this post is probably going to get me into trouble...

...but you know what? I don't care. ;o)

"The kingdom of God is the rule of God. ...The kingdom doesn't set out to destroy human authority in this age (John 18:36). Instead, it destroys the powers and principalities in the spiritual realm through God's authority.

"The kingdom doesn't seek to change the political order of things through fleshly effort. It rather makes changes in the spiritual order that affect the lives of men and women at a deeper current. As citizens of the kingdom, our allegiance is not to the political parties of this earth, but to the politics of Jesus. For He alone is our Lord and our King.

"Therefore, the kingdom works quietly and secretly among men and women (Matt. 4:26-28). It's not a religious, political, or military power that cannot be resisted. It abhors violence, hatred, and injustice."

--Frank Viola
"From Eternity To Here"


Earthly citizenship means nothing. Possessing a passport from a certain country does, indeed, make a person part of that country's rich history. It might even make that person part of a lineage of sacrifice and courage. But in the grand scheme of God's eternity, earthly citizenship means nothing more than a set of certain conveniences (or inconveniences, as it were). And God does not favor one human kingdom over another, because every human kingdom is composed of the same thing: humans, every one of whom is of equal value to God.

Spiritual citizenship is the only citizenship that matters.

Allegiance means utmost loyalty and devotion. When I think of pledging allegiance to something, I picture a vassal kneeling before his liegelord, swearing fealty and giving his oath to sacrifice possessions, lifeblood, and very self for that liegelord. Pledging allegiance is an oath that binds the heart and the soul. It is neither given nor received lightly.

For this reason, I pledge my allegiance to Jesus Christ and to no one and nothing else. He is my only Lord, and I want no citizenship but the one he offers.

focus, people!

“I believe in justice: but I am not a preacher of the gospel of justice, but the Gospel of Christ who calls us to justice. I believe in love, but I am not a preacher of the gospel of love, but the Gospel of Christ who calls us to love. I am committed to peace, but I am not a preacher of the gospel of peace, but the Gospel of Christ who calls us to peace. I believe in the value of the simple life, but I am not the preacher of the simple life, but of the Gospel of Christ that calls us to the simple life. Let us beware of the ultimate plagiarism of borrowing some great concepts from Jesus then running off proclaiming these concepts and not sharing the Christ [who] empowers these concepts.”

--Myron Augsburger
Former President of Eastern Mennonite Seminary, 1983.


"Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most pick themselves up and hurry on as if nothing had happened."

--Winston Churchill

why some people just don't "do church"

The following comprises part of my more recent thoughts regarding modern church practices. This is not an attempt to criticize or be argumentative.


No matter how you slice it, modern church practices have their roots in pagan culture (mostly Greek and Roman) and not in the vibrant life of Christ that indwells his Body. For the last 1800 years, humanity has decapitated the Body, leaving the Head safely in heaven so that we needn't be much concerned with His attempts to direct the functioning of his members. Our traditions call for only a select few members to function; a few "mouths" turn the rest of the Body into one giant Ear. Thanks to our traditions, few other types of organs are even possible within the assembly. Our traditions nullify His Life. We have created church practices that are, for the most part, sterile, cold, efficient, arm's-length and, quite frankly, boring.

Christ doesn't want us to "go to church." Christ wants us to BE the church: an organism of many members, *all* of whom function (instead of passively spectating), an organism directed by Him in every aspect of its life.

Why don't some people "do church"? In my opinion, it's because they aren't able or aren't being allowed to function. Because the every-member functioning of the Body has been inhibited or outright forbidden for nearly two millennia, these people (my past self included) don't even know that they're meant to be able to function.

I'll just say it: They've been brain-washed--by others who have themselves been brain-washed--into believing that "mutual edification" (see Hebrews) means showing up at a church building, listening to a sermon, singing a few songs, and chatting amiably afterward before someone decides it's time for everyone to leave so the building can be locked up.

The Christocentric definition of "church" includes so much more than an efficient, convenient "worship service" and friendly, superficial conversation on a Sunday. "Church" means Body, and that means Life: the Life of Christ, continuously, day-by-day, minute-by-minute, in an active, vibrant community in which the members are completely and irrevocably interwoven with each other. And until we rediscover how to live this Life, until we start plumbing the depths and riches of the fullness of Christ, more and more of us are going to stop wanting to "do church."

Jesus doesn't have a blog...

...or a Myspace page. Or a Facebook page. Or anything online of that sort.

Recently, I've been seeing blogs and homepages and whatnot that purport to be written by Jesus. As in, the administrators of the blog or page write their entries in first person singular (that is, from an "I" perspective), as though Jesus were the author of the words that appear in the text.

A lot of people are going to call me an old-fashioned stick-in-the-mud, but I don't care: I have a problem with this.

If it were only a matter of scripture quotations, that would be one thing. Actually, I think that would be a great idea, provided the scriptures were being quoted in the context in which they originally appeared in the Biblical canon. However, the websites to which I'm referring all contain explanations of scripture (read: interpretations) that are penned by an "I"-narrator, as though the interpretations were the direct word of God.

In my opinion, the people who are writing these interpretations are going against what God has always required of us humans: that we not speak as though we know the mind of God; that we not claim to speak for him; that we don't add to the words he has given us in scripture. I think that the authors of these blogs and sites are in direct violation of those commands.

Some will claim that in the paragraph above, I am "speaking for God" in the same way as the website authors I'm talking about. Well, my answer to that is that I say quite openly that these thoughts are *my understanding of scripture*; I am not claiming that these are the words of Christ himself.

The scripture that comes to mind most readily is Proverbs 30:5-6: "Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar" (English Standard Version).

The Good News Bible also has an apt translation of verse 6: "If you claim that he said something that he never said, he will reprimand you and call you a liar."

I understand that most of the authors of these blogs and sites have good intentions. I recognize that they are only trying to spread God's word and increase people's understanding of Jesus's teachings. But the ends do not justify the means. In the very least, I think the authors are putting themselves in a spiritually dangerous position. For them to respond to readers' comments with "Yes, I am Jesus" and "I am the Son of God" is akin, I think, to walking a tightrope with no net and no tightrope.

I fully support sites that quote directly from scripture; but the authors who write as though they were Jesus himself...these are another matter entirely. The words 'presumptuous' and 'disrespectful' come to mind. I'm not angry at these people; yes, I am slightly offended on a spiritual level, but mostly I am afraid of what the consequences for them might be.