Clarion: Journal of Spirituality and Justice

Constitutional Democracies and Burst Wineskins - Brian Zahnd

The conservative evangelical political position in America is basically this: We have our Constitution -- created by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and Thomas Jefferson. It is a good thing; almost inspired. It has served us well and helped make us great. We believe in Jesus Christ and his gospel. So we will elect Christians to political office so that we can be a Christian nation. We will pour the good wine of the gospel into the good wineskin of our Constitutional democracy. But it will never work. The Deist-created, Enlightenment-influenced wineskin of modern liberal democracy can never contain the powerful wine of the kingdom gospel of Jesus Christ. In the end one will ruin the other; both will ruin one another. We cannot form a modern nation-state around the Sermon on the Mount and Jesus' gospel of the kingdom. The two agendas are incompatible. Only the new wineskin of the church (as a radical alternative community) is capable of containing and communicating the powerful wine of Jesus' gospel. The agenda of the "Religious Right" (or the "Religious Left" for that matter) amounts to pouring new wine into old wineskins. I think I'm right about this. But what about leaven and dough? Somehow I think there is a subtle, but essential distinction. Yes, we exist within the wider culture as a "leavening" influence. But we are under no illusion that the political structures of this age can be a faithful expression of the kingdom of Christ. The role of leaven in the dough is to make it rise; to transform it. This is what we can do (to a limited extent) within the wider society. But the role of leaven in dough is different than wine in a wineskin. The function of a wineskin is to contain, preserve, transport and administer wine. This is something the political state can never do. Our understanding of the complicated relationship of the church to the political state should not only be informed by the parable of leaven and dough, it should also be informed by the parable of wine and wineskins. Bottom line: The constitutional democracies of modern nation-states is an inadequate wineskin for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

A Dream, The Samaritan Woman, and The Voice of God - by Eric Janzen

This past summer I had a dream. I found myself in a church service standing in the midst of a large circle of people. As I looked around the circle, I was startled to see that they were more like zombies than anything; their faces were thin and gaunt, their skin pale and wan, their eyelids half closed. I was frightened by the sight and I said,

“What’s wrong with these people?”

The Lord spoke to me in the dream and said, “They are passing away because they are not hearing my prophetic words for them. Their spirits are drying up within them.”

I was both saddened and disturbed. I knew I could not go around the circle and prophesy over every single person there. As I looked about, my eyes came to rest on a man and the Lord said “Go, prophesy over him.” So I went.

There were three or four people with me in the dream and we gathered around the man and began to prophesy over him. “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness will be added to you. You can't attain it...you can't obtain it...he will add it to you.” The man was overcome with emotion and he fell to the ground weeping. He was a youth pastor from somewhere in the United States, and as we prophesied over him concerning his ministry he physically changed before my eyes. His body filled out, the colour returned to his skin, even his hair began to grow.

Then I woke up. I looked to the bedroom ceiling and silently prayed so as not to wake my wife, “What was that Lord!?”

Charlie Chaplain and prophetic irony - Brad Jersak

The greatest speech ever made? Really? Some really inspiring rhetoric and near prophetic analysis by our dear comic. His diagnosis, poignant. His prescription? Uh ...

Also some serious delusion historically: the ultimate triumph of human progressivism? fighting for freedom that produces peace? salvation by science? triumph of the human will in the name of democracy?

Yes ... an amazing mixture of truth, but also the new mantras that continue to produce technological goose-steppers. Lampooning the mustache and uniform of Hitler was supposedly ironic, but the images are not. I don't know how much the creator of the video even realizes how much of it demonstrates how Chaplain's very advice has been central to creating the very monstrosities he sought to overcome. From supposedly disparate roots comes similar scenes of tyranny.

9/11 and Brueggemann's 'Disruptive Grace' -- Joe Beach

Well, I got through 9/11...   I preached on Eph. 1:10 (as scheduled) about God's Wonderful Plan to reconcile all things in heaven and on earth under Christ...

I tried to somehow tie this to "remembering well" - with insights from Miroslav Volf.

But what I should have done is prophesy. 

What I should have said was what Brueggemann would have said:

We are situated, as prophets most often are, in a national security state that imagines itself to be autonomous and ultimate, an act of distorted imagination that puts us on a path to death...

The national security state MAKES PROMISES it cannot keep, promises of well being and safety;

The national security state invites systemic and PERVASIVE ANXIETY from which it offers no respite;

The national security state breeds efforts at a RELIGION OF CERTITUDE that is sure to be idolatrous.

Prophetic ministry is to expose such a state of mind and such an ideology of public life, to name the false PROMISES, the pervasive ANXIETY, and the ill-gotten CERTITUDE. Prophetic ministry, in the face of such lethal practice, offers a world of fidelity that is alternative to the ersatz world of security and certitude.

Against such formidable claims, prophetic ministry proceeds one text at a time - 

one oracle, one poem, one narrative, one metaphor -

that leads to VULNERABILITY and SURPRISE.

Such practice is not carping; it is not scolding; it is not confrontation.

It is, rather, a TRUTH that makes free, a HOPE that heals.

There is a desperate waiting among us for such a performance.

Amos, in justifying his venturesome vocation, did so with two statements and two rhetorical questions (Amos 3:8):

Statement: The lion has roared;

Question: Who will not fear?

Statement: The Lord God has spoken;

Question: Who can but prophesy?

From Amos to us, the question lingers and haunts, Who indeed?

Excerpted from Walter Brueggemann, Disruptive Grace (Fortress Press, 2011), 154.

