whatever you do.

The advance reading copies of Frank Viola’s follow-up to Pagan Christianity have been delivered. I’ll see if I can get a grip on one.

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Is it just absolutely horrible that as I read Brian and Sylvia’s incredible book on the dangers of nationalism above our call to be disciples that I feel a sense of pride that these fine folk are Canadian? Probably. I expect to be horribly convicted of this patriotism by the end of the book.

This has been a fascinating read. Challenging too. Right now in my life I am very quick to deify post modernism as a cure-all for what ails the modern church. This book has done a marvelous thing for me. Calling me back to an allegiance to the Kingdom of God rather than to the philosophies and empires of earthly systems. While I don’t think I will ever dispose of the critical methods of deconstruction and the desire to give ear to “the other”, I will also push to first and foremost pledge my allegiance to the Slaughtered Lamb.

ONE: Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world
ALL: Have mercy on us
ONE: Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world
ALL: Free us from bondage to sin and death
ONE: Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world
ALL: Hear our prayers prince of peace
ONE: For the victims of war
ALL: Have mercy
ONE: Women, men, and children
ALL: Have mercy
ONE: The maimed and the crippled
ALL: Have mercy
ONE: The abandoned and the homeless
ALL: Have mercy
ONE: The imprisoned and the tortured
ALL: Have mercy
ONE: The widowed and the orphaned
ALL: Have mercy
ONE: The bleeding and the dying
ALL: Have mercy
ONE: The weary and the desperate
ALL: Have mercy
ONE: The lost and the forsaken
ALL: Have mercy
ONE: Oh God have mercy on us sinners
ALL: Forgive us for we know not we do
ONE: For our scorched and blackened earth
ALL: Forgive us
ONE: For the scandal of billions wasted in war
ALL: Forgive us
ONE: For our arms makers and our arms dealers
ALL: Forgive us
ONE: For our Caesars and our Herods
ALL: Forgive us
ONE: For the violence that is rooted in our own hearts
ALL: Forgive us
ONE: For the times that we turn others into enemies
ALL: Forgive us
ONE: Deliver us oh God
ALL: Turn our feet to the way of peace
ONE and ALL: Hear our prayer, grant us peace
ONE: From the arrogance of power
ALL: Deliver us
ONE: From the myth of redemptive violence
ALL: Deliver us
ONE: From the tyranny of greed
ALL: Deliver us
ONE: From the ugliness of racism
ALL: Deliver us
ONE: From the cancer of hatred
ALL: Deliver us
ONE: From the seduction of wealth
ALL: Deliver us
ONE: From the addiction of control
ALL: Deliver us
ONE: From the idolatry of nationalism
ALL: Deliver us
ONE: From the paralysis of cynicism
ALL: Deliver us
ONE: From the violence of apathy
ALL: Deliver us
ONE: From the ghettos of poverty
ALL: Deliver us
ONE: From the ghettos of wealth
ALL: Deliver us
ONE: From the lack of imagination
ALL: Deliver us
ONE: Deliver us oh God
ALL: Turn our feet to the way of peace
ONE: We will not conform to the patterns of this world
ALL: Let us be transformed by the renewing of our minds
ONE: With the help of God’s grace
ALL: Let us resist evil wherever we find it
ONE: With the waging of war
ALL: We will not comply
ONE: With the legalization of murder
ALL: We will not comply
ONE: With the slaughter of innocents
ALL: We will not comply
ONE: With laws that betray human life
ALL: We will not comply
ONE: With the destruction of community
ALL: We will not comply
ONE: With the pointing finger and malicious talk
ALL: We will not comply
ONE: With the idea that happiness must be purchased
ALL: We will not comply
ONE: With the ravaging of the earth
ALL: We will not comply
ONE: With principalities and powers that oppress
ALL: We will not comply
ONE: With the destructions of peoples
ALL: We will not comply
ONE: With the raping of women
ALL: We will not comply
ONE: With governments that kill
ALL: We will not comply
ONE: With the theology of empire
ALL: We will not comply
ONE: With the business of militarism
ALL: We will not comply
ONE: With the hording of riches
ALL: We will not comply
ONE: With the dissemination of fear
ALL: We will not comply
ONE: But today we pledge our ultimate allegiance to the Kingdom of God
ALL: We pledge allegiance
ONE: To the peace that is not like Rome’s
ALL: We pledge allegiance
ONE: To the gospel of enemy love
ALL: We pledge allegiance
ONE: To the kingdom of the poor and the broken
ALL: We pledge allegiance
ONE: To the King who loves His enemies so much he died for them
ALL: We pledge allegiance
ONE: To the least of these with whom Christ dwells
ALL: We pledge allegiance
ONE: To the transnational church that transcends artificial borders of nations
ALL: We pledge allegiance
ONE: To the refugee of Nazareth
ALL: We pledge allegiance
ONE: To the homeless rabbi who had no place to lay his head
ALL: We pledge allegiance
ONE: To the cross rather than the sword
ALL: We pledge allegiance
ONE: To the banner of love above any flag
ALL: We pledge allegiance
ONE: To the one who rules with a towel rather than an iron fist
ALL: We pledge allegiance
ONE: To the one who rides a donkey rather than a war horse
ALL: We pledge allegiance
ONE: To the revolution that sets both oppressed and oppressors free
ALL: We pledge allegiance
ONE: To the way that leads to life
ALL: We pledge allegiance
ONE: To the slaughtered lamb
ALL: We pledge allegiance
ONE: And we together proclaim His praises from the margins of the empire to the centers of wealth and power:
ALL: Long live the Slaughtered Lamb

