Godgrown

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  Mark 12:35 am on April 12, 2008 Permalink | Reply  

  God is too Big for Prime Time 

  

  So our lives have been ex-TV for the last two weeks. I’m proud to say I’m not desperately foaming at the mouth, and Katrina and I aren’t about to claw our eyes out from the boredom. In fact, we’ve had more silence and peace around here than we’ve had in awhile. We’ve had a chance to read more, to talk over meals, and to pray together. The best part about us getting rid of our TV is the story – so if you don’t mind, let me indulge:

  We’d been trying to pawn off our TV for several months, each time chickening out – coming up with some excuse why we still needed it. It wasn’t until our good friends were putting on a garage sale that we finally worked up enough courage to pull the plug on our TV habit.

  Let me tell you, hauling a 27 inch TV down a flight of stairs and shoving it into a two door car is not an easy job – but we did it. Then we hauled it out into the middle of a field (the “best” place for a garage sale…where’s the garage!?!) and set it up next to all the other stuff we could bear to part with.

  Browsers and perusers kept eying the TV, but there were no takers. One lady “bought” it, but when she illegedly tried to “plug it into her car” it wouldn’t turn on. DUH. I’m not sure what that was all about, but we were happy to give her her money back when she started yelling profusely.

  Then came this great Hispanic couple. They wanted to buy our TV, but didn’t have enough to make the full purchase. It was the end of the day, and I wasn’t looking forward to carting that thing back to our upstairs apartment, not to mention have to deal with the ball and chain of a TV now that we finally felt free enough to sell it. So we sold it for less than it was worth, and even drove it up to their house for them. Their words were full of joy and excitement. They pointed to their family’s names in the concrete. I noticed a few Scripture verses scrawled into their front porch.

  As I was installing the TV, the wife asked if I liked tamales. When I responded in the affirmative, she left the room and brought back a big stack of homemade tamales! She confessed she was embarrassed they couldn’t afford to pay what I was asking for the TV, but would like to pay for the rest in tamales. I loved it! Believe me, those tamales were a gift of hospitality, not just a payment for the TV. I feel like I could’ve hung out there all day. It was a real place of peace.  That’s how the world ought to work in my opinion.  A world where capitalism looses ground and communism is unnecessary.  A sharing and redistributing of personal resources, rather than living off cash.  It’s old school, but I like it.

  So, much like giving away a puppy, I was glad to know that our TV was in the hands of a good family. I suppose that only reveals my covert TV idolizing, and reveals how happy I am that its out of our house.

  Now its on to bigger and better things. God is too big for prime time.

  

  

  Mark, and Steve are discussing. Toggle Comments

   
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    Steve 10:57 am on April 12, 2008 Permalink

    Welcome to the club, bro. There is life beyond the tube. =)

    (though, in our case, the 12″ that we kept around makes its way back to our living room right about the time for March Madness and the beginning of the Red Sox season…)

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    Mark 2:13 pm on April 12, 2008 Permalink

    i hear ya. its just not the same watching the final moments of Kansas’ victory on espn.com.

    last night however was fun – my friend brought his projector over. now that’s a technology i can live with!

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  Mark 1:20 pm on February 20, 2008 Permalink | Reply  

  Another World is Possible – Money Drop on Wall Street 

  An inspiring “money drop” on Wall Street from some inspiring brothers and sisters in Christ.

  What if another world is possible???

  

  YouTubesday: Somewhat Related to Shane Claiborne at Trying to follow, miller, and Mark are discussing. Toggle Comments

   
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    miller 9:37 am on February 21, 2008 Permalink

    ya know, when i read about this in the book, i thought it was cool…

    is this the same drop? it doesn’t feel like the same one…

    if it is, OK

    if it’s a second one…

    it’s gonna feel slimy to me

    and more than a little disappointing

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    Mark 9:42 am on February 21, 2008 Permalink

    yeah – this was the same one from the book – notice the young shane c.

    but why would it feel slimy to do it again? God and Israel had more than one day of Jubilee didn’t they?

