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    <title>the holy wild</title>
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    <description><![CDATA[is a place where you throw off the pretense of religion and meet God face to face on his terms. its stepping beyond everything that is safe and finding the freedom of living uncomfortably close to the untamed reality of Gods calling and desire. its investing yourself in the reckless pursuit of his image as you careen into the unknown adventure of faith. come - taste and see...]]></description>
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      <pubDate>Tue, 14 Aug 2007 18:03:10 -0700</pubDate>
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      <title>disengaged</title>
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      <pubDate>Tue, 14 Aug 2007 17:56:16 -0700</pubDate>
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      <title>broken people and their broken god</title>
      <link>http://virb.com/theholywild/posts/text/174890</link>
      <description><![CDATA[im a big fan of a band called our lady peace. if you havent heard of them you need to. right now. stop reading and go to http://www.myspace.com/ourladypeace or check em out on itunes or something. anyway - their lead singer is a guy by the name of raine maida. raine has a fascinating ep and a solo cd in the works so he got his very own myspace at http://www.myspace.com/rainemaida which is where i bumped into a blog he wrote concerning paris hilton. in his blog he wrote "she is a whore beyond whores."

now im no fan of paris hilton and i agree that she is in fact a whore - but so am i. so are we all. is that too harsh? some might think so. after all there are those who have ever only been with their spouse and none other. do they deserve to be called whores? absolutely. hear me out. 

anyone who has ever pursued a faithless unworthy or idolatrous desire is a whore. so says webster. yep. that means everyone gets the title bc everyone is just that incredibly broken.

im not sure where i first heard the phrase 'broken people' but im sure i surreptitiously stole it for my own use shortly thereafter and promptly forgot the originator. regardless - it is an invaluable phrase for understanding humanity. it sheds light on something we rarely admit to ourselves. 

we are broken.

everyone is. hopelessly so. and how do broken people act? this isnt rocket science. broken people do really stupid things and hurt each other. broken people should not be surprised when other broken people do stupid things or hurt them. and broken people who ignore their own brokenness while lamenting that of others are merely displaying how broken they really are. 

this is our identity. its who we are. shattered. smashed. wrecked. devastated. demolished. this is the human condition.

but what kind of god loves broken things? 

theres a strange irony evident in the character of god. first and foremost is the fact that he is holy. habakkuk 1:13 says he cannot have any impurity in his sight. yet what he loves is so impure. so unholy. what does that say about him? what are we to think of such a god?

moreover - what are we to think of  a god who is breakable? a god who can die? a god who is so infinite that he gives as his name the phrase 'i am who i am.' only to then get quite literally nailed down? 

heres what i find so compelling about following just such a god - and its the heart of what makes christ so believeable - he joined us in our humanity. the writer of the letter to the hebrews states that he was born into our identity as a shattered smashed wrecked devastated demolished utterly broken human and became like us in every way so that his first hand experience as one of us would translate into mercy in his sacrifice.

paul says in his letter to the philippian church that jesus gave up those things about being god that kept him separate from us and became a mortal being for the very purpose of being beaten and killed. and all this in order to be exalted and take us with him. he became like us so we could become like him. this show of solidarity from creator to creature is unprecedented and unique. it gives us some understanding of his character and helps us begin to answer the questions posed above. 

but the shock and scandal of a god who would be broken and die so that his creation would be made whole and live is lost on us. we turn instead to vast and superfluous lists and atonement theories - detailing the mechanical ritual rather than the dynamic relationship. we outline tulips and foment remonstrances and shelter neath the tricksy god of the switcheroo who outwits his enemy the devil instead of recognizing the awe and wonder of the sovereign lord who gave his life for the sake of the broken.

and we wonder why our faith leaves us so completely unaffected.

ive come to realize that in my brokenness im no different than anyone else. no better than saddam. no worse than billy graham. we are all on a level playing field on this one. amazing grace isnt for those who are really good. its for those who are really foul. lest it be something less than amazing. 

yet as i look around at the church i see a veritable cornucopia of people who seem agree with raine in thinking that they are only a little chipped at the edges - not really broken - and certainly nothing like the whore beyond whores. but the gospel says otherwise. it says your sin is so ugly and so corrupt and so disgusting and so immeasurable that it took the life of the son of god to make it right.

thats right humpty. your fall was no different than adams. or eves. or mine. it took a broken god to put us back together. and may god continue to have mercy on our brokenness lest we ever forget it.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 13 Aug 2007 17:46:38 -0700</pubDate>
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