Jesus Plus Nothing!

My good friend Tim Timmons has a new book out – Jesus Plus Nothing. Fresh. Insightful. Provocative. That’s why I like it. Here’s his recent blog about one of the takeaways of this great book. Read it carefully….

carl

JESUS PLUS NOTHING–ANYONE ANYWHERE CAN BEGIN TO FOLLOW JESUS

One of the top takeaways from my new book JESUS PLUS NOTHING stirs up so much emotional response. In other words, there is more heat than light at first. It’s tough enough to separate Jesus from Christian ownership. Now, this insight sounds even more foreign and out of bounds from what we’ve been taught. No matter how much evidence is offered or how many people are produced from non-Christian cultures who are followers of Jesus, it’s still stifling to the brain.

Reuben Bidez

I don’t do this often – but here’s a guest blog from my new friend Reuben who writes and sings some amazing music. I think you’ll appreciate his heart when you hear it…

carl

Two years ago I started writing songs for this record. It’s a concept record covering the 7 major stories that both the Qur’an and the Bible share. For years Christians and Muslims have fought and argued over their differences without ever looking at what they have in common. Most Christians would be surprised to know that many of the Bible stories we’ve been taught since childhood are also found in the pages of the Qur’an. But both Muslims and Christians know that these are not just stories. These are expressions of God’s mercy for mankind!

As you read these stories in the Qur’an you find a theme running throughout. The writer refers to these moments in time as “Signs of God”. I love this terminology. It is as if God is saying, “look at this moment, there is something of great importance here.” This phrase “Sign of God” became a motif throughout the songs I wrote, hence the title of the project, “The Signs of God”.

Why I hate Religion, but love Jesus

Surely you’ve seen the You Tube video by now. It’s crazy how many have watched it – maybe 16 million or so. It’s good. Really really good. I posted it on my Facebook as well….

But something’s funny about it – and the reactions it’s received. Let me try to explain:

The ones who loved it are Christians.

The ones who hated it were Christians.

He (the dude who did this) hates religion.

But he loves Christianity. He mentioned several times about “being a Christian.” I mean, he mostly loves Jesus (which is good), but he also seems to love “being a Christian.”

And thus….the confusion for so many. Why can’t we get this?

Which Arab country is the Best?

I recently asked people which Arab country they would most like to visit. I got about 60 comments in a few hours with the “winners” being Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq and Egypt. Of course that started a mini-debate about whether Palestine was a real country or not… (Which is funny since it’s Israel that doesn’t have a constitution or defined borders). But anyway….
It also raised the question of what makes a country an “Arab” country. There are really only two ways to answer that: 1. The predominant language is Arabic. 2. They belong to the Arab League – which has 22 nations (all who predominantly speak Arabic).

Finding Beauty in Chaos

We are in Egypt. Cairo. 20 million crammed into a small flat dusty piece of land. Smog. Heat. Traffic.
I write this as we return from a few hours of filming at the Pyramids. We’ve moved about 500 yards in a half hour. Crammed into a bus for 12, we are fourteen. As I found myself [...]

Finding Faith in Arabia

Maybe you’ve heard that the Arab Gulf is a hard place. I always have… Serious Muslims. Persecution of Christians. Generally people bent on terrorism….or at least funding it.
You should ask my kids. So far we’ve experienced the most intense hospitality ever. Today the Muslim Sheikh who hosted us apologized about 10 times that he hadn’t [...]

I am Saving the World….Yippee!

I think that age, has, well…aged me. Honestly and most seriously, if you had asked me a few years ago what I was doing. Just that – Carl, what are you doing? I would have looked you in the eye and said “Saving the Middle East.” Not the whole world, just the Middle East. About 100 million or so….

I would have wrapped it in some Theo-talk. You know. Things like “Working with the Holy Spirit to do His will.” Or maybe, “Doing what I see the Father doing.” Or even, “Lifting up Jesus and letting His Spirit do the heavy lifting.” You know the stuff… But honestly, I thought I was doing a good 50% of the work. Okay, maybe 40%.

I had charts. Goals. Hard targets. Dates and ways and means. Teams. Staff. Structure. Initiatives and meetings. I was doing everything from starting church planting movements to discipling nations. Leading Muslims to Christ. The Great Commission wrapped seamlessly inside the Great Commandment. Loving God and Neighbor. Writing. Speaking. TV. Radio. Content and purpose driven. Driven. Oh…that word. Driven.

An Open Letter to my Muslim Friends….

I’m writing this to real people. You know who you are. I am thinking of you when I write this. You live in the Middle East. In America. You are young. And some slightly less so. Wealthy. Middle Class. Sunni. Shi’ite. Serous Muslims. And some not so much. But you are my friends. I’d do anything for you. I love you. You know that.
Now here’s the deal. Many of my Christian friends here in the States don’t really understand my love for the Arab world. For the Muslim world. They think I’ve compromised truth. The truth mainly being that unless you receive Jesus Christ as your Master (lord) and personal savior by acknowledging your sin and his death on the cross to atone that sin – you’re doomed to an eternity without hope and life. Hell.
So when I seem to act as if I love and respect you as you are, they – my well meaning Christian friends here – get nervous. Not about you….about me. They wonder why I don’t tell you. That if I really and truly loved you, I’d tell you.

10 Reasons why you Should Like Arabs

10 Reasons why you Should Like Arabs
WARNING: There are some stereotypes in here. However, I felt it was fair to use some positive stereotypes since mostly the negative ones have prevailed in Western media.
Let’s do it the David Letterman way and count down from 10:
Number 10. Arabs are not homogeneous. So let me start by saying all that I’m abou tto say is hard to justify as I am, in fact, stereotyping with the broadest of brushes. Because they are many cultures within a bigger culture. An “Arab” is really only someone who speaks Arabic. They are Christians and Muslims and Druze. There are Arabs who are Israeli citizens and those who are Palestinians. They are rich (Dubai) and poor (Yemen). To say “Arabs” is really like saying “Westerners.” It’s way too broad – but if you know that, it makes it a little easier to understand them. When you know the “them” you’re talking about can’t easily be defined.

Thanksgiving with Indians

When my buddy Brad Corrigan (http://dispatchmusic.com) invited our family to spend Thanksgiving at the Pine Ridge Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota, we immediately said yes….then thought about it…

We’ve had a tradition the last few years of spending that precious holiday with some of our dearest friends here in Denver. Doing the usual. Eating and watching football. It’s a lot of fun and very relaxing. And we love it!

But this just seemed like the right thing to do. For several years in Lebanon we had collected some of the kids’ toys and traveled to the Bekaa Valley and visited nomadic Bedouin Arabs for this day of giving thanks. It was funny because each year as we’d ask our three young children to collect some things to give away, they’d invariably come back with their nicest and most expensive toys to donate – causing conflicted thoughts in their parents.