 

 

Just as you are -- with Jean Vanier

They Died in Vain; Deal with it - by Ray McGovern

Ray McGovern works with Tell the Word, the publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in Washington, DC. During his career as a CIA analyst, he prepared and briefed the President's Daily Brief and chaired National Intelligence Estimates. He is a member of the Steering Group of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS).

August 08, 2011 "Information Clearing House" -- Many of those preaching at American church services Sunday extolled as “heroes” the 30 American and 8 Afghan troops killed Saturday west of Kabul, when a helicopter on a night mission crashed, apparently after taking fire from Taliban forces. This week, the Fawning Corporate Media (FCM) can be expected to beat a steady drumbeat of “they shall not have died in vain.”

But they did. I know it is a hard truth, but they did die in vain.

As in the past, churches across the country will keep praising the fallen troops for protecting “our way of life,” and few can demur, given the tragic circumstances.

But, sadly, such accolades are, at best, misguided — at worst, dishonest.  Most preachers do not have a clue as to what U.S. forces are doing in Afghanistan and why.  Many prefer not to think about it.  There are some who do know better, but virtually all in that category eventually opt to punt.

Should we fault the preachers as they reach for words designed to give comfort to those in their congregations mourning the deaths of so many young troops?  As hard as it might seem, I believe we can do no other than fault — and confront — them.  However well meaning their intentions, their negligence and timidity in confronting basic war issues merely help to perpetuate unnecessary killing.  It is high time to hold preachers accountable.

Manhood Is Not Brutality -- by Brian Zahnd

Rage—Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus’ son Achilles,
murderous, doomed, that cost the Achaeans countless losses,
hurling down to the House of the Death so many sturdy souls,
great fighters’ souls, but made their bodies carrion,
feasts for the dogs and birds,
and the will of Zeus was moving toward its end.
Begin, Muse, when the two first broke and clashed,
Agamemnon lord of men and brilliant Achilles.
—The Iliad

Western civilization has always had two competing sacred texts: The Iliad and the Bible. We have long pretended we can form a nice synthesis of the two—that Homer’s Achilles and Isaiah’s Immanuel are somehow compatible ideals, but they are not. The rage of Achilles and the peace of Immanuel are fundamentally contradictory visions for the ideal of humanity in general and of manhood in particular. Those who derive their ideal of manhood from the pagan vision personified in Achilles will never be able to reconcile it with the ideal of manhood depicted in Christ. Achilles or Christ? Who is our model of manhood? We must choose. We must choose between the brutal way of Achilles and the peaceable way of Christ. And if you feel compelled to appeal to the whip-wielding Christ in the temple as an attempt to synthesize the two, let me simply say that Christ cleansing the temple is a world away from the violence of The Iliad that dominates imaginations from Homer to Hollywood; i.e. Jesus’ prophetic protest against religious exploitation is no endorsement of a “Walker, Texas Ranger” version of Messiah!

Merton's Apologies to an Unbeliever by Robert Inchausti

Believing means liberating the indestructible element in oneself, or, more accurately, being indestructible, or, more accurately, being.

Kafka’s Diaries

In the year he died, the Trappist monk and best-selling author, Thomas Merton, published an essay addressed to “Unbelievers” apologizing for the inadequacy and impertinence of what had been inflicted upon them in the name of religion. It was not just because the manipulative antics and “vaudeville” of the defenders of the faith embarrassed him but also because it seemed to him that their “defenses” constituted “a falsification of religious truth.”¹

“Faith comes by hearing, says St. Paul, but by hearing what?” he asked. “The cries of snake-handlers? The soothing platitudes of the religious operator? One must be able to listen to the inscrutable ground of (one’s) own being, and who am I to say that (the atheists’) reservations about religious commitment do not protect, in [them], this kind of listening?”²

To read the rest of this article, click here. (UBP)

 

Divine Justice: American Idol, Cesar Millan and the Death of Osama Bin Laden -- by Brad Jersak

Jesus says, "I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me." (John 14:30-31).

Yesterday morning I was thinking about our image of God as a Judge and what a judge actually does. It all depends on the setting. I thought about the American Idol judges. They are so kind this year, so encouraging. It is never their heart to disqualify... in fact they can't, only the crowds do that. Those judges endeavour to draw out the best in the artists and even their critiques are only a call to become and to succeed at who they truly are. I wonder: What if Jesus is even a better judge than Steven Tyler and Jaylo? I know they have set the bar very, very high as exemplary judges, but when I think of the 'Judgment Seat of Christ,' is it possible that Jesus might even be better than Steven Tyler? More gracious, more compassionate, more redemptive than Jennifer Lopez? Is Jesus up for such an immense challenge?

Last night, I watched the show again (during NHL playoff intermissions). I quote Steve Tyler's comment to one contestant: 'There's nothing to judge. You're just beautiful.'

Amos: the Lion Roars - by Ron Dart

The Jewish Tradition, at its noblest and finest, has bequeathed to the Western Tradition a high and noble ethical vision.   The oral prophets such as Elijah and Elisha never flinched from staring down power when those in power used it in a way that abused the weaker and less fortunate. The minor and major prophets embodied the best of the oral prophetic tradition and left the West a literate and passionate tale of faith and politics. Amos, like Jonah and Hosea, were active in the 8^th century BCE, and they initiated the path and passage of the Minor Prophets. There is no doubt that these Jewish prophets tell us a great deal about their understanding of who God is and the relationship between God, Israel, dominant empires and the social/political/economic/military conditions of the time.

Thomas Merton: Peacemaker by Ron Dart

Thomas Merton: Peacemaker

I think that Thomas Merton could easily be called the greatest spiritual writer and spiritual master of the twentieth century in English speaking America. There is no other person who has such a profound influence on those writing on spiritual topics, not only on Catholics but non-Catholics, as Merton has.

