10 Reasons Why I'm Done Blogging

1. Blogging the right way takes too much time. I found that my number of readers really climbs if I blog every 3-4 days. I have plenty to say and could easily do that..., but I only have one life to live...and you shouldn't be spending that much time reading my heresy anyway...you could be reading the Bible(hopefully your smiling:)

2. I don't have the authority to say the things I say. It is only 50 year old men and women, who have gray hair(and have experienced a lot of real life), that should be saying the things that I say. Instead of reading my blog, you should go find an old gray haired sage in your community and become their disciple.

3.I never intended to blog more than a year anyway. I've always felt that the social networks should be dumped into hell, but I don't want to be a distant or naive critic. I decided to do some experimental blogging for a year, minus the social hemoglobin. (It was revealing and I learned a lot about people...at least people that use the internet)

4. When I started blogging, I basically knew who was reading my blog. Now...I have no clue who 70% of my readers are...this fact scares me spitless, and I have even noticed a hardening of the soft palate.

5. I really do believe that the medium is the message. So help me God...this piece of garbage is not going to be the message of my life. If you want to be known as blackmamba77 or Jesusfuzz23 go for it...I want to be known as a disciple of Christ who loves other people life on life.

6. Does this world really need another blogger? Is there really a shortage of bloggers? Last I heard...National Geographic was still talking about Africa's shortage of good drinking water....

7. Young people say things about themselves on the internet that induces the growth of mold on my upper ganglia. "Yo dudes and dudesses...if all you care about is having sex with the world/creation DON'T TELL ME! I DON'T WANNA KNOW...I want to think well of you when I go to bed. Why don't you go find that gray haired sage in your community that I mentioned earlier...tell them(instead of the world on facebook) that your ten favorite movies are all R-rated. Or....are all you kids really just pulling my leg, and you haven't really watched all those movies???"


8. Blogging CAN be fake (not ALWAYS, but it CAN be fake). I can really do some sweet Jesus talk on this blog, but how do you know I'm actually living like Jesus?

9. Anything that is put into writing can be misread, picked apart, and shredded by another. I don't want you painstakingly critiquing what I write on this blog...its not fair to me. This is why I smile at discussion forums...sorry Menno discuss:) However...if you are watching me live life day in and day out...I DO accept your painstaking critique of how I'm living. This is called discipleship and it is what will help me grow. I will want to hear your critique and advice face to face in a coffee shop though

10. Blogging is best used by missionaries, those away from home, and other similar scenarios where one wants to keep the home folk aware of what is happening in another part of the world.

Thank you readers for reading....on days when my blog gets a lot of hits I feel popular. Its funny how that works...hopefully I don't spiral into depression without that little steroid:) I'm not reacting to technology or blogging. In fact, I'm proud of you if you keep blogging for Jesus! I may drop a post once in a blue moon, but it will be rare.

Find someone to love today....

I'm 57 Years Old

About a month ago I told my Dad that I feel like a very old man. After reading this Mark Nepo piece this morning, I'm quite certain I'm 57 years old....

At Fifty-Seven

Mark Nepo

I feel like I stumbled
down a hill of years, only
to land in a pile of my books.

Along the way, I cracked
like a Russian doll; finding
something smaller and more
essential inside every version
I've known as me.

And now, when all I know
bursts into flame each time
I try to give it away, I'm asked
what matters.

There's something perfect
in how we're worn; like sculptures
left for Spirit and wind to finish, the
film taken from our eye just as
our heart is exposed, one
crumbling into the other.

Source: Unknown

"WE"

I'm trying to wrap up the school year right now...holding my breath for long periods...eye sockets bulging...recklessly careening through the last days.

Very quickly....this is what I've been thinking....

When "We" has no emotive face...when "We" has no eyes of love or hands of service...when "We" has no name like, Levi, Ruthie, or Jesus....RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!!

The Lord's Prayer

I was given the wonderful opportunity to talk to a crowd of about 500 people for a short time last night. I received several texts telling me you were praying for all of us...thankyou! This is the condensed version of what I dropped on them...

