Music: P.O.D. – When Angels & Serpents Dance

The most anticipating album for Christian rockers this year, When Angels & Serpents Dance brings a different side of P.O.D. However, the lyrics seem bland and redundant, yet the band seems to capture the surreal battle that wages in man.  When Angels & Serpents Dance, produced by Jay Baumgartner (Evanescence, Godsmack), redefines what a hard rock album can produce.  I was excited for this album to come out, nevertheless, I am saddened by the outcome P.O.D. created.  The song, “Tell Me Why,” is unlike another P.O.D. song, but it is simply amazing.  It explains hot topics such as war and peace.  I would definitely recommend this song, but do not go out and buy the entire album.   I rate this C.D. a 6/10.

Study: The Letter of Jimmy and Peacemaking #2

Two Kinds of Wisdom 

 

James did not remain abstract in his reference to works in the preceding chapter.  He warned his readers against the injustice of the rich.  With hundreds hungry and a minority overfed, there is little change for peace in the world of James.  The motif of wisdom introduced in 1:5 pervades the Epistle and reaches its climax in this section.  The Greek word for wisdom used by James is “sophia,” which is broad and full of intelligence, used to describe the knowledge of very diverse matters.

 

The heavenly wisdom has seven adjectives ideal to the character of Christ, which calls not for an accumulation of virtues, but for the submission of the entire personality of God (Jas. 4:7).  First mentioned are inner characteristics of a person and then follows the outward evidence of Christian wisdom.  Purely, the wise man will associate himself with Christ and will keep himself unspotted from the world (1:27).

 

The heavenly wisdom found in James resembles another New Testament text, Paul’s delineation of the “fruit of the Spirit” (Gal. 5:22-23).  James is writing before Paul, therefore, James is not familiar with Paul’s theology.  The author rejects war and class struggle.  According to James, such struggle reflects a lack of wisdom.

 

The preeminent attribute that wisdom produces is cleanliness or pure decisions.  The word pure (hagnos) connotes innocence and moral blamelessness.  James has harmonious convictions that a person must combat devilish wisdom, nevertheless, provides virtues that are practical and direct.  These qualities are communal driven.  They are not necessarily individualistic, rather the reason for this parenetic wisdom is an expression best expressed through community.

 

 

Scripture: Acts 20:22-24

But there is another urgency before me now. I feel compelled to go to Jerusalem. I’m completely in the dark about what will happen when I get there. I do know that it won’t be any picnic, for the Holy Spirit has let me know repeatedly and clearly that there are hard times and imprisonment ahead. But that matters little. What matters most to me is to finish what God started: the job the Master Jesus gave me of letting everyone I meet know all about this incredibly extravagant generosity of God.

Books: Strength to Love

Martin Luther King, Jr. expresses pure genius in this collective volume of sermons. All of these sermons were preached during or after the bus protest in Montgomery, AL, and have drawn a number of illustrations from the Civil Rights movement. King’s courage and zeal to confirm that judgment and hate on any race causes social and spiritual conflict. He declares freedom from the mountaintops of injustice. His words paint the racial picture that humanity should be colorblind.

If one tries to highlight this read, he/she should be prepared to highlight the entire book. The pages glisten of pink and yellow colors of the highlighter. King’s topics include, but are not limited to love, peace, violence, and race.

Violence brings only temporary victories; violence, by creating many more social problems than it solves, never brings permanent peace (14).

He creates a synthesis of love and justice, which is the nature and character of God. King knew and recognized that social justice would not come overnight, yet he worked as though it is an impending possibility.

But we are gravely mistaken to think that Christianity protects us from the pain and agony of mortal existence. Christianity has always insisted that the cross we bear precedes the crown we wear (25).

Occasionally one finds a book that brings change and truth; however, rarely does he find a book that brings a revelation of the heart. This book has the power to stimulate the hardest mind. It has the capacity to challenge the warmth of economic security and participate actively and courageously in social justice movements today. I rate this book a 10/10! There are too many quotes to write down, therefore I advise you to buy a used copy today and start highlighting the entire book.

Study: The Letter of Jimmy and Peacemaking #1

 “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.  Peacemakers who sow peace raise a harvest of righteousness.” – James 3:17-18       

Peace is the most inclusive of Christian virtues. The correspondence of James with Jewish Christians idealizes social justice initiatives.  The community is made of up rich and poor people.  The rich are affluent landowners and prosperous merchants.  The poor are not only the starving and naked but also laborers and unskilled workers, retail merchants and craftsmen.  James reprimands the rich for despising the oppressed and denounces their favoritism (2:2-4).  James speaks of the rich’s merciless exploitation of the poor and weak and strongly condemns their manipulation of the justice system (2:6; 5:6).  However, he writes of a peaceful harmony that derives from the wisdom of the Beatitudes of Jesus, wisdom tradition, and the Hebrew usage of shalom. 

