Christ-Centered Politics

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jimkenney12

jimkenney12

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In early October I recognized how much air was being taken up with political stuff and decided to make Christ-centered politics my them from October 19 until November 24.

I am not preaching November 24, but created services and messages for the other Sundays and will post them on this thread. Yesterday's service got the strongest positive feedback.

Story and Message for October 20, 2024 (Job 38:1-7; Mark 10:35-45 -- Theme: Seek Ye First)

Message: Seek Ye First

Why would James and John have believed they should have a special place with Jesus? We can speculate about their reasoning, but we know it was wrong, human but wrong.

The Good News Jesus offered had nothing to do with prestige or privilege or honour. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” To follow Jesus is to choose to put service first.

I chose the theme of Christ-centered Politics as my overarching theme from now until Reign of Christ Sunday at the end of November. Politics at all levels dominates the news right now. Jesus died for being political. Reign of Christ Sunday is about anticipation of a new political world order, one in which love and well-being for everyone comes first. If we follow him, then being political is part of our faith journey. Being political is not the same as being partisan. Fighting for or working for safe, affordable housing for everyone is political. Supporting or attacking a party or politician is usually partisan. People can choose to be political by being partisan, but many choose to just be political.

They participate in protests and demonstrations, write letters to politicians and newspapers, take part in events like Pride parades, and find other ways to influence political decisions.

The Base communities in Latin America started with reading the Bible in their own languages, discovering the Church had kept many important parts out of their church experiences. Discovering the complete Gospels led to them becoming very political.

I believe our political activity as people following Jesus needs to begin with reading and discussing the Bible, especially the Gospels. I believe too much of our faith structure is based on commentary on the life and teachings of Jesus instead of on the life and teachings of Jesus. Knowing the Hebrew scriptures helps us to understand what he said and did.

The epistles and other writings help us understand what people believed about him as the community spent decades responding to his life, teachings, death, and resurrection. But those writings reflect their cultural beliefs and experiences. We see this in the shift from the leadership of women being lifted up to women being put down.

James and John were not the first people to link being religious with access to privileges, and they were not the last. The Book of Job challenges traditional beliefs that link being right with God with having a good life and that our fortunes and misfortunes are due to being good or bad. You can be God’s favourite human and still suffer for no good reason. We are invited to be good for goodness’ sake, not for external rewards.

Our reading from Job can help us build a larger frame for considering our calling as followers of Jesus. The story of Job begins with how good and blessed Job was in every way. Satan, the Accuser, challenged God for judging Job as blameless. He asked permission to test Job’s loyalty to God. He then causes terrible things happen to Job. Job refuses to commit any sin or curse God in spite of everything that happened. He and his so-called friends have long theological discussions. They repeat conventional wisdom, but they are wrong.

Even though a pride-filled passerby has just finished a long-winded speech about God, God replies to Job out of a whirlwind challenging Job’s capacity to declare anything about God. The reading is the first part of three chapters about all that God can do that Job, and us, could not do.

I took away some thoughts from that passage. The first is that we are not capable of doing or fully understanding what God is doing in the world. The second is that choosing to be part of a God initiative is choosing to be part of something greater than we can fully understand. The third is how important it is to put our trust in God as best as we can as we make that choice.

The hymn we just sang began with a quote from the Gospel of Matthew: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and God’s righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.”

In our reading from Mark, James, John, and the other disciples did not really get was Jesus was doing. He was charismatic and it felt like God was part of what he was doing. Like many other Jews at the time, they waited and watched for the Messiah, the Chosen One of God, who would restore the freedom of the Jews and get rid of their oppressors. They thought he was the One and followed him out of anticipation of what was to come along with the wonders of the journey they were having with him. They were looking for redemption and glory, not service. And many Christians still are. The Old Rugged Cross is an old favourite for many that reflects that quest.

We are used to hearing what Jesus said next, even if it is easy to forget. “Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

In our daily lives, we are asked to seek the Kingdom of God and to serve others.

When it comes to politics, we are called to ask how proposals will contribute to the unfolding of the kingdom of God or block the unfolding of the kingdom. We are called to ask how will those policies affect others, especially the poor, disabled, and marginalized. When politicians offer us benefits for ourselves, we need to ask how those will affect others.

We are called to face life without fear and without hate for others. If politicians try to make us afraid, examine what they are saying, looking for their agenda, their purposes in what they are proposing, and why they are stoking fear or hate.

