Powerful words spoken by my hero, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in St. Augustine, Florida in 1964…
Speaker: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Partial transcript: “It’s difficult advice and in some quarters it isn’t too popular to say it…Let us recognize that violence is not the answer. I must say to you tonight that violence is impractical…We have another method that is much more powerful and much more effective than the weapon of violence…Hate isn’t our weapon either…I am not talking now about a weak love. It would be nonsense to urge oppressed people to love their oppressors in an affectionate sense–I’m not talking about that. Too many people confuse the meaning of love when they go to criticizing the love ethic…I am talking about a love that is so strong that it becomes a demanding love. I’m talking about a love that is so strong that it organizes itself into a mass movement and says somehow ‘I am my brother’s keeper, and he is so wrong that I am willing to suffer and die if necessary to get him right and to see that he’s on the wrong road’.”
Will Grigg from Pro Libertate blog discusses Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the American evangelical church, Ron Paul, and the Golden Rule…
[Part3 of a 5-part series]
Show:Future Quake
Full Podcast: Show 295 1-6-2012 Future Quake – Seventh Annual Future Quake “Predictions” Show Date: 1/6/12
Hosts: Dr. Future & Tom Bionic Guest: Will Grigg Notes: Dietrich Bonhoeffer; Bonhoeffer’s letter to a friend: “If you are aboard a train that’s heading the wrong direction, simply switching seats isn’t going to do you any good”; He pointed out that they were unmistakably and irrecoverably on the hot rails to hell, in terms of what the German church was doing; The same thing is happening with the American evangelical church… which is more defined by what they’re taught to hate, than by what we are commanded to do, which is to love; That’s the one thing that betokens our discipleship–the one thing that He said would designate Christians as different from the world is our capacity to love–not merely to love each other, but to love whoever God happens to put in our path; The thing about Ron Paul’s movement that makes it so inexplicable and dangerous to the establishment is that he has the courage to insist that the Golden Rule applies in all spheres of life, especially with respect to what the government does
Chris Pinto from Noise of Thunder Radio discusses the practice of celebrating Christmas…
[Part 3 of a 3-part series]
Merry Christmas everyone!
Show:Noise of Thunder Radio Full Podcast:THE ORIGINS OF CHRISTMAS PART I
Date: 12/20/11 Host: Chris Pinto
Notes: Most Christians that are exercising discernment and are trying to figure out how we can be more faithful, more obedient, walk in greater holiness to God… they come across this struggle at some point–this celebration of Christmas; It is really a matter of the believer’s individual conscience before God; Romans 14:4-6; We have no commandment from God to celebrate annually the birth of Christ coming into the world… nevertheless, because we are under the new covenant of grace, we don’t have any commandment that forbids us from celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; Every believer in Christ should be “fully persuaded in their own mind”; Christmas is an opportunity to talk about the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ coming into the world, whether it occurred on December 25th or not; God had foretold that a virgin would bring forth a child, and would call Him Emmanuel, meaning “God with us”; Praise the Lord!
Chris Pinto from Noise of Thunder Radio discusses the practice of celebrating Christmas…
[Part 2 of a 3-part series]
Show:Noise of Thunder Radio Full Podcast:THE ORIGINS OF CHRISTMAS PART I
Date: 12/20/11 Host: Chris Pinto
Notes: Is Christmas of itself wrong?; The Jewish festivals that are talked about in the Old Testament; In the book of Galatians, Paul specifically warns the church about observing the Jewish holy days, because he knows all of that is under the yoke and bondage of the law; Isaiah 1; It’s not so much whether you’re celebrating Christmas, or Passover, or whatever it is… if your heart is not right before the Lord and you’re doing it for your own vain, selfish pleasure, any celebration could and would become offensive in the sight of God; Isaiah 1:10-18; All of these things were according to Jewish law and custom… but it didn’t matter–the problem was that their heart was not right with the Lord–that was the whole problem… so that’s the real question
Greg Boyd, pastor of Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, MN compares the kingdom of the world to the kingdom of God…
[Part 19 of a 19-Part series. Click here for Part 1.]
Ministry:Woodland Hills Church Full Podcast:Be Thou My Vision Date: 5/23/04 Speaker:Greg Boyd Notes: 1 John 4:12; Ephesians 5:1-2; The difference between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the world is as clear and as obvious as the difference between absolute ugliness and absolute beauty–the difference between Jesus and Caesar is apparent… it’s there… it’s obvious; The one thing people are supposed to see–the one thing that’s necessary to see–the one thing that God leveraged the furthering of His kingdom on–is our love; Paul says if they don’t see love, the rightness of your position, the rightness of your cause, and the stances that you take, are self-serving and they’re absolutely worthless (1 Corinthians 13)
Greg Boyd, pastor of Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, MN compares the kingdom of the world to the kingdom of God…
[Part 18 of a 19-Part series. Click here for Part 1.]
