Why Nationalism is Dangerous and Incompatible with Christianity - Jennifer Butler

Here are two fundamental reasons nationalism doesn’t work for Christians:

First, we believe in human dignity as described in Genesis and the creation story. Human beings are created in God’s image and to be treated with dignity and respect regardless of nationality, race, or religion.

Second, love of God is inextricably intertwined with love of neighbor. Jesus told us the Greatest Commandment was to love God, and the second was tied to it: love your neighbor as yourself.

The full article is available here

Nationalism Is Idalotrous - Jonathan Martin

Reflection And Renewal: Life Is Free & Abundant, Not Controlled & Limited (based on John 10:10)

God, you are the source of beauty and the maker of all good things. Your handiwork is on full display in your universe. Your divine spark indwells all of your creation.

But we don't always give you the credit that you deserve for that, especially when we don't see life as something that you've freely and abundantly gifted to your universe.  Instead, we create idols - of status, of power, of wealth, of being in control - each stemming from a fearful, constricted view of life.

You give life to all with open hands. We clench our fists to hang on tightly to what we can or to forcefully fight for take what we want to be in possession of.

Forgive us. We know that when we’re honest about our shortcomings and brokenness, you promise to not hold them against us. Instead you move within us in grace and love. Help us to be willing to let go of our fearful lenses and to begin to see your world as the gift that it is.

 Amen.

Finding the We: God’s Grace can Transform Environmental Racism - Do Justice!

The Christian Reformed Church is one of many denominations that has taken the symbolic action of repudiating the Doctrine of Discovery. The concrete actions required to undo its horrific legacy in our hearts, minds, and society require us to follow our faith into a very counter-cultural lifestyle. It takes conscious decisions every day.

The water crises in Flint and Detroit are more universal than we readily see. In mainstream U.S. culture, we view water as a “resource.”

Rather than a gift from God which is necessary for all of creation to flourish, or a living relative with which we share kinship in God’s creation, most of us view water as a commodity. However, we don’t just do this to water: we do it to people, and to entire communities.

Commodification of God’s creation and people in the United States and Canada has deep roots in the Doctrine of Discovery, heretical teachings pushed forward through Christian institutions to justify theft, slavery, and genocide in the colonial era by putting white Europeans at the top of a Church-sanctioned racial hierarchy.

Today, those of us born and raised in the United States too often unconsciously perpetuate the systemic racism and greed with which our continent was colonialized.

The Christian Reformed Church is one of many denominations that has taken the symbolic action of repudiating the Doctrine of Discovery. The concrete actions required to undo its horrific legacy in our hearts, minds, and society require us to follow our faith into a very counter-cultural lifestyle. It takes conscious decisions every day, and only by the grace of God can we change.

The full article is available here

Benediction: We Are All God's Children Who Were Made For Abundant Life (based on Psalm 32:1-5)

We are all God's children. God desires to transform all of us into the loving, giving, and life-filled people we are meant to be. Where we are broken, we can work toward wholeness. Where we have walled ourselves off from others, we can work towards reopening our hearts, souls, and minds.

God, as receivers of your grace, help us to be grace-givers in the lives we lead in your world.

Call To Worship: The Infinite Goodness Of God Is Available To Us (based on Ephesians 3:18)

The bottomless depth of God's mercy, the infinite expanse of God's grace, and the endless wellspring of God's love: all of these are available to us as we join in God's work of restoring all of creation to the fullness of life and original goodness it was created for.

Christian Nationalism Exemplified By Pro-Trump Propaganda Film "The Trump Prophecy"

In the film’s blasphemous theology, resisting the authority of a sitting president - or, at least, this sitting president - is conflated with resisting God.

 The Trump Prophecy is more than just a ham-fisted, low-budget movie created by Liberty University.

It’s the purest distillation of pro-Trump Christian nationalism: the insidious, idolatrous heresy that implicitly links patriotism and U.S. Exceptionalism with Conservative, White Evangelical Christianity.

The Trump Prophecy wants you to believe that submission to Authoritarian Right Wing political powers and submission to God are one and the same.

In the film’s blasphemous theology, resisting the authority of a sitting president - or, at least, this sitting president - is conflated with resisting God.

The full article is available here

Benediction: Welcoming Love That Includes Everyone (based on Isaiah 43:19)

May we seek God's Spirit within and around us, so that we become agents of restoration and renewal in God's world. May we seek to be God’s hands and feet and to practice welcoming love which includes everyone.

Reflection and Renewal: Oceans of Justice, Rivers of Mercy (based on Amos 5:21-24)

God speaking to his people:

"Religion that doesn’t seek justice and love mercy rings hollow to me. I am the God who stands with the poor, the marginalized, the refugee, the orphan, the foreigner in your land, the widow, the oppressed.

Do you know what I really want? I want justice - oceans of it. I want mercy - rivers of it. That’s what I want. That’s all I want."