Lawrence Cunningham, Soul Searching: The Journey of Thomas Merton p.183          

With Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton (1915-1968) personified the potential of the Catholic peace tradition in America. Merton stands out as one of the most brilliant peacemakers in the entire Catholic tradition.                               

 Ronald Musto, The Catholic Peace Tradition p. 249

Merton never fully embraced pacifism. Like Thomas More and Erasmus, he believed in the theoretical applicability of the just war. Yet, like the Renaissance Humanists, he looked at the horrors of contemporary warfare and concluded that the just war theory was irrelevant in practice. He was, in fact, one of the first “nuclear pacifists”.                                         

Ronald Musto, The Catholic Peace Tradition  p. 250

 

 I   Merton: War and Peace 

Thomas Merton began his best selling first autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain (1948), with these poignant and telling words:

On the last day of January 1915, under the sign of the Water Bearer, in a year of great war, and down in the shadow of some mountains on the border of Spain, I came into the world.

Merton, indeed, came into the world ‘in a year of great war’.  WW I dominated Europe when Merton was born, he lived through the carnage of WW II, the Korean War, McCarthy-Cold War years and the emergence and devastating nature of the Vietnam War. Merton’s social conscience became more public with the civil rights movement in the late 1950s, the nuclear threat, the rise of ecological consciousness and much American domestic violence in the 1950s-1960s. In short, Merton lived through a period in 20^th century history in which war and violence were the order of the day, and he sought, through a variety of means, to be a moderate and peacemaking voice and presence. How did Merton become the significant peacemaker that he did, and what was Merton’s understanding of peacemaking? This short paper will, in a suggestive and historic way, answer these questions.

Martin Luther King Jr. re: Canada

It is a deep personal privilege to address a nationwide Canadian audience. Over and above any kinship of U.S. citizens and Canadians as North Americans, there is a singular historical relationship between American Negroes and Canadians.

Canada is not merely a neighbour to Negroes. Deep in our history of struggle for freedom Canada was the North Star. The Negro slave, denied education, de-humanized, imprisoned on cruel plantations, knew that far to the north a land existed where a fugitive slave, if he survived the horrors of the journey, could find freedom. The legendary underground railroad started in the south and ended in Canada. The freedom road links us together. Our spirituals, now so widely admired around the world, were often codes. We sang of 'heaven' that awaited us, and the slave masters listened in innocence, not realizing that we were not speaking of the hereafter. Heaven was the word for Canada and the Negro sang of the hope that his escape on the underground railroad would carry him there. One of our spirituals, 'Follow the Drinking Gourd', in its disguised lyrics contained directions for escape. The gourd was the big dipper, and the North Star to which its handle pointed gave the celestial map that directed the flight to the Canadian border.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Acknowledgements

The quotation from Martin Luther King Jr is taken from p. 1 ofConscience for Change, published by CBC Learning Systems in 1967 - the printed form of the 1967 Massey Lectures, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

 

Song of a Jailhouse Chaplain -- a Social-Prophetic Sampling of Chris Hoke

"No Contact":  Here's a sneak peek from the upcoming album by Hollow G (Teddy), produced by local Christian producer Loc Saint (complete lyrics below).

01 No Contact (rough draft)

 

For the last five years, Chris Hoke has gone with Bob Ekblad to the Skagit County Jail in northwest WA where they read the Bible and pray with men of all races and criminal levels. Inmates, especially the young Chicano gang members, have been vocal about how much they appreciate Chris' singing and guitar playing before the dialogical Bible studies. One particular young gang member would sing all the new raps and rhymes he'd write in his solitary confinement cell to Chris when they would have one on one visitations. "One day, Chris," he'd exclaim, "we're gonna record together. You and your white boy guitar with my gangster raps!"

That day has come. Only the song, "No Contact," laments that the original homie who had the idea is still locked up in prison, along with most of the young men Chris has ministered to in the jail and gangs. The vision came to fulfillment with another young survivor of the gang life--who goes by Hollow G--who has grown alongside Chris, the Tierra Nueva community, and the Holy Spirit bringing G into God's family. Hollow G is working on a full album about the life of an American alien growing up into the gang life, "Raised By the Streets." 

Revelation and the Violent "Prize Fighting Jesus" by Greg Boyd

In an interview several years ago for Relevant Magazine, Mark Driscoll (well known pastor of Mars Hill in Seattle) said,

“In Revelation, Jesus is a prize-fighter with a tattoo down His leg, a sword in His hand and the commitment to make someone bleed. That is the guy I can worship. I cannot worship the hippie, diaper, halo Christ because I cannot worship a guy I can beat up.” (You can find the original interview here). 

I frankly have trouble understanding how a follower of Jesus could find himself unable to worship a guy he could “beat up” when he already crucified him. I also fail to see what is so worshipful about someone carrying a sword with “a commitment make someone bleed.”  But this aside, I’m not at all surprised Driscoll believes the book of Revelation portrays Jesus as a “prize fighter.”  This violent picture of Jesus, rooted in a literalistic interpretation of Revelation, is very common among conservative Christians, made especially popular by the remarkably violent Left Behind series.

"Be on the alert" by Bob Ekblad

It's always been hard for me to hear good news in Jesus' parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25:1-13. I've been thinking about it a lot lately, feeling that it's especially important for us now.  I share the following reflections-- inviting you to share yours. 

