etc.), "will be taken care of as well."- Matt 6:33

So, I do my best to seek the Kingdom of God. I try to focus on Him instead of on my own challenges. But still I find myself drifting back to the question; "What if this time God doesn't rescue us?"

"...you put your whole self in, you take your whole self out, you put your whole self in, and you shake it all about..."

God wants all of me. He wants all of you. He wants my time. He wants my heart. He wants my trust. He wants my entire life. He wants my "whole self in".

Surrender to Jesus is, in reality, a gradual exercise in trust. It would be wonderful if that one time I went down front and bent my knees on the altar was enough. I wish it were true. Maybe for someone else it is true, but for me, I must confess, I'm still daily learning to bend my knees, surrender my heart, and trust Jesus with my life...with my entire life.

Maybe, in some strange way, the Hokey Pokey really IS what it's all about?

"You do the Hokey Pokey and you turn yourself around. That's what it's all about."

**

NOTE: Originally sent to the faithful subscribers of the [subversive underground] on 3/28/06

 

 

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