The world is hostile and one should assume that all sociopolitical powers, by arrogance, will persecute and admonish the poor, yet the bitter and envy that is built upon an evil heart will only reap destruction.  James abhorred false orthopraxy.  The Palestine methodology of taking care of another was divorced from any kind of Jewish wisdom and Old Testament knowledge.

James does not shy away from the rhetorical practice of seeing one another analogically as people who are subject to God’s peace.  The urgency of James’ words expresses a passion for reconciliation.  The momentum for rhetorical wisdom derives from the sinfulness of humanity and the injustice of social oppression against the poor, thus peace-making is an action that is channeled through humility that precludes a violent solution.

Quotes: Shannon Poindexter

The best apologetics for Christianity is love.

Scripture: Romans 8:31-39

So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture: 
   They kill us in cold blood because they hate you.
   We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.
None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.

Music: Counting Crows – Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings

The anticipated “Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings” unveiled pure genius yesterday morning.  Counting Crows did it again.  I have been waiting for this album for sometime.  I have already listened to the whole C.D. once.  Songs that bubbled to the top were, Hanging Tree; Cowboys; Le ballet d’or; and Sessions.  The lyrics for Cowboys and Hanging Tree touched my soul.  Go buy the C.D., sit back in a relaxing chair and drink a cup of your favorite coffee as Adam Duritz and the crew take you to another place.   

Books: Jesus and the Nonviolent Revolution

Andre Trocme is best known as the Protestant pastor of the French village of Le Chambon who organized the rescue of Jews during the Nazi occupation.  After the war he became a leading voice for peace and reconciliation.  He proclaims the Kingdom of God and the biblical Jubilee, and shows the ongoing relevance of his ethic of revolutionary nonviolence.  His work inspired the late John Howard Yoder and compares favorably with current authors such as Walter Wink and my favorite Glen Stassen from Fuller Theological Seminary. 

Jesus’ revolution is political by its very nature (43).

Trocme takes the reader back to implications of Jubilee and what God meant when he provide man with Sabbath.  In an age of increasing war and terror, Trocme shows people that there is another way than violence.  He lays out principles that a common person can start in their communities.  Trocme had the courage to face Nazi oppression, therefore, he practiced what he preached.

I like what he says about church and state:

Politics per se are not the church’s business (169).

The church’s business is not to establish peace between the nations, but to bear witness to the love of God, to live in his peace and righteousness (169).

These two quotes could not be more true for Christians today.  God expects only one thing: that we walk in obedience to the gospel, refusing violence in whatever form because of that obedience.  Jesus’ commitment to nonviolence did not grow out of a pantheistic, optimistic, or utopian view of the world.  It came from the evaluation of the terrible power of evil.  The sad thing, the church does not continue to manifest this redemption. 

Overall, I would rate this book a 9/10.  Anyone who is interested in Jesus, Jubilee, Sabbath, or the nonviolence movement should consider this read.  Though this book is written several years ago, it still speaks volume to the garments of terror today.

In times of war, at least, government reveal their true character; the question of governing in the fear of God does not even arise (164). 

I firmly believe that this is truest in the church today.  In times of terror and war, the church reveals their true character and the question of governing in the fear of God is lost.  The church has another task instead of bothering itself with state administration, however, will it ever change?

Study: The Letter of Jimmy and Poverty #5

As one reads the letter of James one sees that James has developed a theology of the poor in a way that was understood by his brother.  He shows a new society that opposed the governmental and worldly influence.  Religion demands a way of life that is expressed through faith and actions.  Christians must take care of the orphans and widows. 

To what extent do Christians tacitly endorse such injustice by purchasing from companies who do not treat their workers fairly, often without being aware of their practices?  To what extent do Christians support politicians who promise tax cuts for the upper and middle classes, when programs that help the needy at home and abroad are slashed in the process and most likely will never be replaced? James calls for radical and revolutionary lifestyle among Christians.  Social injustice must always be denounced by the Christian community. 

In absence of freedom of expression, the poor are often silent, and even when they speak, little attention is given to them.  James is not only theological, but methodological.  Transformational communities existed in the times of the early disciples.  Readers get a glimpse when they read Acts 2:44-45, “All the believers were together and had everything in common.  Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.” Their holistic style of ministry had no claims on any possession and they shared everything.  The evidence of this type of ministry was, “there was no needy person among them.”

According to Ched Meyers, contemporary North Americans spend $5 billion a year on special diets to lower their caloric intake; while the world’s poorest 400 million people are so undernourished they are likely to suffer stunted growth, mental retardation, or death.  The affluent Christians clearly need spiritual and practical disciplines other than the addiction to consumerism.  Rich Christians are addicted to economic privilege and power by the means to allowing others to sink into the depths of poverty. 

The letter of James pronounces an envisage Kingdom.  Christians can feel and taste the picture James paints in each letter written down.  Rich and middle class are hostages to deeply ingrained suppositions about private ownership.  Nothing challenges today’s culture more than reversing the autonomy of consumerism and selfishness.  Reading James will provoke thinking about socialization, addictions, and community sharing.