Silence

I apologize for the lack of action at this blog. It stays silent while the action in my life doesn't seem to stop right now. Life is good though. Struggling through writing some songs that, if I finish them, maybe I will put up here to share...

I still hope to post about the Expanding Jesus soon...

Beginnings and Endings

Life is full beginnings and endings. Birth and death are constants.

This weekend I participated in both. The birth of some relationships and the memorial of an 18 year old boy.

Saturday night we had dinner with some new friends that we met when Wayne Jacobsen was here. It is so refreshing to hang out with people and share our journeys and the Spirit that is within us free from agendas! The birth of some relationships. . . .

Joey McCubbins was born with neurofibromatosis. He was considered mentally retarded. There was never a time in his life that he did not suffer physical pain. He suffered valiantly his whole life. His mom and dad, Tom and Mary Alice, are two of the sweetest people I know. They raised Joey in such a way that he had dignity, respect and spiritual values. It was so cool to hear how this young man, who should not had made a difference, made a difference to so many. His spirit, humor and courage touched so many.

Here is a poem that his dad wrote. It is classic "Tom"....

My son died yesterday
Not with fan-fare
Nor with trumpets blowing,
Nor as a giant among men

My son died yesterday
Quietly,
As he lay asleep,
In his room,
With only his mother as a witness
And as a soft voice that caressed and comforted,
"goodbye for now my lovely boy"

My son died yesterday,
He was small in stature. Slow in mind
And accomplished little as it is prized.

My son died yesterday, and
Today I received his ashes
All that is my boy,
contained in a child's shoe box.

My son died yesterday
As I stared at the shoebox
All that was of him
I was humbled
He had accomplished so little, except. . . .
He was.
He accomplished all that would fit
Into a shoebox

My son died yesterday
And while his body filled a small shoebox
There was not any box that could fit
The heart it had contained
There is no shoebox to fit the hearts he had captured.
There was not any shoebox big enough to contain. . . . him

My son was born yesterday

The Expanding Jesus - The "First Jesus"

The first Jesus that I remember was in a series of illustrated books that showed Jesus surrounded by children. He was caucasian, as were most of the children, and had a very loving, welcoming look on his face. I honestly don't remember talking a lot about Jesus in my house as a child except for the occasional Bible story. I know that my Granny loved Jesus though. She thanked him for the day every night before bed.

My parents were Lutheran, so I guess I was a one by association. We went to a Lutheran church anyway. It was boring. I remember the pastor being a nice guy. But I didn'’t really understand the rituals. I remember learning the books of the Bible in Sunday school and laughing every time we said "“Flip-ians"” as I pictured a whole town of people doing backflips together!

Most of my youth was lost in a haze of various sinful activities, and for the most part, so was Jesus. Though I remember this subtle feeling that there was a spiritual "“presence"” in my life that caused me guilt about my lifestyle. I wound up in a treatment center my freshman year of high school, and when I returned my mom and dad REALLY wanted me to go to church. I went, long hair and all. No one even shook my hand after church. Jesus was bullshit.

I spent quite a few years doing and seeking "“spiritual things"” but avoiding Jesus at all cost. No, I was not just avoiding Him. I was hostile. My interaction with "“God'’s people"” showed me that it was all B.S. and I didn'’t want to hear it.

Skip ahead. (Yea, a lot went on during this time, but it's another story.) About twelve years later we walked into a church for the first time. We met a great group of people that has forever touched our lives in positive ways. This is where I met the Conservative-Protestant Jesus.

The Expanding Jesus

It never ceases to amaze me how God puts the right book in my hand at just the time when I am ready for it. He did that with Brennan Manning’s “Ragamuffin Gospel”, Wayne Jacobsen’s “The Naked Church” and “He Loves Me”, N. T. Wright’s “The Challenge of Jesus”, and now Brian McLaren’s “A Generous Orthodoxy”. This book is helping me clarify some of my thoughts, and perhaps why I bristle at certain interpretations of the Gospel.

I haven’t read the whole book, but I really resonate with his brief descriptions of the “different Jesuses" he has come to know. I couldn’t help but smile as I read....So, I decided I would put some of it in writing and maybe see if some discussions emerge... I’ll start with lifting some stuff from the chapter “The Seven Jesuses I Have Known” that apply to me, then I'll write about my own journey and the discovery of these "Jesuses".

I am Conservative Protestant
...because I believe that Jesus’ death on the cross opens the door to heaven in the future, and allows me to have a relationship with Him now.

I am Charismatic/Pentecostal
...because I believe that the Holy Spirit is the real presence of Jesus, and is alive and active right now.

I am Roman Catholic
...because I believe that the resurrection of Jesus “changes forever the whole equation of existence.”

I am Eastern Orthodox
...because I believe God has taken human life into His life through Jesus, and God has enters His creation through Jesus, and has saved the world by doing so.

I am Liberal Protestant
...because I believe the teachings and acts of love of Jesus offer a way of life that brings blessing to the whole world, and I believe Jesus confronts the corrupt religious and political systems of the world.

I am Anabaptist
...because I believe the Church is a continuation of the original disciples, a group of people learning the ways of Jesus in voluntary community.

The discovery of these Jesuses in my own life has been a long road. I am still learning and open to more. I've spent a long time only knowing a Conservative Protestant Jesus. I realized sometime ago that he was only a fraction of the whole. It was like thinking you know someone because you talk to them in a store occasionally. There is so much more.... I want ALL of Jesus!