Jesus’ parable of the ten virgins who went out to meet the bridegroom invites rapprochement with the church as bride waiting the imminent return of Jesus as bridegroom (2 Cor 11:2; Eph 5:25-32; Jn 3:29; Rev 19:7; 21:2, 9, 17.)  The number of virgins and their differentiation between “wise” and “foolish” has always unsettled me, suggesting that individual attitudes and practices matter, and that groups will be distinguished from the whole.   Jesus means to put people into a crisis, inspiring them (and us) to be ready for his return, the subject of the preceding chapter (Matt 24:42-51).  Jesus means to provoke us to ask: “Am I one of the wise, or am I among the foolish, and what’s the difference?” The reader wants more information about what distinguishes the ready from those who risk missing out, and what that might mean for us now?

The Two Greatest Commandments and Prison Ministry by Wayne Northey

[NOTE: This was Wayne Northey’s first devotional as new Executive Director given at M2/W2’s Annual General Meeting, May 21, 1998.]

Matthew 22:35-40

One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:”Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Frankly, I struggle to understand the picture of God I find in some Scripture. This is especially the case when I read portions of the Old Testament. I am heartened nonetheless by the realization that Jesus is the fullest revelation of God to us who summed up the entire sweep of Hebrew Scriptures ethics with: “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Whatever is difficult to understand in Scripture must first pass through the sieve of the revelation of God in Christ according to John and Hebrews 1. Jesus is the “key” to unlock the interpretation of all Scripture – something he demonstrated himself, as you remember, after the resurrection with some despondent disciples on the road to Emmaus.

Lament -- by Eric H. Janzen

 

This shredded flag hangs low

like the burdened shoulders

of a visionary watching the

vision of his passion fade

'what is necessary is not necessarily

good' says the wind as it

moves the flag aside, passing

with the memory of resistance,

the recollection of the desire

to make something distinguished

and like George Grant

witnessing the dream so slowly

extinguished, a northern fire

smouldering like so much smoke and ashes

rising now falling free to mark

the mourning few and leave

the shredded flag to hang askew

over a hill pondering the loss of

the true north and its strength

given over for weakness.

 

 

Jesus and Nonviolence - Podcast by Bob Ekblad

New Podcast: Jesus and Nonviolence

 

How can we as Christians reconcile the apparent violence of Old Testament texts with the self-sacrificing, non-violent life and teachings of Jesus?  Many on both sides of the issue use Scripture to justify their stance on war, the death penalty, and violence in our culture.  This short (1 hour) but informative recording by Bob Ekblad delves into the difficult and often divisive questions surrounding non-violence perspectives and the way of the cross.  Very useful for personal study or small group discussion.

Click here to visit our podcast site and listen to this podcast online.  No special tech knowledge required.

Steven Delopoulos / The Ruin of the Beast

God sees the truth, but waits - Leo Tolstoy

 In the town of Vladimir lived a young merchant named Ivan Dmitrich Aksionov. He had two shops and a house of his own.

Aksionov was a handsome, fair-haired, curly-headed fellow, full of fun, and very fond of singing. When quite a young man he had been given to drink, and was riotous when he had had too much; but after he married he gave up drinking, except now and then.

One summer Aksionov was going to the Nizhny Fair, and as he bade good-bye to his family, his wife said to him, "Ivan Dmitrich, do not start to-day; I have had a bad dream about you."

Aksionov laughed, and said, "You are afraid that when I get to the fair I shall go on a spree."

His wife replied: "I do not know what I am afraid of; all I know is that I had a bad dream. I dreamt you returned from the town, and when you took off your cap I saw that your hair was quite grey."

Peccatum Originus - poem by E. H. Janzen

Peccatum Originus 

Circling this tree we wondered

what mystery lay behind

the fruit of our question

We put distance between us

and the boughs heavy with temptation

branches reaching out like hands and talons

to gather us in like

fish fighting the shame baited barbed hooks

so brutally adorned with lures of light

that draws us without an chance to escape

And coming round again

we are surprised, feigning innocence

in the face of the partaking, the peeling,

of the cursed answer.

Deuteronomy, Jewish Prophets and the Sermon on the Mount by Ron Dart

Evangelicals have been reading the Sermon on the Mount for centuries with little evident intention of taking the text seriously.

Clark Pinnock, Revolution (1971)

I have taught courses on political philosophy for many years. I tend to highlight both the Jewish and Greek sources of the Western political tradition rather than beginning with Plato and Aristotle and moving fastforward. The course, then, moves onward, after the Greeks and Jewish traditions, to the Roman tradition and into the Christian political tradition of the Patristic Latin West and Greek East. It is rare in a class in political philosophy that Deuteronomy and the Jewish prophetic tradition are taught. This speaks volumes about the secular and liberal prejudices of modernity. But, in the teaching of Deuteronomy, a variety of tensions emerge, and some of the more substantive tensions seem quite irresolvable.  What are these tensions, and why are they a problem? 

End of the Line by Brian Zahnd

This is an article I wrote for the May issue of Charisma Magazine at the request of the new editor, Marcus Yoars.

END OF THE LINE
By Brian Zahnd

God is shifting the church from one seasonal platform to another. Are we ready?

Western Christianity is at a critical juncture. Those who care deeply about the church are aware of this. Things are not as they once were. Things are changing. Dramatically so. Even if we don't understand what is happening, we can certainly feel it. There is an uneasy feeling throughout evangelicalism that everything is changing. Long-held certitudes are being challenged from both within and without the Christian faith. The way things were even ten years ago is no longer the way things are today. It's easy to be disconcerted by it all. 

