Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

Forgiveness adapted by James Littell from the Bible [Matthew 18:21 – 35]

Forgiveness adapted by James Littell
from the Bible [Matthew 18:21 – 35]

Peter came to Jesus and asked, “How many times should I forgive a friend who does me wrong? One time, two times?” Jesus shakes his head and Peter continued, “three times, five times...as many as seven times?”

Jesus replied. “God, Peter! How many times are you gonna ask me? And, if you are gonna keep these kind of friends, then I guess you ought to be prepared to be extremely forgiving. So, I guess more like seventy seven times!!!” Peter shockingly threw his hands in the air and said, “What the fuck, Jesus?”

Jesus yelled and began a story. “Peter! Listen! The Kingdom of Heaven, (which y'all think is in a 'galaxy far, far, away' exists in the 'here and now' on planet earth, ...but I don't have time to bring you up to speed with 'Emerging Church' theology), is kind of like Bob DeNiro's character, Sam “Ace” Rothstein from the Martin Scorsese film, Casino.”

“Rothstein had plenty of money, power and the ability to kill and have you buried in the Nevada desert when crossed. He also had some friends, clients and employees that had taken gambling markers from the Tangier's Casino and never repaid. Both Sam and the casino were interested in getting these debts off the books. So, Frankie Blue Eyes was escorted by Rothstein's personal detail into the director's office and was unable to payback the $750,000 he lost gambling six months prior. Since he couldn't pay, Sam ordered that Frankie and his wife and his three children and his entire estate be sold on the black market to repay the debt.”

“Frankie, filled with panic and fear, fell to his knees and grabbing hold of Rothstein's pant leg begged, 'Don't fuckin' do this!! I swear I can find the money! Shit man, really? Don't hurt my children!! Fuck my life! I will do anything. I can pay it back! Please just give me more time! Please?' So, the Tangier's Casino having granted Rothstein the authority to cancel debts took pity on old Blue Eyes and erased everything he owed from the books.”

At that moment, Peter gasped and reached for his sword out of sheer habit! Jesus reacted, “What the hell are you doing? It is just the two of us and I Am telling the story. Relax, I Am not done yet. Geesh!” Peter holstered his sword and muttered, “O.K. Jesus”, as he bashfully kicked a stone with his left foot.

Jesus continued. “Frankie, who had been earning his living as a landlord, returned to his family and hugged and kissed his wife and children. Then he went out to visit a tenant who owed him $6,000 in back rent. Blue Eyes screamed at the tenant and while having him pinned by the neck up against the wall he yelled, 'You are gonna pay me that $6,000 you owe me you Jew fuck! You fuckin' momo! You are gonna pay me back every last Goddamn cent, so help me God and Mary mother and Joseph!! Do you hear me? I promise if you don't pay me, you will not live to see your daughter's birth!'”

“After that outburst, the tenant grabbed Frankie's ankle and pleaded, 'Don't fuckin' do this!! I swear I can find the money! Shit man, really? Fuck my life! I will do anything. I can pay it back! Please just give me more time! Please?' So, old Blue Eyes, being a real son of a bitch, had his minions evict the tenant and taken to the desert to be buried alive.”

Peter again whipped out his sword impulsively and wanted to attack Frankie Blue Eyes. Jesus laughed so hard he wept. “Peter, put your sword back in its sleeve. Frankie is a character and I am just using this story to illustrate one of the ways you can recognize what the present Kingdom of Heaven looks like.” Peter laughed as he explained, “ I know, I know! I just get so excited and I am kind of impulsive, I guess.”

Jesus finished the story. “When word got around that Blue Eyes was forgiven his debt and had his tenant whacked for just $6,000 of back rent, everyone and their brother was really pissed so they began texting and emailing Rothstein about the situation. When Frankie Blue Eyes was brought back in to see Rothstein, it was all over.”

