Just a Link

Hello,

Just passing along another blog address today.  Take a look at the M28 Discipleship Blog.

I'm a contributing writer over there.  There are other great writers on that blog as well.  (All the Revolution stuff I've been posting started there yesterday, so go further back for different content.)

Thanks!

Seedless, Part II will be up tomorrow.

grace, peace + hope
-Bear

Seedless, Part I

It was a typical Monday morning.  Wake up, get ready for work, rush out the door without breakfast.  But I did grab some fruit out of the fridge.  Fruits are incredible.  From apples to grapes, cantaloupes to tomatoes*, fruits just plain and simply rock.

(*Botanically speaking a tomato is a fruit, the US Supreme Court can go sit on an egg.)

During my break I retrieve my branch of grapes and orange and begin consuming them.  It's going really well until I realize they are seedless.  Which normally would have made me very happy.  But I suppose something is changing in my opinion on the matter.

At a house gathering in Harrisburg (PA) last night we read through the Creation account in Genesis.  Then we watched Rob Bell's video Everything Is Spiritual.  Couple that with recent readings of the Gospels and I came to a conclusion.

There is something wrong with seedless fruit.

Look at what Genesis says:  (Chapter 1)

11Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day. 

Yeah.

God made plants and trees with intent of bearing fruit with seed.  Now, I'm no botanist, but if my memory serves correct, seeds are how plants reproduce.  With out apple seeds folklore legend Johnny Appleseed wouldn't have a last name or story.  I know there are ways to grow some plants by grafting and all that stuff.  But that is essentially cloning (and I'm not jumping into that today.)

The fact is that plants are supposed to grow fruit that bear seed.

I've decided that I don't like seedless fruit.  I won't be wasteful with what I already have.  But I'm not going to intentionally purchase seedless fruit any more.

Some might say to me, "Dude, you're being way uptight about this."  And maybe I am.  But there is another side to this seedless thing that bothers me.  Something that is at the heart of this revolution.

And that will have to wait for tomorrow.

grace, peace + hope
-Bear

White Man

No big post today.  Just sharing a video for a song I recently heard.  The video is brilliant.

The song is "White Man" by Michael Gungor Band.

Enjoy!

"White Man" Music Video

grace, peace + hope
-Bear

Light the Fuse

Control.  It's an illusion that none of us can seem to separate from reality.  Parents think they have control over their children.  Governments assume they have control over their people.  Religions think they have control over what ever it is they think they have control over.

Ok, so maybe by strict definition they do.  But control can be resisted, removed, rescinded, refuted, reneged, you get the idea.

This is not me supporting anarchy.  I am not anti-control.  Depending on where the reigns of that control rest.  I don't want to get too deep or off course and delve into the semantics and politics of all of that.  What this post and revolution are primarily concerned with is how we conduct ourselves no matter what "control," is over us.

As far as I am concerned, there is only one ultimate source of control.  One authority that will take all our decisions and actions into account.  The choices we make yesterday, today, and tomorrow will be laid out before us some day.  How we handled those choices in regards to that sovereign authority will be our undoing or remaking.

Let me make this perfectly clear.

There is one God.  His name is "I Am."  He sent his only son Jesus to redeem the whole world from death.  He speaks to us, now, today, through his Spirit.  Here and here alone rests the final authority for all life.  For me, that is irrefutable fact.  It is upon that authority that I rest all of what I believe, say and do.

If you are starting to wonder what any of that has to do with this revolution.  I've been alluding to, well here is where they meet.

Those who claim to follow Jesus (I would be among them) as a whole, have been lulled into a crippling illusion that going to a building on Sunday in nice clothing, singing a few songs, putting money in an offering, and spending about an hour and a half together, is what he imagined the Church would be.
 
I will not apologize for thinking we have bastardized his dream.

The Church is not a building.  It is not a program or a pulpit.  The Church does not succeed or fail because of a board of directors or a philandering pastor.  It does not rest in the man made authority of pointy hats, white collars, or tailored suits.

The Church is people.  The guy in the corner of the coffee shop.  The woman across from you on the train.  You.  Me.  The Church succeeds because Jesus is it's authority.  It will grow in the soil full of the best crap.  The Church doesn't fail because Jesus doesn't fail.  (What fails is us, or our expectations.)  It's authority rests in the safest place.  The nail scarred hands of the Messiah.

The Church is so much more than we mortals have restricted it to be.

The revolution is to become the Church Jesus wanted us to be.  To feed the hungry.  Quench the throats of the thirsty.  Make the stranger a guest.  Clothe the naked.  Care for the sick.  Visit the prisoner.  To look after orphans and windows.  To remember his teachings, and make disciples.To love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

It starts inside each of us.

