Why Palestine?

Well, I leave for Palestine in less than 72 hours, and it has been a trying past week at that. Thanks be to God for the strength, all all the loved ones who has helped, discussed, and just cared for me as I have been going through the ringer (I could not have kept my sanity without you all).

I wanted to briefly document my thoughts on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and why I feel called to participate in this mission, as I have called "Know the Faces". (http://www.riskybusinessforchrist.weebly.com).

Well, for starters I have never been a dispensationalist, which means I refuse separate the people of God as Israel (God's Chosen) and the church, and this has allowed me to not have blinders concerning Israel( visit this site : http://www.theologicalstudies.org/dispen.html). When I first came to Christ and stood under the teaching of brother Paul Richard Jr. Curran, I learned much of who and what Israel was. I have studies theology and history concerning Israel and have grown to have many concerns about what is going on over in this place once called Canaan.

I remember reading about Rachel Corrie, and how she protested the inhumane treatment of Palestinians and this eventually led to her death (Google: Rachel Corrie). This inspired me because I believe that standing in the face of danger especially in regards to the welfare of people is what Christianity is all about, exactly what we see Jesus Christ doing throughout the gospels( Luke 4:18-21), and this is many senses has come to be labeled liberation theology. Isn't liberation exactly what the New Covenant is about?

Many people question the "no more tears, pain, death" scriptures(Isaiah 25 cf. Revelation 21:1-27) as to apply in some future time or now (the kingdom of God), but looking at this situation in Palestine, and oppressed people all over the world, we have perfect opportunity to live in love and make this "no more tears" concept a reality, RIGHT NOW!!!

I have always been overly- agitated by what we call missions in the Christian church, I have failed to see the element of self-sacrifice and danger that we see in the "Jesus Freaks" and missionaries we read about. And then I stumbled upon the Christian Peacemaker Teams, one of the few groups who seem to understand the concept of "die to self" (Matthew 16:24-25).

The time has come for me as a student of the Word of God, a man who is inspired by those who take initiative, and a conscientious thinker of this Israel thing, to finally "Know the Faces". Yes, I will quote Shane Claiborne (as I do many times) ,

"And I think that's what our world is desperately in need of - lovers, people who are building deep, genuine relationships with fellow strugglers along the way, and who actually know the faces of the people behind the issues they are concerned about." .

This is exactly my goal, to get past the dry knowledge concept and to truly live this out, and my goal is to come home and to tell you all about what I experienced as I sought to be a true Jesus Freak and live this great virtue of love (1 Corinthians 13:3), and in the effort to inspire you to do the same!

All for His Glory, -Jesus Christ
Mike Miano

"Ignorance, while dangerous, is a condition that can be altered - apathy very often is not. Ironically enough, ignorance is not necessarily dangerous until it is paired with apathy - if a person does not know something, it doesn't truly become dangerous until he lacks the desire to learn. While it is true that ignorance is a great way to spread misinformation, apathy is also a great way to make certain that nobody disputes it. There will always be ignorance that seeks to be enlightened - the same cannot be said of apathy. The ignorant can always be informed - it is only when they are too apathetic to care that they no longer ARE informed." - quoted from a anonymous writer

Here are some of my inspirations concerning the Israel/ Palestine Controversy (Disclaimer: I do not agree with everything these books, articles, and people say. Prove all things!).

SoS: Calling the Tribe of Dan by Paul Richard Jr. Curran (ask me about this, available upon request)

Synagoue of Satan by Andrew Carrington Hitchcock

God's Covenant People: Yesterday, Today, and Forever by Ted. Weiland

The Rachel Corrie Story - http://www.rachelcorrie.org/

The Irrisistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne

IfAmericansKnew.org

EndtheOccupation.org

cpt.org- Christian Peacemaker Teams Website

Reformed-Full Pret Theology - consider the Biblical evidence of how God works through covenants (I am always willing to sit down and have some studies based on this, contact me!)