These thoughts are by all means not original with me, but just in case you feel they are heretical...kill me and not the brother who gave them to me:)

If these thoughts WERE original with me, I would probably be too proud to share them with you all:(

I would like to look at what I believe may be one of the most misinterpreted scriptures in our modern world….the Lords Prayer.

Many times the Lord's Prayer has been subconsciously edited to say: Our Father who art in Heaven…hallowed by thy name…thy kingdom come…they will be done… which is to take us to heaven when we die.

…some wonderful editing…but that's not what Jesus prayed

Jesus prayed: Thy will be done ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN!

He speaks of heaven’s will coming down to the earth and being done here just like its done in heaven….

Jesus showed up in a context where he said, Listen everybody…I want you to stop believing all the other stories…

That’s in part what the word REPENT means…. (It doesn’t only mean to feel guilty)…..it means to look at things in a completely new way….you see things in a new light....you start telling a completely new story....

Jesus says, There’s another story going on here…

Another word for story is "news"… (when you listen to the news you have story)

Jesus said, "I’ve got better news…a better story"…HE CALLED IT GOOD NEWS!!!

Citizens of the Kingdom of God…we ought to be living by Jesus story…not all of these other stories.

And Jesus is the firstborn of the dead… How do you become the emperor?? (by being the firstborn of the previous emperor)

Jesus is the firstborn of the dead so...Jesus has authority over all things and he makes reconciliation whether on heaven or on earth through his blood….He makes peace through the shedding of his own blood!

How did Caesar make peace? – shedding others blood on the cross

How does Jesus make peace? – shedding his own blood on the cross

This is a very different story…not the story that Caesar is in charge(and has the way to peace)…a story that Jesus is in charge and Jesus has the way to peace.

Now brothers and sister what does this mean….

This means that we need to recognize that life is full of crisis…and every child that is born into this world is part of these crisis…

This means that as youth workers…pastors…parents…and even teachers for Jesus Christ…we aren’t just recruiting people for heaven…

We are recruiting people to be agents of the Kingdom of God in relationship to the crisis of this world…

Tonight you will hear talk about planting seeds of truth…you will hear talk about how death is not an end…

above all…I hope that you see demonstrated by our lives…that we are agents in the Kingdom of God…responding to the crisis of our world.

Our father who art in heaven...hallowed by thy name...thy Kingdom come...thy will be done...ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN!!!!

Strausburg Mennonite Church (1909)

I apologize for being a few days late with the information, but normally we would scratch this info on a cave wall with a sharp rock...

Sunday Services April 11, 1909 - Strasburg Mennonite Church
(This is our first day ever for Sunday School)

Hymn - (#126) "Walk Daily With Your Savior"
Scripture - Luke 24:1-13
Sunday School Lesson - Acts 2:1-4
Prayer - J.S.Burkholder
Hymn - (#306) "We'll Work Till Jesus Comes"
Present - 49
Visitors - 3
Collection - $4.00
Weather - Fair

My thoughts on Sunday School:
1. Its not sanctioned in the Bible
2. It asks the laity to teach
3. It's a worldly practice

More Repentance

(Me talking to myself while traveling alone on the highway)

Why do you look past the people around you, claiming to see the Kingdom of God in the near distance?

Oscar Romero

If you've never heard of Oscar Romero you should check up on his story. He was an archbishop who died for his people in the front of his church....assassinated 30 years ago yesterday.

I was introduced to his story several years ago and found it incredibly powerful. One week before his assassination Romero spoke these words:

"No one can quench the life that Christ has resurrected. Neither death nor all the banners of death and hatred raised against him and against his church can prevail. He is the victorious one! Just as he will thrive in an unending Easter, so we must accompany him in a Lent and a Holy Week of cross, sacrifice, and martyrdom. As he said, blessed are they who are not scandalized by his cross.

Lent, thus, is a call to celebrate our redemption in that difficult combination of cross and victory. Our people are well prepared to do so these days: all that surrounds us proclaims the cross. But those who have Christian faith and hope know that behind this calvary of El Salvador lies our Easter, our resurrection. That is the Christian people’s hope."

