A Call to Christian Anarchy

I'm ALIVE!!!

Not 100% for sure, but compared to Wednesday, I'm the epitome of health. Thanks for your prayers.

Well, obviously the last five days haven't been the most productive in my life. But when I wasn't a total zombie staring at the TV I managed to get a little work done for the new website. I transposed many of the Q & A e-mails I've saved over the last year onto the site, where we have Q & A and essay sections. (Don't worry, I took out all the names and any possible personal references and I edited most of them). The site will be up and running very soon.

I also managed to read a couple of good books on "Christian Anarchy."

For some background I first read Daniel Guerin's Anarchism (gives a history of secular anarchism). I then read Jacques Ellul's Anarchy and Christianity, followed by a re-reading of Vernard Eller's Christian Anarchy. All are highly recommended.

So, you're wondering, what is Anarchism?

Basically (this will be very general) it's a political philosophy that goes back to two radical thinkers in the 19th century: Pierre-Joseph Proudhon and his disciple Mikhail Bakunin. They held that there are no political solutions to human problems, because politics lies at the foundation of most human problems. All top-down forms of government -- which means, pretty much all governments -- are evil. If the collective whole of humanity would commit to not allowing anyone to rule anyone else, a new bottom-up kind of order would naturally arise as humans formed egalitarian, reciprocally beneficial associations with others.

Unfortunately, the elite and powerful benefit from the present hierarchical political and economic systems and the masses have been brainwashed to believe that they need to be ruled. The masses fear freedom, which is why they surrender autonomy over to alleged superiors. (In totalitarian regimes, people surrender autonomy by allowing the regime to go on. In democracies, they surrender it with a vote -- which Anarchists view as little more than a means by which a government gives citizens the illusion that they're empowered). As I understand it (mainly from Guerin), the Anarchist movement was born to help people escape their brainwashing, see the truth of what is going on and be empowered to live truly free lives.

Jacques Ellul was a brilliant French thinker who saw profound similarities between Anarchism and the view of government espoused by Jesus (and, he argues, the rest of the Bible as well). Of course, the secular anarchists were too optimistic in thinking humans could ever govern themselves. But they were right about the evils of government. Government is ruled by Satan and the rebellious principalities and powers (which, unfortunately, Ellul thinks are mythic symbols of human evil).

The Kingdom Jesus established is anarchistic in that it recognizes God alone as the arche (supreme power). It thus lives free from all other powers (an-arche [anarchy] means without authority). Governments are part of the fallen, oppressed world system that has been done away with in Christ.

In Ellul's estimation, it's not appropriate for Kingdom people to either support or revolt against governments. This gives them too much credit. Rather, following the example of Jesus, we should ignore them as much as possible, put up with them as much as we need to, and stay focused on living out the radical Kingdom. If we do this, then we, like Jesus, will find ourselves revolting against the government (and culture). We are, most fundamentally, called to be non-conformists. Our service to the world is the way our counter-cultural lives expose the invalidity of all forms of government by manifesting the reign of God.

Anyone who has read The Myth of a Christian Nation would immediately know what I think of this perspective.

It's brilliant!

Vernard Eller's Christian Anarchy espouses basically the same perspective and covers much the same ground and Ellul - but he's actually a better writer than Ellul (though this may partly be due to the fact that Ellul's work is translated from French) and is more thorough. He also has a playful style I enjoyed (especially when feeling close to death as I read it). Here's how he re-states Paul's call to submit to ruling authorities in Romans 13:1-7:

"Be clear, any of those human arkys [governmental authorities] are where they are only because God is allowing them to be there. They exist only at his sufferance. And if God is willing to put up with a stinker like the Roman Empire, you ought to be willing to put up with it, too. There is no indication God has called you to clear it out of the way or get it converted for him. You can't fight the Roman Empire without becoming like the Roman Empire; so you had better leave such matters in Gods' hands where they belong" (Christian Anarchy, p.11).

Anyway, I encourage you to join the Christian Anarchistic movement. Get along with the ruling powers as much as you can, but put no trust in them. Let's let our lives reflect the truth that governments are part of a fallen world order that has been rendered obsolete in Christ. May our lives reflect the truth that the hope of the world lies in the power of the cross, not the sword -- or the vote.

Viva la revolution!

Greg

Misery

Well, I'd hoped to post something insightful by today, but sorry folks, I'm brain dead.

Saturday night I got hit with something nasty. The last four days have been spent sneezing, coughing and groaning. My lungs burn. Every joint aches. My throat is raw. I haven't showered, shaved or slept much for four days.

I looked in the mirror last night and scared myself.

A few blogs ago Marcia celebrated the band I play in, "Not Dead Yet." I feel like I' m close to falsifying our bands name.

Have you ever been so sick you get irritated just waking up -- because now you realize you have to be conscious? I wish someone would invent a pill you could take to go into a temporary coma to ride out this sort of thing.

At the same time, I realize that, while I may feel like I'm close to death, I'm going to be just fine in a few days. And I realize there are millions of people around the globe who are, at this very moment, experiencing much more misery than I am and who have no hope of getting out of it.

