Bringing Heaven to Earth. One Cross at a Time.
[Update: see my background thinking in Draft 2]
Christianity Beyond is a movement of ordinary people who are learning how to make the same kind of extraordinary impact as the Jesus they love. We honor all the ways people have sought to follow Jesus in the past and present, but dare to go beyond that in order to demonstrate to a watching world just how good and worthy Jesus is.
Anjali’s Catechism: The Book is coming in Summer 2019. Preview now.
Are you ready to:
Holiness: Open to God
Lots of people admire Jesus. Even those who aren’t Christians often consider him a model for how human beings should treat each other.
Last time we talked about skills that help us become more like Jesus. So why doesn’t everyone practice those skills? Why do we ourselves often do the opposite of what Jesus wants us to do?
Because we have a wound in our spirit.
http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-9.htm “And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.”
Over the last few years God has been putting me through a graduate course in dealing with my father issues. I still haven’t graduated, but at least I know what my thesis is. 🙂
I never really wanted to be a leader. I just wanted to find a leader I could trust, who cared about the things I cared about, so I could define my mission as a sub-mission of theirs. Unfortunately, things never quite worked out that way.
This is not to denigrate the honorable men (no women, but that’s another story) I have served under in the context of work, ministry and family. I have been extraordinary privileged to have been by led and mentored by a succession of extraordinary men of deep integrity, from my own earthly father to Steve Jobs. People who were sincerely committed to the mission, practiced what they preached, and never abused their authority.
And yet…
For all their strengths, those leaders all their blind spots. Areas where their behavior didn’t align with the values they genuinely believed in and communicated. Attitudes they were oblivious to that clearly hurt both individuals and the organization’s ability to fulfill its mission. Continue reading
Part 4 of 6 in the series Childlike Theology
Discipleship is hard. It requires facing ugly truths about ourselves, letting go of coping strategies that served us well in the past, and taking responsibility for larger dysfunctions that really aren’t our fault.
Continue reading
I AM A KNIGHT (fist straight up in the air)
KNIGHTS DO WHAT’S RIGHT (pound fist in hand)
I KNOW WHAT’S RIGHT (salute)
I WANT WHAT’S RIGHT (fist over heart)
I CAN DO WHAT’S RIGHT (fist forward)
WE ARE STRONG (make muscles)
WE USE OUR STRENGTH (hands on waist)
TO PROTECT THE WEAK (hands reaching down)
TO HELP OUR FRIENDS (hands straight out to the side)
TO SERVE THE CHURCH (hands forward, palms up)
TO HONOR GOD (hands up to heaven)
AMEN! (hands clasped together overhead)
[YELL] (clap)
