Religionless Christianity & Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The life of Deitrich Bonhoeffer, the respect German pastor and theologian who was involved in a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler has always fascinated me.  Just the shear magnitude of that mixture is a lot to comprehend - Pastor & Terrorist...

I recently caught an interview with the author who just came out with a new biography on him entitled Pastor, Prophet, Martyr, Spy (heard on Ravi Zacharias' podcast - Let My People Think).  There was a lot of really interesting stuff that I learned about Bonhoeffer but what really pricked my heart and mind was when he spoke of RELIGIONLESS CHRISTIANITY.  He wrote of this thought to his friend while in prison awaiting execution under Nazi Regime.  (I found portions of his letters here).

Bonhoeffer starts to feel that the world is becoming religionless or today we would say "Post Christian."  He contemplates how we bring the message of Jesus to a world that no longer understands Christianity as the radical message of love and freedom from sin, but rather a nice, polite system of society to raise families in.  Scripture speaks of having a form of Godliness, but denying the power of God - that was the church in German during WWII, and this concerned Bonhoeffer.

In Christian circles today it is not uncommon to hear someone say things like "it's not about religion, it's about a relationship."  And I agree with this, but it just made me think - was Bonhoeffer the first to wrestle with this.  And if he was, what was going on in his life to prompt this.  And I just find it interesting that for him, the churches as a whole gave into what Nazi Germany promoted and didn't have the boldness to speak up for truth.

In all of it I just think of what is important to us?  I pray that my greatest priority would be proclaiming the message of hope and salvation in Christ and that God would give us boldness to share with others the hope that we have in Christ.

Fear vs. Love

This morning I was thinking about God (I know, it's not a new idea) and the thought kept coming to me that God loves me. This is not a new thought to me, but it is always affirming to hear. But then I started thinking about other faiths, other religions. Many people serve their god out of fear - fear for their life, or the well-being of their family, their crops or their community. But this is what makes the God of the Bible different; it's not about fear, but love. There is a verse in the Bible that kept ringing in my head, it's from the book of Jeremiah. God is speaking through the prophet Jeremiah to the people from Israel who have been forced from their homes and scattered throughout nearby nations. And this is the message for them: "The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness." I have loved you with an everlasting love....that's pretty awesome!


And..this is just one instance. Jesus talked about love so frequently... if you think of a specific instance, leave a comment below.

The things we do for...Starbucks?

This morning I arrived 30 mins early to my temp job and I knew there was a Starbucks nearby. So I pulled up the location on the GPS and it directed me to the Hershey Medical Cancer Center. I asked a gentleman walking by if he knew where the Starbucks was and it was inside the building. So, I parked the car in a garage, walked 5 mins in the rain to get into the building. Then it took me an other 5 mins to find the Starbucks in the maze of a hospital. As I ordered my Grande 2pump Vanilla Soy Latte with Protein and looked around me. I saw plenty of doctors in their scrubs, jackets and skin-tight caps and people with boot casts on...and here I am...ordering a latte. Another 5 mins went by and grabbed my latte and started the trek back to the car pondering two things:

Should i have stepped out of line and let the doctors go first? What if I was late to my job for that, would it be worth it?

And...what great lengths we go to for our love of Starbucks... This could almost be a commercial..."what would you do for a Starbucks.." or "how far would you drive for a Starbucks"

Wanna be like Jesus?

Want to be an imitator of Christ? (1 Col 11:1) try this...

"Jesus was short on sermons, long on conversations; short on answers, long on questions; short on abstractions and propositions, long on stories and parables; short on telling you what to think, long on challenging you to think for yourself; short on condemning the irreligious, long on confronting the religious."
-Author and Pastor
Brian McLaren

Changing lives

So I know that it has been crazy long since I have last blogged, and I also know that it's 3 in the morning...which often seems like the best time to blog...so here we go:

I just got finished watching the movie, The Butterfly Effect, and I'm left with an instruction: help raise people in a way that will benefit their growth. I'm not going to spoil the movie, but at the end I got a picture of how dramatically different someone's life can be, determined by the influence surrounding their upbringing. And if this is true, why do we, the messengers of light, ie. the church, mess up and not change our mistakes. Why do we let our mistakes that break people, continue to linger and continue to keep people broken. If we truly are people who have the very spirit of God dwelling within us - why don't we heal people - even if they are wounded from our own mistakes. And as I sit here writing this, conviction hits my heart; I think of situations where I had a chance to bring a piece of healing to someone, and I didn't because it inconvenienced me, or I simply didn't know what to do.....what a great excuse - I'm sure Jesus is encouraging my inaction. Is it time for us (those who have decided to follow Jesus), for James Hauptman, to act and impact people's lives so that their lives can be dramatically changed - from darkness and into the light....
will you join me?

meaning

do you ever find yourself in one of the surreal moments when you see the value, the beauty of life? When for a moment you can see the things that truly matter. And then the realization hits home as to how much of life happens with little meaning, how much energy, time, and passion gets squandered away on things that simply don't matter. I know for me, this happens by default. Unless I see it; I don't realize it. Unless I am passionate enough after seeing it; nothing get accomplished. Tonight I am challenged while I read through some blogs of people that I have not seen in a while, and that I miss. I am challenged by their perspective of meaning - it is something I need to learn how to take advantage of. I am reminded of an popular saying of my youth...
capie diem.......................................................

g'night

"Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier." 2 Tim 2:3-4

My New Diet

Iv'e been told that it has been too long since I last blogged....so here you go!

The picture to the right shows my new diet. Until finals are over, I am living off of Mt. Dew and Starbucks....the only problem is that I am too old for the caffiene to do much anymore. Anyways, I'm in the middle of finals, and cannot wait for it to be over!!! And I cannot wait to go see Narnia friday night with a bunch of energetic, crazy young people!

"give me fuel, give me fire, give me that which I desire..."