When I use my little slice of misery to empathize with their huge dose of misery, it makes my misery much more bearable.

Another example of the Kingdom principle that it's in our self-interest to put others' interests above our own interests (Phil. 2:3-4).

So, I should quite whining and go back to my semi-comatose T.V. staring.

But I certainly wouldn't mind any "quick recovery" prayers you'd shoot up on my behalf.

Thanks

Greg the half dead

My hats off to the "God-loving" and "God-fearing" Marcia. Most excellent.

See, quality takes time.

And does anybody know anyone else who says "Bug!" when they're peeved? One of the things I love about Marcia is that she's just... shall we say... a little different. Sometimes I like irritating her just to listen to her unique way of expressing herself. It's so cute!

Well, for the next NDY gig we'll try to get a bigger venue so we can actually let people know about it (The Dugout could only hold 175 people).

Speaking of quality taking time, the new site is coming along... any day now... I personally can't wait, partly for selfish reasons. I get 40-60 e-mails a day. About a third of them are questions, and around 90% of these are questions I've answered, in one form or another, a dozen to a hundred times. I've been saving my responses and plan on transferring them to this new site. (This will take awhile, so don't expect them all up when we debut in a couple days). Then I can just respond to these questioners by saying, "check out the site."

Try to remember the most important aspect of your environment each moment is that God is present there. If you're not aware of God, right now, you're filtering out the most important thing.

"Practice the presence of God" (bro. Lawrence)

Peace
Greg

NOT DEAD YET!!!!!!!!

this is Marcia...
ok, first I just have to say, RUDE!
insensitive
impatient
BUG!

GB needs to chill.
he simply can't get over the messy room issue. DUDE!

but, since I'm a mature, gracious, God-loving & fearing woman, I will look past Greg's latest blog dedicated completely to disparaging my character...I won't go there. Before I get to the pictures...as a representative of Providence Ministries I'd like to say a huge thanks to NDY and everyone who came out to hear them...over $1000 was raised towards our work in Haiti! THANKS!!!

I give you NDY...already!!

pastor doctor reverend professor drummer Boyd

the other rock stars: Norm, Greg E., Dave, Alex and Steve

Greg's daughter Alisha and her husband Tim...their first baby is due in May and that didn't stop Alisha from dancing away

the groupies
long live NDY

About the NDY blog thing

Heh folks,

Yes, Marcia WILL BE giving a pictorial blog on the NDY debut later... like I PROMISED in my previous blog. A slight delay it seems. Marcia has read parts of my forthcoming book Cosmic Dancing, and so, apparently, has learned that time is relative -- to humans, but not to God. So, since Marica is human, and not God, very soon could mean... well....

dum dee dum dum....

any day now, for sure....

It'll be something alright.

Quality takes time you know.

For sure.

Soon as it pops up, it'll be really special. Yes sir.

Heh, just checked out my friend Terri's blog. She got the "A Roar for Powerful Word's" award for blogging! Way to go Terri! She's only been doing this for a couple weeks. Wow. But if anyone roars with words, its her. Check out her blog here.

What do ya think about Huckabee and Obama? Was I right about that, or what? Wow.

Marcia?

I didn't preach today cause I was sick. Fortunately they could show the video from the Saturday night service.

In case you wanted to know.

Friday night rocked. You'll see.... soon.

Some of you may recall that this is the same Marcia that embarrassed me a while back showing how messy my office is. I love her tons, but kind of owe her some grief, don't you think?

She's really got a gift for photography. Punctuality? -- not so much.

But you'll see, it'll be worth the wait...

Earth calling Marcia. Come in Marcia???

Peace on you all.

GB

The Iowa Caucus

A hum .... hello? Obama and Huckabee victors?

Now, I'm of course not one to say "I told you so," so I won't...

but just FYI, I did. (See previous blog)

Let's see if I'm right about the presidential run off.

Greg (the humble and wise)

ps. Had a GREAT time last night playing with NDY at the Dugout as a fund raiser for Providence Ministries. Marcia will post a pictorial blog of it later.

Very Random Reflections to Start The New Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR all you internet lovers of truth!!

Yes yes yes, a little belated. So what. Time is relative.

Well, this blog is called RANDOM reflections, and the blog today will show why. I'm going to push randomness to a whole new level. I'm just feeling in a random mood. (We should coin a new adjective: "I'm feeling randomy.")

1) I'll start by telling you about my New Year's celebration. As we always do, Shelley and I ushered in the New Year with our small group, our kids and a bunch of their friends. It was a packed house. We played lots of games (including our favorite, Mafia). We also played a new game where you have to shout out random word associations, and I was reduced to tears (of laughter) when Marcia Erickson (our small group paparazzi) tried to convince us that "Ostriches fold." You kinda had to be there.

2) Our daughter Denay and grandson Soel came and stayed with us for the week between Christmas and New Years. Heighlos, our son-in-law, joined us for a day as well. He manages (very successfully I might add) the Buckle clothing store in Fargo, so he had to get back for the day after Christmas opening.