I refuse to publicly endorse films simply because there is such a broad range of what is acceptable and appropriate. Without necessarily endorsing the film (as in "YOU NEED TO GO WATCH IT"), I found the Romero film to be quite powerful for me. Romero's story calls one to think about how we as Jesus followers ought to deal with (even fight) the evil and horror of our world.

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Why Don't Women Sing?

Women's music has never been all that popular, but sometimes I come across a well done piece and wonder why there is not more of it....

I've always loved this piece written by Morten Laurdisen, especially the men's version. From what I can tell this is simply the men's version in a higher key. Coming from someone who has done a lot of men's music...this is lovely.

Maybe this amateur women's ensemble will inspire more women to sing together....

Overrated People and Blue Ribbons

Another question for the cosmic intelligence: Why do we honor, even idolize, incomplete people?

Our children grow up and we teach them to want to be that Olympic runner, professional soloist, famous pianist, remembered artist or composer, and in worst cases, glamorous actors and actresses. We ought to remember that those who excel so greatly in a specific area are often confined to excellence in that area only...they have devoted their whole life to becoming good at one single thing.

Granted, this kind of focused drive and commitment, that produces excellence and professionals, is commendable and worth honoring. I'm just not sure we ought to be giving our blue ribbons to these people...I think they may deserve second place ribbons, but not first place ribbons.

There IS a kind of underrated person in our society that I believe deserves that blue ribbon. This underrated person is rarely given any ribbon at all. In fact he is rarely noticed because he does not stand out. He is only average...yet he is incredibly rare! He is only average because he is only an average pianist, average athalete, average carpenter, average mechanic, average speaker, average writer, average artist, average business man.....yet he is ALL of these things and maybe much more.

I call these people "BIG people." The world renown pianist is small beside this "incredible hulk" The world renown pianist's world is only as big as his single overdeveloped skill, while this very average man's world includes music, mechanics, carpentry, writing, painting, fathering, pastoring, and a very long list of things.

We need to begin giving our blue ribbons to "whole people" instead of "incomplete people." If we do this, our children may start wanting to be whole people instead of country singers, sports athletes, and celebrities. Children inherently desire blue ribbons...be careful where you pin them!

Pin your blue ribbons on people that are willing to speak to a small crowd one day and hoe in the garden the next day...people that can breath deeply the smell of expensive perfume one day and breath deeply the smell of the earth the next...people who can stand on marble floors one day and dig their toes in the grass the next...people that will sing in the community choir one day and change the oil in their car the next...people that can hold a goblet one day and caress a dog behind the ears the next...people that can read a book one day and build a house the next...people that can violently hit a softball one day, and gently clean a cut the next.....

All of you tenth graders(and parents of tenth graders) out there....this may be the greatest argument for finishing school. If you have any teacher worth his salt, he will be devoted to helping you become a "WHOLE" person. You will travel in your imagination with that teacher to Africa and the slums of cities...you will identify with the underprivileged...you will learn how plants grow...you will learn how to speak in public...you will learn how to sing...you will learn how eggs hatch...you will become a whole person. Forgive me but...you have your whole life to look at a cow utters and two by fours. You have your whole life to become a professional farmer or carpenter. You are only 16...give yourself a chance to be a whole person.

I plead with our society to think about where we pin our blue ribbons. I plead because I am a driven incomplete person...I am an incomplete person because I saw society pinning too many blue ribbons on incomplete people. I will fight you...I will fight you till the day I die by pinning blue ribbons on people that rarely get blue ribbons.

Look well...look well ye young ones, because I am going to pin a blue ribbon even today. I do not own all of the blue ribbons, but forgive me for bragging on my dad today. I grew up watching my dad teach one day and unload a wagon of hay the next...I grew up watching my dad play softball with the best of us boys one day and give my brothers and I a sound spanking the next...I grew up watching my dad preach one day and hoe in the garden the next...I grew up watching my dad read books in the early hours of the morning and saw wood all afternoon...I grew up hearing my dad sing one day and change the brakes on the van the next...I grew up watching my dad wear black dress shoes one day and a welders helmet the next...I grew up beside a whole man.

