We run our website the way we wished the whole internet worked: we provide high quality original content with no ads. We are funded solely by your direct support. Please consider supporting this project.

Jesus Said a Lot of Weird Stuff. What If He Actually Meant it?
Our friend Shane Claiborne has a way with words (and deeds). In this article from a few years ago (sent to us by a reader: thanks Jason!) he asks the question, What if Jesus meant all that stuff? How would the rest of the world see us if we actually did what Jesus did?
From the article:
In fact, the entire story of Jesus is about a God who did not just want to stay “out there” but who moves into the neighborhood, a neighborhood where folks said, “Nothing good could come.” It is this Jesus who was accused of being a glutton and drunkard and rabble-rouser for hanging out with all of society’s rejects, and who died on the imperial cross of Rome reserved for bandits and failed messiahs. This is why the triumph over the cross was a triumph over everything ugly we do to ourselves and to others. It is the final promise that love wins.
It is this Jesus who was born in a stank manger in the middle of a genocide. That is the God that we are just as likely to find in the streets as in the sanctuary, who can redeem revolutionaries and tax collectors, the oppressed and the oppressors… a God who is saving some of us from the ghettos of poverty, and some of us from the ghettos of wealth.
Image by The Simple Way
Category: General
Tags: Evangelism, Kingdom Living
Related Reading

Wrecked for God
Idelette McVicker posted a blog on She Loves about getting wrecked for an ordinary, comfortable life. It’s a thoughtful piece on opening yourself to the world around you so that your heart breaks and your life is forever changed. From her blog post: Being wrecked for me, is facing my own brokenness and yet seeing God’s…

What the hell are we doing here?
Meet Collin Simula. He lives in Columbus, Ohio, and is a part of Central Vineyard church. He is a 30-year-old graphic designer, and a happily married father of three. Collin has spent his whole life in the Church, in every denomination imaginable, from Calvinist/Christian Reformed churches, to a Baptist high school, being a part of…

Evangelism or Social Action: What’s the Priority?
Throughout the last century Evangelicals were known much more for their emphasis on personal piety than for their social action. This is fortunately beginning to change. Pioneers like Jim Wallis, Tony Campolo and Ron Sider have for decades been trying to get Evangelicals to see that the Bible mandates that followers of Jesus care for…

God’s Big Toes
Last weekend, Greg preached a sermon on what it means to function as the body of Christ. You can visit the Woodland Hills Church website to download audio or video as well as presentation slides. We hope you’ll enjoy this call to serve one another the way Christ has called us to serve.

The Cost of Holding On
Given Greg’s recent Twitter comments on the question of how we view what we own, we thought this article in the New York Times was particularly timely. What is the cost of holding onto things? As we accumulate more and more possessions, do we pay a price beyond the actual price tag? Although this piece…