In the midst of pronounced uncertainty it is tempting to succumb to nostalgia and pine away for some point in the past that we identify as the "glory days." But we cannot go back. The healthy practice of recognizing the contributions of the past and building upon them is not the same thing as a regressive attempt to return to a bygone era. This is the problem with revivalism. Too often it is a naive attempt to recapture a particular past. It's like a Renaissance fair-nice entertainment for a Saturday afternoon but you can't live there. An idealized memory of the past is not a vision which can carry us into the future. Nostalgic reminiscing about the past is for those who no longer have the courage to creatively engage with contemporary challenges and opportunities. All of this is related to the critical juncture we have come to in the course of Western Christianity.

The Prophetic Culture of the Kingdom (conclusion and appendixes) by Eric H. Janzen

Conclusion

As I neared the end of writing this book I had coffee with a close friend of mine.  He told me a story about a young man that he had become friends with.  This young man left the Church because his experience of it had been of a surface faith.  He saw people calling themselves Christians, but living their lives as they pleased and caring little for those around them.  Sadly, this led to not only his rejection of Church, but Jesus as well.  He continues to be a spiritual man seeking God and attempting to live a spiritual life, but due to his experience of Church he wants nothing to do with Christians and thus nothing to do with Jesus.  How many of us know people like this?  Too many have encountered Christians not living out the culture of the kingdom and have as a result not encountered Christ.  This story is why I care about the things I have written.  That my friend’s friend was at the gate and walked away because of those within breaks my heart.  It should break your heart as well. 

The Prophetic Culture of the Kingdom (pt. 7) by Eric H. Janzen

Chapter Seven

The Prophetic Culture of the Kingdom

The community of Christ is a prophetic community.  The prophetic message of the community is Jesus.  The prophetic message of the community is the Gospel of his kingdom.  The community of Christ is to be the prophetic voice in the desert of the world declaring the truth and hope of the Gospel, declaring the culture of the kingdom and revealing that culture to the world.  This is our prophetic role.  The prophetic is to be a sign of something.  In the previous chapter I spoke of this sign as being a mirror reflecting God’s glory (who he is and what he is like) to the world and being an arrow pointing to Jesus.  This is one way of describing the Church’s identity, its means of being relevant in today’s world.  Our kingdom culture is thus a prophetic culture.  When the community of Christ lives a style of life that is marked by the cultural values of the kingdom it embodies the prophetic message of that culture and the Gospel.  By demonstrating the cultural values of the kingdom in the way that we live we prophetically declare the reality of the kingdom to the world.  In holding true to loving God with all your being and loving your neighbor as yourself we find the pinnacle of prophetic action.  This shows us that love is the foundation of true prophecy and not judgment as some believe.  In Revelation 19:10 we read that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.  It is the message of Jesus to humanity, his testimony, that is the Church’s prophetic message.  The Gospel is the message of Jesus and the Church must hold to that message as its core, its prophetic declaration even if it is a difficult one.

The Prophetic Culture of the Kingdom (pt. 6) by Eric H. Janzen

Chapter Six

Identity Storm

I have suggested that the Church is in the midst of an ongoing identity crisis.  It is a crisis that has arisen out of our disconnection with the culture and paradigm of the kingdom.  We must face some significant questions as we consider our identity crisis, but I believe that a biblical faith and a relationship with Jesus offers some compelling answers to these questions.  I offer what insight I have in the three sections that follow taken from my journal.

The Prophetic Culture of the Kingdom (pt. 5) by Eric H. Janzen

Chapter Five

A Call to Citizenship

At the outset of this book I said that the basic question the Church needs to answer today is what it means to be in the world but not of the world.  In understanding that the community of Christ has a distinct culture in the kingdom of heaven I believe we have found an answer.

Jesus calls us out of darkness and into his light.  He rescues us from the bondage of sin and our imprisonment in the kingdom of darkness.  Consider that we were all once citizens in this dark kingdom, but now that citizenship has been negated.  When we choose to follow Jesus we shed our old home and walk freely out of that spiritual darkness to our new home in the kingdom of heaven.  We are now a part of the community of Christ, citizens of his realm.  When we choose this narrow path we are answering a call to leave one culture for another, opting for the spiritual culture of Christ’s kingdom and accepting the divine paradigm of God.

The Prophetic Culture of the Kingdom (pt. 4) by Eric H. Janzen

Chapter Four

Transcending Culture

 I have attempted to show that kingdom culture is a spiritual culture revealed by God.  This culture comes out of his character, which is unchanging.  The spiritual culture of the kingdom is unchanging as well.  How the people of God are to live is a constant that does not change from era to era.  This characteristic of kingdom culture is markedly different from world culture, which is always in flux, changing and evolving.  This is important to understand for the community of Christ by the way it lives life fulfills its prophetic role in the world to reveal who God is.  Christians ought to be those who understand what God is truly like in character.  They ought to be those who not only know about God, but who know him relationally.  All the theology in the world does us no good if we do not know him.  At the heart of kingdom culture is this spiritual reality: we can be reconciled to God through Jesus and truly know him.  The Christian style of life revolves around this reality.  God has made it possible for us to have a genuine and real relationship with him.  

The Prophetic Culture of the Kingdom (pt. 3) by Eric H. Janzen

Chapter Three

Divided Loyalties

The Church has been facing a crisis for some time now, a crisis surrounding the question of relevance.  Its critics claim that the Church and the Gospel have ceased being relevant and meaningful.  Many have sought to answer this crisis by searching for ways to connect with the culture outside the Church, a challenge to say the least.  Some programs and plans may have limited success in drawing some into the Church, but the question regarding the crisis needs some kind of answer: why has the Church and the Gospel lost its relevance in a world so desperately in need of both Christ’s community and message?  Part of the answer, though it is surely a complicated one, lies in understanding that Christians are called to a way of life.  Their style of living is to be culturally distinct from the world they find themselves in.  It is this way of life that makes the Church the salt of the earth and the light of the world.  The Church needs to recall its spiritual culture and live according to it in order to be relevant, which will give the treasure of the gospel which they hold real meaning in today’s world.