Go find someone worthy of a blue ribbon today...and make sure a child is watching while you pin the blue ribbon on that "whole" person!

Who Are the Evangelicals?

BRRRRRIING!!!(telephone ringing)....

Hello(me)....

Hi, I'm an Evangelical and I'm wondering....


Should Mennonites endorse the Matthew 5 project?

(This question is not exclusively for my Mennonite readers)

Who Knows What Your Problem Might Be....

Last night I sat on my couch....

Elbows on my knees....head in my hands....

staring at my feet.

I gazed at my feet for nearly fifteen minutes, pondering an issue at school

Suddenly it hit me....

You knucklehead...you're wearing two drastically different socks!

Truth and Peace

Someone recently asked me what I think of this quote by JC Ryle.

"Never be guilty of sacrificing any portion of truth on the altar of peace." - JC Ryle.

To be fair, I can't recall the context in which Ryle spoke these words. This was my initial response(with appropriate alterations)....

Hey, at least the credits are right for once. "Chuck" Spurgeon has been cited as the author of this quote when in reality he was quoting our dear brother Ryle.

What is Ryle trying to say? I don't know but there are basically two options.

1. Never be found sacrificing truth for peace (Don't do it)

2. You don't need to feel guilty for doing this ( Do it)

People have generally quoted Ryle in order to support option number 1. In other words, they use this quote to support a doctrinal emphasis. Arguing about various levels of doctrinal interests pretty much seems like a crock of pig Latin to me (Don't email me asking me for my political opinion on doctrine). Hey, who am I...I'm just a servant...go ask the King!

I don't really care which way Ryle meant it to be understood. Either way, Ryle is making a horrendous assumption....he is inadvertently indicating his subconscious belief that Truth may not be Peace....and likewise Peace may not be Truth.

I'm proclaiming from the mountain tops that Jesus IS TRUTH and Jesus is the WAY OF PEACE...peace and truth can't be separated. Thats the "good news" of the gospel. I hate to break it to Ryle, but Truth has lain in bed with Peace. According to the one party(Jesus) they don't seem to be interested in a divorce.

Veiled Freedom

I don't read many novels these days...especially the modern "apple snitz" type material that tends to gum up my brain and produce a contented sort of lock jaw. Enjoy this book recommendation while it lasts because I'm going to do something really abnormal for me...I'm going to recommend a novel today:)

Its not that there aren't any good novels out there...its just that there are so many novels of every shape around every corner, and I grow weary of people hoping to ram the latest rage down my throat. They say things like, "Kyle, you just HAVE to read ____________!!!!" These statements insinuate that I will never be a real person of value unless I become their clone....immediately I begin to think of reason why I will hate this new book that I "HAVE" to read.

So....nobody has to read this book, and I don't think you will be a lesser person if you haven't or won't read it. In fact, I should point out that your time would be better spent on another book, if you don't have a heart of love for the people of the middle east.

However....if you're still reading this post...

...and you're like me, having read nothing but theology, philosophy, and modern church writers for the last several years...if you would like a break from the heavier stuff...If you would like something pretty light for a change....if you would like to get a fairly accurate picture of the tensions in the middle east...take the time to read "Veiled Freedom" by J. M. Windle.

I'm actually reading parts of it to my students, hoping to produce more color in their picture of the middle east.

Five Elixires for Your Soul

On this beautiful Valentines Day I've already spent my time with my "significant other" which happens to be my wonderful cappuccino concoction, better known in the northern regions as "three in one." My wonderful "three in one" lasted about 5 minutes, so here we are...coming at you with a bit of spiked gloom and doom.

If you've been a teacher, you've surely had your students tell you that the stories in their literature book are just plain boring. Maybe your friend declares that he/she hates reading. After reading Corrie Ten Boom's story called, "The Hiding Place" someone told me that they found the story boring. Of course my mind began to turn, which in my case is generally a bad thing it seems:) I have five little elixirs for the soul in store for you today (read sarcasm).

