church of ' the last shall be first ' ..

got irons in the fire .. but they need to simmer a while, i think

meanwhile, the thought here is a recurring theme of my soul .. pardon the revisit

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i've become convinced (in my own mind) that the church of Jesus Christ has undone the gospel in its fullness ..
it has defined and shaped, by its actions and proclamations in creeds and such, an organisation built on human logic, method and agenda, when what Jesus intended and instituted was an organism, a lively interplay of familial beings living-out life together in all its facets, the pain and sorrow alongside the healing and joy ..
life lived

the kingdom of God is not of this world, neither are the weapons of our warfare .. the entire structure and underlying worldview is otherworldly ...
adopting worldly views and weapons provides for an ungainly creature, hobbling and wobbly, bouncing off walls .. people are hurt by it, ' imago deis ' are wounded and bruised, both within and without the body, having to hobble along through life ..

that is not Christ's church .. it is some wrecked and ruined, wretched and ruinous animal with missing teeth and claws, contending for worldly territory ..
it is mutant

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Jesus' vision for body is, first and primary, love .. out of that all else proceeds ..
love fires the motives, the actions, the responses, the agendas, the teaching and preaching, the ' ministry ', the relations, both within and without ..
it must colour the walls, adorn the sanctuary and the soup kitchen, drape the windows

so that when they speak evil of the church, they do so out of a frustrated attempt to undermine and fracture an organism fueled by selflessness, dwelling in a  culture driven by ' mine's ', their arrows unable to penetrate the flesh that absorbs hatred and violence and division and abuse and assault, a kingdom that operates ' from above ' , withstanding and overcoming, maturing and thriving on its alternative energy source, its life informing and educating even the otherworldly powers and authorities who look on in wonder and puzzlement ..
all the while present ..
in the world
living with and in
part of, yet not of
sharing, caring, listening, refuge-ing, embracing
speaking by being ..
lovingly present and available
open to all, but particularly those on the verge, those with no doors, the shut-out, the reject, the despised, the hated
particularly those .. for the last shall be first ..

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this upside-downedness shines a blazing light on the market-driven capitalistic mind, society indoctrinated with must-have, more, and mine ..
by its pure and simple attitude of caring and sharing it upends ' getting ' and opens its hand - " come, thirsty ones; come and drink of the water of life freely ' ..

the church response to violence cannot be violence, to hatred cannot be hatred, to abuse cannot be abuse ..

this living being bears a Head scarred by thorns, wet with tears, compassioned ..
the one who begged forgiveness for his murderers while his blood willingly coloured the dry hardness of the dirt from which we all are made, beckons us to follow him .. even when it feels like God is forsaking me

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it is in releasing, in the letting-go of life, that the life of God is manifest .. life given, not frantically grasped
' I ' poured out .. the continual emptying of Me makes room for living water, a well bubbling-up within, overflowing the fresh clarity of Godlife onto a parched earth .. giving life, verdant with Godlove, which binds everything in perfect harmony

that is the vision, the molten core of the church that Jesus built

ours is to revision that vision, refresh it
live it to the world in which we must be present

peace to you