Sit Down Comedy … April 26th, 2019

Jonathots Daily Blog

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It is completely unlikely that anyone over the age of seventy in the United States of America has not heard, spoken or nervously laughed at a joke containing the “N word.” As painful as this may be, we were a country that was comfortable with bigotry.

Likewise, is there any chance that there’s a human being over the age of fifty who hasn’t stated, repeated or stood silent when the word “fag” was offered in an adult conversation? For years, this was the way we described anyone we deemed incapable of the tenacity, strength and energy to succeed.

And dare I say, there is probably no one over the age of twenty-five who has not referred or heard a reference to the female of our species as “bitch.”

It’s just the nature of our journey. We are born without the ability to walk, talk or use a spoon. We graduate from high school and enter grown-up land unable to solve problems, and therefore often opt for selfishness, in order to protect the little we have. As the old song says:

I wish I knew then what I know now.

But do you?

Do you really want to be the first white person in Montgomery, Alabama, who comes to the conclusion that Jim Crow laws are evil and must be overturned?

Do you desire to be the straight person, who during the AIDS pandemic of the mid-1980’s, decides to defend the gay community instead of insisting they brought a plague down on mankind?

And even more recently, do you want to believe the stories of women who were subjugated by domineering men, when it seems more popular, or at least politically acceptable, to come to the side of the accused, dominant, masculine figure?

There are no rewards for those who think ahead of their time.

Society has a history of putting to death those who finally clarify their message, especially when that proclamation is contrary to cultural standards and mores.

You can be popular—or you can be right.

You can’t be both.

It wasn’t even popular in 1863 to free the slaves, even though supposedly we were fighting a war to do so.

It wasn’t popular to take those same slaves—after the war was already over—and give them human and states’ rights.

It took us until 1919 to allow women a chance to vote—and even after that “lightbulb decision” was enacted, there were many places in our country where females were not allowed to serve on juries.

Being spiritually insightful, emotionally empathetic, mentally progressive and physically fit never places you in the forefront of anything.

BEING A LEADER MEANS…

If you decide to be a leader instead of a follower, you will lead alone—since the followers have already pledged their allegiance. Yet we, as a people, count on certain souls to walk a lonely path, pursue through resistance and overcome public opinion to bring us the solutions which lead us into a spirited life instead of rendering us dispirited.

As we judge candidates, senators, congressmen, President and judges, let us keep in mind that they gain their positions by either being voted in or approved. In order to get a vote or be approved, you have to get the blessing of those who walk in the present—not those who have the presence of mind to know where history is walking.

If I knew then what I know now, I would either have to forget it so I could still be fairly popular, or else decide to take the path untraveled—alone.

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Salient…July 30th, 2018

 Jonathots Daily Blog

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There are matters that are too important to ignore or leave to chance. These are salient moments.

Anita Bryant.

I would guess, to my average reader, the name neither rings a bell nor stimulates any particular memory.

But back in 1977 (when a few determined dinosaurs still roamed the Earth), Anita Bryant was voted “The Most Trusted Woman in America.”

She was a former Miss America contestant who had a singing career and was well-known as the pitch person for Florida orange juice.

She was vibrant.

She was youthful.

And she was, as we gradually discovered, quite political.

For you see, when the Fort Lauderdale City Council passed an ordinance removing all limitations on lodging and civil considerations for the homosexual community, Anita objected.

And we’re not talking about an op-ed letter to the newspaper. She hit the streets, held rallies, and turned a local situation into a national debate over the issue of whether people who pursued a homosexual lifestyle should be granted all of their civil liberties.

She was in demand. Her performances were packed. She did interviews on all the Christian talk shows, and even one for Playboy Magazine. She was America’s sweetheart.

For you see, at that time in our country, the jury was not only out on the gay community, but was leaning toward the “rejection penalty.”

It was popular to be anti-gay.

It was considered patriotic to be against them.

As we arrived in the 1980s, and the horrific AIDS epidemic spread across the land, those who believed homosexuality to be an abomination to God also whispered that perhaps this new virus was the Almighty’s punishment.