Journeying As Spiritual Discipline: Changed On The Way - Marjory Bankson

Pilgrimage - journeying beyond our own comfort zone - will do that; shift focus, explode prejudice, reveal God in a new way.

Retreat is a time to step back, survey the field and listen for God’s whisper. Pilgrimage is a “call of the wild,” to be open to discomfort, challenge and the rough wild path of change. Spiritual seekers need both.

In Mark 7:24-37, Jesus wants retreat. He’s gone to the beach in Phoenicia, to get away from pressing crowds. Mark says he didn’t want anyone to know he was there. But then a local woman comes to beg a favor. She wants Jesus to heal her daughter.

He tries to protect his privacy. He’s snippy and cold, using language close to a racial slur: “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”

She swats back: “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

With that rhetorical slap in the face, Jesus himself is changed. His world expands. He’s on the rough wild way of a pilgrimage now, suddenly seeing with new eyes, hearing with fresh ears. He drops an old view, accepts a new reality. Jesus has been changed on the way.

Pilgrimage - journeying beyond our own comfort zone - will do that; shift focus, explode prejudice, reveal God in a new way.

The full article is available here

Thoughts On John McArthur's "Social Justice & the Gospel" Statement - Daniel José Camacho

The statement on "Social Justice & the Gospel" by these conservative evangelicals needs to be seen for what it is; a misguided reaction - based on fear - which is intent on sacralizing the interpretations of privileged white men.

This statement attempts to bifurcate social justice concerns from the Gospel and paint these concerns as secular impositions on scripture.

This statement sees "intersectionality, radical feminism, & critical race" as ideological enemies of faith & as inconsistent with biblical teaching.

But what does this practically mean?

The result is smuggling in various prejudices and presenting them as purely "biblical.”

The statement on "Social Justice & the Gospel" needs to be seen for what it is; a misguided reaction - based on fear - which is intent on sacralizing the interpretations of privileged white men.

The full article is available here

When Christians Sell Out To Empire For Political Power - Religious News Service

What is the cost of this wholesale Religious Right sellout? Among other concerns ... is the plight of persecuted Christians and other religious minorities around the world, as well as Muslims fleeing terrorism and civil war fought with chemical weapons, who have been all but abandoned by the Trump’s near shutdown of the long-standing U.S. refugee resettlement program.

On August 27, the Trump White House hosted something like a state dinner to "honor the leadership of American evangelicals."

Many cabinet members were present, along with the president, the first lady and dozens of members of the group of informal evangelical advisers (Religious Right leaders mainly) who enjoy unique access to President Trump, including Trump's spiritual advisor Paula White; the 3x married heretical prosperity gospel preacher.

It’s the latest puzzling contradiction raised by evangelicals working in the service of a president whose character and so many of his policies stand in direct contradiction to the words of Jesus.

What is the cost of this wholesale Religious Right sellout? Among other concerns is the plight of persecuted Christians and other religious minorities around the world, as well as Muslims fleeing terrorism and civil war fought with chemical weapons, who have been all but abandoned by the president’s near shutdown of the long-standing U.S. refugee resettlement program.

However, it's not surprising that most of the president’s evangelical supporters are not lobbying on behalf of Muslim refugees. Some of them were calling for a Muslim ban before Donald Trump did. Inexplicably ... soul-wrenchingly ... fully 3/4 of white evangelicals supported the president’s initial executive order barring refugees and Muslims from entering the country.  (A refresher on Jesus' Good Samaritan parable would seem to be in order).

The full article is available here

The Church Shouldn't Coerce Because God Doesn't Coerce - Anthony of Sourozh

Benediction: A New Way Of Life In Our Everyday Lives (based on Matthew 6:10)

In our everyday lives, may God's spirit within us and all around us help us to be hopeful in seeking, thankful in receiving, and joyful in finding.

May we embrace the way of life which Jesus both taught about and modeled for us, which can help to align us with our calling to work towards bringing out the best in everyone and everything.

The Cliches Of Popular Religion - Thomas Merton

Call To Worship: Where Love Rules Over All (based on Proverbs 16:7)

The Forge (Swords Into Plowshares) by Bo Bartlett

God of grace, we have come to catch a glimpse of your kingdom of kindness; a world where loves rules over all, where enemies embrace. We want to see a world where division and fear disappear in light of your love. 

We come to be reminded again of who you are, what you've done, and what you will continue to do. You are loving and trustworthy, with limitless and overflowing grace, and you don't give up on us.

For this, we give you thanks and praise.

Call To Worship: God Is Always Within and Around Us (based on 1 Corinthians 3:16)

God is gracious and merciful.  God is full of compassion and love. Even though we may feel alone at times, God is always within and around us.  For this constant and tireless grace, may our hearts and souls be filled with gratitude.

So let's join together and give thanks.

Call To Worship: God Is The Creative Spark of All Life (based on Isaiah 6:3)

God, you are the creative spark of new life. We have come seeking you in this new day. As the architect of life and wholeness, we ask that you would open our souls to your stirring. 

