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”.

“Arabs.” Words and their Meanings…

Let’s play a game!
I am thinking of a tree.
I can picture it in my mind.
You don’t know what I am imagining. You might safely assume it has a trunk, branches and leaves of some kind, but can you assume we are picturing the same thing?
What image first came to mind when you read the word ‘tree?’ Depending on what may be growing outside your home, in your neighbourhood, region or country, our mental pictures could be vastly different; a bonsai, a palm, orange tree or cedar? Does your tree grow indoor or outside? Is it standing alone, or placed strategically in a park or garden, inside a mall, or is it part of a magnificent forest? What season did you imagine it in, that would determine the state of its colour, leaves, flowers or fruit? Is anything inside the tree, such as a nest of some kind, or is anything attached to it; lights, ornaments, a swing, a poster? Do you imagine a living tree, or an artist’s depiction?….

Love Your Enemies

Love Your Enemies from The Austin Stone on Vimeo.

A Guest Blog from Scholar and Friend Colin Chapman

9/11 IN THE USA and 7/22 IN NORWAY: FACING OUR FEARS ABOUT MUSLIMS AND ISLAM

Rev. Colin Chapman

The Bush Administration responded to 9/11 with “the war on terror.” Anders Breivik committed his crimes on 22 July 2011 because he felt that Europe as a whole, and Norway in particular, had been naive in their response to Islam. Have we learned anything from what has happened in the last ten years about the way we think about Islam and relate to Muslims, and can we articulate a considered, long-term response to these events? This is my own personal check-list of ways in which I believe all of us in Europe – and Christians in particular – should be responding to these challenges.

1. Establishing genuine relationships with Muslims. Many of those who are most fearful about Islam have little or no personal contacts with Muslims. A recent doctoral researcher in the UK has concluded that “those who had ongoing friendships with Muslims tended to be more eirenic than those who had not lived in the Muslim world or had no Muslim friends.” Perhaps, therefore, we need to be much more intentional in this area and ask ourselves “How can I/we develop natural relationships with the Muslims in my community?”
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The Blond-Haired, Blue-Eyed, “Christian” Face of Terrorism

I wanted to re-post a great article on the recent terrorist attack in Norway by my friend Rick Love, President of Peace Catalyst International. You can also view this article on Rick’s blog.

A Congressman Weighs In….

I wanted to share a post from another guest blogger on the Why Do You Fear Me? website. This post was written by Mark Siljander, former Republican U.S. congressman & deputy U.S./U.N. Ambassador.

Can a Muslim be a Good American?

By Mark Siljander

The title above is the head of an email I have repeatedly received from concerned friends. That particular letter is not unique among the hundreds of perhaps well-intended books, articles, emails, and videos condemning Islam, often from Christian authors. They warn us that “radical Islam” is intent on dominating the world, destroying Israel and our Western way of life. While I will not debate their findings, we must first stop and realize that these tactics operate from a “bad news” spirit of fear. Meanwhile, the Bible tells us not to fear 200 times. Can we truly share the message of “Good News” while basing our sense of reality in fear?

Do Muslims Speak Out?

One of the questions I most often get is this: Why don’t Muslims speak out against the terrorists? It’s a fair question, because we don’t often hear that.

I haven’t had guest bloggers in the past, but I thought this was worth posting. Eboo wrote this for our www.whydoyoufearme.com website, but I wanted to post it here as well.

Muslims Speak Out

by: Eboo Patel

I recently wrote a piece for USA Today where I expressed my strong opposition to Muslim extremists, my belief in American pluralism, and my desire to partner with Americans to defeat extremists and achieve pluralism. I got some interesting responses to this article.