Follow Jesus.

Bums me out when Christians treat Muslims like enemies.

Anne Rice, etc…

So circling back to the Anne Rice announcement of last week. Found another article and this time it’s interesting to hear how CHRISTIANS are wrestling with her thoughts. We really need to pay attention 1. to What our CULTURE is sayinghttp://bit.ly/b9ZUN4 [read comments]. and 2. to how WE are processing thoughts that are now bigger than Anne Rice [read comments]: http://bit.ly/b7pFvX .

 I think what’s alarming to me is how quickly we tend to grow defensive about some kind of religious turf. What I think Anne Rice is doing is blowing a whistle, one that our culture obviously wants to hear. She is saying she’s not going to follow something she feels won’t lead to Jesus. Maybe her definition of Jesus might make some nervous. Still. she has concluded, along with many others, that her experience of todays religious form of “Christianity” wasn’t leading her to HIM. In my opinion, THAT is what should make Christians think. I think the whole thing is really interesting.

Do this.

I have been in a place lately, between listening to the uproar around the Muslim Cultural Center being built @ Ground Zero in NYC, to this “pastor” calling for a “National Burn the Qua-ran Day”, that I just want to speak out and call us to DO SOMETHING NOW in the way of Love.

Here’s the deal. Imagine being a Muslim in the USA right now. You pay your taxes, you are a good citizen, you lead a quiet life. Suddenly every news channel explodes with stories of some extreme American “Patriots” [I used that word sarcastically, BTW] coming against you and all that you believe to be true. It would require a lot of emotional and intellectual energy to CONTINUE to believe that not all white Americans feel the same way about you.

Here’s what I think we should ALL do ASAP. Go to a Muslim friend and reassure them that you are generous in the way of love by an ACTION. It should not be that hard, and it doesn’t have to be super obvious. Look them in the eye, ask them how they are doing today, ask how their family is doing, ask them if there is any way that you can be asking Jesus to bless their life.

If you are in KC, gather your friends TONIGHT at one of the many mediterranean restaurants we are blessed with here, and be a blessing by tipping well, and ask the waiter questions about his/her life, etc. It’s not OK to not differentiate ourselves from all that is happening right now. Because these nagging voices on the news are not us. Do something small. Do something large. Do SOMETHING.