What are you Screaming with your Life? - An Alternative Story

" He set another parable before them, saying, "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field; which indeed is smaller than all seeds. But when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in its branches." (Matthew 13:31-32)

Ok, well wanted to make a video because I believe I can explain the passion of the kingdom of God that is welled up inside me so much better on video or in person, but I’m going to try this method.
Lately I realized through reading and talking with others that the Biblical narrative as a story, causes some questions. For example, why did God choose to operate the way He did? Why Jesus? Why the "Kingdom of God, etc..I have come to realize there is great reward in understanding the "Kingdom of God", and I'm not talking about some "die and go to heaven stuff", I mean more for the here and now, you know "live your best life now" type of stuff.
So what is it?

Let's take it from the beginning. As you open the book of Genesis you meet Adam and Eve, these are the people who God is in covenant with (which means relationship). Most of us have heard the story of the apple of sin many times, so we know that Adam and Eve disobeyed God. Now God created us for a relationship with Him, so God obviously sees the need for some rules in His people. Now we pause..

Why did God want a people? God in His divine wisdom created the natural order of things, the why's and what's of the world, therefore the reality that all good things start as small movements actually isn’t man made sociology (read Margaret Mead) but rather wisdom of God
.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has”-Margaret Mead

So, God takes this small people come to be known as Israelites (the people of God) and institutes a Law ( a fence you could say) to keep them separate from the world. These are the people God cultivates and blesses through time. Many "prophets" pop up here and there and are a bit radical, some see visions concerning the future that will grow beyond the fence and dream of this (the hope of Israel).

As with any spoiled child, these people of God began to feel self-righteous about there doings, and began to condemn all things that were not as they saw fit, and as time progressed they became divisive and hard hearted to the things of God, it was no longer about God’s glory, it became about the preservation of their way of doing things (Biblical language- Pharisee).
Then the Messiah was born. We read about this miraculous virgin birth in the beginning of the biographical books of the Bible (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John- called they Gospels, which we will get into in a moment).

Jesus Christ, known as the son of Joseph, was born the son of God, to fulfill the hope of Israel- the kingdom of God. This kingdom would be the fulfillment of all that the prophets had spoken about and would be the hope of Israel, this is the good news.
Jesus Christ steps on the scene and immediately declares “The kingdom of God is at hand”. Basically the time is now, and he begins to explain.

Now, remember the verse in the beginning of this blog? Re-read it. You see how God works? He started small, instituted a way for this plant to grow separate from weeds and other plants- now he is going to open the gate and let the plant grow in the garden and take over!
Think. Reaping the garden will occur (judgment), cleansing, and then freedom!
As a Christian, you, me and others are this over grown radical garden. The good news Jesus Christ was declaring is that “another world is possible”! He said that to those Jews in His time to let them know the way God has been operating with you guys in the fence is over and a new way is going, and that same concept must be reverberated throughout our time today!

Out of the 12 men that followed Jesus Christ, 11 of them understood what He was saying and drew inspiration from their heroes (the Old Testament Prophets) and as Scripture says “turned the world upside-down”. That is how this kingdom stuff works- we must begin to renew, re-invent, re-imagine another world!

So my question to you? What exactly are you screaming with your life? How are you growing outside the fence?




Good Inspiration concerning this kingdom:
“We are convinced that Jesus came not to prepare us to die but to teach us how to live. The kingdom of God is not just something we hope for when we die but something we “live on earth as it is in heaven.
...but throughout ages, beautiful saints have lived faithfully, giving us hope that a set part people can fascinate and bless the world.
...a movement of people who stepped out of the empire that was oppressing them and began creating a new way of life.
..Christians should be troublemakers, creators of uncertainty, agents of a dimension incompatible with society”.
-Quotes from books written by Shane Claiborne

Till’ I’m Blue-in-the-Face: Why life must be in and through Jesus Christ

John 14:6, Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except through me”.

