Recommendations for Speaking of Jesus

I took these all off of the Amazon reviews. Each break is a new review. Read them in full if you want at Amazon.com.
Humbling and I thank God for these…..
carl

Reading this book by Medearis is like sitting around with one of the wise and experienced veterans of ministry. As they talk you realize that you wish you had pen and paper with you so you can write some of this down.
There are so many people I know I wish would read this book.
This book has changed my world. I’m serious. I was the one that was convinced that I had to bring others to my religion. If they disagreed over some point within that religion, I got defensive and forgot the real goal: JESUS.

What Muslims in Saudi and Christians in Kansas have in Common!

What Muslims in Saudi and Christians in Kansas have in Common!
They both read what I write.
I called my friend Samir in Saudi Arabia a few months ago and he had a bunch of friends over at his house. One of them grabbed the phone (another Muslim friend I know) and said “Hey Carl, how weird. We were just looking at your website all together and reading your latest blog. And here you call us… Wild.”
Don’t know if you’ve thought about this or not. But my wife and kids read my emails, blogs and Facebook posts. My friends who are pastors of churches read them. My dad and mom and two sisters read them. I have liberal and conservative Christian friends reading them. I have Americans who would not all themselves Christians and who are not following Jesus, reading them…. And…I have friends all over the world reading them. Many of them Muslims.

How to respond to the anti-Muslim propoganda

I don’t know about you, but I get angry anti-Muslim emails all the time. They are always under the guise of “bringing understanding and awareness.” How do we respond?

First let me ask some questions to the Christians who might be reading this:
Question #1. Are we called to fear or love?
Question #2. Are we calling fear “understanding” in order to mask our fear?

The Myth of “Love the Sinner, hate the Sin.”

I think I have a unique spiritual gift. I can see your sin. Clearly. I mean, I can see it while riding a horse over a distant bridge. Your sin. It’s embarrassingly easy for me to spot.
I’ve had this gift since I was a young child. I could see it in my two sisters. My parents. Schoolmates and even people far away. It just seemed to yell out “Look at me. I’m sin.”
And then I heard it. Justification from the pulpit. The man said “Love the sinner, but hate the sin.” I realized I needed to be a bit better at loving the sinner. I had the “hate the sin” part down, but was a little weak on the second half of the saying.

Why I love Church

I was a pastor for several years – helping lead a growing church in Colorado Springs. Then we moved to Beirut. I fell in love with Jesus. In love with Arabs. In love with Muslims. In love with my wife and kids. But…out of love with churches. I saw so much pain. So much confusion. We started “The Olive Grove.” Never called it “church.”

When we moved back to the states, we started going to a church here in Denver – it was close to our house. Had people. Talked about God. Seemed nice enough. But then they had a nasty church split. And we were mostly friends with those who left. They all wanted us to leave too. We stayed. We were committed.

Chris got involved. I travel a lot, so, I didn’t. Chris liked it. I didn’t so much. But we stayed. We were committed.

Something Beautiful Podcast Interview

Last week I did an interview on the Something Beautiful Podcast. Click on the link below to listen.

Something Beautiful Podcast Interview – September 30, 2011

Christ at the Checkpoint. Bethlehem. 2012

I don’t think I’ve ever recommended a “conference” before. Or a meeting. Or seminar. I’m just not that guy….
However, this is one you need to go to. Sell the extra car and go. It’s not that hard You fly through Europe into Tel Aviv. And drive for an hour to Bethlehem – yep, the city where Jesus was born (it’s in the Middle East, not Texas)
Join Shane Claiborne, Tony Campolo, Lynne Hybels and some other amazing local teachers and hear a new perspective about what it means to follow Jesus under political oppression. It’ll change how you read the Bible. It’ll change your heart and mind about so many things – beware. But it’ll be worth it.
A bunch of the coolest people I know in the world will be there. The issues are far more than “Israeli-Palestinian” they are about how you think of Jesus and the Bible. Sign up. Take some friends. Seriously. It’s just a week and some change.
http://www.christatthecheckpoint.com

Why I’ve written what I’ve written for CNN and The Huffington Post

I’m writing this to YOU. My friends. Those I actually know or who know me and who care. This is not written to garner “comments” or “likes” from people I don’t know, but to explain my behind-the-scenes motivation for much of what I’m doing these days.
If you follow my activity on Facebook or Twitter you will also notice that I’ve been interviewing people like the Imam of the infamous New York City mosque, the head of the KKK, a state director of the ACLU, an undocumented person (from Mexico) living in Arizona, an American Jewish leader (and within a week a late-term abortion doctor, the head of the PLO to the U.S., and others).
I’ve written three pieces for the Huffington Post and two for CNN: “Why Evangelicals should stop Evangelizing” and “Jesus would Support Palestinian Statehood Bid.”

A Palestinian State at the UN?

Should we care that the Palestinians are planning to ask the General Assembly for full membership into the United Nations as a recognized State? We should care…and here’s why:

Muslims, Christians, and Jesus DVD Promo