“Me Too”

by emma | Dec 13, 2008 | Books, Faith

“Writer Anne Lamott says that the most powerful sermon in the world is two words: “Me too.”

Me too.

When you’re struggling,

when you are hurting,

wounded, limping, doubting,

questioning, barely hanging on,

moments away from another relapse,

and somebody can identify with you –

someone knows the temptations that are at your door,

somebody has felt the pain that you are feeling,

when someone can look you in the eyes and say, “Me too,”

and they actually mean it –

it can save you.”

[From Jesus Wants to Save Christians by Rob Bell]

Jesus Wants To Save Christians

by emma | Dec 11, 2008 | Books, Faith

I’ve just finished my second read through of Jesus Wants To Save Christians, the latest Rob Bell book. Been mapping out a little of the directions it goes in…

Whose land is it, anyway?

A story about progress

East of Eden

An economy based on fear -> keeping us safe is v profitable

The cry of the oppressed

Anti-kingdom

An empire of indifference

Exile as a consequence of infidelity

A new Jerusalem, a new kind of exodus

Suspended promises

What kind of Son of David are you?

What do you do when your religion isn’t big enough for God?

Swords into plowshares

A story of movement: no one city/ religion/ perspective/ worldview can contain it

If the church gets converted, the whole world will follow

America as empire -> the bible is oppression narrative

We forget God by forgetting the widow, the orphan, & the refugee

Confusing blessing with entitlement

“American lifestyle is not up for negotiation” -> oil

Vicious cycle of the priority of preservation

Military spending -> empires accumulate

Founding of America & its wealth -> Native American genocide?

Followers of Christ missing the central message of the Bible?

Symbol of the revolution -> remember -> good gift

Being the Eucharist costs -> body broken, blood poured

“Me too”

Jesus wants to save us from ____

Confession

by emma | Sep 13, 2008 | Books, Faith

I read Brian McLarens latest book, Finding Our Way Again, on the train back up to Glasgow yesterday. In it, he relates a story of being in a church one morning where they used a particular shared confession in the service. I was struck by it, and wanted to share it…

Gracious God,
our sins are too heavy to carry,
too real to hide,
and too deep to undo.

Set us free from a past that we cannot change;
open to us a future in which we can be changed;
and grant us grace to grow more and more in your likeness and image,
through Jesus Christ,
the light of the world. Amen.