Lately, I have been reading a great book called The Urantia Book, which is deeply metaphysical and a bit universalistic. I have many met people during my Christian walk who are universal and subscribe to the thought that "all ways lead to God”, or as the famous phrase goes- “There is one God but many ways”. Now, as I have been reading through this book, and standing firmly upon my foundation of Jesus Christ, I have challenged myself as to WHY MUST IT BE JESUS? Why do I feel the urge to defend the inerrancy of the Word of God and salvation of men through Jesus Christ?
Well, let me start off by admitting I believe in absolute truth. The philosophers struggled with this concept of truth and it tends to get a bit sticky at times, but if there is truth there has to be absolute truth. Jesus Christ said, “I am the truth..”.

I love stories of people who have been completely against Christianity and sought to prove its error, but in the end face Jesus Christ, the Truth, head on and become Christians. (Admittedly, because that is my story). It requires alot of humility to face the fact that your presuppositions are wrong, and the lack of humility has worked to the disadvantage of many.
As I tell many people, I am a firm believer that if you set out on a truth quest (similar to Ghandi), and are honest in the face of controversy and facts, you will eventually be led to Jesus Christ.
A great book to read would be Lee Strobel’s, A Case for Christ. With that said, the documentation of the Bible and the historicity of the Christian movement clears many doubts. There are many external resources to document the life of Jesus Christ and his movement, so as to make the reality of His life and movement a fact. The issue does not reside in whether or not Jesus lived on earth and started a movement now called Christianity- that's all reliable and unarguable history.
Here are some research sites:
http://dmc.members.sonic.net/sentinel/naij3.html
http://www.leaderu.com/truth/1truth22.html

The issue resides in whether or not he was the Christ that the Israelite’s were waiting for and what exactly did He do?
Alot of misunderstandings of who and what Jesus Christ was and accomplished are to blame for the lack of many fully understanding this “Christianity thing”.
We must seek to understand God, after all isn’t that what this journey is all about. The expression of the Church that I congregate with -Messiah Reformed Church- holds to mission statement of “Pursuing and Sharing our Joy in the Knowledge of Him”. That is our goal to grow and develop in our knowledge of Him, which through proper understanding will produce joy.

As we study through the Old Testament, we learn of God creating a covenant with a group of people- First God saves Noah, leads Abraham to another land, Jacob (Israel) becomes the covenant people, and then Moses is called to be a leader of the people and to institute a way of life for the people of God. This is all leads up to what is called the Old Covenant.
These covenant people- which basically means those who are in agreement with God, are those who will receive God’s guidance and blessings. I recently asked my pastor- “Why did God choose to create a covenant with the Israelites”, we don’t know specifically, but what we can extract out of the Word of God is that it was for His glory!

God’s chosen people, were to be a separate people for the glory of God, and this came with responsibility which lead to the Law of Moses (much of what we understand as the 10 Commandments). This was a hard responsibility for the Israelites that’s why we have books such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel and all the others- who were prophets pretty much yelling at the people of God and the surrounding nations, and who spoke God’s divine judgments and in many senses God’s displeasure with how His people were acting.

So, this is where the plot thickens and Jesus Christ comes into play. From the outset we must fully understand that we cannot think like God, so there will be unanswered questions (Isaiah 55:8), but we can and must dig as deep as we can to understand what we can. The fancy words use to describe God are, He is Omnipresent, Omnipotent, and Omniscient, which basically mean that He alone is God and that He is beyond time, everywhere, and always able to do as He pleases. Jesus Christ was the plan from the beginning (best to always remember that this whole thing is for His glory!), and this was all to demonstrate His love and desire to have a people of His own, who love Him with all their hearts, minds, souls, and strengths.

Jesus Christ, was the fulfillment of what all the prophets were speaking about. The Messiah who would make all things new! If you ever take the time to read through the biblical prophets you will see a common theme- they all look to a time of judgment and restoration of Israel, and this was expected to come through the Messiah.
Read Isaiah 9:1-7;11:1-12:6; 40:1-5; 42:1-9; 49:8-26; 55:1-13;61:1-11; 65:1-28 (How can you not get excited when considering all of God’s “I wills...”
Jeremiah 23:1-7; 30:1-31:38 (The famous New Covenant prophesy)
OK, that's just to name a few..but really sit down and read through those verses..The time of the Messiah would be great and would open new doors for new stuff..Man, this New Covenant would be radical and exciting.