Followers of Jesus are called to ask, “What is in it for them?”, not “What is in it for me?”

Next Sunday, my theme will be “Shout your pain: Hear their pain”. For today, I push the importance of deliberate awareness.

Deliberate awareness to me means caring enough about ourselves to notice signals our minds and bodies and friends are sending to us. It also means caring enough about others to really notice them. What do they need? What do they like or hate?

Consider housing. After World War II, hundreds of thousands of soldiers came back over a period of a year or so, many with brides from Europe. The federal government put money into building tens of thousands of houses. They were not fancy, but they met the need. Our family of four for three years rented the upper floor of one of those houses from my dad’s friend whose family of five occupied the lower floor. Later, as the baby boom and immigration dramatically increased the need for housing, the federal government helped finance the construction of public housing every year until the early 90s. Mulroney, Chretien, Martin, and Harper slashed federal spending on public housing at the same time as they created Real Estate Investment Trusts which focused on housing for investment purposes rather than a social purpose. Trudeau continues the trend of promoting privately owned housing. This is a complex problem with many faces. There are tens of thousands of people with personal issues that contribute to them not having a place to safely live. There are tens of thousands of working people who lack a safe place to live because they lack the up front cash for down payments or cannot afford any options they have found for housing. While volunteering at an Inn from the Cold, I met a painter who had been in Calgary for a couple of months. He worked nearly every day or every day, but had no place to live. There are tens of thousands of seniors who have lost housing or are close to losing housing because of drastic increases in rent. We need many different solutions for different people in different situations, and we need politicians who actually care enough about them to help them. And we need informed citizens to push politicians and support other efforts to make a difference.

Consider housing. After World War II, hundreds of thousands of soldiers came back over a period of a year or so, many with brides from Europe. The federal government put money into building tens of thousands of houses. They were not fancy, but they met the need. Our family of four for three years rented the upper floor of one of those houses from my dad’s friend whose family of five occupied the lower floor. Later, as the baby boom and immigration dramatically increased the need for housing, the federal government helped finance the construction of public housing every year until the early 90s. Mulroney, Chretien, Martin, and Harper slashed federal spending on public housing at the same time as they created Real Estate Investment Trusts which focused on housing for investment purposes rather than a social purpose. Trudeau continues the trend of promoting privately owned housing. This is a complex problem with many faces. There are tens of thousands of people with personal issues that contribute to them not having a place to safely live. There are tens of thousands of working people who lack a safe place to live because they lack the up front cash for down payments or cannot afford any options they have found for housing. While volunteering at an Inn from the Cold, I met a painter who had been in Calgary for a couple of months. He worked nearly every day or every day, but had no place to live. There are tens of thousands of seniors who have lost housing or are close to losing housing because of drastic increases in rent. We need many different solutions for different people in different situations, and we need politicians who truly care enough about them to help them. And we need informed citizens to push politicians and support other efforts to make a difference.

How are they acting? Do they seem to be different today? How? Finally deliberate awareness is noticing what is happening in the world and how people are reacting or responding to what is happening. It calls us to try to understand and investigate.

As congregations, we can begin by deliberately being aware of each other and our communities. When we have political differences, learn why each of us has the belief or attitude or slant that we have, especially when anger seems to be part of that.

For example, we can say, “You seem to be very angry about….. If you are angry, why?”

Try to connect the reasons for anger with our faith beliefs. How do they relate to seeking the Kingdom of God? How do they relate to our stories about Jesus?

It is easy to take secular values and beliefs for use in shaping what we do as followers of Jesus. Sometimes those values and beliefs lead to bad results. If love and relationships come first, we are more likely to find constructive political options that are Christ centered.

For Christ centered politics, we need to be Christ-centered in our living. How do we help ourselves to be Christ-centered? How do we loving share that in the congregation? How do we lovingly share our faith outside of the congregation?

We live in a world abundant with good but overshadowed by fear, hate, jealousy, and misunderstanding mixed with ignorance. We need the light of Christ and the guidance of the Spirit to help us see through the verbal smog being generated by partisan politicians and others to see what is and to find our way through it in a way that honours our faith.

Seek ye first the Kingdom of God as the Spirit patiently walks with you. Amen.
 
Here is my story and message for October 27

Story and Message for October 27, 2024 (Mark 10:46-52)

Shout Your Pain: Hear Their Pain

Story: Fanny Crosby

Message

This short reading has several important elements.

