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As a Christian, 1 am simply trying to orient myself around living a particular kind of way, the kind of way that Jesus taught is possible. And 1 think that the way of Jesus is the best possible way to live.

This isn't irrational or primitive or blind faith. It is merely being honest that we all are living a "way".

I'm convinced being generous is a better way to live.

I'm convinced forgiving people and not carrying around bitterness is a better way to live.

I'm convinced having compassion is a better way to live.

I'm convinced pursuing peace in every situation is a better way to live.

I'm convinced listening to the wisdom of others is a better way to live.

I'm convinced being honest with people is a better way to live. Pp 20

What if tomorrow someone digs up definitive proof that Jesus had a real, cartel biological father named Larry, and archaeotogists find Larry's tomb and do D' samp~es and prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the virgin birth was reattv just a bit of mythotogizing the Gospel writers threw in to appeal to the follow. of the Mithra and Dionysian reLigious cults that were hugely popular at the time of Jesus, whose gods had virgin births? But what if as you study the origin of the word virgin, you discover that the word virgin in the gospel of Matthew actualtY comes from the book of Isaiah and then you find out that in the Hebrew language at that time, the word virgin could mean several things. And what if you discover that in the first century being "born of a virgin" also referred to a child whose mother became pregnant the first time she had intercourse?

Is the way of Jesus still the best possible way to live? Pp26

here's an example: The word hell is found fourteen times in the Bible, twelve hose occurrences being found in the teachings of Jesus. The word hell in English is the word gehenna in Greek. Gehenna is a reference to the Valley of Hinnom, a ravine on the south side of the city of 3erusalem. This valley was the over the years of many violent and horrible deaths, and it came to be viewed as cursed. By Jesus day it had become the town dump. Garbage, trash, wild animals fighting over scraps of food, a fire burning - a place of waste and destruction . Some referred to it as the place with the gnashing of teeth where fire never dies. So when Jesus uses gehenno, it is loaded with meaning and power - everybody knew what he was talking about. The translator is ---d with a decision about how to translate the word. If he or she uses the -- hell, later readers might miss the fact that Jesus is talking about a present reality If the word gehenna is used, readers might understand the present, geographical meaning of the word but miss the bigger implications. Every translation every version, every paraphrase of the Bible requires thousands of decisions about how to interpret what these words are saying to us today. 57

To say that salvation is holistic is to acknowledge that there are many dimensions to Living in harmony with God. In one sense, salvation is a legal transactions on. Humans are guilty because of our sin, and God is the judge who has to deal with our sin because he is holy and any act of sin goes against his core -ature. He has to deal with it. Enter Jesus, who dies on the cross in our place. Jesus gets what we deserve; we get what Jesus deserved.

!or Jesus, however, salvation is far more. It includes this understanding, but it is far more comprehensive - it is a way of life. To be saved or redeemed or set free is to enter into a totally new way of living in harmony with God. The rabbis -alled harmony with God olam hobo, which translates "life in the world to come". Salvation is living more and more in harmony with God, a process that will go on forever. Pp 107

If teh gospel isn't good news for everyone it isn't good news for anybody.

And this is because the most powerful things happen when the church surrenders its desire to convert people and convince them to join. It is when the church gives itself away in radical acts of service and compassion, expecting nothing in return, that the way of Jesus is most vividly put on display. To do this, the church must stop thinking about everybody primarily in categories of in or out, saved or not, believer or nonbeliever. Besides the fact that these terms are offensive to those who are the "un" and "non", they work against Jesus' teachings about how we are to treat each other. Jesus commanded us to love our neighbor, and our neighbor can be anybody.115 We are all created in the image of God, and we are all sacred, valuable creations of God." Everybody matters. To treat people differently based on who believes what is to fail to respect the image of God in everyone. As the book of James says, "God shows no favoritism." So we don't either.

Oftentimes the Christian community has sent the message that we love people and build relationships in order to convert them to the Christian faith. So there is an agenda. And when there is an agenda, it isn't realty love, is it? It's something else. We have to rediscover love, period. Love that loves because it is what Jesus teaches us to do. We have to surrender our agendas. Because some people aren't going to become Christians like us no matter how hard we push. They just aren't. And at some point we have to commit them to God, trusting that God loves them more than we ever could. I obviously love to talk to people about Jesus and my faith. I'll take every opportunity 1 can get. But 1 have learned that when 1 toss out my agenda and simply love as Jesus teaches me to, 1 often end up learning more about God than 1 could have imagined.

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