OK, so for those skeptical of Jesus Christ... I refuse to spend much time on this topic because proving the existence of the man Jesus who lived in the Middle East is similar to proving your existence, its that elementary. I venture to say that ignorance is the only reason people can still say “I don’t believe Jesus of Nazareth existed”. But...let’s say you do:
Was He a liar? Maybe just made it all up?!?!?! (that makes it more confusing).
Was He a madman? He obviously believed what He said because it’s simply, what He said and did that got him killed (which is also documented history).
Was He exactly what He said He was?
THESE ARE THE OPTIONS....


"A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg - or he would be the devil of hell. You must take your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us." -C.S. Lewis



The reality of this new covenant- OK, so here we are. The New Covenant is a reality and it must be through Jesus Christ, simply because Jesus was the awaited Messiah of the Israelite people, who were God’s chosen, and their judgment and redemption made the redemption of all the other nations possible (read- Romans 9:4-5, 15:8; Isaiah 49:6; Matthew 10:5-6; John 4:22, or better yet read the whole Biblical account from Genesis to Revelation).

We have been welcomed into this agreement with God to be a people marked by love and truth. Live is a matter of restoration, it’s not through self-righteousness which the Israelite people had to do through the Law, but rather through Jesus Christ(2 John 6; Matthew 22:37-40; Romans 13:8-10; Galatians 6:2, and as always there is plenty more if you dig). A life of freedom and love, a revolution that the 11 men who followed Jesus started, and we must zealously live out today!

Simply said, this whole Christianity thing is not what it seems. Jesus Christ did not start a religion, instead He set religion on fire and started a movement through that fire( the New Covenant). The new way of doing things....
So, are you still skeptical? Are you telling me that this whole thing is a mass conspiracy of love???? What?!?

Ha, Ha..hope I ended that with a little laugh..guess what? We are free to laugh! I hope I challenged some thoughts concerning life and Life (Jesus Christ), as always would love to talk these topics out with you...It’s that important!

Love, peace, and joy,
Mike Miano

P.S.- Lately, I have been participating in a discipleship class called Alpha, which explains and fosters discussion concerning “Why Jesus”. You can watch the video’s at

http://www.alphausa.org/Groups/1000057989/VIDEOS.aspx

Puritanical Ostracism

Last night, Gabriella and I went to see the movie, Easy A. The movie was a high school flic based on The Scarlett Letter, I guess one could venture to say a modern day tale. The term "Jesus Freak" was used much too imply the religious crowd at school who pretty much made all the gossip spread and judged everyone on campus (sounds a lot like today's churchianity, doesn't it?).
"Puritanical Ostracism" was a term used the movie by a girl who was labeled a "skank" and embraced it by putting the red letter A on her clothing as taken from the movie The Scarlett Letter.
A bit of history of the Puritans. (Yes, Gabriella had to deal with this right after the movie, laughs). The Puritans are pretty much what we owe our tribute to here in America, since America was suppose to be the land where the kingdom of God would spawn. These people from England wanted to create a pure, set apart nation for God, and would deem themselves "the godly". If one reads about Puritan Theology, you will most likely read about how to abstain from sin, become pure in mind, and living a very devout life.
Now, first I would like to say that I am fond of many Puritan writings and contributions to Christianity, but I do recognize some flaws that have become very prevalent in American Christianity. I would definitely attribute much of the religiosity of our Christianity to the Puritans.
For example, this desire to be holy and righteous, rather than seeking His righteousness and allowing God to do work through you, is very evident. The end result is more Pharisaic than it is Christ-like. Remember when Jesus approached the woman caught in adultery? (John chapter 7). "You without sin throw the first stone". Where is that attitude today?
Also, the constant discussion of demons, devils, and sin is another given to Puritan Theology. I had this discussion with a man the other night who seemed to deem everything in the world demonic. Why don't we just listen to Jesus Christ and "seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness.."? How so? Read Romans chapter 14, emphasis on verse 11, "The kingdom of God is righteousness, joy and peace in the Holy Spirit".
The movie Easy A, gave me a harsh glimpse into what "non-Christians" are seeing within us as the Church. Our shift has become highly Pharisaic and we are quickly becoming the people Jesus Christ yelled at the most.
As I seek to draw closer to Christ, to learn more about Him, His good news, and His kingdom, I am realizing that it is a messy, upside-down journey...we need to focus on creating righteousness, joy and peace by living missionally and being the change we want to see in the world.
I have committed myself to no longer dwell on what "they" (the world, other Christians, etc) don't have, but rather begin to truly live in what we do have- righteousness, peace, and joy through the Holy Spirit.