On the New Idol by Brian Zahnd

 The book of Revelation is primarily a prophetic critique of empire—a prophetic denunciation of the all-powerful state as a devouring, dehumanizing beast. In John the Revelator's day the Beast took the form of the Roman Empire. In subsequent history the Beast has flown other flags. The drama of the Apocalypse is found in the contest between the monstrous Beast which devours humanity with its military and economic might and the Lamb of God who redeems humanity with his blood. The hope we find in the final book of the Bible is in the prophetic picture of the ultimate triumph of Jesus and his kingdom over the satanic empires of Babylon. And thus the Bible is a book which gives us the happiest of all possible endings.

But the Beast is subtle. Like the serpent which is its father. And though the shed skin of the Beast is easily recognized once it is relegated to the realm of history, the Beast can be difficult to spot in its contemporary incarnation. It takes a prophetic eye to spot the shape-shifting monster that is the Beast.

The Multiple Morphing Faces of Freedom by Brad Jersak

  "THE USES OF FREEDOM--A WORD AND OUR WORLD" 

As I was reading an old essay (1956) by the Canadian philosopher-prophet George Grant on the varied uses of the word freedom in his day, I saw that it was due for a post-9-11 transposition. His unique contribution was in seeing that the modern North American sense of freedom as "the ability to do and get whatever I want" was rooted in surprising ground. He argued that while faith in this type of freedom is often sourced to (1) industrialism, (2) world-centered philosophy, and (3) the resultant crude hedonism, this is to miss the central point of our origins. Grant noted that before America's break with England, before the westward movement, before industrialization, before the rise of American secular humanism, Puritan Protestants arrived on our shores and set forces in motion that would inevitably spawn a pervasive secular, liberal society in a few short steps. 

Discernment: Testing My Own Voice by Brad Jersak

DISCERNMENT: TESTING MY OWN VOICE

In recent days I have been thinking about our dialogues with God and how we weigh them. I started noticing that when the prayer conversation alternates: God, then Brad, then God, then Brad, and son on, I was diligent to test what God is allegedly saying. I test to see whether the voice of God is really God or not God. I check that voice according to the three-legged stool of the Word, the Body and the Spirit, as recommended in Can You Hear Me? Tuning in to the God who Speaks.

But I neglected to test MY voice. And why should I? After all, it’s my own voice, isn’t it? Or is it? But when I began to categorize the themes that came under the umbrella of ‘my voice,’ I noticed something. On the one hand, there was the voice that agrees with and responds to God in faith. We could call that the voice of my ‘true heart,’ or the voice of the ‘new creation,’ or the ‘new me.’

On the other hand, there are these other voices that I assumed were my own as well: The voice of condemnation (beating myself up) that would then trigger the voice of self-pity (feeling sorry for myself), and the voices of shame, self-hatred, fear, worry, anger, and so on. In my head, I would hear and say, ‘I am afraid; I am angry; I don’t like myself; I’m not worthy,’ etc. Perhaps you know those voices as well.

Reconciled to What? by Brad Jersak

Reconciled to What? Personal and Public Reconciliation in Canadian Aboriginal Context
by Brad Jersak with thanks to the Honourable Iona Campagnola

Recently, I was honoured to attend a gathering hosted by the Lytton First Nation, entitled ‘Bright New Day’ Workshop. The facilitators of the event were John McCandless and Chief Robert Joseph. Approximately sixty registrants attended, half of whom came from a variety of Aboriginal communities and organizations, while the other half represented a wide range of governments and businesses that have a stake in building relationships with the First Nations communities. It seemed symbolic that the modern facilities selected for the event were unfinished but that could enjoy meeting in one large circle within a tent with a grass field as the floor. Significant too was the fact that we were situated on the grounds of what had once been St. George's Residential School, with all the loaded history that its memory carries. To have a conference on reconciliation among such people in such a place was a profound experience that I will not forget. Before I go on, I want to thank the Lytton First Nation for welcoming me to the traditional territories of the N’Laka’Pamux Peoples. You treated me with great hospitality and respect.

"Called out of darkness" - by Brad Jersak

My friend, Kevin Miller, spoke at church last Sunday. He shared about some of the joys and sorrows of being a movie screenwriter. I laughed as I heard about his encounters with some famous characters: shaking Chuck Norris' hand, getting eye-contact with the pope, duking it out with Ben Stein, and getting sued by Yoko Ono. But when he shared from the heart about how a series of deep disappointments can lead to a sense of broken trust with God, I sobered up quickly. He was preaching right to my sadness.

In my disappointment, I know that I lost confidence in God's way of running this buggered up world and at times, took it upon myself to take his place--with disastrous effects. I have seen my capacity to fail others miserably and know the hellish pride of self-loathing. It's easy for me to get stuck there, because that place opposes the very core of God's message. Kev related how our old friend, Tyler, had challenged him to stop and to just spend time "soaking" in worship and just listening to God. Sounds simple, but the resistance to engage that way was itself instructive. He recommended sitting quietly and listening to Kim Walker's "Oh How He Loves Us" ... repeatedly, until a message came through.

Martin Buber and Abraham Heschel: 20th Century Jewish Prophets -- by Ron Dart

It is almost twenty-five years ago that I was writing a doctoral thesis on Martin Buber (1878-1965). There is little doubt that Buber was one of the most influential Jews of the 20th century. More than 2000 people turned up for his funeral. Buber was a leading Biblical scholar, philosopher, political theorist and activist.