“Sam looked at him and said very matter of factually, 'You fuckin' fuck! I erase your debt because you begged me to and you immediately go muscle some guy over a measly six grand? Shouldn't you have also shown the same type of mercy upon your tenant? Don't you even think about apologies right now you mudda fuckka! You see that hammer over there? You see that fuckin' saw? Well, we are gonna break your fuckin' skull with that hammer and saw off every last one of your toes and fingers with that saw because to whom much is forgiven, much love and forgiveness towards others is expected! Now you just got three-quarter of a fuckin' million dollars wiped clean from your record and the first thing you do is have somebody whacked for $6000? Let me tell you somethin'. You done fucked up the last time! We are gonna lock you up underneath this casino with nothing but cheerios and water to eat. Then, we are gonna keep you alive and torture you every day until you are able to repay the $750,000. You know why? Because we don't fuck around with forgiveness. It is a serious principle! Now get him outta here!'”

…..................................................................................................................

“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

- Matthew 18:35 (NIV)

Finding Neverland

FINDING NEVERLAND

We just finished seeing this movie at the Dove Family Film event hosted by Studio 28 in Grand Rapids, MI.  I must say I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and must recommend you all see it on Tuesday Mar 22 when it comes to DVD.

This movie chronicles the story of the man who wrote "Peter Pan" and how the play developed in his imagination. 

This is a beautiful story about giving, self sacrifice, hardship, tragedy, and caring for each other. There are wonderful metaphors in this film, such as: love and joy being infectious when scattered among many, and the idea in the book of James about "True religion is caring for orphans and widows in their distress."  This movie is triumphant, sad, and filled with joy.  It will tug at your heartstrings and it is definitely worth seeing soon.

Blue Like Jazz

          James Littell                  Don Miller

I used to think that I was alone in my frustration with my religious upbringing.  I was taught so many formulas, principles, 7 steps to this and 11 steps to that.  If I wasn't careful, I'd wind up in a 12 stepper.

I felt like god was nothing more than a system of do nots, not dough-nuts, but do-NOTS!!!  I wish god were a system of dough-nuts, cause that would taste real delicious.  Anyhow, I was told stories of this wonderful, gracious, loving god who we should know as father, and friend in Jesus.  But it seemed like there was always this catch....you know, like "Don't have too much fun or you might get to know the wrath of god.", or "Well, we serve a just god too."  Now, I am not saying that God is not a just God, or a God of Wrath.  I am simply saying that I believe for far too long, we have used certain characteristics that the Bible teaches about God to enforce and inflict are own agendas on other human beings.

We sing in church about God being a "God of Wonders". 
I am just not sure how much we believe it.  I would like God to help me to discover all of His wonders, or at least some of them. I don't even care if I am capable of understanding or even getting my mind around His wonder. 

I do know this, Jesus talked of seeing the Kingdom of God.  He spoke of entering the Kingdom of God.  He told Nicodemus that, "unless a man is born of the spirit, he cannot see or enter the Kingdom of God."

I believe one must first see it, and then one can enter into it.  I believe it to be right here and right now.  I believe it to be beautiful, mystical, tangible and very telling of God's wonders.  I want the Kingdom of God to conquer me and take me captive.

I want to share this excerpt from Don Miller's Blue like Jazz. 
Following this bit from Don Miller, you may click on the link below to read an interview with Don Miller.

"I love how the Gospels start, with John the Baptist eating bugs and baptizing people.  The religious people started getting baptized because it had become popular, and John yells at them and calls them snakes. He says water won't do anything for them, it will only get their snakeskins wet. 

But if they meant it, if they had faith that Jesus was coming and was real, then Jesus would ignite the Kingdom of God within them.  I love that because for so long, religion was my false gospel. But there was no magic in it, no wonder, no awe, no Kingdom Life burning in my chest. And when I get tempted by that same stupid christian religion, I go back to the beginning of the Gospels and am comforted that there is something more than the emptiness of ritual.

God will ignite the Kingdom Life within me, the Bible says. (John 3:3)  That's mysticism.  It isn't a formula that I am figuring out.  It is something God does."  It is something God is doing and will continue doing.