by His wonderful Grace,
Mike Miano

"According to His critics, Jesus "did God" all wrong. He went to the wrong places, said the wrong things, and worst of all let just anyone into the kingdom. Jesus scandalized an intimidating, elitist, country club religion by opening membership in the spiritual life to those who had been denied it. What made people furious was Jesus' "irresponsible" habit of throwing open the doors of His love to whosoever, the just-any-ones, and the not-a-chancers like you and me"- quoted from the book Messy Spirituality: God's Annoying Love for Imperfect People.

I Am Free to Love!

Well friends, today or rather yesterday I completed my 30 days of reading through the Bible (this was suppose to be in a Ramadan fashion, but safe to admit I didn't fast properly and didn't get to attend any iftar's with Muslims, bot exactly happy about that, but life goes on).
Anyways, reading through the Word of God is always a journey and new truths speak out every time, this time even more than any other time. Honestly, these lats couple weeks I feel like I have been getting a handle on this whole "Good News" thing. Truthfully, when I ask many (not all) other Christians what the "good news" is that we call "gospel", I don't understand what they see as good news, and I don't think they see it either.
So, really what is the "good news" that Christ came to tell us?
Well let's look back. We know that God instituted the Old Covenant with the Israelite people in order to draw a people unto Himself, who would give Him glory and could have a sample of His presence by following the Law. Only through sacrifice and obedience could God be sought out. Just think of life like that, "touch not, taste not", as we read about the Ark of the Covenant and all these religious themes we can sense the fear the people had of being "cursed by God". The really radical thing that we continually see is that God has always wanted the deeper things such as the heart and love of man rather than simple outward religious faith.
I Samuel 15:22- "Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice and to heed is better than the fat of the rams".
I would rather advise you to read the entire chapter of Psalms 51, but I will quote a part of it to illustrate my point. "O Lord open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it, you do not pleasure in burnt offerings, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart (Psalms 51:15-17a)". For more verses read Hosea and Micah.
Do you see it? God does not want the outward stuff, but rather what comes from inside our hearts, and we see Jesus compellingly criticizing the Pharisees of His day concerning these matters. But the Law of the Old Covenant made the outward things necessary!

So then comes this Messiah, the anointed one, who will essentially make "all things new", thus the term "New Covenant". The kingdom (presence) of God and righteousness will no longer need to be a thing sought by men by standards and Law, but rather will "dwell among them". This was a big deal to the 1st Century peoples, especially the religious people. The law of God, or rather the Law of Christ would be written on the hearts of men (Jeremiah 31:33-34, Hebrews 8:6-13 and 10:14-18). What is this law? The law of Christ (1 Corinthians 9:21, Galatians 6:2, amongst other verses that illustrate this point).
So as the title of this blog says, "I am free to love!". Come on sing it, you know the song! What exactly does that mean? I am free from having to tell people they are sinners and must live right because by love I can show them the love of Christ and be a light in the midst of darkness. I am free from having to live a partially sanitized life, but rather can serve God through a life of love and service. I am free to live, to truly be in the world not of it, and I mean really live without stressing "is this a sin", "should i be around these people", "should I be in church right now", etc. That my friends, in the glory of the New Covenant that stressed out the religious people in Jesus' day and continues to do so in religious circles today.
Consider the Galatians factor. The church in Galatia had this exact problem, when the religious Jews began to mix with the Gentiles.This religious spirit is clearly called what it is, hypocrisy, because it is against the freedom to love of the Law of Christ. Read Galatians chapter 2:11-21.
"The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love (Galatians 5:6)".