Buber was a German Jew who argued strongly for the revival of cultural Zionism but opposed political Zionism. Buber challenged, in 1921, Chaim Weizmann (President of the Zionist Organization) for doing too little to foster good relations with the Arabs. Buber’s classic work, I and Thou, was published in 1922, and in many ways this wise missive anticipated the way the Nazis would treat the Jews (as objects to be exterminated) and the way Jews would treat the Palestinians. Buber fled Germany in 1938, and settled in Palestine where he was given a distinguished teaching position at the Hebrew University.

Bob Ekblad's 'A New Christian Manifesto' - Review by Brad Jersak

Bob Ekblad, A New Christian Manifesto: Pledging Allegiance to the Kingdom of God, Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008.

Review by Brad Jersak

After my first encounters with the theo-praxis of Bob Ekblad, recounted so vividly in his previous work, Reading the Bible with the Damned, I could only wait impatiently for the arrival of his New Christian Manifesto. I was not disappointed.

In this work, Ekblad demonstrates his acumen as a master bridge-builder and integrator. Specifically, he bridges the best of world-class biblical theology and front line pastoral practice. He integrates the social prophetic world of liberation theology with the charismatic prophetic world of the modern renewal movement. Text meets testimony, mind meets heart and authentic prayer finds its way into the world of the poor, the immigrant, the gangster and the prisoner. In short, Bob brings the good news of the Kingdom of God, preaching a decentering word to the powers (a la Brueggemann), and inviting those on the margins to the banqueting table of God.

Beyond Cynicism: the Renewal of Prophetic Purity - by Brad Jersak and Peter Helms

Intro:

As the apostolic / prophetic movement has become increasingly bizarre, many who were told to simply bless everything are now deeply disillusioned. In these days when renewal meetings, alleged outpourings and flamboyant leaders have reached a point of crisis, it is tempting to throw up our hands, become cynical and opt to retreat to a safer, saner spirituality. And yet we know in our hearts that we can't go back to a Christian faith without the presence, power and voice of God. Neither dead orthodoxy nor practical deism can provide a harbour for us. Some are simply walking away from the faith altogether. Is that really our only option? How do we stay open to the Spirit? How do we restore prophetic purity? How can we continue to engage in authentic experiences with God without becoming wacky? What if we were to recalibrate our faith practice and renew prophetic purity?

Double or nothing! -- Anouncement by Brad Jersak

For those who haven't heard yet, we made quite an important and wonderful announcement at Fresh Wind on Sunday, Sept. 15. For those who only have a moment, if you just skim down to the bold letters below, you'll get the basic idea. Let me begin by sharing a visitation that I experienced the night before the announcement that finally gave me some perspective on it.

I came before the Lord in prayer and engaged with something he had been speaking to me through the writings of Hans Urs Von Baltasar. I sensed him say, 'Gaze on me and I will gaze on you. I will see you and see through you and into every part of you. I will open up every door and every drawer of your soul and I will evaluate you. I will judge you thoroughly, even where you would not dare judge yourself. I will see and know what you cannot even see and know. And I will render my verdict of mercy, my sentence of kindness, and my gaze will be adoration.'

"I Will Diminish": Humility as the Prophetic Benchmark

“I pass the test … I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel” (Lord of the Rings, II.7, p.357).

“The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less” (John the Baptist, Jn 3:29f).

I think the most ironic phrase in the English language is, “I was humbled.” When we use it, we might as well say, “I felt really proud.” But I get it. I was humbled recently to have lunch with pastor and author, Vern Heidebrecht. I.e. I felt proud to be invited into his company. In fact, I was actually humbled in that I had that “I’m-not-worthy” feeling to have someone I consider as a seasoned man of God treat me so graciously. And this will be part of my point in this article.

When I Walk into the Room: Confessions of a Burden-Bearer -- by Eric H Janzen

 As I approached the door I scanned the amount of vehicles parked outside the house, which told me there were a lot of people inside. I rang the door bell could hear laughter and voices in conversation, all the sounds you would expect to hear from an ongoing party. The door opened and as I was invited in I inwardly sighed, “Here we go.” I walked into the room, looked for a seat in a corner, sat down, and began attempting not to feel. This never works, and by the time I left the party I was feeling a vast range of emotions that I knew would eventually wash into one of feeling weary and tired. “I hate parties,” I told myself.

 The above is a true scenario replayed many times in my life. It describes many of my experiences being in groups of large people. It was not until I was in my mid-twenties that I would discover language for this problem. I had no understanding of why I was affected in this way when in groups of people. I coped as best I could, which to be honest was not well. The problem, it turned out, was that I was a burden-bearer and a keen discerner, but did not know it.

Pathos and Prophecy -- Abraham Heschel

Prophecy consists in the inspired communication of divine attitudes to the prophetic consciousness. The divine pathos is the ground-tone of all these attitudes. Echoed in almost every prophetic statement, pathos is the central category of the prophetic understanding of God.

To the prophet, God does not reveal himself in an abstract absoluteness, but in a specific and unique way--in a personal and intimate revelation to the world. God does not simply command and expect obedience; He is also moved and affected by what happens in the world and he reacts accordingly. Events and human actions arouse in Him joy or sorrow, pleasure or wrath.

On Crucifying the Prophetic Ego -- by Brad Jersak

Follow-up to “Pied Piper Prophets”

The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less. Jn 3:29f

One of the great difficulties for truly prophetic people is when they hear from the Lord and are called to deliver a message, if the church leadership doesn't receive the word or respond in the way that the prophet sees fit. In those moments, it can feel like the church is rejecting the word, rejecting the prophet and rejecting the Lord's will. And this may even be true.