Download don_miller_blue_like_jazz_interview.doc

The Grand Frozen River

Over the past couple of weeks, I have found the Grand River to be one of the most intriguing sites.  A river that is usually recognized for its contamination and pollution, this winter, happens to be fascinating.  When one thinks of the scripture, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty. The earth and everything in it is filled with His glory."  [Isaiah 6:3],
it makes it difficult to see the river and recognize it as anything but the glory of God.  I have posted a photo album with many pictures of the Grand River in January 2005.  Take a look if you'd like.

Shane Claiborne: To Iraq

Here is something I just read, written by Shane Claibourne, founder of the "Simple Way' ....

TO IRAQ by Shane Claiborne

I am going to Iraq because I believe in a god of scandalous grace. If I believed terrorists were beyond redemption, I would need to rip out half of my New Testament Scriptures, for they were written my a converted terrorist. I have pledged Allegiance to a King that loved evildoers so much He died for them (and of course the people of Iraq are no more evil or more holy than the people of the US) teaching us that there is something worth dying for but nothing worth killing for. While the terrorists were nailing Him to the cross, my Jesus pleaded that they be shown mercy for they know what they were doing. We are all wretched, and we are all beautiful. No one is beyond redemption and no one is beyond repute. May we see in the hands of the oppressors our own hands, and in the faces of the oppressed our own faces. We are made of the same dust, and we cry the same salty tears.

I am going to Iraq in the footsteps of an executed and risen God. I follow a Jesus who rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey at Passover, knowing full well what He was walking into. This Jesus of the margins suffered an imperial execution by an oppressive regime of wealthy and pious elites. And now He dares me and woos me, come and follow, take my cross, lose my life to find it…with a promise that life is more powerful than heath, and that it is more courageous to love our enemies than to kill them.

I am going to Iraq to stop terrorism. There are Muslim extremists who kill in the name of their gods. Their leaders are millionaires who live in comfort while their citizens die neglected in the streets. I believe in another Kingdom that belongs to the poor and to the peacemakers. I believe in a safe world, and I know this world will never be safe as long as the masses live in poverty so that handful of people can live as they wish. Nor will the world be safe as long as we try to use violence to drive out violence. Violence only begets the very thing it seeks to destroy. My King warned His followers, "If we pick up the sword we will die by the sword." How true this has proved to be throughout history. We armed Saddam in the conflict against Iran, and we armed Bin Ladin in the struggle against the Soviet Union. Timothy McVeigh, the most terrifying domestic terrorist in US history, was trained in the Gulf Was where he said he turned into "an animal."

I am going to Iraq to stand in the way of war. Thousands of soldiers have gone to Iraq, willing to kill people they do not know because of a political allegiance. I go willing to die for people I do not know because of a spiritual allegiance. The soldiers have incredible courage, courage enough to die for something they believe in. I pray that Christians would have that same courage. The command of the soldiers is handed down, rank after rank, from a human commander in chief clinging to the myth of redemptive violence. My mandate is straight from the mouth of my heavenly King, through the lips of the Prince of Peace - to love my enemy, and yet I still falter. May we cling to the Truth that every human is created in the image of God. Do we believe the children of Iraq are just as precious as the children of New York? A love for our own people is not a bad thing, but why should love stop at the border? We, the people of Rebirth, have an allegiance that runs much deeper that nationalism.

I am going to Iraq as a missionary. In an age of omnipresent war, it is my hope that Christian Peacemaking becomes the new face of global missions. May we stand by those who face the impending wrath of Empire and whisper: "God loves you, I love you, and if my country bombs your country, I will be right here with you." Otherwise, our gospel has little integrity. As on of the saints said, "If they come for the innocent and do not pass over our bodies , then cursed be our religion." May our lives interrupt terrorism and war, in small ways, in large ways, in moments of crisis and in everyday rhythms. These are extreme times. And I go to Iraq as an extremist for Love.