After the discussion about one must be slave to all to be first, Jesus and the disciples along with a large crowd arrive in Jericho. Jericho was an old city over two thousand years earlier when the Hebrews arrived in Palestine.

Bartimaeus, a blind beggar by the roadside, hears the crowd and asks what is happening. His name means son of the honoured one. When he is told Jesus of Nazareth was there, he shouted out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” Even though he is blind, he recognizes who Jesus is before those can see.

He is told to be quiet, but he shouts louder and Jesus stops and asks them to bring Bartimaeus to him. So people in the crowd called him, saying, “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.”

He throws off his cloak, his only possession, sprang up, and came to Jesus.

Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?”

Bartiimaeus said, “My teacher, let me see again.”

Jesus said, “Go, your faith has made you well”. Immediately he regained his sight and followed Jesus.

Bartimaeus knew who Jesus really was, shouted out even when the crowd tried to silence him, rushed to Jesus, said what he wanted, regained his sight, and followed Jesus.

The crowd tried to silence him, then encouraged him to go Jesus.

Jesus heard his shout, called for him, asked what he wanted, and assured him his faith had made him well.

We do not know how Bartimaeus lost his sight or for how long he had been blind, or if he picked up his cloak again.

There are three very important elements to me in this story.

The first is the importance of shouting out when something is wrong. Pride and fear are two of many reasons we choose to keep silent when we hurt in some way or have an important need. Some will say, “It has always been like this and can’t be changed.”

Women got the right to vote after decades of women shouting out, carrying pistols, planting bombs, and so on to emphasize they were not going to quit demanding the right to vote.

Workers gained many rights including the right to form unions after decades of shouting and fighting for them.

The United Church of Canada granted full equality to people with different forms of sexuality after they and their allies made a fuss and fought for that equality. It took over 10 years of advocating by Saskatchewan Conference for Lydia Gruchy to be ordained. Even then it was mainly because Saskatchewan Conference said they would ordain her even without the permission of General Council.

If we believe something is wrong, then, as followers of Jesus, we are called to advocate for fixing it. We do need to be open to learning we were wrong. Sometimes we do not know enough or understand enough about a situation to know what is actually wrong. Many times people have to complain before they get an explanation for why something is the way it is.

Robin Wall Kimmerer in Braiding Sweetgrass, described how a researcher thought sweetgrass would be better off without humans harvesting it.

A study was conducted and showed that sweetgrass grew better when it was respectfully plucked or cut than when it was left alone. Its millennia long relationship with First Nations people meant it was dependent on harvesting to be healthy, like apple trees.

The second important element was Jesus hearing and responding to Bartimaeus shouting out. Often parents tell their children they can’t be hungry, doctors tell women they can’t be sick, and people denying the experiences of those who are different. Refusing to hear and respond to pain expressed by people is too common.

The Holy Mystery invites us to pay attention to others, to see them, and to hear them. We do not have to agree with them, but love requires we learn what they want, need, or experience. This requires seeing every person as human, as one of us. We are lucky when they disturb us because disruptions get our attention. Sometimes we need to look for signals that something might be wrong. If a person or family suddenly quits attending worship services, we need to ask them, “Do you need anything from us?”

Asking people what they want or need without making assumptions before hand was the third important element of this story for me. People can signal something is wrong in many ways. When we notice, we need to ask. Jesus said, “What do you want me to do for you?”

It is safer in a way to offer what we think people need rather that ask. The ask might be a tough one..

We need to hear the cries of pain of others, ask what is needed, and respond. In some situations, what people need most is the assurance we care about them by just being ready to listen and to be there for them. Jesus did nothing for Bartimaeus except he said his faith has made him well. In a culture that values words so much, it is hard to understand how important it is to be present.

It is also important to see everyone as a child of an honoured person. Our faith declares we are all the children of God, making every person we see a child of the honoured one.

Jesus loved people and he revealed that in his awareness of what was wrong in their lives.

We demonstrate love for people when we take the time and make the effort to learn what is wrong and right in their lives.

I believe every member of a congregation is an ambassador for that congregation. As ambassadors we need to listen to people wherever we are, to learn about them and from them, and to share relevant information with our congregation. Sometimes we can share relevant information about the congregation with others. This means we need to know what is happening in our congregation and what it can offer to others.

Christmas is less that two months away. This is a good time to review the information our congregation provides to the public about itself through the internet, local media, and in its print materials.