Spirit, you are the creator of awe and beauty. Open our eyes to your ever-surrounding and indwelling presence.

Jesus, you are the one through whom everything came into existence. Open our hearts to your love and hope.

Everything that God creates is good. The entire universe is filled with God’s goodness. For this all-encompassing grace, we give thanks and praise.

The relationship between U.S. evangelicals & Putin's Russian Orthodox Church - The Christian Century

The greatest peril that both groups face in forging these alliances with nationalist authoritarian movements of Putin and Trump is political co-optation. After all, the gospel is NOT about stabilizing national identity or securing national pride.

U.S. evangelicals had formed an odd alliance of their own with leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church. American evangelicals are led to make common cause with Russian Orthodoxy - and with Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin - because of a deep and shared suspicion of postmodern Western cultural progress and diversity.

Sexual and gender politics have generated the most culture war heat for these 2 groups, but “traditional values” have also included nationalistic tropes like patriotism, respect for the military, and the celebration of historic religious national identities (which are idolatrous), as in “Christian America” or “Holy Russia.”

The language of "traditional values" is a slippery slope. While there may be much that Christians through the centuries have been able to agree upon, issues of sexuality, gender, and war require ongoing theological reflection and clarification.

Moreover, appeals to so-called "traditional values" tend in practice to marginalize non-Orthodox religious groups in Russia and both non-believers and non-evangelical believers in the U.S.

The greatest peril that both groups face in forging these alliances is political co-optation. Afterall, the gospel is not about stabilizing national identity or securing national pride.

Both U.S. evangelicals and Russian Orthodox hierarchs could do much more to resist the unjust policies and totalitarian tendencies of their respective presidents and to work to move their nations - and churches - toward self-examination, humility, and repentance.

The full article is available here

Call To Worship: Take Up Our Cross and Follow (based on Matthew 16:24)

Loving God, you call us to turn away from our own selfish interests, to take up our cross, and to follow you. To find our lives, may we live them in service of your mission.

As we come before you this morning, give us open hearts and open hands. Make us eager to hear your voice and seek your guidance. Open our minds to your ever-present spirit that is always moving within and around us. Open our spirits to your nudging and open our lives to your love.

Call To Worship: Doing Work of Jesus In The World Today based on Luke 4:18

Our job is to bring the spirit of Christ’s message and to do the work of Jesus in the world today. In Luke 4:18, Jesus said that work was to: “... [t]o proclaim good news to the poor, freedom for the prisoner,  recovery of sight for the blind, and to set the oppressed free.”

Today, it is up to us to be the good news of love and liberation. We can do this once we see the world through the eyes of God, who sees those who are suffering and oppressed as “blessed.”

For this boundless and limitless grace, we give thanks and praise.

Call To Worship: Re-centering Ourselves With God's Presence (based on Matthew 22:39)

God, you call us to live in ways that honor you and bless our neighbors. Your goodness is our source for the love, justice, and peace which you've tasked us with pouring out into your world.

So we come once again seeking to recharge in your life-giving presence. As we re-center ourselves around your perfect love, may you shape and reshape our hearts to be more like yours.

May what we say, sing, and hear this morning open our spirits to connect with you, God, and lead us to be your hands and feet to the world which you created and called "good."

Benediction: May We Be All About Life (based on Ephesians 2:10)

As we go out from here to our parts of God's world, may God's love be where we find our identity. May that love help us be "all about life," bringing peace, hope, care, and comfort to any and all who are in need of it.

Call To Worship: The Expanse Of God's Love Shaping Who We Are (based on Genesis 1:31)

As we gather today God, help us to listen so that we may hear your voice in this world that you created and called “good.” God, open our minds to the vast expanse of your love. Help us to allow it to shape who we are. God, open our eyes to see your fingerprints in all that surrounds us, so that our lives will be worship to you.

Reflection and Renewal: Our Stories Shaped By Larger Stories Around Us (based on John 10:27)

God, thank you for the power of stories to move us, to inspire us, and to guide us. Thank you for the way that you've designed life to be meaningful and interconnected, for how our smaller stories are part of the larger stories around us.

If we follow what Jesus taught and modeled, we are invited into your love's larger story, a story that Jesus always inclusively expanded the scope of.

But we don't always give your story our undivided attention. We live in the midst of other powerful stories which have entirely different priorities than yours; stories which tell us to see everyone else as competitors to be bested by any means necessary, that tell us to look out for number one, that tell us that the way to become great is to acquire and wield power, wealth, influence, and control.

When we live pursuit of those aims we can end up being "of the world, but not in it." When we follow those skewed values, we often withdraw from others and miss the work of renewal and restoration that you've tasked with living out in your world.

Forgive us. Helps us to keep your love's story as our primary guide. Give us awareness when we've tuned it out in favor of contradictory narratives, even unintentionally. Help us to grow from "life being all about us" towards "us being all about life."