Hope, Not Fear: Last week I waited for my bride in Target as she tried to find a cheap shirt to wear to a church assc. meeting. We could barely afford it. While waiting I overheard 2 ladies saturated in their "chics for Palin" shirts, sweat pants, and jackets, talking. "Times are tough" one said to the other (not tough enough to keep them from "free Marketing" their candidate") Their carts were chuck full of clothes, shoes, and household furnishings as they continued their dialogue on the financial woes they were suffering. All the time I couldn't help but think of my brother Tony (a Ugandan Pastor serving the village of Musese 40 Kilometers from Mbale), David, Isaac, Morris, Vincent (also dear brothers from Uganda) who really are suffering hard times. I thought of the children of Haiti who are burying their feces in the dirt, and waiting for the nutrients to go into the dirt so they can eat mud pies. As these two ladies continued, they spoke of the "fear" they shared w/ millions of the great "what if?". What if Obama wins? "He's a communist/socialist". "He's a terrorist". "He's pro-abortion"..........................FEAR! "Be afraid" she said, was the message of Mrs. Palin when she spoke to the Moral Right public in Pensacola earlier this month. Yesterday was a different feeling though. Our family went to hear Michelle Obama speak in the same Civic center. Fear was not the message. Fear was not the feeling. This day was about HOPE! People suffering hard times. People who have lost their jobs. People who either have/are serving our country or have loved ones who have/are. The message wasn't = FEAR! The message was Hope! HOW DARE THEY.................How dare they have the "audacity" to hope.? It seems that not only the message of the Political/Moral Right, but the Gospel of America/The Western Free World has become: "Be Afraid, be very Afraid". This weekend, an Atheist in London Launched an ad campaign on the public transportation: "God doesn't exist, so go ahead and live your life." Although I couldn't disagree more with the message of God- (God does indeed Exist, and is living Freely and Sovereignly)=it's sad that the church feels the message it must send to the world is= FEAR! No wonder the world hates us! And when Jesus said the world would hate us, I am sure he didn't mean that any hate they have for us is b/c of him and is something to rejoice. If they hate us cuz we are jackasses, that can't be good! It's sad that in the world today, the message of Hope should ever come from an Atheist. There was a time when "sinners in the hands of an angry God" was a fitting message. But that message was one of Hope more than fear (Don't let the title fool you) and the author lived..........check that- the audience lived lives WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY more "conservative" than those who promote the fear mongering anti-gospel of today who call themselves "conservative". During this Presidential Campaign, people like me have been bombarded with careless attacks from not so well-meaning brothers and sisters in Christ. The Torrid of questions flow like hurricanic waves with blows of anger-filled hate and fear. Yesterday my tag line on facebook was "Going to see Michelle Obama!" One ultra-conservative, one whose life hardly is conservative, wrote questions about socialism, "spreading the wealth", "jeremiah wright" etc etc. It seems the Religious Right (synonymous w/ Political Right often) pick and choose the parts of the bible they like. James is clear that we are to be "quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger"(no thanks if anyone wants to give me the context here, I got it! You probably don't) for the wrath of man does not bring about the righteousness that pleases God". What's so incredulous about all of this,is the that Moral Right thinks they own the "Market" (Free Market no doubt:) )on "the Righteousness that pleases God" all the while missing it in great measures. (I am not against Free Market, but come on! the republicans are no more free market than the democrats. And what does "Free" mean? If it means "free" to disregard the poor, then maybe SOMEONE should step in and defend the defenseless! If not the church, which means the church is failing, then who? But don't act like being "Republican brand of Free market is CHRISTIAN, it is anything but) So for those who will actually listen (few if any) from the Moral/Political/Religious Right: Can Pro-Life Christ Followers vote for a Pro-Choice Candidate? It's really not that hard to figure this one out. I imagine a modern version of the story of the good Samaritan being- "and the deacon and good Republican voting Christian, coming from the voting booth having voted for the logical Pro-Life Candidate, pass by on the other side from the dying person as they travel to picket the abortion clinic". It seems that being Pro=Life, which I am Profoundly, is deeper than being against abortion. Isn't it a Sanctity of Life issue to be also concerned with the mom and dad of those who consider abortion? Let's ignore the obvious fact that more abortions stem from poverty and consider those who have abortions b/c they simply find the baby to be an inconvenience. Let's consider those who discard life b/c they want to pursue the American dream.....is that really all that inconsistent with the message of the same Political/Religious/Moral Right? The Pro-life candidate said clearly what His presidency would be about: "Freedom! Freedom to Live the American Dream! Freedom to spend our wealth the way we want" (look it up, that's exactly what he said on Rich Warren's interview). How can we get angry that people