Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Less Futon, More Reform

So there I sat in Good Friday service, Struck. As I heard the charges against Jesus read from Luke I was amazed at the idea of Jesus as a revolutionary.

They all asked, "Are you then the Son of God?" He replied, "You are right in saying I am." Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. And they began to accuse him, saying, "We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king." So Pilate asked Jesus, "Are you the king of the Jews?" "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied. Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, "I find no basis for a charge against this man." But they insisted, "He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here."

He was so vehemently flying in the face of the established Judaisms that they had to kill him. He was a radical. I was resolute. Upon returning home after my Easter vacation, I would be more subversive. More radical. More Christlike.

As soon as I got home, I went to my friend Shawn's blog and found this: The Pentecost Project.

I was struck. My wife and I had already decided to pay down some debt with the entirety of the money. But I think that we should do something more. What if we decided to give a percent as a community to one unified goal. What if everyone at my church gave 10% of their "Bush Bucks" to a single purpose. We would be easily giving nearly $10,000. What could this do for our community? Not just our church but Myrtle Beach as a whole.

I need to be involved in this.

We Need to be involved in this.

6 comments:

Josh Frank said...

Justin - keep me informed with what happens locally. If your church decides to take up the project, let me know so I can add it to the Communities link. I'll also be collecting stories about what individuals and communities decide to do.

Want me to add your name to the people w/ a link to your blog?

Peace,
Josh Frank
http://pentecostproject.wordpress.com

Josh Frank said...

Also, here's a link to the logo on a white background - shows up better on certain blogs:
http://pentecostproject.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/pplogo01whitebg.jpg

Konstantin Levin said...

good stuff dude. do it. I'd like to hear about you church wreckin shop with this pentecost thing.

I'd be up for discussing your comment "He was so vehemently flying in the face of the established Judaisms that they had to kill him." I know how you reformed people love to hate Judaism. :)

Justin Woodall said...

Josh,

Put me on whatever list you would like.


Phil,

I am actually following Tom Wright here. (Notice the plural Judaisms and the whole idea of the criteria of Crucifiability)

Konstantin Levin said...

you know how to get me.. just throw wright at me! :) As much as I am indebted to wright in may ways.. especially in his thoughts on resurrection, the non-monolithic view of Judaism, etc. I get a bit uncomfortable with some of his more supersessionist sounding language. Though that isn't really what this is about. I guess I have become a little hyper-sensitive (maybe to a fault?) to the implication that "they" had to kill him. As if Judaism itself was responsible for killing Jesus. I certainly don't want to start sounding like the language police of the politically correct. However, I think it is an important distinction in understanding the gospel that it was the powerful within several different power structures that murdered the historical Jesus. A point about which I'm sure you are fully aware. Now that I've typed it out I feel kind of silly about making a point about it.

Ok.. continue blogging! :)

Anonymous said...

Your getting money back? You... What? but you don't even pay taxes! Of course you should give the bush bucks to the community it's free money. For those of us who have bought property only to find out that we will continue to rent it from the government as long as we shall live, now we deserve to do what ever the hell we want to with our money, like buy the top 5 album of the 90's, now that's a revolution. or better yet I'm using mine to beautify the landscape of America buy paying for two boob jobs for random women, I'll put a plaque on them, "Jugs for Jesus, Thank god everytime you see'em and remember who butters your bread" Awesome. What would Jesus do with his bush bucks?
Alright my point is the park would not change the community,it would just be another nice place for a while until you couldn't afford the upkeep and it became a breeding ground of teenage pregnancy, drug abuse and unoffical bath house like so many other public parks. We need a better solution than a park, maybe a Christian Rock Band that gives it's testimony after some awesome 90's remakes.
listen I am already working on my apology for this blog, just had some bad sushi for lunch, can't remember what it tasted like but it sure was expensive, any way, i love what your saying just trying to figure out if it is just a reaction to leaders you don't agree with or something you are serious about doing. Alright I gotta go back to work so I can pay for the home internet/cable/telephone connection that allows me to put forth revolutionary ideas while sitting in my underwear. P.S. The Jews did it... The romans crucified Jesus, but the Jews put the curtain back together, that's even worse... 70 AD was God's response to that.
Ahh shoot, I did it.
much love.