Welcome to Litsy!

I finished Les Miserables last night 💪🏼—so I‘m picking up this one again for my lunch reading. Back into some nonfiction—I think I have a bit of a book hangover after the intensity of Les Mis! It‘s a gorgeous day and I‘m enjoying seeing the bees flying among the roses.

This political language doesn‘t harmonize with the contemporary church project of “reclaiming America for God.” Precisely the opposite... He didn‘t pray for the world in order to make governments more religious; he called Israel to be the light of the world—to abandon the way of the world and cultivate an alternative society in the shell of the old, not merely to be a better version of the kingdom of this world.

“And to claim that one‘s citizenship is in heaven is to say that you pledge allegiance not to any of the kingdoms of the world but to Jesus...this is what Peter meant when he called the church “a holy nation, a people set apart.” I‘ve been wrestling with this lately...

Jesus - despite what folks will try and tell you - was a radical. He broke laws (but it didn‘t make Him sinful, thank you very much!). When I hear so-called ‘spiritual advisors‘ spout questionable (or flat-out wrong!) theology, it makes my skin crawl.

This book could not have come into my hands at a better time. I‘ve been in a mood lately...well, since Nov. 2016 (ugh). I‘ve been discouraged and disgusted by politics. This book, this book is a game changer.

I‘m currently drafting a sermon about Rahab, and let me tell you, the more I dig into her story the more amazed I am in the ways in which God works. Power in weakness is an understatement.

“It‘s hard to wrap your hands around a God who, when asked for a name, says “I AM”. But let‘s not forget that this is the same King who would rather stoop to camping out in the wilderness with the refugee people than get shut up in palaces or megachurches or oval offices.”

What a way to show a Bibliography.

This book was a serious challenge for me. There were times I wanted to throw it across the room and times I was cut to the quick.

Following Jesus is not for the faint of heart. It cuts across cultures and national boundaries. I will hold onto this book for reference and advice but feel challenged to ask God how I should change.

"As I continued to wrestle with complex human and political issues, I resolved myself to one thing: the starting point must be that the church is a place where we can grapple with difficult questions with grace and humility. And I believe that, even more important than thinking identically on every issue, we must learn to disagree well. Our ability to disagree well is as powerful a witness to the larger society as our uniformity on every issue."

This is a GOOD start. ❤️

#recoveringfundamentalist