would not count life as precious when it is the "Dream" that so many pursue- to be wealthy and live as they please w/o any regard to the suffering in our own back yard (hard to see w/ our privacy fences blocking our sight in the suburbs) let alone the world. For those of us Christ Followers who will vote for the Pro-Choice candidate it isn't because we don't consider the life of the unborn precious, it's because we are tired of the empty principles of Pro-Life candidates while our country continues to discard the unwanted unborn. We have come to have the audacity to hope, rather than fear, that a Pro-Choice President will fight to diminish the number of abortions drastically. Can ProLife CF's vote for a Pro-Choice President? YES WE CAN! Can Progressive Christ Followers Hope while others FEAR? 2 Timothy 1 :11 "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of Power, of Love, of a self-control". Power to live well, not be pissed and shout at others. Love, which apparently may mean love those who "think" like you. And of Self-Control, which apparently means SPEND lots of money on yourself in the Free Market and demand that we get to "give": our money to whom we want, even though every statistic out there suggest most people DON'T GIVE. By the way, I know it's verse 7, but I wanted to expose the closed-ear jackassery of those who won't listen to the BIG PICTURE b/c of small details. GOOOOOOOOOO FUNDIES! Fear of God is not the same as fear of socialism, fear of terrorism, and fear of anything! For our Moral Right siblings, God did not abdicate His Throne! He is still seated Lofty and Exalted appointing Kings and Presidents. He still does Good! HIs return is not predicated on who wins this election! How arrogant for us to think that in God's world, everything is centered in on what happens here! Can We CF's have the Audacity to Hope rather than Fear? YES WE CAN! Can We Progressive Christ Followers partner with Government to provide Social Justice? When the church has failed to live out the realities of The Kingdom, the Emerging Church of a new Generation must be an example to the professing church, and to the Empire in which it exists- for the highest good of the world! We can no longer be satisfied with Churches building auditoriums that seat 1875 while only being several hundred (6-700) people in average attendance and spending money on itself while the world around us is suffering. We will no longer be content to package the gospel in contrived presentations that amount to "be afraid, very afraid", standing on street corners yelling at cars, and living lives that are blinded to the injustice in our own country let alone the world. We, like Paul, will partner with any who desire to care for the marginalized, the oppressed, the poor, the homeless, the sick, the dying. Can We CF's partner w/ Gov't for social Justice? YES WE CAN! CAN WE Progressive Christ Followers Be friends (like Jesus said to) with those who are trapped in the same darkness we are traveling away from, while not being a friend of darkness itself? It seems that for those who wish to "separate" themselves from others, while only coming in contact for a brief moment to speak, and not listen (Again James 1:19) to those who are beat down by the weight of the world-may have missed the clear heart of Jesus' message. This breaks our hearts. In choosing to live apart from the world for the majority of life, does not produce what we hope it does, but in fact sling us into the very self-absorbed darkness we preach against. If we, the church, are to be what Christ has called us to, we must live well with, among, those who Christ has left us to love. We must be aspire for the pure religion that pleases God, to love and care for the fatherless and the widows and to remain unstained by this world (which in the context seems to have more to do with how we love the poor, than in not going to certain movies, or voting for Pro-Life-in principle- Candidates ,as important as that may be- Read James 2). So, Can we Progressive Christ Followers be friends with those who not only have had abortions but possibly seek them now, friends to the GLBT in society, and those of all races, friends to those who have a middle name given to them 47 years ago, long b4 Saddam Hussein was thought of as a terrorist in the world-? YES WE CAN! Can we live in Harmony with each other as the Church even if our politics aren't all exactly in line with one another? YES WE CAN! Can we find more unification in Christ Himself than in political strategies/philosophies, even political issues that have clear arguments (even ones we may disagree with) in being rooted in loving Christ? YES WE CAN! I am thankful that I am part of a community that has folks that fit from the far left to the far right and everywhere in between. It's great that at the end of the day, we are not enemies, we all hope and live to be an afflux of authentic life! As for me, let me make this clear: My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.I dare not trust the sweetest frame,But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name. On Christ the solid Rock I stand,All other ground is sinking sand;All other ground is sinking sand. When darkness seems to hide His face,I rest on His unchanging grace.In every high and stormy gale,My anchor holds within the veil. His oath, His covenant, His blood,Support me in the whelming flood.When all around my soul gives way,He then is all my Hope and Stay. When He shall come with trumpet sound,Oh may I then in Him be found.Dressed in His righteousness alone,Faultless to stand before the throne. ON CHRIST THE SOLID ROCK I STAND! Peace, sam