Things changed.

Suddenly a little boy in Indiana got AIDS from a blood transfusion–and it was no longer merely an infection of the flaming queens. Ryan White, with his generous spirit, refused to believe that his particular AIDS was any different from the AIDS contracted by those in San Francisco.

He was humble, he was non-judgmental, and he was strong until the day he died.

He made those who condemned their brothers and sisters look foolish–especially Anita Bryant.

She is still alive, but unfortunately, her name is equated with intolerance instead of righteousness–or orange juice, for that matter.

An interesting fact that you may want to tuck away in your memory: lepers are remembered more favorably than Pharisees.

So here is your salient moment:

You can’t defend God or morality by attacking behavior and hurting people.

 

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G-Poppers … August 25th, 2017

 Jonathots Daily Blog

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They were called “Tories”–colonists who remained loyal to King George III during the American Revolution. They were honorable folks. They wanted to respect authority. They saw no reason to change the status quo. They were following what seemed to be common sense.

They were unfortunately mistaken.

There were other folks known as the “Moral Majority.” The moniker certainly tells of their assumptions. They were convinced that homosexuality was a blight on the American scenery–even that HIV and AIDs were punishments on the homosexual community–the “gay plague.”

Their ranks were filled with Bible-loving, dear-hearted people who were completely misinformed.

It was called “separate but equal”–later to be tagged “Jim Crow.” It was the notion that since color separated human beings, and culture seemed to follow along, it was in line to complete the separation in public restrooms and schools. Great people adhered to the philosophy. Dynamic human beings were involved in promoting it.

It was flawed.

It’s very important to know the difference between ignorance and stupidity. Ignorance is when actions are taken without the benefit of adequate knowledge. Stupidity is when knowledge has arrived and we choose to remain ignorant.

No matter how honorable, self-sacrificing or righteous the Antebellum South felt it was on the issues of states’ rights, tarriffs and slavery, time has marched on and brought us an infantry of reasons to conclude that the assertions were faulty.

Just as the Tories are not allowed to build statues to Benedict Arnold, the Moral Majority isn’t in a position to extol Jerry Falwell, and Jim Crow is not recognized in the public square of Birmingham, for its historic quality, we can no longer accept the “good intentions” of the Confederacy.

They, like the Tories, the Moral Majority and the Jim Crow crowd, must find their absolution with the words of Jesus from the cross: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

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Them There Those … September 18, 2012

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A startling realization–yet quite simple, as flashes of truth often are.

I awoke this morning fully comprehending that I was still retaining pieces of cultural prejudice which had been infused into me, not only by my upbringing but also by a social pressure which has been cooking in our country for the past thirty years.

Yes–circa 1980, an organization called the Moral Majority came along attempting to restore dignity, spirituality and of course, morality, to our nation. In the process of pursuing this agenda, this “majority” infected our country with a separatism that has made us aliens to each other within the borders of a common nation.

They should have realized that naming their particular outreach the Moral Majority was in itself an affrontation to anyone who didn’t hold fast to their concepts. Please understand, I do not accuse them personally of being notorious or evil. It’s just that in the pursuit of what we consider to be righteousness, we need to be careful not to thrust ourselves to the forefront as the primal example as opposed to the principles themselves.

The by-product is what I refer to as the Them There Those campaign. We no longer perceive ourselves to be part of a common humanity, chasing a dream breathed into us at creation. Now we are like forts of settlers fighting off the renegades outside our walls who just might have a different opinion from our own and therefore might taint the flavor of our particular recipe.