When the stories of the lives of those before us become boring to us, we can know:

1. Our own lives have become our god in our universe

2. We can no longer identify with what God is doing on a wholistic/universal scale.

3. We have watched too many movies (electronic imaging has killed our imagination)

4. We no longer have the ability to "IMAGINE" what God can do in the future.

5. The Bible will have little impact in our lives and it's stories and prophesies will also be boring to us and our children.

Clarification and World Repentance

Just to clarify all confusion...Zion's Praises IS one of my five favorite hymn books.

Maybe you are already subscribed to these inspirational snippets. I apparently subscribe to them in my sleep because my in-box seems to fill up with them every day, and I can't really remember subscribing to them....

James Douglas reminds me of John the Baptists here....telling the world, "repent, the Kingdom is at hand!"

Paralyzed or Free

James Douglass


Most of the people on earth today are paralyzed by what are said to be the consequences of their sins. The destitute of the world have it hammered into their consciousness--by those who, like the scribes, have the power in our day to define sins--that they are poor because they are lazy; or that they are poor because they have mismanaged their resources; or because they have squandered opportunities; or because, in the most blatantly evil definitions of guilt, they are black or female or homosexual or members of whatever part of humanity the powerful choose to define as subhuman and sinful. Paralysis, hunger, homelessness and early death are, according to the rich and powerful, the direct consequences of the poor and powerless having sinned in one way or another.... [But] the paralytic walks away because he has become a new human being. Transformed within and without, he is freed from paralysis.

Recantation

I need to recant on one of my previous points. Thank-you careful readers for...well...your careful reading!

First of all....

I wouldn't throw your Zions Praises hymnals in the trash over this, but "I Come to the Garden Alone" IS in the revered hymn book after all folks! Its not one of the regular numbers, but you will find it clambering for attention on the inside of the front cover.

Secondly....

Sometimes your machines get the better of you...in this case my "auto-speller" slashed and burned me. The joke is on me, but I most certainly believe I wanted to say "corporate worship" rather than "corporal worship." Now THATS a theological quandary I'm not touching with a fifty foot pole!:)

The Main Thing of the Main Thing.

What do you do if your generation no longer connects with the previous generations? What do you do when the preaching of the Word seems irrelevant to your generation? What do you do when your grandfather’s theopraxy appears inane in your world? If you’re asking yourself these questions I suggest that you go lap some lukewarm eggnog and begin to ask some relevant questions.

(Example of a “RELEVANT” question of un-proportionate import:) What should you do when you can no longer identify with the hymn book of the ages?

Hoping to give birth to generations upon generations of maturity I have decided to exercise my spiritual tenacity in the grassland of the “Zion’s Praises.”

Here is a list of 10 assets that simply set the Zion’s Praises apart from all others as a, not only mediocre, but even great, hymn book.

1. First of all, it contains a whopping 816 numbers. (Beaten by “Faith and Praise” only)
2. The book IS “green” (Seriously, we’ve got to revitalize our fight against global warming)
3. It doesn’t have “I Come to the Garden Alone” in it (C. Austin Miles clearly had no concept of corporal worship or community for that matter)
4. It has a massive “heaven” section. (Nearly 70 songs…makes it a great hymn book to take with you to the nursing home)
5. Durable cover is meant to last.
6. The Topical Index font in the back is so small you get a chance to use that magnifying glass that you’d never use anywhere else.
7. Stands alone as the only hymn book to have a section on the “Holy Kiss”
8. Thank God it doesn’t have any titles that begin with “X” or “Z” (That would really be confusing)
9. It doesn’t have one of those page marking strings that always fray on the end anyway.
10. Most songs are speed applicable. (as long as the sopranos don’t get ahead of those cool base runs)

Note of disclaimer: If you’re still reading this post “seriously”….you better just stick to eggnog after all. This is intended to be humorous. I enjoy singing out of the Zion’s Praises too…most of the time :)

Mennonite Culture

Here is a short excerpt from a paper that I recently wrote on Mennonite culture and community. (I'd love to hear your comments)

