A friend and I were having a conversation about McLaren’s now-old book The Secret Message of Jesus. Here is something I wrote to him about chapter 19, which talks about the apocalyptic literature in the New Testament. I’m including it here for posterity, and in case anyone wants to disagree. Continue reading “Secret Codes”
Category: stuff I think about
The hope of the world
While I was at the Willow conference, I heard a phrase that really bothered me. The woman who organized the entire conference was speaking from the main stage, and she said, “The local church is the hope of the world.” What? Continue reading “The hope of the world”
Fear
I’m afraid. No, make that terrified. I have trouble sleeping. The fear comes over me in the middle of the day. I’m afraid for myself. I’m afraid for my children. I’m not afraid of gangs or theft. I’m not afraid of physical harm or even ridicule. I’m terrified of complacency. When I look out of my window, I see beautiful yards, large comfortable homes, nice cars, happy people. I’m afraid that I’ll start believing that everyone lives this way. I’m afraid that my kids already believe that. The fear is so great, that I’m going to have to do something about it. Because of my fear, I think I’m going to have to move. I think I might have to live in a neighborhood where things don’t look so nice, where things don’t smell, sound or feel very nice. But, at least it would be a better representation of the reality of our world. It might keep me and my children from just enjoying the things we have and forgetting to do something about all the people who don’t have the same opportunites. It might free me from this fear.