Ministry:Woodland Hills Church Full Podcast:Be Thou My Vision Date: 5/23/04 Speaker:Greg Boyd Notes: When you lose your life, you find your life; When you die to self, you find a truer self; There’s a dimension of joy and a dimension of peace that comes from dying to self–letting go of that retaliation game; When you die to striving for your own security, you find the supernatural security that’s found in Jesus Christ; You find something that’s more important than life itself–something that’s more important than your self-preservation; The hope of the world is not found in one nation getting a few more bombs, and a few faster bullets, and a few better strategies… it’s found in the person of Jesus Christ; When the church embodies that perfect, unconditional, unsurpassable love that is God throughout eternity, then the world sees it
Greg Boyd, pastor of Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, MN compares the kingdom of the world to the kingdom of God…
[Part 17 of a 19-Part series. Click here for Part 1.]
Ministry:Woodland Hills Church Full Podcast:Be Thou My Vision Date: 5/23/04 Speaker:Greg Boyd Notes: This kingdom is gonna be radically different–it’s the kingdom of God; Jesus wasn’t trying to tweak a kingdom of the world… He was planning an entirely different kind of kingdom; To enter into this kingdom you have got to crucify some of the most basic, fallen instincts of the human self–you’ve got to crucify the flesh; As kingdom people we commit to doing one thing, and one thing only, and that’s loving like Jesus loves–imitating Jesus Christ
Greg Boyd, pastor of Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, MN compares the kingdom of the world to the kingdom of God…
[Part 16 of an ongoing series. Click here for Part 1.]
Ministry:Woodland Hills Church Full Podcast:The Difference Between the Two Kingdoms Date: 4/25/04 Speaker:Greg Boyd Notes: Our unique role as kingdom of God people is to see through the veneer, and don’t be fooled by it; If we buy the veneer–the civic religion–as closer to the kingdom of God than the civic religion in Cambodia or anywhere else, then we lose our focus… we pollute the distinct missionary call on our lives; You are a missionary in the United States as much as if you were in Cambodia, it’s just that it’s a little more difficult to see sometimes because there’s this civic religion–this quasi-Christian sort of veneer around–which convinces people that they’re already on the inside; What needs to happen is for God to get a hold of their heart and show them that they need Jesus Christ, not just in a social appropriate kind of way, but in the core of their being–in a transforming sort of way; The kingdom of God that you are should be no different whether you’re in America, or in Cambodia, or in South Africa, or in the Soviet Union… the kingdom of God stays the same; Your opinions about how the kingdom of the world should operate will differ from place to place; 2 Timothy 2; Our job is to–towards everybody at all places and all times by every possible means–sacrifice of our life to ascribe the worth that God ascribes to them on the cross of Calvary… that’s how this mustard seed, radically alternative, very different, foolish-looking kind of kingdom of God is gonna grow
Greg Boyd, pastor of Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, MN compares the kingdom of the world to the kingdom of God…
[Part 15 of an ongoing series. Click here for Part 1.]
Ministry:Woodland Hills Church Full Podcast:The Difference Between the Two Kingdoms Date: 4/25/04 Speaker:Greg Boyd Notes: Being a missionary in Cambodia (or any other “non-Christian” nation), you’re never tempted to confuse your opinions about how the government should be run with the missionary focus that you have as a kingdom of God person; That clarity is precisely what is lacking here in America; What we’ve got here is a civic or social sort of religion, but pull back the veneer of quasi-Christian externals, and what you will find is something that is altogether pagan; You are as much a missionary in America as you would be if you were in Cambodia
Greg Boyd, pastor of Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, MN compares the kingdom of the world to the kingdom of God…
[Part 14 of an ongoing series...]
