I thought about these statements from the book “The Signature of Jesus” (pages 9-11 paperback) by Brennan Manning after reading the comments from the Hybrid post (and also some new blogs I discovered via those comments):
The prophetic word unfailingly summons the church back to the purity of the Gospel and to the scandal of the Cross. In His numerous letters Paul confirms that to follow Jesus is to take the high road to Calvary. Littered along the Calvary road will lie the skeletons of our egos, the corpses of our fantasies of control, and the shards of self-righetousness, self-indulgent spirituality, and unfreedom…
I want neither a blood-’n'-guts religion that would make Clint Eastwood, not Jesus, our hero; nor a speculative religion that would imprison the gospel in the halls of academia; nor a noisy, feel-good religion that is a naked appeal to emotion. I long for a passion, intelligence, and compassion in a church without ostentation, gently beckoning to the world to come and enjoy the peace and unity we possess because of the Spirit in our midst…
… The superficial among us build bigger barns in the euphoria of a prosperity gospel; the trendy follow the latest fad and try to hum their way to heaven; the defeated are haunted by ghosts from the past.
But the victorious minority, unintimidated by the cultural patterns of the lockstepping majority, live and celebrate as though Jesus were near - near in time, near in place- the witness of our motives, our speech, and our behavior. As indeed he is.
WOW!!! Let the victory of Jesus show forth. Happy Easter.
Simply awesome!