Them there those:

• Them Jews — over there in the Holy Land, thinking that those like them are chosen people.
• Them Arabs, there in the desert, with those terrorists.
• Them Republicans, there in their mansions, with those rich corporate fat-cats.
• Them Democrats, there at their abortion clinics, with those welfare masses.
• Them Yankees, up there in the north, with those factories and high-falutin’ ideas.
• Them Rebels, down there in Dixie, marryin’ those cousins.
• Them men, there watchin’ football, with those friends with their brains in their pants.
• Them women, out there at the shopping mall, with those other gossiping women.
• Them young people, there in the streets, with those drugs and rock and roll.
• Them old folks, there in Florida and Arizona, with those social security checks.
• Them liberals, there in the Ivy League schools, with those anti-God, anti-gun curriculums.
• Them conservatives, there in the Bible Belt, with those ideas that the world was actually created in six days.

Them. There. Those.

It’s showing up this year in the election. Somehow or another we feel the need to address our personal differences instead of attacking our common problems. It seems prudent to a generation of leadership that should be wiser in the ways of the world than to conduct the weighty matters of government and business from a playground perspective: “Give me the ball or I’ll hit you!”

I realized this morning, and startling it was, that I still had bits and pieces of this virus coursing through my bloodstream. I still was looking for an enemy instead of a reason to love those around me. I still am suspicious of being rejected instead of preparing what I will do upon receiving acceptance. I have pre-conditioned myself to believe that a certain amount of warfare is necessary in order to achieve peace.

I am perplexed by my own insanity. I am bewildered by my own misconduct. I am truly repentant of an attitude that separates me from those fellow-travelers who have just as much right to the road as I do.

But I am not alone. Even though we continue to postulate about how open-minded, free-spirited and generous we are with each other, we have all fallen victim to a need to be in the majority of everything, in order to secure our sense of belonging.

The Moral Majority believed that AIDS was the gay plague. The Moral Majority thought that apartheid in South Africa was acceptable due to the fact that the locals did not know how to govern themselves. Here is a sure thing: anyone who pursues the philosophy of Them There and Those will,n in some way, shape or form, be proven wrong.

What can we do about the plague?

1. Identify it in ourselves. We don’t have to do it publicly, but privately we should purge ourselves of all notions of Them, There and Those.

2. Stop preaching and start reaching. Don’t take the information you have read here or discovered in your own heart and use it to try to convict others. Just cease to participate in the disintegration of our country into tinier and tinier pieces of false individuality.

3. Develop a new philosophy. We shall call it We Here Us:“We are together, here in this place at this time, trying to make the best ‘us’ possible.”

This is the tagline that will push us forward instead of thrusting us into Neanderthal thinking, causing us to believe that we must kill our neighbor in the cave next to us to guarantee that our family has enough mastodon for supper.

We. Here. Us.

Will you join me in abandoning the foolishness of believing that any one of us is a majority? 99.76% of the people of this country will never know my name, never meet me, never agree with me and never even know that I lived. It doesn’t make them less. It doesn’t make me suspicious of them. It doesn’t make me wonder why they even live. It makes me realize that the tiny percentage that I will meet must understand that I love them, I am trying to learn their ways and that when I don’t agree, I will get out of the way and allow them to do their best before their own conscience and God.

My dear friends, we are human and here together for this season, trying to become our best “us.”  And please don’t forget, it is all propelled by the necessary notion and powerful precept:

NoOne is better than anyone else.

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Who Is the King of Glory? … June 4, 2012

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I read it on Facebook.

It was a posting by a dear young lady who shared a verse from the Bible, but at the end of the statement, she added, “I know it sounds religious, but in the moment it was very meaningful to me.”

It gave me pause. Why did she feel the need to apologize for the impact of a moment of inspiration? Actually, it is one of the greatest dividing lines in our society—people over the age of thirty-five are fairly comfortable sharing their faith or elements of their beliefs. People under thirty-five are reticent and have great trepidation—that espousing acknowledgments of God makes them look out of the flow, or dare I say—even ignorant?

Part of this is due to the influx of pseudo-intellectualism in our country, which attempts to make all believers in a Divine Being appear to be barefooted hillbillies who have never cracked a book in their lives. But honestly, most of it is due to a phenomenon that occurred just about thirty-five years ago. Take the journey back in time with me.