As a follower of Jesus, I need to understand what I need and trust enough to reveal that, with shouting if necessary to be heard. I need to listen to the shouts of others and learn what they need instead of dismissing them. I need to ask others what they need or want without making assumptions about them. I need to respond appropriately. Some wants and needs require negative responses, but they can be rejected without being dismissed.

Our opening reading from Psalm 46 included God helping the afflicted. Sometimes helping the afflicted requires afflicting some who are too comfortable..

May the Spirit help each and everyone of us, to be aware, to see and hear what needs to be seen and heard.
 
Here is my story and message for November 3

Story: Cindy Blackstock Cindy Blackstock, OC, social worker, author, professor, advocate (born 1964 in Burns Lake, BC). Blackstock is a nationally and internationally respected advocate for the rights of Indigenous children. She co-founded the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society in 1998. Later, Blackstock led the organization’s case against the federal government from 2007–16. The Caring Society argued child welfare services provided to First Nations children and families on-reserve were discriminatory and flawed. Blackstock and the Caring Society continue to work toward improving child and family services for Indigenous children across Canada. They won the lawsuit against the federal government and negotiated a settlement. The settlement was rejected by the AFN in mid October so negotiations will continue. The Harper government hired a private agency to follow her and report on everything she said or did. The love she had for Indigenous children and trust in Canada’s legal system and her supporters enabled her success in working for the well-being of children.



Today’s Message: Love Rules: Trust Enables

In the gospel reading for today, from Mark 12:28-34, Jesus replied to the question by a teacher of the law about the most important commandment. “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbour as yourself.” `

Our reading from the Book of Ruth started the story of Ruth, daughter-in-law of Naomi. This story possibly originated when the Jews returned to Jerusalem and Judah from exile in Babylon. Some of the leaders like Ezra and Nehemiah were demanding that Jewish men with foreign wives were to send them and their children away. The author of this story portrayed David as the great grandson of a Moabite woman, Ruth. It opposed the racism of the Jewish leaders. Now, today’s part of the story.

While Ruth’s fate if she chose to stay in her home country is uncertain, the story emphasized her deep love for Naomi. Her love ruled over Naomi’s desire to be practical. Her trust in Naomi opened the door for the rest of the story. Love, trust, and compassion provided essential elements to this story. Ruth trusted Naomi. Naomi trusted in her family connections back in Bethlehem.

My theme till November 24 is Christ Centered Politics. My subtheme, Love Rules: Trust Enables focuses on the importance of love and trust in choosing to act politicly and strategizing that action. Love and trust are needed to persist in political action that faces difficult challenges. Cindy Blackstock loved the children and trusted in the law and in her network of people working for the same purposes.

Famine sent Naomi and her husband to Moab. Famine and the death of father and sons sent Naomi and Ruth back to Bethlehem. All political actions are responses to events and situations, real, imaginary, and fabricated, past or present or future.

The suffragettes responded to the injustice of women not being able to vote and being subject to laws and rules made by men that put women at a disadvantage.

The actions taken by a series of Quebec governments were and are responses to the dominance of English in North America and the feeling of slowly losing the security of the French language. The Freedom Convoy was a response to challenges caused by the pandemic and fabricated or exaggerated grievances by people seeking to undermine democracy in Canada or at least undermine the Liberal government.

People and organizations seeking power tend to promote fear and hate as guiding emotions for those responses. People and organizations seeking to build a better society tend to focus on love, compassion, hope, and trust as guiding emotions.

Often those seeking to build a better society meet violent resistance to their efforts. Student protesters at UBC opposed to the policies regarding trade between Pacific nations were pepper sprayed by the RCMP even though they were peaceful and obeying the law. Workers in the Winnipeg strike were attacked by the North-west Mounted Police and two were killed.

Some people, knowing the police will probably end their efforts for their purpose, arm themselves ahead of time. When the Town of Oka expropriated land for a golf course, land that was part of dragged out negotiations with the federal government, land that was sacred to the members of the First Nation at Oka, they were determined to defend their claim to the land as best as they could. That conflict revealed the chronic mistreatment of First Nations to the whole of Canada, and the federal and provincial governments had to agree to negotiate with the Oka Nation.

A Christ-centered response to violence by opponents to justice-seeking normally is to persist in non-violence. Sometimes that leads to difficult choices. The choice to be non-violent can result in some or many people being hurt or killed by the powers resisting change. A non-violent response to Hitler’s invasions would have been enslavement of a large part of the world. A nonviolent response by the ANC probably would see apartheid still in place in South Africa. A non-violent response by suffragettes in the United Kingdom to police violence could have delayed women getting the right to vote for many more years.

