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fixed on jesus

fixed on jesus

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Let us run with determination the race that lies before us … keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus.

There are a few phrases in scripture that speak with particular clarity and power. This is one of them. It speaks a word the Church needs to hear! This is what holds us together. This is what gives integrity to the Church’s mission. In the face of broad disagreement about theology, about ethics, about church and culture, about worship style, about evangelism, about mission itself, if we simply keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, we will not lose our way.

Sure, we will even disagree about Jesus! But the key is not what we think about Jesus, or what we think Jesus is telling us or anybody else to do. The key is not what we think. The key is keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus! The key is not letting our attention be captured by other commitments, other priorities, other loves.

This word speaks to the Church, but it also speaks to me. In the midst of struggle and pain, joy and sorrow, success and failure, exhiliration and disapppointment, clarity and confusion … I keep my eyes fixed on Jesus. It is the only way …

jesus is lord

jesus is lord

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From the United Church of Christ newsroom:

Jesus sole head of church, Thomas affirms
Written by Will Matthews
Tuesday, 28 June 2005

Refuting claims to the contrary, the Rev. John H. Thomas, general minister and President of the UCC, unequivocally re-affirmed Monday that “Jesus Christ is the sole head of the church, Son of God and Savior.”

In a letter submitted to the Bergen County Record, Thomas responded to a story that appeared in the New Jersey newspaper June 15 that centers on a proposed General Synod resolution.

The proposed resolution, slated to be debated by close to 1,000 General Synod delegates who will gather in Atlanta this week, asks the UCC to affirm the Lordship of Jesus.

The story quotes the pastor of a New Jersey UCC church that is one of a handful of sponsors of the proposed resolution as saying that denominational leaders are “fuzzy” about their belief in God.

But Thomas in his letter said such a statement couldn’t be farther from the truth and that the UCC in fact is firmly grounded in its belief in both God and Jesus as “our crucified and risen Lord.”

“Our faith is not in a book or tradition, but a Sovereign who is risen, is present with us and thus a Word that ‘still speaks,’” Thomas wrote.

The resolution, sponsored by eight geographically-diverse congregations, asserts that the greatest issue currently facing the denomination is whether to acknowledge the Lordship and divinity of Jesus.

But Thomas in his letter said the question is a moot point.

“When the delegates to the 25th General Synod of the United Church of Christ gather for opening worship in Atlanta on July 1, they will join in an affirmation of baptism that begins with the public confession of the triune God, including belief in ‘Jesus Christ, the only one begotten of God before all worlds.’”

The full text of Thomas’ letter, as well as the link to the June 15 Bergen County Record story follows:

Letter to the Editor:

It will take more than a resolution to the General Synod and an article in a local newspaper to create an identity crisis for the United Church of Christ. The fact is, the only reason we can use a comma along side our more traditional emblem of the cross, crown, and orb, is because of our confession that “Jesus Christ is the sole head of the church, Son of God and Savior.” Our faith is not in a book or a tradition, but a Sovereign who is risen, is present to us, and thus a Word that “still speaks.”

Ask anyone baptized using the liturgical rite of the United Church of Christ Book of Worship: “Do you profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior?” Ask worshipers in our local churches who Sunday after Sunday read from the United Church of Christ Statement of Faith, printed in our hymnal, “In Jesus Christ the man of Nazareth, our crucified and risen Lord, God has come to us and shared our common lot, conquering sin and death and reconciling the world to God’s self.” Ask our ecumenical partners, including Lutherans, Presbyterians, Disciples, and members of the Reformed Church in America who as recently as1997 recognized the UCC as a “church where the gospel is rightly preached.” Ask Christians around the world who share fellowship with the United Church of Christ in the World Council of Churches on the basis of our common confession of “the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Savior according to the scriptures.” Ask our pastors who affirm at their ordination that they “hear the word of God in the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments,” and who “accept the word of God as the rule of Christian faith and practice.”

When the delegates to the 25th General Synod of the United Church of Christ gather for opening worship in Atlanta on July 1, they will join in an affirmation of baptism that begins with the public confession of the triune God, including belief in “Jesus Christ, the only one begotten of God before all worlds.” In the remembrance of these baptismal vows, the delegates will begin five days of listening for the living Word from the living Christ, a Stillspeaking God whose voice is never bound by the periods of time, culture, or convention.

The Rev. John H. Thomas
General Minister and President
United Church of Christ

“god bless america” is not the doxology

“god bless america” is not the doxology

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Worship as Higher Politics – Christianity Today Magazine

I was pointed to this article while checking out another Christian blog. It is well worth reading.

There is a Christian politics, which is to say that following Jesus must lead us to care about the political decisions, the law-making and law-enforcement, the policies of war and economics and international relations that impact people’s lives in profound ways.