Thirty-six years ago, God was pretty cool. For after all, Jesus Christ was a Superstar. “God,” Himself, could put a wonderful “Spell” on you. The Doobie Brothers told us that Jesus Is Just Alright with Me. Even old-time evangelist Billy Graham grew his hair out a little longer and every once in a while added a little “mod” to his God.

And then something happened. I would call it a reverse revival—a decision to go backwards in the faith to try to find the future of God’s will. Religious leaders addressed the tragedy of AIDS by referring to it as a gay plague, sent by Divine judgment to destroy the homosexual community. Of course, they were proven wrong when the virus was no respecter of persons, wiling to inflict and infect everyone. These same religionists found themselves on the wrong side of the issue of apartheid in South Africa, when the system was corrupt and needed to be overthrown. Rather than sitting down and having an intelligent discussion about birth control and the value of human life, they instead picketed–and often harmed those who worked at clinics that offered the option of abortion.

They took a belief in God from its simplicity of personal faith and made it into a machine gun that sprayed bullets of condemnation into the unsuspecting masses. And then, on September 11^th, 2001, when religious charlatans flew airplanes into buildings, killing innocent people, it became obvious that there was a danger in accepting any form of Godliness into your life without flirting with insanity.

So who IS this King of Glory? Who is this God, if He exists? If He’s a Creator, does He comprehend His creation? Does He understand us? Or has He taken a sabbatical and left His shop in the hands of less-than-competent micro-managers?

There are three things that every human being requires, and if the experience they are pursuing does not offer these possibilities, then the endeavor fails to provide satisfaction.

First, we all need to be saved.  If we don’t confess our shortcomings and sins, we begin to develop an elaborate web of lies to deny our weaknesses instead of admitting them so they can be addressed and ministered to. God must save us or He’s really not God.

Secondly, we also need to be richer. Now, understand, I am NOT saying “rich.” Just a few dollars above our own indebtedness. Just enough money so that generosity seems to be in order instead of a desperate act of sacrifice. We need a God who teaches us how to use our talents more effectively so that they multiply and provide us with greater capacity for solvency and success.

And finally, every human being needs to be wiser. Wisdom is the ability to take our experiences and turn them into ideas that allow us to learn from what happens instead of always getting burned. All of us need to be wiser. All of us need to understand that the greatest wisdom is acknowledging that “NoOne is better than anyone else.” If we stop trying to prove that we’re better, we can actually make our own situation … better.

Somewhere along the line, religion has failed to deliver anything from this trio of demands except salvation. So unless you are terribly desperate to confirm your heavenly passage to eternity every single week, the need to attend a local house of worship is often dimmed by the offering of a bright, sunny day.

God seems to be outdated to His own agenda.

Some of the poorest people in the world spend the most time praising the Almighty—and certainly many of the selfish, more short-sighted causes are pursued by those who pray without ceasing. The end result is that those who have been born since Jesus Christ stopped being a “Superstar” now are a bit afraid to embrace the heavenly Father for fear of being smacked in the head instead of receiving a pat of approval.

Ironically, I spent yesterday morning sharing at the King of Glory Lutheran Church in suburban Denver, Colorado. At 9:00 A.M., I stared out at a sea of faces and they back at me. We were trangers. We were cautious with each other. We wondered if any good thing could come out of us—to enrich the life of the other.

Blessedly, when I left the stage at 9:51, I had made a bunch of friends. I put the King of Glory to work. I presented God as a forgiving, divine, almighty Being who is prepared to forgive us and save our souls. I shared that He was an intelligent presence who expects us to take personal responsibility for our lives and improve our financial status by using our own talents and abilities, so that we don’t need to beg for bread but can give bread to the beggar.  And together we talked about how to be wiser, rejecting the stupidity of striving to constantly be superior to other people, but instead, taking what we know and use it effectively in our next project.

The King of Glory made sense. He was not only powerful to save; He was also prepared to enrich and to grant us wisdom without making fun of us for our lack.