Is non-violent resistance more important than saving lives of the oppressed? I hope I never have to face this choice, but many people do.

Fortunately, at least for a while longer, we can use love and trust for much of our political action. Love Rules means using unconditional love as the driving force for whatever we decide to do.

It means loving ourselves enough to resist whatever harms us and to seek alliances in that resistance.

It means loving others enough to learn enough about them and their situation to gain a reason to act.

Last Sunday members of Lachute UC voted in the school board election advance poll as urgent political action was needed. Many people are protesting in many places for help for Palestinians, demanding more provincial support for health care and education, and many other purposes.

Many people support organizations working for causes such as Universal Basic Income, greater democracy in our electoral system, housing for those who need it, protection and restoration of the environment, and much more.

Driving all these actions is trust. They trust governments to respond to loud demands for action. They trust the law, like Cindy Blackstock and the group of young people who filed a lawsuit against the Ontario government for its failure to do enough to slow global climate change. Many trust that God will help them succeed.

The Great commandments inform our decision-making. If we stand be and do nothing when there is clearly systemic injustice, how much love do we really have for God or our neighbour?

If we choose to vote for someone because they make promises that are good for us but harmful to others, what does that say?

Politics exists on all levels of our society from our social groups and congregations through to federal politics. As followers of Jesus, we are called to make love our guide for our decisions and trust for our strength in working for change.

We are invited to have a passion for our faith and for Jesus that matches the passion of the love Ruth showed for Naomi. We are invited to be ready to spend decades for our cause as Cindy Blackstock did and does.

In our choices to do so, we can trust that the Spirit is part of what we do. Thanks be to God. Amen.
 
Here is my story and message for November 10

Story and Message for November 10, 2024

Mark 12:38-44 Beware of Power: Risk Everything

He continued teaching. “Watch out for the religion scholars. They love to walk around in academic gowns, preening in the radiance of public flattery, basking in prominent positions, sitting at the head table at every church function. And all the time they are exploiting the weak and helpless. The longer their prayers, the worse they get. But they’ll pay for it in the end.”

Sitting across from the offering box, he was observing how the crowd tossed money in for the collection. Many of the rich were making large contributions. One poor widow came up and put in two small coins—a measly two cents. Jesus called his disciples over and said, “The truth is that this poor widow gave more to the collection than all the others put together. All the others gave what they’ll never miss; she gave extravagantly what she couldn’t afford—she gave her all.”



Story: Ken Ken and his wife attended a church I served in Gibbons, Alberta. Ken was a cheerful, easy-going person who was serving in the army. He had done rotations in Yugoslavia and other places in Europe as well as being based in different places in Canada. Life was good for him when I last saw him in 2000. I assume he served at least once in Afghanistan. A few years ago, he shot himself on the front steps of the Alberta Legislature. I do not know why he did this, but many of our soldiers killed themselves after serving there. His death is never far from my mind just as it certainly haunts the lives of others who knew him.

Prayer: Holy One, we seek understanding for the intense pain too many people feel and wisdom for choosing how to provide comfort for them. This we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Message

Jesus told his followers to beware of the religious scholars. I believe he said this because their actions revealed they were mainly interested in what was good for them. Those scholars had power in the Jewish community.

His words apply to everyone with power over others. Accessible, affordable housing is an important issue for me. A significant minority of MPs and MPPs have investments in real estate, especially residential real estate. There has been a growing housing crisis in Canada for at least 15 years. Politicians who are invested in the current system are likely to be resistant to changes that will benefit low income people. So beware claims made by them.

Today, my key issue is how governments make decisions regarding involvement in international conflicts, funding for clothing and equipment for military personnel, and support for military personnel who are active or have left active service.

Too often, our governments make decisions that are heavily shaped by the UN or the US, decisions that either lack understanding of the people and situations where we send our troops, or place limitations that make their involvement extremely different. General Romeo Dallaire wrote and spoke well about the impossible situation for UN soldiers in Rwanda. Similar situations happened in East Timor, Croatia, and other war zones.

My theme for October and November is Christ Centered Politics. Today I ask you to carefully learn about and consider government plans for use of our military personnel in conflicts in other places. If we do not like what we learn, we need to let the government and the public know so we can advocate for better decisions. The same applies to government plans for acquiring equipment and uniforms. We first need clear objectives for the use of our personnel, objectives that were lacking in Afghanistan.