Consider the fact that under the Old Covenant Law, even the supposedly righteous religious leaders committed sins against the rules, but yet their outward appearance of being holy, gave them a false sense of righteousness ("I'm better than you"), but it was exactly that FALSE! Christ brought the reality of the Law which was recognizing that even though we are sinners, through love (Christ's law) we can seek His kingdom and His righteousness.

Truly understanding this new, alternative, radical, revolutionary change that Jesus Christ brought into affect is what makes a believer "freak out". Jesus Christ presented the Jews of His time and us today with a new opportunity to experience God. Consider the recent religious cliche' of "It's not about religion, but relationship". Very true!

"But thanks be to Gold, who always leads us through triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing (2 Corinthians 2:14-15)".

I urge you my fellow believers, seek to truly live and read the Word of God through New Covenant Eyes (for more info, check out newcovenanteyes.com)

All for the sake of righteousness, peace, and joy,
Mike Miano

The Latest- Freaked Out News

Hey everyone. Well, it has been a couple weeks so I felt it necessary to post some thoughts. Also, considering that Freaked-Out Fellowship is in "labor pains" right about (getting ready to re-launch the ministry), I also felt compelled to give some insight into how that is going.

Well for starters something I have really wanted to vent about was the affect the Blue Man Group had on me. Gabriella and I had a weekend together (last weekend) and we went to he Holy Land Experience and The Blue Man Group @ Universal Studios. Now I personally was not a fan of the Holy Land Experience because it was very commercial. I am a fan of the concept that Jesus would hate commercial Christianity! Anyways, The Blue Man Group has the exact opposite effect.Basically the way that Blue Man Group touched all your senses with their message (which is no message at all but just relax and have a good time and be entertained), is the exact way that the people of God need to touch the world with the message of the Gospel.

I was both encouraged and discouraged the whole time. Encouraged because I have finally seen exactly what is going on in my head concerning "Freaked-Out" methods of reaching people, and discouraged because I can't believe that the Church hasnt put that much energy, creativity, and passion into the message. We must draw our inspiration from the 11 men who followed Christ, and thus draw our passion and imagination from the prophets of Israel. (Remember our 1st series for Freaked-Out Fellowship will be Prophets at the Beach, hopefully launching in September).
Lately, all my thoughts have been to the concept of Freaked-Out Fellowship (I would imagine it being because I am a freaked-out follower of Jesus and want others to journey this exciting road with me). Gabriella even confirmed this last night when she said "You get inspired by everything for ministry", awesome, isnt that they way it is suppose to be?

Ok, so where do we stand. Freaked-Out Fellowship is still is recruitment stage, looking for a minimum of 2 more local Jesus Freaks, Are you one? I am currently working on a membership concept which will explain what it means and the commitment I am looking for (or better said the commitment He is looking for). In a couple days I will be posting my letter to the Church which will explain some of the insight of a Jesus Freak.

Also, feel obligated to visit the webpage- http://www.freakedoutfellowship.weebly.com
Well, just wanted to share some thoughts and will be posting alot more in the coming days!

Love and Truth- The marks of Life,
Mike Miano

Ramadan- A Christian Renewal Exercise

Hey, sorry for the inconvienence but since my blog is acting up and not allowing me to post as usual, please visit the following link...
http://apps.facebook.com/theblog/view/38901?ref=mf