I wish I could take a whole generation that has been scared away from intimacy with the Creator on a journey to discover the true height and depth of His love. But religion is powerful. Religion is predictable—and therefore inhaled by those who have grown comfortable with stale air. Religion is political, and therefore prepared to insult and attack in order to maintain its position.

So I quietly will go about my business loving those God sends my way as simply and as gently as I can. I will tell them who this King of Glory truly is:

He is a friend who wants to save them, help them find ways to be richer, and impart to them a great journey… into wisdom.

   

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Oops, there it is … March 2, 2012

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It seems to be back with a vengeance–and a considerable amount of attitude, obviously upset over being set aside in the great discussion of America over the past fifteen or twenty years. Dusted off, brushed up, polished a bit, with weathered pamphlets removed from storage, morality has once again resurfaced as a great club with which to use on our opponents and those who would dare to vary from our particular philosophy or theology.

 

I thought we had put “morality” to bed (pardon the pun)–not in the sense of dismissing the importance of possessing a code of behavior, but rather, insisting on transferring our own personal choices into the marketplace of conversation and presenting our conclusion as an edict from God which needs to be followed precisely in order to avoid fiery damnation. When those moral people of the 1980’s decided to proclaim themselves a “majority,” I was immediately shocked by the audacity of thinking that one human being could actually maintain a conversation on the issue of conduct without expecting other human beings to begin to pour over the aggressor’s activities with a fine-tooth comb.

 

I am a great believer in morality. I have morality as a fulcrum–lifting some of the heavier burdens of responsibility and ethics. But I would never presume to infuse my particular interpretation of morality–or especially, my application of this tenuous human feat–onto the conscience and lifestyle of others. People may ask, “What’s the harm?” Let me address that with an example.

 

During the season of the Moral Majority, we were suddenly confronted with a disease–AIDS. It was a terrifying prospect to have a rampant virus on the loose which was able to kill off those of all ages, but especially the tender blooms of our youth. Rather than tackling the issue of tracing the source of the virus and beginning  treatment and care for its victims, the debate initially turned towards finding someone to blame for bringing this “bubonic” condition upon our society. Yes, I think we wasted time trying to confirm our message of morality by calling this horrible disease “the gay plague” instead of mobilizing a national effort to overcome the infestation.

 

Can you imagine a leper coming to Jesus, and before the Master heals the unfortunate one, he first asks him if he contracted the disease by sexual contact or merely through a blood transfusion? Would it ever have occurred to Jesus to ask the prostitutes who came to hear his words and find newness of life to be tested to make sure they were appropriate for travel with the righteous horde? It’s ridiculous. Matter of fact, when his disciples suggested that a blind man might have found himself in that limited plight by being sinful, Jesus sternly corrected them and told them that his blindness, when resolved, existed only to bring glory to God.

 

Yes, we spent too much time discussing the origin of AIDS before mobilizing our scientific community to warfare. There was a gloat in the air from those in the majority who called themselves moral, over a seeming-heavenly-cleansing of the earth of the iniquity of homosexuality. It was a sham and a shame–and those who said they possessed a spiritual nature and wanted to see other human beings redeemed actually became the judge and jury to sentence hundreds and thousands to death. For the more you delay, the more you pay. So let’s try to learn from our historically dubious profile.

 

Let’s deal with three questions.

1. Is morality important?

Answer: Yes–so important that each individual needs to contemplate his or her choice and realize the implications.

2. Would our world be better if everybody shared the same morality?

Answer: Actually, our world would be better if everybody shared a common respect for one another, which is the true beginning of morality.

3. If we believe morality is important, isn’t it essential to preach–or even enforce–an excellent code of behavior on the world around us?

Answer: The Bible has only one criterion for spiritual choices–fruitfulness. Jesus words: “by their fruit you shall know them.” In other words, if trying to intimidate people to be as moral as we are is a fruitful endeavor, then let’s pursue it. But if  such action has proven to be fallacious and fruitless, then perhaps we should abandon it. What do you think? Has all of our preaching against sin eliminated the varmint? I think not.

