can i just tell you how much i am in love with the revelation song! check it out on my music playlist. it rocks my world (:
But anyways...currently i am reading a book called "The Irresistible Revolution" by Shane Claiborne and it is all about living radically for Jesus. I don't think it is a coincidence that this is exactly what Southland's new mission is. Something incredible is about to happen/happening in the church. ( and by the church I mean in the global sense) I think it is about time that we all stop living for ourselves and stop playing it safe. Jesus' life was RADICAL. He didn't stay in his house and pray for the poor, he got out and freaking lived with them! He didn't keep a distance from the needy, he didn't hold back from reaching to the lepers of society, he went there! He loved them by reaching out and touching them. He didn't hide the gospel or only tell people what they wanted to hear...instead he told them what they needed to hear...the very thing that would transform their lives. For way too long, we have been shaping the gospel and even Jesus to make Him safe and the exact thing WE want Him to be instead of the person He is! It's time to stop living in the comfort of our "religion". It's time to stop living for ourselves and start living for Jesus. I'm ending the selfishness of myself. All of the hypocrisy I live by daily. I want my life and every aspect of it to reflect Jesus. I don't want anyone I encounter to question where my faith lies. I'm going to live RADICALLY for Christ. Go where He went. Love the way He loved. See people as people instead of the labels society puts on them. I'm sick of living a double-standard. It's about time I make a change. Why would I ever hide the one thing which has saved me, redeemed me, loved me despite my flaws?? My life has changed in more ways that I can count. I am forever grateful and I'm going to live it out with every ounce of my being!!!!
Some quotes I'm loving:
"In the face of the oppressed I recognize my own face, and in the hands of the oppressor I recognize my own hands. Their flesh is my flesh, their blood is my blood, their pain is my pain, and their smile is my smile." - Henry Nouwen
"The true atheist is the one who refuses to see God's image in the face of their neighbor."
"When we look through the eyes of Jesus, we see new things in people. In the murderers we see our own hatred. In the addicts, we see our own addictions. In the saints, we catch glimpses of our own holiness. We can see our own brokenness, our own violence, our own ability to destroy, and we can see our own sacredness, our own capacity to love and forgive. When we realize that we are both wretched and beautiful, we are freed up to see others the same way." - Shane Claiborne
Oh and if you want to hear some amazing stories of forgiveness, start here:
http://www.theforgivenessproject.com/stories/bud-welch
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