Dear Theophilus

"If I were in charge, they would know that water-boarding is how we baptize terrorists." In case you didn't know, former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin said this very recently at an NRA convention. In the most non-partisan way, this makes my skin crawl on so many levels. I hope it does yours too. Here are a few reasons why: (1) Baptism is one of the most important sacraments of our sacred faith. It marks the beginning of our life following Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit as we publicly identify with his teachings by symbolically dying and rising with him. (2) Jesus, our Lord, willfully laid down his life in self-giving love for the whole world against the tyranny of an empire hell-bent on power, wealth, comfort, and fame. Yet a major political leader connects that self-giving sacrifice of Jesus and the Church to the national policy of torturing perceived enemies. (3) The grace of God is being used to legitimize violence against our enemies when Jesus clearly...

This last week, I had a high school student ask me if the pledge of Allegiance to the USA was an ok expression in response to his undying allegiance to Christ. He felt it was probably unwise and generally not ok but he wanted my opinion. What Faith. To deny the Pax Romana (Roman Peace used as a symbol for The Empire offering Peace, USA) and follow only our Lord. I wish we all had this faith. Most of us follow the empire with the great exemption "unless it crosses or defies God's word." The problem is: (1) this assumes that the country is or has followed God's will and (2)we are to always and only to follow Christ. What do we do in response to this faith?

This passage is definitely interesting. It has been interpreted many different ways, but this is one of my favorites. I will post the Scripture and the JfP's interpretation: "This title was written on her forehead: MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus." (Revelation 17:5-6) "After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. With a mighty voice he shouted: "Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit, a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird. For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive l...

What is this this picture saying? How can this be justified? One could possibly say, "We are to be subordinate to the state, Romans 13 says so." Ok, for the sake of not arguing, why even fly the Christian flag? Let me clarify my own opinion a bit. I think Christian flags are uber-cheesy and not appropriate, but that aside, let me see it from your point of view. You have a flag, that you give value and power to represent, symbolically, the Kingdom of Christ for you, as a believer. You then choose to fly it under a secular authority that does not represent Christ. I looked up the rules, there is no law, only etiquette. At the very least, "When flags of two or more nations are displayed, they are to be flown from separate staffs of the same height. The flags should be of approximately equal size. International usage forbids the display of the flag of one nation above that of another nation in time of peace" ( Flag Rules and Regulation, Rule 11 ). We can fly a Christian...

The Mustard Seed Revolution! This section was so awesome, it completely changed the way I think about this parable and the way I expect the world to change, but first, the parable: " He told them another parable: 'The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches. '" Matthew 13:31-32 "What Jesus had in Mind was not a frontal attack on the empires of this world. His revolution is a subtle contagion - one little life, one little hospitality house at a time. Isn't it interesting that Saul of Tarsus went door-to-door (Acts 8:3) trying to tear up the contagion, like it was a weed? But the harder people tried to eradicate it, the faster it spread. When mustard is crushed, its potency is released. As we say, 'In the blood of the martyrs lies the se...

"Jesus for President" isn't the latest fundamentalist cliche' to get people to hate Obama. This book is a paradigm shaker... and one of the first for our generation. JFP is about questioning our love triangle which has forced Jesus/Church, the State and Us into unholy matrimony. I am a bit skeptical at this point because our state is literally made up of us. "We the people" are the federal government and so it would be hard to see us apart from ourselves. But I love the idea and know a bit about the author to know that his view about being set apart has not kept him from some Holy mischief and protesting injustice, voting and counseling presidents. The point of this book is very clearly laid out, "This book is a project in renewing the imagination of the church in the United States and of those who seek to know Jesus" (p. 17). Section 1 "We hear people talk about 'the man' or 'the system,' but the prophets talked about 'the...