 

Here are four words I would like to introduce, with a little simple formula, if you will, on how they link to really bring light to our world instead of shining it in the eyes of startled travelers.

• Spirited–a simple definition: everything spiritual needs to become visual. If you don’t plan to make a prototype of what you believe through your life, letting it speak for itself, you are not only an annoyance to the kingdom of God, but also an enemy of progress.
• Edifying—everything visual needs to stand the test of actually improving life.
• Healthy—improving life is requesting we confirm that our choices are truly lengthening and enriching our journey.
• Exhorting—And enriching our journey is allowing ourselves to demonstrate a joyous, spirited profile in our walk.

So be careful. There are things that sound like great ideas, but end up possessing personal benefit not transferable to others through mere sermonizing. We must not insert the morality of our forefathers into the situation of our everyday life without a spirited understanding that edifies human beings to healthy choices which end up exhorting them to a spirited life. Without this, we begin to have a form of godliness while really denying the power of it. And the power of godliness is in making people more accepting, loving and forgiving.

 

Yes, perhaps the old adage was wrong when applied to children, but it seems perfect for morality.

 

For truly, morality should be seen and not heard.

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Below is the first chapter of Jonathan Richard Cring’s stunning novel entitled Preparing a Place for Myself—the story of a journey after death. It is a delicious blend of theology and science fiction that will inspire and entertain. I thought you might enjoy reading it. After you do, if you would like to read the book in its entirety, please click on the link below and go to our tour store. The book is being offered at the special price of $4.99 plus $3.99 shipping–a total of $8.98. Enjoy.

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Sitting One

 I died today. 

I didn’t expect it to happen.  Then again, I did—well, not really.

No, I certainly didn’t expect it.

I’ve had moments of clarity in my life.  Amazingly enough, many of them were in the midst of a dream. For a brief second I would know the meaning of life or the missing treatment to cure cancer.  And then as quickly as it popped into my mind it was gone. I really don’t recollect dying.  Just this unbelievable sense of clear headedness—like walking into a room newly painted and knowing by the odor and brightness that the color on the wall is so splattering new that you should be careful not to touch it for fear of smearing the design. The greatest revelation of all? 

Twenty-five miles in the sky time ceases to exist.

The planet Pluto takes two hundred and forty-eight years to circle the sun. It doesn’t give a damn. 

The day of my death was the day I became free of the only burden I really ever had.  TIME.

Useless.

Time is fussy.  Time is worry. 

Time is fear.  Time is the culprit causing human-types to recoil from pending generosity. 

There just was never enough time. 

Time would not allow it.  Remember—“if time permits …”

Why if time permits?  Why not if I permit?  Why not if I dream?  Why not if I want?  Why does time get to dictate to me my passage? 

It was time that robbed me of my soulful nature.    It was time that convinced me that my selfishness was needed. 

I didn’t die. The clock in me died, leaving spirit to tick on.  

So why don’t we see the farce of time?  Why do we allow ourselves to fall under the power of the cruel despot?  Yes, time is a relentless master—very little wage for much demand.

I died today. 

Actually … a piece of time named after me was cast away.

Part III:He Is the Same … December 2, 2011

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Charlotte, North Carolina

Jesus despises religion.

Now, why would I come along and aggravate all of my religious friends with such a harsh statement? It is not my intention to try to cause an uprising amongst the church-going folk of our world, but rather, to do exactly what I feel my job as a writer requires–that being, to give you a consensus of the mind-set of Jesus. And if you even take twenty-five minutes to read the gospels, you discover that Jesus could not be in a room with religious people without ending up in an argument.

Why? Religion by-passes the human heart to reach the mind in an attempt to touch the soul. Jesus, on the other hand, wanted to reach the human heart to touch the soul, to then renew the mind. Completely different missions.

Religion does its very best to construct many simple rules that supposedly can be simply followed to produce simple results and often, quite frankly, simple people. Jesus envisioned a following that would be the light of the world and the salt of the earth, who would be known for their tenacity, candor and giving spirit.