"Follow Your Heart!" Really? -- by Brad Jersak

“Follow you heart.”

There’s something about this bit of proverbial wisdom that sounds so right, so refreshing, so healing. To those who’ve shaken free of the restraints of religious moralism or experienced the bankruptcy of rationalism, the rediscovery of one’s heart is a thrilling find indeed. To uncover this precious gift from beneath a thousand layers of emotional limestone is, in a deep way, to be born again. And what a wonderful surprise to find out that perhaps the human heart is, at its core, not some monster to be destroyed, but a pearl to be reclaimed and cherished.

And so we hear this anthem, this slogan—Follow your heart!—from the impassioned lips of many an anointed guru or [self-]appointed prophet these days.Yet something about this popular phrase has given me pause.

Beloved... prophetic message via Eric Janzen

    Beloved, there is a table set for you and an invitation to come to that table.  A seat has been prepared for you and upon it is written your name.  What I have for you is abundant life; the Life of my Son; the Life of my Spirit.   

    I want you, beloved, to stop giving your loyalty away so easily.  I have been calling you, asking for your whole heart, your whole mind, your whole soul and spirit. 

Ignorance is the mother of violence, fear is it father - Archbishop Lazar Puhalo

Ignorance is the mother of violence, fear is its father. Combined, they work together to undermine faith. Much of the world's religions, including much of Christianity, has become based in fear and ignorance, and this is one of the greatest promoters of atheism. But atheism, too, is based in fear and ignorance. One who has a genuine faith in Christ no longer subscribes to fear and ignorance, and no longer hates, wishes to persecute or resorts to violence, either physical, emotional of verbal. As the apostle so clearly tells us, "we have not been placed in bondage to a spirit of fear," and our beloved father John the Evangelist enjoins that "there is no fear in love; rather perfect love drives out fear," and "whoever still has fear has not been made perfect in love."

-- Archbishop Lazar Puhalo

"You Are Who You Pretend to Be" by Brad Jersak

    “Be careful who you pretend to be, because you are who you pretend to be.”    (Kurt Vonnegut)

Recently, I spent an afternoon serving coffee and cake at Mission Possible, a drop-in centre for the homeless in East Vancouver. I took the enjoyable role of delivering goodies to the table where those with disabilities sat eagerly waiting. On handing what I regarded as an unspectacular angel-food square to one senior visitor, he threw his hands in the air and shouted joyfully to the heavens, “The Lord saves his best for his servants!” His face glowed with gratitude through bright eyes set in deeply wrinkled skin and framed in a beautiful white beard. I took this as an invitation.

What's Coming? by Eric Janzen (for Fresh Wind 2008)

As I listened to the Lord about what to expect in the coming year, this is what I heard the Lord saying last night and this morning.

Last night he asked me if I could hear the wind.  It was quiet and peaceful outside and I could hear it, so I said, “Yes, I can hear it.” He replied:

“This year you will hear the wind of my Spirit.  This past year was a year of anticipation, building hope in my promises, hope to see the activity of my Kingdom becoming more evident. The coming year is about the Good News and seeing this anticipation not only increase, but begin to be met.  It is important to remember that the Gospel is what is paramount. The presence of my Kingdom goes hand in hand with the Gospel.  Too often the Good News is used as a bludgeon to wound (be saved or else… be saved or go to hell… be saved or be rejected… etc). What does the Kingdom look like to people then?  The Gospel opens the wedding table to the poor, the shamed, the outcast, the wealthy, the broken, and even those who are whole. 

Message for 2008 to the Church

You have been living, drifting on the surface.
You have been living in the desert with only a sip here and a sip there.
You have been waiting season after season for evidence of a fertile womb.

Like streams of fresh clean water that appear to people of the desert,
like sudden fertility to a barren woman,
the alive word will appear.

Do not tire of promises.
Man's promises are slung together with words and intentions;
God's promises are the true living fabric of what He has called into being.

Believe,
no longer will you only have the reputation for being alive (Sardis), but you will be ALIVE and people who don't know Me will talk to each other about your LOVE.

Valley of Dry Bones by Doug White

"The hand of the Lord was upon me
    And He brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord
    And set me down in the middle of the valley
    And it was full of bones.
    And He caused me to pass among them round about
    And behold there were very many on the surface of the valley
    And lo, they were very dry."  Ezekiel 37:1-2

    I have never experienced the horror of the battlefield.  I have been blessed to have been born in a time of relative peace and in a land that has known peace and security within it's borders.  I can't begin to understand the carnage of war and the devastation of a battlefield.

    But I have read the accounts of those who have.  In many cases the horror of the devastation left those witnesses choking on words in a vain attempt to describe the indescribable.

    A fifth century Roman historian described the scene of a Roman city that had been sacked by the armies of Attila the Hun.

    "The stench of death was so great the we could not stay within the city.  We camped outside and away from the city walls to escape it."

Walter Brueggemann's 19 Theses

1.     Everybody lives by a script. The script may be implicit or explicit. It may be recognized or unrecognized, but everybody has a script.

2.     We get scripted. All of us get scripted through the process of nurture and formation and socialization, and it happens to us without our knowing it.

3.      The dominant scripting in our society is a script of technological, therapeutic, consumer militarism that socializes us all, liberal and conservative.

4.     That script (technological, therapeutic, consumer militarism) enacted through advertising and propaganda and ideology, especially on the liturgies of television, promises to make us safe and to make us happy.