The Individual
Community must be composed of alive and very real people who experience life in very alive and real ways. If community is composed of "real living" and very "real experience," the individual’s experience of community is of vital importance to this topic. We may ask, “what has our culture done for the poor and oppressed individual?” How does Mennonite culture differ from a worldly culture? According to my study, it would be quite safe to say that all the cultures of the world are ruled by a powerful minority, who are sure to shape culture to the benefit of their own power. It is this very same question that plagues us. How are we different from the cultures of the world in this aspect? How have we also fallen into this power conservation program that most assuredly foretells failure of community from the outset. Political, social, and economic inequality is experienced as an inequality of culture, a prime example of the un-community; however, before I am labeled socialistic, may we unpack and examine such a statement?

The Masses
To our shame as Anabaptist people, Science and technology have shaped our culture more than the humanities. The impact of cell phones and the internet has had a revamping effect on our culture while those suffering individuals swarming around us have had only marginal impact on how we actively participate in community. Social and political structures within our communities have been revamped by the internet and evolved methods of communication. All the while our political and social structures have remained unfazed by the base needs of the masses that pass within mere feet of us every day.
Unfortunately this is where the very problem is sourced. It is our view of the masses that has allowed us to discard the shared social project of healing the broken hearted, binding up the wounded, and giving to the poor. Of course this shared social project is the shared creative response to a creation gone wrong that should be at the core of our strongest communities. If this shared response is not present, we have done one of two things. Either we are back at building a wall without bricks, or we have adopted the worlds art and are building a strong wall that must be destroyed before the Kingdom can be built.
Who are the masses? In every case, for every individual, the masses are “other people.” To someone, we are the masses; to us, they are the masses. There are no masses. The term “masses” is simply a way of seeing the people around us. Sadly our Anabaptist culture has been shaped heavily by science and technology, and consequently we now live in a culture that sees people as masses. This view dehumanizes the individual. We gain much from this view. This view allows cultural and political exploitation, for the individual is dehumanized and our consciences are cleared.

Forgot to close with prayer.....

Compassionate History (response)

I have enjoyed reading the responses that I have received concerning my last post, "Compassionate History." Most have been thought provocative. I especially thought this was well said....

I for one appreciated the mild diatribe. I was struck that the Egypt memories were to have an ethical import beyond just "our God can beat up your God." Another words, Yahweh's confrontation with the self worshiping empire/emperor was no mere tribalism (there was after all mercy for Egyptians who feared Yahweh), rather heaven's way is set against human sin. - Marlin Sommers

Compassionate History (continued)

Ok so I've gone off on my rant...this is long...nobody has to read it)You're free to slay me...just do it by email so I can forward unkind remarks to God:)



We see this first in the story of Cain and Able. God told Cain that Able’s blood cries out to him….God will not shut His ear to that cry. The cry changed the course of history and Cain was cursed.

In Egypt, Pharaoh responds to the growing number of Israelites by forcing them into slavery, which is the ultimate form of oppression. Once again God acts, and leads his children out from under the heel of Egypt.

God blessed the children of Israel until they became like Egypt. The Children of Israel are commanded, “Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt. Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan…do not deny justice to your poor people.”

As I read the Old Testament, I’m pretty sure God emphasized that THEY MUST NOT FORGET EGYPT! God stresses over and over again that they must tell the stories to their children…they must remember…they must remember Egypt.

We go back to Solomon. Solomon was given great wealth, but what did he do with this wealth? He began to build. He built an empire…then he had to build military bases to protect his empire. If you read Exodus you will find that Solomon not only bought horses and chariots…he began to sell them to neighboring Kings. He begins to amass wealth from violence and finds that war is profitable. Before long Solomon is largely building and protecting his empire with forced labor, not to mention his enjoyment of his many wives. Once again scripture tells us that Solomon turned his heart towards other gods and he was not completely devoted to the Lord our God. Jerusalem has now become Egypt…Jerusalem is now the oppressor. Solomon no longer used his resources to liberate the oppressed…he used his resources to oppress.