Jesus despises religion. To make my point I will use his own words. He despises religion because:

1. It strains at the gnat and swallows the camel. His tongue-in-cheek description here of how an organization meticulously tries to follow the rigor of its own rules while ignoring the obvious need around the world was a great source of frustration to him. He did not understand the value of imposing regulations on individuals when the goal was to create a populous that could generate its own energy and life-force. He said there were “weightier matters” in life.

Religion does its best to stop human progress. Christianity did absolutely nothing to aid in the alleviation of slavery or the elimination of all forms of prejudice and bigotry in this country. It trailed behind in every attempt to give freedom to people to discover their destiny. Jesus despises it.

2. He said, “In vain do you worship me because you teach the commandments of man as if they are the words of God.” When you walk into the average religious ceremony, your first inclination is fear over doing something that is contrary to the practice of the gathered faithful. What hogwash. Man was not created for the Sabbath. God did not create us so that we could serve and praise Him. God created us in His image, to be His children, and as His children, to be happy, fruitful and productive. When you start teaching that your particular religious approach is holy because it has survived for a hundred and fifty years, you have lost sight of the value of true worship. He ends that statement, by the way, with, “They praise me with their lips but their hearts are far from me.” Once again, human emotions are left out of the experience.

3. He said “religion creates burdens grievous to be borne and does nothing to help people lift the weight.” Religion, which should make life easier, actually complicates it by making us nervous about what we do rather than confident in our choices. Religion creates a series of rocks and bricks to carry around which are supposed to build spiritual muscle in us but only serve to produce fatigue. Jesus was angry at religion for fostering a philosophy which had no earthly quality or human benefit but only served to discourage and tire out anyone who participated.

4. Jesus said that religion “devours widows’ houses.” What do you think about an organization that does not manufacture a product, fails to service its own units, has a horrible sales force and personnel are constantly disgruntled? You would call that business doomed, wouldn’t you? But that’s religion. It continues to pass the offering plate, demanding to be served, failing to offer the gospel message which creates servants, who in learning to be so, actually become masters. Many religious organizations even hold seminars on how to get people to leave money from their wills to the church. I have discovered in my travels that if you benefit someone and they are enriched by the experience of meeting you, you will not have to ask for a donation. They will decide on their own to impart a blessing your way. Religion is always begging for money and always attacking the bank accounts of those less fortunate. Jesus hated it.

5. And finally, Jesus despised that religion teaches the present traditions of men as being God’s word. This is why it is so dngerous when religion and politics mingle together–because whatever the social climate of the day may be, it suddenly becomes of some religious significance. So we have blights on the history of our faith when black men were called monkeys by preachers, Jews were called Christ killers and AIDS was called the”gay plague.” All of it was done in the name of religion, but was actually the traditions of men, loosely knit together with hapless scriptures which somewhat reinforced the theory.

So you might ask me, “What are we supposed to do in the absence of religion to provide spirituality?” All any pastor or church need do to transform themselves from a traditional religious organization into a Jesonian congregation is to establish one truth in the onset: “Our church is not a religious organization nor is it a set of beliefs. It is what Jesus said it was supposed to be. It is a lifestyle. If you attend here, be prepared to see your life change, transform , improve and prosper.” Once you establish that, you escape the rhetoric of religion and you gain a vision for a human, spirited life.

It’s not very complicated. But as long as you think that an organ, a pew, a hymn book or even holding a Bible has special significance, you will be at odds with the master of your faith–because Jesus despised religion. Whenever they tried to make him Jewish, he became universal. Whenever they tried to make him universal, he harkened back to his Jewish roots. He was determined to be the son of man, not the son of religion. And because he despised religion, it left him great energy and praise to give to his favorite subject.

We’ll talk about that tomorrow.

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Here comes Christmas! For your listening pleasure, below is Manger Medley, Jonathan’s arrangement of Away in the Manger, which closes with him singing his gorgeous song, Messiah.  Looking forward to the holidays with you!