Ministry:Woodland Hills Church Full Podcast:The Difference Between the Two Kingdoms Date: 4/25/04 Speaker:Greg Boyd Notes: The main thing that God leverages the advancement of His kingdom on is when His children obey Him and repeat Calvary to others–we imitate Jesus, not Caesar… that’s how the kingdom goes forward; If we identify this as a “Christian” nation, then Caesar gets wrapped up with the word “Christian”, and now everything America does gets tagged as “what Christians do”; The best America–or any other kingdom of the world–can be is a decent power-over regime… that’s the best a nation can do; A nation can’t replicate Calvary love towards others, and when we identify a nation as “Christian”, it pollutes our distinct, unique witness to the world, upon which God leverages everything; Romans 13; 2 Peter 2; We need to keep the two kingdoms distinct; Satan uses this confusion to pollute/dilute/ruin/undermine the witness of kingdom people to the world; It is to our advantage–it’s to the advantage of the kingdom of God–to say as loudly and clearly as we can, “His kingdom is not of this world“; There is no national kingdom of God–the kingdom of God by definition occurs wherever there are people who are willing to come under others, and lay down their lives for others, and serve others, and turn the other cheek, and do that radical, foolish thing that characterizes the kingdom of God; The kingdom of God happens when people imitate Jesus, not Caesar… we’ve got to keep those two things distinct, and the idea of this as a Christian nation–or an almost Christian nation–undermines that
Greg Boyd, pastor of Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, MN compares the kingdom of the world to the kingdom of God…
[Part 13 of an ongoing series...]
Ministry:Woodland Hills Church Full Podcast:The Difference Between the Two Kingdoms Date: 4/25/04 Speaker:Greg Boyd Notes: We live in a version of the kingdom of the world that asks our opinion about how this version of the kingdom of the world should operate–what should be a crime in our society?; What are we called to do to further the kingdom of God?; How do we best replicate Calvary towards one another and to the outside world?; It’s precisely because our opinion is asked in this version of the kingdom of the world that we have to be particularly careful to not get sucked in to thinking that our opinions about the kingdom of the world are synonymous with the kingdom of God
Greg Boyd, pastor of Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, MN compares the kingdom of the world to the kingdom of God…
[Part 12 of an ongoing series...]
Ministry:Woodland Hills Church Full Podcast:The Difference Between the Two Kingdoms Date: 4/25/04 Speaker:Greg Boyd Notes: The kingdom of the world is always tribal–it’s always national, it’s us against them; There’s something intrinsic in the flesh that always wants to say that “my way is the best way“; In the kingdom of God, the perspective is universal; Jesus Christ died for every human being, so every human being has absolute worth–infinite worth–and our main job in life is to express that to them in word and in deed; From a kingdom of God perspective we would consider all body bags to be equally tragic; In the kingdom of God, we are not allowed to have any enemies–we’re forbidden to have enemies of flesh and blood; The ones who think that they are our enemies, we are commanded to love them, to serve them, to lay down our life for them; Two distinct categories–crime and sin; Some things can be a crime but not sin, and some things can be sin but not a crime
Greg Boyd, pastor of Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, MN compares the kingdom of the world to the kingdom of God…
[Part 11 of an ongoing series...]
Ministry:Woodland Hills Church Full Podcast:The Difference Between the Two Kingdoms Date: 4/25/04 Speaker:Greg Boyd Notes: The world of 1st century Judaism that Jesus came into was a politically hot world–there was a widespread hyper-vigilance on political matters; John Yoder’s “The Politics of Jesus“; Everything Jesus did would have been being watched by people through a political lens–everything he did was politically significant; People tried to pull him into the politics of His age, but Jesus never allows Himself to be dragged into that; The very fact that He didn’t let them define the terms of the issues that He was addressing was itself a huge political statement… He was saying–directly and indirectly–that the kingdom that He comes to bring is not of this world; What Jesus did, He did on purpose; He allowed Himself to be crucified by the kingdom of the world to establish the kingdom that is of God, and now His people are called to imitate Him
Greg Boyd, pastor of Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, MN compares the kingdom of the world to the kingdom of God…
[Part 10 of an ongoing series...]
Ministry:Woodland Hills Church Full Podcast:Taking America Back for God? Date: 4/18/04 Speaker:Greg Boyd Notes: The slogan “Take America Back to God“; When was the “golden age” of America when we really were a “nation under God”?; The myth that this is a Christian nation, that it ever has been a Christian nation, and that if we just tweak the laws a little bit more it will become a Christian nation, is one of the most pernicious, diabolical lies that the church has bought into, cause it completely diffuses the unique authority of the church; We are to win America for Jesus Christ, and we’re to win Iraq for Jesus Christ… and Cambodia, and Haiti, and the world for Jesus Christ; The church is to be triumphant, but the church is never to be militant; How we do it and what we trust in the process is everything; The distinctive mark of the kingdom of God is that we trust in the cross and the power of self-sacrificial love; The hope of the world does not lie in the Christian church conquering… the hope of the world lies in the Christian church imitating its Lord and Savior
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