04291 – A Call to be Dispossessed

The Christian narrative is a call to be dispossessed. The desire to possess is one of the greatest manifestations of fear in the world today. The desire to possess is what leads us to so much violence ... Daily newspapers (are full) of ample testimony to the gravity...

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04241 – Christianity of the Catacombs

It is not the task of the church to "Make America Great Again." The contemporary task of the church is to make Christianity countercultural again. And once we untether Jesus from the interests of empire, we begin to see just how countercultural and radical Jesus'...

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04073 – Called to Peace

The followers of Christ have been called to peace ... And they must not only have peace but make it. And to that end they renounce all violence and tumult. In the cause of Christ nothing is to be gained by such methods ... His disciples keep the peace by choosing to...

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04035 – Consecration: Make Holy

When you take on the confusion and the violence and you refine them, purify them into something new, you are doing what in the vocabulary of faith we call consecrating your chaos. To consecrate is to make holy, to put it into service for good.

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04001 – The Way of Jesus is Clear

Christianity can be confusing, but the way of Jesus was pretty clear. Move toward the poorEmpower the womanCreate space at the tableThrow partiesWiden the family boundariesPoke holes in oppressive systemsDon't retaliate with violenceForgive your enemyDon't store up...

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03962 – Jesus and Nonviolence

Jesus' teaching on nonviolence remains his most controversial teaching because we live in a world organized by violence. Which is why so many Christians want to pretend that Jesus didn't teach and model nonviolence. But to imagine a violence-endorsing Jesus is to...

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03744 – Strongman vs. Scapegoat

Beware systems and identities that need: 1. A Strongmanand2. A Scapegoat There will be no end of violence when these two exist. They legitimate and fuel each other. Jesus demonstrates how demonically futile the Strongman/Scapegoat mechanism is in his death and...

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03495 – What Nonviolence Means

Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him.-------------------------------------------------------Gender-inclusive paraphrase: Nonviolence means...

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