… because I can’t say it any better myself. Here’s some good driving audio. Please, please listen. Also, take the survey that is posted below. Here’s a sermon from Greg Boyd, of Woodland Hills church, talking about the banquet parable and who’s invited into the kingdom.
This has it all: the demonic-ness of religiousity, “laying the smack down” on Christians that think they have it all figured out… the Holy Club (self-righteous), “God on the side of America,” priorities of Jesus followers, the God revealed in Jesus, the loving invitation that God gives to humanity. Sooo good!
And some extra words for thought from Shane Claiborne – Jesus for President
Perhaps the world would be willing to listen to a church on its knees, a church that doesn’t pretend to be perfect or to have all the answers. As we move toward hope and imagination, let’s begin with confession and call it like it is. We are in a mess. And it’s not just the world that’s in a mess. The calling and identity of the people of God in the midst of this world have become even more muddled…
Jesus is forming a new kind of people, a different kind of party, whose peculiar politics are embodied in who we are. The church is a people called out of the world to embody a social alternative that the world cannot know on its own terms…
If someone asks if we are Christ-followers, can we say, “Tell me what you see”? Is tehre enough evidence to prove that we are taking after the slaughtered Lamb? What if they ask the poor around us? What if they ask our enemies? Would they say that we love them? Christians havn’t always looked like Jesus. Perhaps the greatest barrier to Christ has been Christians who pronounce Jesus so loudly with their lips and deny him so loudly with their lives.
About Nate
Currently, Nate is living in Bend, OR, working as the co-founder for VillageWorks (celebrating abundance | creative connectivity) and the singular Bend|OR advocate of BridgeWorks (an educational 501[c]3). He is connecting and holding space for an emerging community of people, young and old, who are seeking to grow into more sustainable and mature relationships… with self, community and God. The vision on his heart is one of giving people experience of village culture and practice.
Nate can be found connecting people through at The Hub, VillageWorks’ Central Oregon community connection center (www.rockthevillage.com) and making oven pancakes for the biggest regular “village” breakfast in Bend every Saturday morning at 9:30.
Nate went to Bethel College in St Paul, MN (’03), got his BA in Youth Ministry, completed his Masters in Divinity at Bethel Seminary (’06) with an emphasis in Spiritual Formation, and is currently pursuing a certificate in Spiritual Formation at George Fox Seminary in Portland. His hope is to continue to pursue community spiritual formation within the framework of the neighborhood conversation and cross-cultural dialog.
Nate has been connecting people into more authentic community in Bend | OR since June ’07. Since day one of his arrival, Nate has been gifted with the chance to listen and learn about the culture and people of Central Oregon. Because of his passion for conversation and community, he has fallen in love with the people of this wonderful city and is committed to the growth of more intentional and transformational community.
Nate’s particular areas of interest are:
* conversational transformation
* spiritual formation
* relational mentoring and counseling
* small group strengthening
* men’s work (spiritual, emotional, and relational)
* “Village Knowledge” of homecraft, live food, etc
* Intergenerational community
* New visions of the gifts we offer to the community
* teaching for the 21st century, and more.
At this time Nate has not written any books, but hopes to some day have enough material to put into some type of publication. At this point, he is dedicated to building relationships in Bend, Central Oregon, and across the United States to connect people to what is happening in an emerging and evolving paradigm and with those who are seeking to follow God and live more authentically in the transforming presence of the divine.
I’d say this is one of those polls, like most polls actually, that seem to be lacking in nuance. Questions of “message” and “delivery” are more complicated, multi-facted, and interconnected than is suggested by the options described here.
Also, the options provided are so wide-open as to have three different people click off the same selection, and mean three completely different things by doing so.
This is why I’ve always preferred essays to multiple-choice tests; they’re just so much more like real life.
So we have 100% voting or both a new message and a new delivery. That seems to settle it…:)
Hehe… bob! we only have two votes so far! But there have been 28 hits to the page… so indifference is the running assumption…
I’d say this is one of those polls, like most polls actually, that seem to be lacking in nuance. Questions of “message” and “delivery” are more complicated, multi-facted, and interconnected than is suggested by the options described here.
Also, the options provided are so wide-open as to have three different people click off the same selection, and mean three completely different things by doing so.
This is why I’ve always preferred essays to multiple-choice tests; they’re just so much more like real life.
Same message–Christ crucified and risen–without superfluous religion and relevant to today’s generation.