Fighter jets and fighter bombers have injured and killed far more civilians than combatants. They converted many people in the countries where they were used to joining Islamic resistance forces. They are not defensive weapons as much as offensive, are extremely expensive, and vulnerable to destruction by much cheaper surface to air missiles.

The Chretien-Martin government started the process of changing support for veterans, switching to payouts instead of pensions, and the Harper government furthered the process.

The purpose was to reduce overall costs of caring for veterans. They regarded supports for Veterans as unfortunate expenses instead of as an opportunity to express their gratitude for the sacrifices veterans made. There have also been challenges in providing support for soldiers and their families.

If we area grateful for what our military personnel have done and are doing, I believe honouring them includes advocating for them. Acknowledging their sacrifices is not enough.

There are many other powers that cause harm to people. We need to beware of what other governments and corporations are saying and doing. We need to try to understand what they are or are not doing and why. We need to understand the consequences if they succeed.

We need to see the difference between power over and power for. For example, most of the social media sites use complicated formulas called algorithms to increase the time people spend on their sites, generating ad revenue for them. This is use of power to gain some control over people. They will declare they are using this power to provide better experiences for their users, a power for, but it is clearly causing pervasive harm to people attached to those sites.

Other institutions often strive for power over people instead of for people.

One of those institutions is the church. For many centuries, churches used the power of the fear of hell to control their members, usually to make them compliant with the rulers of the day. Many churches still do this.

Our reading finished with the story of the widow’s mite. For most of the people making donations to the treasury, their gifts were like a voluntary tax paid to be visibly right with God. When the widow put in her mite, she placed her life on the line. If she failed to get more money through work or begging, she could have died. She demonstrated loving God with all she had and was.

Soldiers put their lives on the line, risking everything, when they go into combat, or into rescue situations.

St. Andrew’s United Church in Calgary learned their relatively new but poorly designed building need several million dollars in repairs. Mission was very important to them. The choice they had was fix their building and give up most of their mission work or leave the building and continue making mission a top priority. They took several years to explore their options and eventually sold their building, rented office space in a business centre, and shared worship with another congregation. They risked everything they had to keep serving others. About two or three years ago, they merged with the congregation with whom they shared worship to create a new identity for both. The funds from the sale of their building were and probably still are used to fund youth ministry across Calgary and area; children’s and family ministry over a broader area, and support for other churches looking at new uses for their buildings.

It is when we decide to dare to risk everything that we come close to living deeply and fully and close to God. It is when the trust we claim becomes real. We should take risks thoughtfully with a clear understanding of why we take those risks, of what we hope to achieve. Aid and health workers are frequently killed in places like Gaza, murdered for helping people despised by someone else. They take those risks because contributing to a better world is worth everything to them.

For what are we prepared to risk everything?

Today and tomorrow we honour soldiers and support staff like the crews of the ships that transported them and the material desperately needed in the United Kingdom, people who risked everything for their country including those serving today and veterans. We are invited to honour them through our words, our prayers, and our support for them.

We also honour them when we take risks their sacrifices make possible to share in working for a better world. God provided and provides what we need, Jesus showed what risking everything means, and the Spirit journeys with us in our risk taking. Thanks be to God. Amen.
 
First word I noted "seek" ... and after that some difficult digging ... many would avoid this vocation ... too much dirt, mire, earth, etc. Now as a ecological tech I worked with a lot of septic , aseptic and other sept processes as Guint! many of them excessively gunn'ð (that alien letter representing Latin eth, a gas, or Roman wind)? Imagine the high Lights ... forerunner of ET? Complex ... gross! Great? Then there was the spot ...
 
Then there is this from Ten's ankh Regarding IO's Lost Estes ...