But it is a politics of Jesus. When we wed a Christian politics too closely to the aims of one particular political party or to one particular political entity — e.g a particular nation! — it is not a politics of Jesus any more.

Followers of Jesus are first and last citizens of the kingdom of heaven.

i have a dream

i have a dream

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I have a dream …

Like the dream of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., it is a dream about reconciliation. It is a dream about two groups of people divided by history and culture and prejudice learning to live together, to respect each other, to recognize the strength and beauty in each other, to work alongside each other to make the world new.

I dream of reconciliation between “progressive” Christians and “evangelical” Christians. I use these particular terms because they are the terms the two groups use to identify themselves. I put the terms in quotes, however, because the words may not be the most apt descriptors for the two groups. “Progressive” Christians may well be evangelical in the sense that they bear a message of good news into a hurting world. And “evangelical” Christians are certainly progressive in that they seek not just to preserve the status quo, but to transform it.

Why do I dream of reconciliation? Because the antagonism and mistrust of each group for the other cripples their witness and defames the name and the way of Jesus! And Jesus is what they have in common. They are “progressive” Christians … “evangelical” Christians. The key to reconciliation must be found in what they do have in common: Jesus Christ, Jesus the Christ who prayed that his followers be one.

It may seem preposterous to think these two groups have anything at all in common. Their values and principles and practices are so much at odds that surely one must be mostly right and the other mostly wrong. Or both groups may be mostly wrong. Now, I believe, we are getting closer to the truth! Both “progressive” Christians and “evangelical” Christians need a healthy dose of the cardinal Christian virtue — humility.

“Progressive” Christians need to realize, need to BELIEVE, that they need Jesus; it is not Jesus that needs them. They need to learn from Mary, who sat at Jesus’ feet, to be content with saying nothing, doing nothing, coming empty-handed to Jesus to listen, to be healed, to be given gifts of light and life. They need to work hard, yes, but know that the future rests in God’s hands, that at every moment they live in and by and for the grace of God.

“Evangelical” Christians need to realize, need to BELIEVE, that Jesus does not need them to defend him or to speak for him. Jesus can that just fine on his own, thank you! Instead of telling everyone else what Jesus wants them to do, they need to listen to Jesus themselves … and obey. Not listen to the “Jesus’ jargon,” the packaged “gospel” all done up neat and tight, but listen to the real Jesus. Read the gospel record and listen! And then … follow.

I have a dream … that all of those, all of us, who desire nothing more than to follow Jesus faithfully, will need no other title than Christian. That word will say enough. And that word, that name, will be one that brings us together and leads us into the world with news that is truly good!

finding a way through a no-win situation

finding a way through a no-win situation

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In just a few weeks, members of the United Church of Christ will gather in Altanta, Georgia, for General Synod, the biennial national gathering of the church. The UCC has never shied away from controversy, choosing to speak boldly and to act boldly whenever it has discerned a call of the Holy Spirit. It is most certainly a strength of the church that it is ready to witness faithfully, to follow where Christ leads, even when that witness may provoke dismay and alarm. But this summer, the UCC will take up an issue that is as explosive and divisive as any it has considered in its almost fifty year history. That issue is gay marriage.

General Synod will consider three separate resolutions on gay marriage. One resolution sponsored by the Southern California/Nevada Conference calls on the UCC to affirm equal marriage rights for same gender couples. (Text of the resolution). The second, sponsored by the Central Atlantic Conference, calls for prayer and study on the issue. (Text of the resolution). The third resolution, sponsored by eight individual UCC churches, asks the UCC to provide faithful witness by supporting the definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman. (Text of the resolution).

It is a no-win situation. If the church votes down the gay marriage resolution or chooses to ask for more prayer and study, it will be seen by its more progressive members as reversing its course, failing in courage, or, at best, dragging its feet. Many will view the UCC as losing the distinctive”edginess” that is its hallmark.

On the other hand, if the equal marriage rights resolution is passed, many in the church will see this as a betrayal of the scriptural witness and an abandonment of the Christian virtues of chastity and fidelity. Many will view the UCC as losing its way, as losing Jesus’ way.

So what do I think? My concern is with the integrity of the witness of our church, our core witness to the unity Christ intends for his Church. It is this very zeal for witnessing to Christian unity that brought our church into being in the first place! So my concern, first of all, is not so much with result, but with process. Paying attention to process is the only way through this no-win situation.

I have long found helpful the analysis of conflict provided by David Augsburger in his book, “Caring Enough to Confront.” He observes that in any conflict situation two things are at stake: (1) the issue being contended, and (2) the relationship between the contenders.

His book provides a catalog of conflict styles. In brief, some folks value issue over relationship. Defending the truth, “my” version of the truth, becomes paramount. Fighting for what is right, for what is fair, for what is just, takes precedence. If the relationship between “me” and my “opponent” of the moment is damaged or even destroyed, so be it; the issue is what matters.