Get on your knees.  Cry out to God.  Ask him to strike the match, and light the fuse.

grace, peace + hope
-Bear

Rebels

This revolution thing is serious.  At least for me.  I'll be making a considerable statement on what I'm talking about soon.

Tomorrow.

For today a brief example and then a question.

I had a revelation recently.  I love rebels.

A majority of my favorite stories, be it books, movies or even comic books, have always been about rebels.  From my early childhood I latched onto Star Wars.  The Rebels vs the Empire.  There was just something in that concept that attracted me to the cause.



Perhaps the most famous rebel of all, Robin Hood?  So many different takes on his story.  And I've loved nearly all that I've come across.

How about the American Revolution?  I remember seeing old movies that I can't remember the names of that stirred not just a sense of patriotism but the call to a cause.

Braveheart.  I know there are a lot of historical inaccuracies in it, but seeing that movie was a life defining moment for me.

There have been so many others over the years that have become close to my heart.  Harry Potter, Gladiator, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Equilibrium, The Matrix, The Three Musketeers, Defiance.  Even a movie like Moulin Rouge, has a theme of revolution woven into the love story.

Most recently, The Hunger Games.  (This is a fantastic series and I can't believe it's taken me so long to dive into it.)  It's a futuristic version of North America ruled over by a totalitarian government known as the Capitol.  There are 12 districts that support the Capitol with everything.  And once a year each district is forced to send two teenagers to an arena to fight to the death against the others.  Only one person survives.  This is to remind the population that rebellion is bad and the Capitol has control.

It's a similar story throughout history.  Those who have control constantly reminding it's population that they are in control.  By acts of fear, intimidation, propaganda and on and on.  And I'm not talking about the books now.  But they never really do have the control do they?

It's a lie.

That's why they lord that concept over their citizens.  If you tell a lie as truth enough times people will believe it.  Maybe even embrace it.

So.  My question to you is, (without giving away spoilers) what is your favorite story of revolution, or rebels, and why?

grace, peace + hope
-Bear

My Thanks

There are so many things to be thankful for.  Trees.  Laughter.  Stories.  Family.  Friends.  And so many other things that could fill books upon books.

So today I'll lean on the words of someone else to say what is in my heart.  A last born son who tended sheep and later became a king.  (Emphasis mine.)

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.  He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

 Psalm 23

So continuing a thought from the last few days, revolution.  I'm thankful that with this in mind that David's ancient words, "I will fear no evil," bring great comfort.  To know that despite the presence of evil, or enemies, God will be with me.

For that I am thankful. 

It doesn't seem to be a big enough word.  But it's all I have today.

Thank you.

grace, peace & hope
-Bear

Clearing the Fog

Revolution.

That's what we are talking about.  But I'm not quite ready to fully dive into what exactly I'm talking about.  But maybe I can clear out some of the fog from yesterday's post.  First of all, a definition.  From this point forward the following definition is how I am referring to revolution.  

nonu -  a sudden, complete or marked change in something

I am not inciting anyone to pick up arms, start fights, or anything of that nature.

This is not another Occupy Wall Street type movement.

That said this isn't going to be easy.  It's not going to be all flowers and sing-a-longs.  Those who participate will be misunderstood.  Antagonized.  Insulted.  Possibly even feared and hated.  I can not promise the absence of pain or suffering.

What I can promise, is hope.  And it's not even my promise to make.  It's already there.  Waiting.

Hope that things can be different.  That chains and repressions that have been unacknowledged or ignored for decades, and longer, can fall away.  Hope that tomorrow can be a better day despite the challenges that may come.

Hope.

So, as a question today I leave you with this.

Are you willing to endure what may come?

grace, peace & HOPE

-Bear

How Many Licks?

The old Tootsie-Pop commercial came to mind while I was ruminating over this post.  The one where the kid asks how many licks it would take to get to the middle of the Tootsie-Pop.  It always frustrated me that the owl stole his candy to answer the question.  I have a question, so don't steal my candy to answer.

Perhaps that's not the best way to approach the concept today.

But I wonder.

No big rambling.  Just a question.  A question I'd like to hear some of your thoughts.  So get off your butts, well um, lean forward in your desk chair, or hover over your mobile device and let me see some serious feed back.


The question is transformational.  Life altering if taken seriously.  In a world that threatens control, over how we live, what we think, say and do: do we accept this or not?


If you do accept it, read no further.  You've taken the blue pill and stay safe in your bed.


If you don't accept it, here's a glass of water to go with the red pill.


The question is:

How do you start a revolution?


(more about this idea next time, but until then, please leave a comment!)






grace, peace & hope
-Bear