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    miller 10:45 am on February 21, 2008 Permalink

    because if it’s a second one and it’s on camera…

    it starts to feel like a publicity stunt…

    and i’m not sure you can really draw that close a comparison between the jewish day of jubilee and what was done here…

    the context is completely different if not the motivation…

    i’m just really glad it was the first one

    and i guess i’m a little disappointed that it was captured on film

    peace

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    Mark 11:02 am on February 21, 2008 Permalink

    “and i’m not sure you can really draw that close a comparison between the jewish day of jubilee and what was done here…

    the context is completely different if not the motivation…”

    I think they did it specifically to bring the day of jubilee to the poor in NYC.

    I agree – good deeds don’t need publicity – but i’m glad that there was enough to make it accessible for others watching the video to begin to imagine the possibilities of the kingdom.

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    miller 12:58 pm on February 21, 2008 Permalink

    “i’m glad that there was enough to make it accessible”

    granted

    

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  Mark 10:44 am on July 2, 2007 Permalink | Reply  

  Barabbas the Messiah 

  This morning I was reading with the Lord from the Passion Account. I’m reading it from The Story, a biblical narrative that pieces together the story of Scripture into a chronological and narrative format. It is stirring to read God’s Story in such a dramatic way. It truly is “the greatest story every told.”

  I’ve come all the way up to the events of Jesus’ crucifixion. Among so many things that caught my eye and my heart’s attention, I noticed Barabbas.

  With this Pilate went out to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him. But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’?”

  They shouted back, “No! Not HIM! Give us Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising. (emphasis mine)

  The Jews in Pilate’s mobbing audience that day had a choice to make. What sort of Savior would they choose? Barabbas had obviously been a participant, if not a ring leader in a political revolt. Messiahs were seen as an out for the Jews that were living as slaves in their own land. The promises of God were at stake here; they knew that if they were faithful to his Law that they would find rest from the Roman oppression (and Pilate’s anti-semitic prejudice).

  But who to choose? Do we choose Jesus of Nazareth? A man who has done his fair share of miracles, causing the blind to see and the deaf to hear? But he is so slippery when it comes to following the Law of Moses – sometimes it looks like he loves it and other times he wants nothing to do with it…Jesus just didn’t make any sense. And who is to say that Satan was not behind his powers? Jesus pushed away armies of men when they tried to make him king, and as he stands before Pilate his 12 “soldiers”, his only followers, are nowhere to be found.

  Or do we choose Barabbas? A man of impressive record. He has quite a following, an extensive military background, and is ready for action. He may not have miraculous powers to heal lepers, but he is ready for action and tired of Roman rule. He is zealous for God’s Law and God’s People. He especially is interested in freedom. None of this pithy “Kingdom of God is within you” stuff – he will bring God’s Kingdom to earth and smash our enemies, showing them once and for all who to serve! And look at all the supporters he has! We’ve got an army that could take out Caesar himself!

  

  It makes me wonder if I have understood “The Messiah” poorly all these years. For me, it is so easy to follow Barabbas, and Jesus so easily slips through the crowds I have rallied together. Barabbas is the Messiah of Man – the messiah of vengeance, violence, and looking out for Number One. If given the opportunity, I believe Barabbas would have taken his place on the throne in Jerusalem, and every Jew would have believed that he was the Messiah prophesied about…until Barabbas’ rule became overbearing, then the people would have started looking elsewhere.

  But Jesus is the Messiah sent from God. A messiah who subverts not only the government but the entire culture of humankind. He is the messiah of peace, sanity, and loving your enemies. He came to fulfill the Law, not just to uphold it. His rule is not only on this earth, but in our imaginations; our souls; and beyond. He is the governor of all things created in heaven or on earth. Jesus the Messiah transcends my need to preserve my rights as a citizen, or human, and even transcends my need for self-preservation. Jesus was not of this earth, and his revolt was not of this earth. His greatest battle was won in Hell after he was killed by his own people. He slay Death and Sin and arose in victory! He was working toward an infinitely greater goal than was Barabbas. And following Jesus is the only way to ever find freedom, as Jews in the first century, or Americans in the 21st.

  But each day the question remains, “Who will be your Messiah?”

  

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    maryam 3:01 pm on January 7, 2008 Permalink

    Hello, can you tell me what is the meaning of enthnocentrism, please describe it