Not Holier Than You Karla and Craig Morton, Emmaus Christian Fellowship

This “season” of the podcast, we are trying to give brief and focused responses to the chapters in the new bok by Melissa Florer-Bixler, How to Have an Enemy: Righteous Anger and the Search for Peace, by Herald Press.
Together, we’ll try to pinpoint a few key elements in each chapter, as well as perhaps some underlying concepts that may not be as obvious. Hopefully, our dialog will help you with your reading through this book.
At one point, Karla mentions a study guide that is available for this title. It is available at Herald Press as a PDF download.
For additional background, check out the conversation with Melissa Florer-Bixler on The All That’s Holy Blue Collar Podcast, episode 58.

Karla and Craig sat down to review some of the way this conversation regarding the image of God has developed. We review some key ideas, leave out lots of stuff, and take some time to ask about what kinds of practices and habits we can create to foster an awareness of the image of God in others.
This is an excellent conversation to encourage you to look back yourself at the ten earlier conversations we have had and think about the ideas that have stood out for you. And, since we put a lot of emphasis on living and doing the life of following Jesus, we want to ask you how might these conversations lead you to develop your own habits and practices that are shaped and formed by the conviction that each person (and even creation) has the image of God.
Let us know what you think, and what questions you have. We are figuring this out as we go. Our huge disclaimer is that we are learning too, and that we might be wrong, but we believe that through conversation around the scriptures, with a community of faith, we can begin to discern. So, partnership with others is crucial in this adventure.
Musical intros, transition music, and the outro are by At the Speed of Darkness. You can support At the Speed of Darkness through purchasing his music on Bandcamp. https://atthespeedofdarkness.bandcamp.com/

Karla and I sat with Dr. Thomas J. Oord, theologian and philosopher, to discover the how Open and Relational Theology (ORT) views the concept of the “image of God.” We had no real outline for our conversation. Instead, it was just three friends talking. And one of those friends is really smart, eloquent, and had a few lessons to teach us.
I hope you enjoy our conversation with Tom. Make sure to follow him on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) . Also, from his website, you can also subscribe to his newsletter, and follow his blog. Through his website and newsletter, you can also find his amazing collection of photographs from his travels, and especially throughout the Pacific Northwest.
 
Let us know what you think, and what questions you have. We are figuring this out as we go. Our huge disclaimer is that we are learning too, and that we might be wrong, but we believe that through conversation around the scriptures, with a community of faith, we can begin to discern. So, partnership with others is crucial in this adventure.
Musical intros, transition music, and the outro are by At the Speed of Darkness. You can support At the Speed of Darkness through purchasing his music on Bandcamp. https://atthespeedofdarkness.bandcamp.com/

episode 9: all in the family (of God)
One of the aspects that is lost when begins to consider a theology that asserts that God’s love wins in the end, is the promise of heaven and the threat of hell are changed. If one leans toward universal salvation, hell is removed from consideration as a significant threat. And, if heaven becomes a gift of grace from God, why does it matter how we live now, especially if Jesus has paid the debt for our sin so that we do not have to? Many of the traditional motivations become obsolete and religion itself seems unnecessary. And if that were the case, announcing the good news of Jesus may be thwarted by disinterest, that is, if anyone remained motivated to speak the good news of God’s realm and reign.
Humans have a religious impulse
In Brian McLaren’s latest book, Faith After Doubt, McLaren poses two interesting ideas to contemplate.
According to Jonathan Haidt and other teachers of moral foundations theory, whatever our religion or politics, we all use the same six basic lines of moral reasoning to defend our beliefs and opinions: justice, compassion, purity, loyalty, authority, and liberty.5 People of a conservative temperament, theorists explain, often feel morally superior because they emphasize all six. Liberals or progressives, however, focus on two: justice and compassion (pg 84).
And later, McLaren describes his experiences while at the rally countering the Unite the Right march in Charlottesville, VA. After describing what he saw and did, Brian goes on to state:
In the days after the event, I was given access to screenshots of the private communications among the fascist and white supremacist groups who organized the event (and who were called “very fine people” by the president). These communications convinced me that when people leave traditional religious identity behind, or subordinate it to a political or racial ideology, they don’t advance to a blissful secular harmony. No: we humans just as easily shift the sense of identity we once found in a passionate Stage One or Stage Two religious faith into what we might call quasi-secular religions like racism, nationalism, fascism, classism, and other -isms. (pg 110).
Humans, it would seem are religion-making social organisms. So the question may not be faith or no faith, religion or no religion, but rather which religion? One primarily motivated by love and justice; or, one guided by the exercise of authority, purity, liberty, and loyalty?
Ephesians 314-19
Every ethnic group in heaven or on earth is recognized by him (whom every family [πατριὰ] in heaven and on earth takes its name, NRSV). I ask that he will strengthen you in your inner selves from the riches of his glory through the Spirit. I ask that Christ will live in your hearts through faith. As a result of having strong roots in love, I ask that you’ll have the power to grasp love’s width and length, height and depth, together with all believers.
 Questions for consideration:
1.       What is the good news of God (that’s the way Mark’s gospel says it)?
2.       Is there any motivation to or fear of consequences associated with not accepting the God’s gift of Jesus and the reign and realm he inaugurates?
3.       What do you make of the idea that we are religion-making creatures?
4.       What might it look like to announce a gospel of love and justice?