Is it any surprise that Solomon built the temple largely from forced/slave labor. Though I’m not sure how important it is, I am not surprised to hear both the prophets and Jesus talk about tearing the temple down and rebuilding it in 3 days.

Solomon must have forgotten Egypt. I think there was a reason God was so concerned that the Children of Israel would forget Egypt. The Ten Commandments were supposed to help them remember, but Solomon forgot.

Prophets like Amos show up to rescue Israel. They say things like, “hear this word you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy.” Yet Israel doesn’t listen, and God WILL hear the cry of the oppressed….we soon find Israel in exile.

The stories of empires rising and falling have followed this pattern over and over again. Empires rise to the point of oppressing those around them in order to build a bigger barn...its amazing to me how they all seem to disintegrate at this point. The desire to build bigger and bigger barns seem to be the human nemeses.

Spain was a “big dog” in the world scale until their powerful navy was supernaturally destroyed on the rocks just north of England and they encountered their own economic obesity. Most history books don’t tell you that prior to their sort of miraculous disintegration as a world power they were enslaving and oppressing the Caribbean natives in a horrendous manner.

The blood of the oppressed cries out to God just as Able’s blood cried out. It is this cry that has continually changed the projected course of history. It is Gods compassion toward his children under oppression that does not allow him to sit silently in their distress. Could it possibly be this divine compassion that drives, shapes, even molds the story of the creation….literally making history, “His story?” Yet we are arrogant enough to think it is US…OUR bigger king with the bigger barn, who kills the weaker king with the smaller barn….it is these guys who drive history forward. Our history books prove to me that this is what we believe.

For even an amateur historian, the list of oppressors who have created their own demise is endless. Who respects God? Who stands in awe of His compassion? Who trembles in the presence of God’s love? Who believes God when He says that Able’s blood cries out to him?

Does America think that the blood of her aborted babies does not cry out to God? Does America think that the lives of her fatherless children do not cry out to God? Does America think that the pain and suffering of those whom we stand and trample upon in order to uphold this “great empire” do not cry out to God. Does our great empire built on the industrial revolution believe that those who suffered at the hands of big business and industry do not cry out to God?

Like Jesus told the rich young ruler…. “sexual purity, honesty, good stewardship, non-violence…these are all good things….but there’s one major thing you’re forgetting….you’re FORGETTING EGYPT!” You’ve been a “good” man, but you’ve done nothing to free the oppressed, downtrodden, and poor….have you sold all you have and given to the poor? NO…you’ve been building…building bigger barns! When the rich young ruler could only hang his head and walk away sad, Jesus laments that it is hard for a rich man to do what he was just talking about. In fact you could cram a camel(whatever that is) through the eye of an needle before…..(I’d rather not think about it)

The worst thing is that empire…the institution…and business…they all tell us that Jesus didn’t really mean what he said.

They tell us that building bigger barns for ourselves is good.

They tell us that God does not hear Able’s blood crying out in our day.

They tell us that we don’t need to remember Egypt.

They tell us that the prophets were liars.

And sadly it is they who write our history books!

Compassionate History

I am a man therefore I like reading war stories….or maybe I should say I LIKED reading war stories before I became a teacher. Once I found that every history book is simply a book of war stories in chronological order I began to get tired of some of them. Has it ever occurred to you that those who get to write history are always the winners? Of course the winners are going to make it sound like their victory is what drives our story forward. Dead men and empires can’t tell their tales.

As I follow Jesus deeper into His own heart, I revolt more and more against egotistic bragging/humanism…therefore, I tire of hearing the winners tell their war stories…therefore, I’m sick of war…therefore, in my mind most of our history books are humanistic.

If there is anything that God cannot do, it is shut his ear to the distress cry of his children. God’s immense ocean of love cannot ignore the desperate cry of the oppressed, in fact I believe God refuses to ignore such a cry. God WILL act when his children are oppressed and cry out to him.

We see this first in the story of Cain and Able. God told Cain that Able’s blood cries out to him….God cannot shut His ear to that cry. The cry changed the course of history and Cain was cursed.

I feel a huge rant coming on....this will have to be continued.