Written by Shane Claiborne, James Loney and Brian Walsh.

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Today arrived a grand thing. My order from Amazon!

I have my late winter reading lined up. Currently I am working through Colossians: Remixed, by Brian Walsh and Sylvia Keesmaat. Recently I have read Brian McLaren’s Everything Must Change, Shane Claiborne’s Irrestible Revolution and a biography of Martin Luther King Jr. by Marshall Frady; and Walsh and Keesmaat continue to bolster a charge for a church called to be the hands and feet in contrast to the power structures and empires of our time. Awesome stuff. I can’t believe I used to think Christianity had nothing to say about social issues (other than homosexuality and abortion). Actually, I was brought up so Baptist as to believe doing good things was almost sinful because it amounted to earning salvation. That isn’t an indictment on my parents or my teachers or anyone else in particular, it was how I came to put together the various threads. But, suffice to say, I don’t see things quite the same anymore.

So, back to today’s bundle of joy. Upcoming on the reading list are (in no particular order – or maybe it is particular):

• Pagan Christianity, Viola & Barna
• The Shack, William Young
• Preaching Re-imagined, Doug Pagitt
• The Voice from on High, Seay/McLaren/Sweet/Winner/etc…
• The Sacred Way, Tony Jones
• A Community Called Atonement, Scot McKnight
• Intuitive Leadership, Tim Keel
• The New Christians, Tony Jones
• Making A Meal Of It, Ben Witherington III

So this is my food.

Oh,… coincidental story!… So i read the MLKJ biography a couple weeks ago. I picked it up and dove in on exactly February 1st, which as you well know is the beginning of Black History Month. And seriously, I had not thought of that fact until that night, after having been challenged by the depth, and bravery, and frailty that was Martin. A man that truly sought to live a life in the stlll dark shadows of his Lord.

This has been a meandering post that was basically conceived as a way for me to brag about my reading habits.

Postscript:
I’m a lazy writer. I feel so much bubbling inside when I begin to type my thoughts, but I always forsake my deeper inside ramblings for shorter and less meaningful scribbles. I feel pressed for time – but I have all night. I feel inhibited. I wonder if there are tricks out there for unleashing the wealth of words that I know are just tucked just underneath these that are visible on the screen. I am growing to really enjoy the rhythms of the keyboard. I desire so much for the freedom to write. I long for essay writing assigments so I can be given licensed to explore.

Abrupt end.

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If there are more stories like this around (and I’m sure there are) I am more annoyed than ever at this ridiculous system of “distribution”.

Artist Pirated by iTunes

RIAA

Tags: RIAA, music industry, itunes, apple, piracy, ethics