Other folks value relationship over issue. They will be ready to stop fighting, to compromise, to give in, whenever they perceive a relationship is in jeopardy. They would rather swallow their pride and their need to be right to protect a relationship that matters to them.

Augsburger contends that the different styles each have their time and place, but that the healthiest approach overall to conflict is to learn to value both issue and relationship. This is not compromise which means going 50-50. It means complete honesty and complete humility … 100-100! It means caring enough about the issue to make sure “you” hear “me” out, and caring enough about relationship to make sure “I” hear “you” out.

It is this “marriage” of truth and love, “speaking the truth in love” as the apostle Paul puts it, that I believe is sorely lacking in this debate. Proponents of gay marriage accuse those who would reserve marriage for the union between one man and one woman of being homophobic and reactionary and intolerant and unchristian. And defenders of traditional marriage accuse gay marriage advocates of being faithless and unbiblical and amoral and unchristian!

Both sides do need enough courage to voice their convictions fully, but they also need enough humility to acknowledge and respect the integrity of the convictions of their counterparts. We need to understand that the impulse that drives followers of Jesus to advocate equal marriage rights for gays and lesbians is not libertarianism, but a desire to fulfill the gospel of Jesus Christ, to enact Jesus’ radical acceptance and affirmation of those deemed “outsiders” by the rest of society.

And we need to understand that the passion that motivates others to reserve marriage to the committed relationship of one man and one woman is not fear of change, distrust of what is foreign and strange to them, but a sincere desire to fulfill the gospel of Jesus Christ, to follow Jesus in paths of wholeness and faithfulness!

Granted, motives on either side of this issue are not always pure and undivided … But we will have already lost no matter the outcome of these debates if we do not recognize that we are alike passionate about the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is our common allegiance to Jesus, our genuine commitment to listening together to Jesus, that can keep us together and make us a real church, a vital church, even when we do not yet agree on the “mind of Christ” with regard to this or any other particular issue. Do not demonize a brother or sister in Christ! That well may be the sin against the Holy Spirit!

May the Holy Spirit lead our church as we struggle with difficult issues, as we seek to know the mind of Christ. May we act with all boldness, and love each other with all humility.

labels

labels

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I have never liked labels.

Liberal Christian, evangelical Christian, fundamentalist Christian, mainline Christian. Why not just plain Christian?

Open and affirming church, just peace church, Bible-believing church, Spirit-filled church. Why not just plain church?

Labels are used to divide, not to unite. When I label someone else, I put them into a box. I don’t need to pay close attention anymore to what they say or do, because I have already defined them. I already know who they are and what they are like. When I label myself, I use that label to set myself apart. I am a liberal Christian, not one of “those” evangelicals. We are an open and affirming church, not one of “those” unwelcoming churches.

Names are helpful, because they convey identity. When I call myself a Christian, you know that my relationship with Jesus is essential to who I am. Beyond that, I don’t need any label, because I reveal to you by my words and by my actions what that relationship with Jesus means to me. You will have to watch and to listen to know who I am!

Names are helpful, but labels are not. Labels inhibit and damage relationship. Show me who you are! Don’t just tell me your “label.” I am ready to listen …

belief and intolerance

belief and intolerance

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Does religious conviction breed intolerance?

If that were true, then the deeper and stronger my beliefs become, the more intolerant I become of people different from me. But I find just the opposite to be true. The more I know Jesus, the more I become like Jesus — opening my heart and arms to all kinds of different people, especially those the rest of society, even religious society, wants to push aside.

Certainly religion has been a root cause of war and conflict among groups of people … but not religion itself. It is bad religion that leads to division and conflict! It is weak belief that is intolerant, because it is not strong enough to hold itself together in the face of opposition and challenge and so must dismiss and disregard anything that threatens it!

The path to a more tolerant and peaceful world is not less religious conviction, but better religious conviction! I don’t love my neighbor best by setting my belief aside, but by strengthening it. True believers do not start crusades. It would be rather strange, would it not, if Jesus’ truest followers behaved least like him!

first words

first words

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I’m a believer. Of all the things that define who I am, this comes first. My faith in Jesus affects the way I think about my identity, the way I think about what I do, the way I think about the world. Perception, interpretation, motivation, action — all are processed through the eyes of faith.

But that is true of any of us. You believe something. Your belief may not be in Jesus, but you too have some core belief, some core value, through which you filter everything else.

The purpose of this journal is to give opportunity to discuss our core values, to look together at the world through the eyes of faith, to share with each other what we see and think and feel. The goal? Transformation! Thinking deeper and broader than the boundaries of conventional wisdom. Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind!

Feel free to register and join the discussion!