Soel wakes up every morning and wants to watch videos of drummers on the internet. Then he wants to play drums. Then he wants to watch more drumming videos. Then he'll drum when he eats, takes a bath, watches TV, gets changed... basically always. He drums with drum sticks, spoons, pens, markers, straws, tooth brushes... anything. And the little dude is getting good! How many 19-month-old kids do you know that can do a "long roll" (where you bounce each stick twice eat time you hit)?

3) Well, ladies and gentlemen, the rock-n-roll band I play in -- NDY (Not Dead Yet) -- debuts tomorrow night (Friday, January 4th) at "The Dugout" in Mahtomedi, Minnesota. NDY is composed of the guys in my small group (Dave Churchill, Greg Erickson, Alex Ross and myself) and we'll be joined by the very talented Steve Lutz on keyboard and the musical genius worship pastor of Woodland Hills Church, Norm Blagman. We've been practicing a lot, and NDY is getting NTB (not too bad). If you're in the area, stop by (music starts at 9:00). We're going to have a blast! It's a fund raiser for Providence Ministries and the suggested donation ("cover charge") is $5. Marcia plans a pictorial blog of the event...so watch for that.

4) Speaking of Providence Ministries, we raised almost $20,000 in December for the Haitian Education Project that supports three different schools through Woodland Hills Church and other supporters! Praise God, and a hearty "thank you" to all who are sacrificing for this great ministry. There are of course always far more needs in Haiti than there are resources, so we can always use more support. Visit their blog for more information.


5) Speaking of Haiti, it's been a delight having the lovely Dr. Jen Halverson back with us the last two weeks. As many of you know, Jen is in the middle of a 9 month stint doing medical work in Haiti. She too can always use more support. You can find out about her ministry by visiting her blog.

6) Saw The Great Debaters last night with Shelley. Very uncreative title, but excellent movie. Yes, it's a bit formulaic, but it's a sweet, feel-good formula! This is the true story of an African American debate team from a tiny Texas town who in 1935 ended up beating the Harvard team which was, at the time, the reigning national champion. It's a nice "against all odds" sort of flick. But it's also a story also about racism, courage, hope, love and -- believe it or not -- non-violent civil disobedience. And it has a good dose of suspenseful drama. What more could you ask for from a movie!

7) Also saw Enchanted the other day. Very cute, funny and touching. A nice escape from reality movie. The lady who plays the cartoon-turned-real Princess (forget her name but she's from Minnesota) deserves an Oscar. Well, maybe not. But she is perfect for the role.

8) In a couple of days, Christus Victor Ministries will have a new web site! Yes, I know we just got a new one last year, but for a number of reasons it wasn't working for us. This new one rocks! Even before we launch the site, I want to say thank you to my good friend Julie Ross who has graciously poured her formidable website designing skills into making this a first rate site. Check out the above link in a couple days (if all goes smoothly).

9) Another person in my small group, Terri Churchill (married to Dave the lead singer of our famous rock band, NDY) started her own blog the other day. You can check it out here. This is good news to the world, because as everybody who knows Terri can testify, this woman is an insightful thinker and incredible writer. We've been encouraging her to publish some of her stuff for years. This is a nice move in this direction and I bet those who check out her blog will be blessed.

10) Finally, as you all know, today the rat race officially begins. By the time you read this the Iowa Caucus will probably be about over. Only 10 more months of insanity left!!

I think it's fun to try to guess who'll win. So, just for fun, here's my two cents.

I've been saying to Shelley for the last five months that Huckabee is going to win the Republican nomination. Five months ago hardly anybody knew who Huckabee was. He's the only candidate who conservative Christians could possibly rally behind, and he's the only one who knows how to push all the evangelical buttons. But he didn't appear "winnable" until recently. Now he does. I'm guessing that Evangelical leaders like Pat Robertson who threw their weight behind Rudy Giuliani (despite his rather liberal stances on certain issues and less than stellar personal life) and Mitt Romney (despite his Mormonism and notorious flip-flopping) are kicking themselves right now. I suspect he'll win Iowa, but however it goes in Iowa, I'm predicting you're going to see the conservative Christian crowd rally together (which concerns me, of course), and Huckabee will take the nomination.

But it's just a guess.

On the democratic side of things, it's obviously wide open. But if I had to, I'd put my money on Obama. I've thought from the get-go that Hilary just has too much baggage. Her last name is Clinton. Her political involvement in the past has been very polarizing -- at a time when people are exhausted from the intense polarization of the present administration. Consider also that almost half of all people polled say they would vote against Hilary regardless of who her opponent is. That's a very hard deficit to overcome. Not impossible, but formidable.

So, I'm guessing it will in the end be Huckabee against Obama. And, despite the conservative rally I don't think Huckabee stands much of a chance. Obama will be our next president.

Or not.

And none of this matters much -- which is the main point for Kingdom people to remember. Whatever happens in this rat race, please don't let yourself get sucked in. Have you're opinions, make your guesses, vote if you want to. But always remember that the power that will ultimately conquer evil and save the world is not the power that flows from Caesar's throne. It's rather the power that flows from Calvary.

This year, lets commit to exercising that power 24/7.

Peace
Greg