Salvation without Religion

I've just got back from our WEC France Conference late this afternoon and Pete Rollins book 'Insurrection - to believe is human; to doubt, divine' arrived through the post.

A quote from Bonhoeffer is on the first page :

"The Pauline question whether circumcision is a condition of justification seems to me in present-day terms to whether religion is a condition of salvation."

One has to remember that Bonhoeffer was part of the 'Confessing Church' in Nazi Germany where the mainline church supported Hitler. Bonhoeffer was imprisoned and then executed for his faith and his 'plot' to topple Hitler.

I believe that Jesus did not come to start a new religion which we now call 'christianity'; but rather to lead us into a new community, a revolutionary counter-empire community.

This vibrant organic community has been high-jacked by empire and in some cases detourné from it's original destiny and mandate which was given by Jesus.

The relational community life (God-Man(woman)Kind-Environment) has been often substituted by a dead, mechanical religion (mans attempt to better himself and come to god)...

For me religion is definitely not a condition of salvation...

what is the condition ? simply to accept the unconditional gift of God - His grace - his free gift of salvation...

It's an unconditional condition !

Send Us

Here's a wonderful piece of liturgy by Karlie Allawy which I found on Jonny Baker's blog...

Jesus Christ Son of God

Sent to us
As love radiantly visible

Sent to us
Who forget and lose sight
And become so lost

Make us like you
Make beauty of us
Born of hope, faith and love

and then send us

Send us where it is hardest to love
Because there is so much to hate

Send us where the lies deafen
And truth is only a whisper

Send us where the ugly blinds
And beauty is used and discarded

Send us where the pain is deepest
And hope is nearly gone

Send us to love where love is dead
And resurrection is our only hope

When we are afraid
When we are rejected
When we are weak
When we are hurting
When we are like you

Send us
To where you already are

Compassion - SatMix

We had a good evening last night (not too many technical problems...)

it was a joy to have a group from Brighton with us.

I'm no good at maths !

i'm absolutely crap at maths...

look at this link

http://www.kesterbrewin.com/2011/10/13/insurrection-you-are-being-unreasonable-confirmation-bias/

i got the bat & ball problem wrong - but after a couple of attempts i (think) it's £1.05 !!!

take a look for yourself at Kester Brewin's post on Pete Rollins latest book and reason...

i rely much too much on intuition

Remixing The Church

Doug Gay has written an interesting little paperback (Remixing The Church) which traces the Emerging Church movement and looks towards an Emerging ecclesiology.

Doug sees 5 different elements in the development Emerging: church ;

Here's a (over) simplified explanation:

1. Auditing (listening) - to our own tradition and detecting that which is 'missing')

2. Retrieval - taking from other traditions (the things we feel are missing)

3. Unbundling - separating the 'authority'/'tradition' from the retrieved element

4. Supplementing - significant additions to existing church practices

5. Remixing - Doug shows the variety of Emerging church expressions (the practical remixing)

Doug ventures a definition of The Emerging Church: "The Emerging Church can perhaps best be understood (and defended) as an irreverent (institutionally and in terms of protocols, not in terms of lack of giving glory to God) new wave of grassroots ecumenism, propelled from within low church Protestantism by a mix of longing, curiosity and discontent...DIY ecumenism, constructed by means of a series of unauthorized remixing and emboldened by an (evangelical) ecclesial culture of innovation and experimentation."

that's just a very quick and non detailed summary of an amazing book,

i'd sugest that you read it for yourself!

Compassion - SatMix

saturday evening we're putting on SatMix where we'll be exploring the theme 'Mercy/Compassion' using different popular media...

last saturday went into Lille city centre to interview people at random asking questions about compassion...we'll be using these filmed interviews plus much much more...

May In suggest To You

May I suggest

May I suggest to you

May I suggest this is the best part of your life

May I suggest

This time is blessed for you

This time is blessed and shining almost blinding bright

Just turn your head

And you'll begin to see

The thousand reasons that were just beyond your sight

The reasons why

Why I suggest to you

Why I suggest this is the best part of your life

There is a world

That's been addressed to you

Addressed to you, intended only for your eyes

A secret world

Like a treasure chest to you

Of private scenes and brilliant dreams that mesmerise

A lover's trusting smile

A tiny baby's hands

The million stars that fill the turning sky at night

Oh I suggest

Oh I suggest to you

Oh I suggest this is the best part of your life

There is a hope

That's been expressed in you

The hope of seven generations, maybe more

And this is the faith

That they invest in you

It's that you'll do one better than was done before

Inside you know

Inside you understand

Inside you know what's yours to finally set right

And I suggest

And I suggest to you

And I suggest this is the best part of your life

This is a song

Comes from the west to you

Comes from the west, comes from the slowly setting sun

With a request

With a request of you

To see how very short the endless days will run

And when they're gone

And when the dark descends

Oh we'd give anything for one more hour of light

And I suggest this is the best part of your life

By Susan Werner

P******* Famine

Here's One campagn's latest French & English attempt to grab our attention....
Yes famine's the real obsenity!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6gHRi7h9jk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzcRSr6PW_o&NR=1

Making The World Beautiful

We become beautiful to the extent we offer our wise and empowered hearts to the world. If you want pretty eyes, look kindly on others. For a beautiful mouth, speak truthfully. The truly sensual shoulder is sculpted by one's conscious choice to bear responsibility for one's own life. Let us not forget that this reaches even to the level of our physiology, which conforms to the impressions our spirits imbue upon it.

Skye Synnestvedt