"Occupy Till I Come" Jesus said (Luke 19:13)

Bishop Alfred Johnson, Ret. Bishop of Greater New Jersey Annual Conference and currently Senior Pastor of Church of the Village Church in lower Manhattan, offered these bold and prophetic words at the Occupy Advent Service at Zuccotti Park:

"...This Sunday's lectionary ushering us into the Advent season, featured the fiery and inspired "John the Baptist."

Taking editorial liberties and paraphrasing a bit to embody our occasion here, the Gospel of Luke(3) boldly testifies: "right in the middle of a matrix of mighty military and conspiring religious institutional power, the interrupting Word of God "Occupied" John the Baptist, who "occupied" the wilderness with words that "occupied" and even overflowed into the public and political economy of that day, and declared, a change is gonna come! God's change of Justice and fairness for all."

Even with this, John was clear, that water was not enough to baptize the moment, for water only "occupied" the space it found itself in. But, that One was coming this Advent, who would not only bring water, but would overflow beyond the space with the Holy Spirit and Fire, and that with that power, would flow wherever it chose to go, - even Wall Street and beyond.

May our "occupation" be only a sign of the journey, whose real destination is Shalom, God's Shalom in Jesus, indeed! Shalom is born at Christmas and busting loose! AMEN!"

Bishop J invites Rev. Jackson to share his time at street pulpit

Liberation Spirituality: Henri Nouwen and Gustavo Gutierrez in Dialogue

Liberation Spirituality: Henri Nouwen and Gustavo Gutierrez in Dialogue Lecture Notes: Presented by Michael J. Christensen, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Practice of Spirituality and Ministry, Drew University; and International Director, Communities of Shalom, The United Methodist Church Introduction “There is a little man in Peru, a man without any power, who lives in a barrio with poor people and who wrote a book. In this book he simply reclaimed the basic Christian truth that God became human to bring good news to the poor, new light to the blind, and liberty to the captives. Then years later this book and movement it started is considered a danger by [the USA, or Rome], the greatest power on earth. When I look at this little man, Gustavo, and think about [the President of the US, or the Pope], I see David standing before Goliath, again with no more weapon than a little stone, a stone called A Theology of Liberation (Henri Nouwen

First Generation Lambs Club Reunion

Fifteen of us gathered Saturday night at the Lambs Club for a 35 th year reunion of those who helped start the Lamb’s Church in Times Square in the mid to late 1970’s, including: Rev. Paul S. Moore , Founder of the Lamb’s Church of the Nazarene, and his wife, Tamara Dr. Michael J. Christensen , charter member and former associate pastor, and his wife Dr. Rebecca Laird Fr. William (BJ) Webe r, former Associate Pastor and Director of the Lamb’s Residency, and his wife Sheila who lived at the Lamb’s Jim and Dustee Hullinger, who were on staff together and made the Lamb’s their home for over 25 years Effie Canepa , who was the church pianist under 3 pastors, and her husband Peter Shirley Close, who attended the Lamb’s in the late 1970’s while studying, performing and teaching music and voice Carl "Chappy" Valente , former associate pastor Rev. Bob DiQuatto , lead singer of the Church’s “Manhattan Project” and staff member of the Lamb’s, and his son Jason Rev. Gabriel

Not Afraid of Death by Julia Esquivel

In reading your blog, Michael, I immediately think of these two poems is poem by Julia Esquivel, from Guatemala, whom I had the pleasure of meeting years ago. Un abrazo, Ada Maria I AM NOT AFRAID OF DEATH I am no longer afraid of death I know well Its dark and cold corridors Leading to life. I am afraid rather of that life Which does not come out of death, Which cramps our hands And slows our march. I am afraid of my fear And even more of the fear of others, Who do not know where they are going, Who continue clinging To what they think is life Which we know to be death! I live each day to kill death; I die each day to give birth to life, And in this death of death, I die a thousand times And am reborn another thousand Through that love From my People Which nourishes hope! THREATEN WITH RESURRECTION They have threatened us with Resurrection There is something here within us which doesn’t let us sleep, which doesn’t let us rest, which doesn’t stop the pounding deep inside. It is the s

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