my faith is not political

my faith is not political: my faith is not based on the call of anyone on the "right" or on the "left" of anything they call politics - my faith is spiritual; my faith comes from a relationship with God and not a political rally cry. my spiritual walk determines my life walk, how i act, how i relate to others and how i see myself and others. my spiritual walk is not political, i will not march for it, i will not speech for it, but i will die for it.

i am unwilling to die for a political stance, be it on the "right" or on the "left;" i am unwilling to die for a political party, a country, a government, a ideology or a campaign. i seek to live in my relationship with christ, walk in the light of the son and seek to be the incarnation of christ in the world - i desire to love others, forgive others, accept others, walk with others, know others, sit with others and most of all get to share with others. i desire to be the incarnation of christ, not the incarnation of political rhetoric designed to control. i desire to stand for all human dignity, and allow others to come to find what that means as they explore their spiritual walk. i do not desire to be more then who i am, by speaking a game i am unwilling to play -

if you see this as political, then you see this through the eyes of a human seeking to define me as you desire, and out of some febel desire to contol my life. it is done to place me in either a "right" or "left" box, to tag me as "liberal" or "conservative." to not see me for me, but to see me as you desire to define me. when you do that, you insult me and show a desire to control and a want to move me into some definable group you like to think you can control. i seek to walk with God, and God is not a politician - God speaks with honesty, in love, in grace, in forgiveness, in harmony with all that is around us - God unites and seeks to do what is right for us, not some special interest group. politicians divide, because for them power comes when people are divided and fragmented. in God, "grace" is seen as serving others and in uniting the hearts of all the people.

in that, two things turn my stomach - religious "leaders" who desire to act like politicians [when i spell check this the computer change it to "pollutions"] and politicians [pollutions, here also] who act like religious "leaders." neither know the heart of God and both seek to control, misuse and abuse the people around them.



tags: emergent church, emerging church, john o'keefe, ginkworld, politics, republican, democrat,

the superman effect

tina and i went and saw the new superman movie the other day, and i have to say i was not impressed. everyone i spoke to about the movie said it was going to be great. the critics loved it, the hype was over the top and people were flocking to see this great new story of the man of steal - but it turned out to be a disappointing rehash of the first superman with christopher reeves. heck, even much of the dialog was the same. i was not impressed, it was the old superman disguised as a new superman - but i was not fooled. it had nothing to do with the actors or the director, but it had everything to do with the story line.

this got me to thinking - how many "emerging/evolving" churches are simply a rehash of the old modern church? many emerging/evolving communities of faith say they are "different" but they are simply the same; sure some minor changes - but the dialog is much the same - ok, there are newer actors, some set changes but that is about it. i remember looking at tina when superman and louis went out for a "fly" and i said, "if i hear the 'who are you' poem we walk out of the movie." i have felt that way in many emerging/evolving communities of faith i have been in also. as i sit, i wait for them to do what every other contemporary, modern, evangelical church would do - and i am seldom disappointed.

i am not sure i would be willing to trust the next superman movie. i wanted so much more, i was expecting something very different and when i experienced a flash back to the first movie, my trust level dropped about 100 points. just think of al the people who are hearing, "our church is different" and when they come in, it is no different then any other church - think of it as "the superman effect."



tags: emergent church, emerging church, john o'keefe, ginkworld.net, superman, movies

flash backs

let me see, this is how my morning is going so far :)

i finished updating ginkworld
i posted a bunch of new articles
i wrote some book ideas down and emailed them to a publisher
i sent off a proposal to an agent
i did a bunch of church work
i got real bored

and it was the boredom that i found my past. it was out of some freaky desire to remember my roots i check back at the very first post i did on this blog - and here it is:

20020311 - well, following the lead of many others (jordon cooper, karen ward) we have deveoped a blog - we will use it to post random thoughts and off the wall stuff - and to let people know what's happening in this crazy world we call - "ginkworld."

i think i have been pretty honest to that. over time i have shared with everyone great joys and great pains - i have shared ideas in process and ideas that just were too silly to ever think of processing. i think, in general, i have shared my thoughts, my desires, my dreams, my wishes, my prayers and more. it could be said that if you read my blog, you can get to know me - and i actually like that possibility.

i am not perfect, and i know i can be a loud voice at times - but all in all i hope i always keep try to that very fist post - where i will share with you my random thoughts and off the wall stuff - and that we always keep you informed as to what is happening at ginkworld :)

tonight should be better - i have a hot date with a sexy blonde [my wife] for dinner and a movie :)


tags: emergent church, emerging church, john o'keefe, ginkworld, blog, service