  1. There shall be no god before me … nothing!​
  2. No graven image … not an icon!​
  3. No vanity regarding the label pride is abolished!​
  4. Shabbat … preserve the abstract; spill it all out! Holiday remains! ‘Ol EH?​
  5. Honor patriarch and his source … MOG-Wise!​
  6. No slaughter … everlasting nothing (thhis goes on and on)!​
  7. No maturation … learning is ultimate, children!​
  8. No theft … but ultimate trades and reciprocation!​
  9. No lies … but these can be dramatized for learning as in myths to attract physicians!​
  10. No coveting … as much, this involves enclosure, confinement, keep it temporal (abstract/dark)!​

Isn't that something to stir those doing nothing during Shabbat? Be genteel with your visions and mental projections ... after all this all occurs in the shadow ... unseen ... the abstract side of what was taken as absolute and ultimate ... given there is this opposing's Ide ... where thought goes when eliminated by gross power! It could be trans Y'r Dan ... the carrier diablo? Unfortunate character ... loaded with knowledge and cursed for the gift -- Giff'r? (that's something else different even divine and alien)

The lights wen tout ... Nacht covered the lanδ (Greek crossover) ... for the semi tight Ayin ֭ע imagine the nerve! It is in there where it is dark ... the night of SOL?

Some say it is diabolical to know such matter because it is forbode to go there ... thus some cinque to the bide 'n ... powerful tromping ...

Conclusion: word is ambiguous unless you're right into it ... observe from inside the icon ... its not superficial as the fascist claims ...

I do expect to be autonomously eliminated ... it happens as strange information is not allowed in reality ... it is psycho!
 
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Do you know Choe as an essence? At one time dark as Thomas ... may appear as Choe Leer AH! Community time of 100 years ... a lot happening in that life ...

It also will pass ... get on TU ET and ride off ... you've lugged enough ! The essence of the myths ...
 
I am baffled by the state of metaphor as a way to describe an non definable essence of God that is said to be love ... what gramps called equivalent to love ... in equivalence is this completely unbalanced in secular poles?

I love the essence of metaphor as a vicarious domain ... and often the observes can't see the difference between a war horse of the divine end of Mule ... thus corrupted vectors ... like ↔ vs Ӝ that can be dissociated into ">" "|" and "<" sometime resonating portions ... during the coming and going's ...

And I even heard that true love was achieved when there was nothing "left" to lose ... a righteous self-destruction? It is indicated by some signs that it can occur ...
 
Jae said:
Praise God, the Bible is returning to Oklahoma schools
sde.ok.gov

Walters Announces First in the Nation Bible Purchase | Oklahoma State Department of Education

The Oklahoma State Department of Education is the state education agency of the State of Oklahoma who determines the policies and directing the administration and supervision of the public school system of Oklahoma.
sde.ok.gov sde.ok.gov
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ANd when will they be buying the Quran? Or the Tanakh (Jewish Scriptures arranged according to that tradition rather than the Christian Old Testament)? Or copies of other sacred literature?

THe Bible is not, afaik, banned in any school any more than prayer is banned. As a piece of literature (and as a reference to help in the study of much English literature) or as a piece for personal use it belongs in the library.
 
Christ centered politics opposes fostering fear, hate, and anger. Christ centered politics puts meals for students ahead of making them study the Bible.
 
jimkenney12 said:
Christ centered politics opposes fostering fear, hate, and anger. Christ centered politics puts meals for students ahead of making them study the Bible.
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There's no better way to learn about the true importance of opposing fostering fear, hate and anger than reading the Bible. Nourishment of more than one kind is vital to students' well-being. They need physical health through things including meals, yes, mental health, and also spiritual health through the study of the Bible
 
Jae said:
It's an approach to political engagement that aligns policies and actions with the teachings and values of Jesus Christ. It stresses the principles of love, justice, compassion, and humility
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And when do Christian politicians intend to start exhibiting those values?
 
I regret that religious identity seems to have little connection many times to being Christ Centered. I believe Ghandi said something like, "Christ I respect, It's Christians I can't stand." I do the best I can as do others on this site to change that, even some who are atheist.
 
jimkenney12 said:
I regret that religious identity seems to have little connection many times to being Christ Centered. I believe Ghandi said something like, "Christ I respect, It's Christians I can't stand." I do the best I can as do others on this site to change that, even some who are atheist.
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If you get to moral conclusions through Jesus, great. I see biblical reasoning behind immoral conclusions enough that I don't think the bible is a net positive in the world. Not anymore. I admire those of you who do get there through (or despite) Jesus, but it's funny that you're standing with atheists, against other Christians.
 
jimkenney12 said:
I regret that religious identity seems to have little connection many times to being Christ Centered. I believe Ghandi said something like, "Christ I respect, It's Christians I can't stand." I do the best I can as do others on this site to change that, even some who are atheist.
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Commentary like that often carries a long way ... consider the effort of I Caerus ... few know anything about Caerus!
 
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