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03.20.13

Conversation with the Palestinian MLK Jr

Filed under: God's movement,Palestine / Israel — 3:51 pm
Sami Awad

Sami Awad

This Friday, Carl Medearis is hosting a video conference call with Sami Awad – one of the true Palestinian leaders of peace and reconciliation.
And you are invited to join in.

I’ve had the opportunity to get to know Sami over the last couple years, both in Palestine and here in America, and I can honestly say that there is NO ONE I respect more in terms of actual peacemaking. No one.  People refer to him as the “Palestinian MLK” or the “Palestinian Gandhi”…and I think they’re absolutely right.

Here’s what Carl has to say about Sami and this Friday’s conversation:

Dear Friend,

I first met Sami Awad several years ago while taking some friends to Israel and Palestine.  We were visiting with the President of Bethlehem Bible College.  And it just so happens that the founder and President of BBC is Bishara Awad – Sami’s father.

A short backstory for context.  At this point we had already left Lebanon and were living back here in Colorado.  We had worked with Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon for years.  I saw their misery.  Felt their pain.  Also experienced their anger – often unbridled and unreasonable anger.

I would say to them “You know how much we love you and are with you, but for every stone you throw and every outburst you show, you set your cause back for living a normal life by ten years.  What you need is a Palestinian Gandhi type figure.  Someone who will love their enemy through non-violent actions.  Where is that man?”

So when I met Sami on that day in 2006 in Bethlehem, I cried. Like a baby.  Wept.  Broke down.  Here was the man I had dreamed of and prayed for.  Here was a Palestinian – living in the West Bank – who said things like “More than a two-state solution, what Palestinians need is equality.  Freedom.  And that comes from within them, not from the outside.”

He said, “If my enemies are Israelis, and Jesus said, ‘Love your enemies’ than I have to ask myself how I’m doing with that.”

But the clincher in this new friendship was when I heard he had traveled to the Nazi death camps for ten days – “To feel the pain of the Israelis.”  He understood that if he was going to love his enemies, truly love them – or as he says “Become one with them as you would love your spouse”, then he had to understand them.  Including the pain of their history.  He spent the night in a gas chamber.  He wept where they had wept.  And it changed him forever.

Today he will be meeting with President Obama – hopefully personally.  Sami knows that the Israelis are hurt.  That they react to the Palestinians out of the pain of their history.  “Never again” is the cry of the broken Jewish hearts.  And “who better to heal their wounds then their neighbors – us” says Sami.  Amazing.

This is who we will be talking with on Video this Friday at noon Mountain Time.  You will be changed by that conversation if you join in with us.

There is a small fee to make this possible.  And the only reason we are charging you for these conversations, is that it’s costing us a lot of money to host them and we’re trying to come close to break-even.  This is the first of our monthly calls with people of this caliber, and these live calls are available exclusively to our premium subscribers at Middle East Experience.

So, here’s what you need to do.

1. Sign up for the Premium Subscription at www.MiddleEastExperience.com.

2. You will then receive instructions via e-mail before Friday on how to join the live call. Follow the instructions.

Thanks,

Carl & Chris

01.23.13

Would you help us build a bridge in Bethlehem?

Filed under: Palestine / Israel — 2:35 pm
Bethlehem

Bethlehem

This June, the Holy Land Trust is launching the first ever Bet Lahem Live festival in Bethlehem, Palestine.  Built on the mission and values of the Greenbelt Festival, they are offering great art and learning focused on nonviolence, faith, and grassroots activism.  I am absolutely humbled and thrilled to get to pull together the “house band” for this event, and do whatever we can to learn, share, and build bridges in every direction.  We’ll also play a bit of the “Blessed to Be a Blessing” New Liturgy, which could take on entirely new meaning in this context. I can’t wait!  Learn more at…

Bet Lahem Live Festival

But we need your help.  None of the artists are getting paid to play, but Holy Land Trust is raising money to cover all of their travel expenses.  Would you (or your church, or your business) consider supporting this peace-making, bridge-building cause?  They are looking for five sponsors of $5000, but would be thrilled with whatever you could contribute.  You can give online HERE.  Please let me know if you have any other questions…I’d love to talk further about it with you.

This is a very tumultuous time in the Middle East, and many of us are feeling compelled to offer our small voices into the bigger Movement of Peace.  Please join us!

sincerely,
Aaron

11.20.12

In light of current events in Gaza

Filed under: God's movement,Palestine / Israel — 7:32 pm

Please allow me to spend a moment in someone else’s shoes.

If our mayor one day announced that half of my house now belonged to my neighbor, and forced my family to live in the other half while the new family spread out in what used to be my bathroom, bedroom, and study…I would be very angry. And if this new family invited their relatives to move in also, taking more and more rooms, forcing me into the basement, my anger would only increase. And if I took this injustice to the US Supreme Court, only to have them rule in favor of my neighbor and move my family into our garage while my neighbor’s family took over my entire house and changed the locks, I would despair. And unfortunately, if I’m completely honest, this despair might even turn to violence.

The violence would NOT be justified, of course. It never ever is. But I must admit that if I were pushed into a corner long enough, I just might throw a punch. Or fire a rocket.

But let me also step into my neighbor’s shoes.

After being viciously mistreated in our last neighborhood, if the mayor gave my family legal right to half of a house in a safe neighborhood, in a neighborhood where our family tree began and where we once lived long ago, I would gratefully accept. Even if it already had a family in it. And in my thankfulness for a safe home and fear of ever going back to the abuse of the old neighborhood, I would most certainly invite my loved ones to enjoy the security of this new home. Even if it already had a family in it. And if the other family got angry and violent and threatened my kids, you better believe I would fight back. Every dad has the duty to protect his family.

The violence would NOT be justified, of course. It never ever is. But I must admit that if my family was threatened long enough, I just might throw a punch. Or drop bombs from fighter jets.

———

In my opinion, this is not a conflict of good guys verse bad guys. There are good and bad family members on both sides of a terrible, unsustainable situation.

My biggest questions are about the mayor. Why did he did he put two families in one house? Who thought that was actually going to work? And now that it has deteriorated to the worst case scenario, why hasn’t he stepped in and fixed it?

Do you think there is still a way to divide the house that allows both families to live side by side in peace and security?

10.10.12

A true peacemaker

Filed under: God's movement,Palestine / Israel — 5:00 pm

Last month, my friend Carl Medearis launched a new blog called MiddleEastExperience.com.  Carl is one of the boldest, bravest, most honest Jesus-followers I’ve ever met in terms of engaging with the Middle East and our Muslim brothers and sisters.  He doesn’t just talk about it, he lives it out in truly amazing ways.  His thoughts about how he believes Christians should engage Muslims in the way of Jesus…

I highly recommend spending some time exploring Carl’s site and learning from his experience and perspective.  You will definitely be stretched – in many peacemaking, bridge-building, love-your-neighbor type ways…

09.11.12

Toward the Other

Filed under: church,God's movement,Palestine / Israel — 10:45 am

Writer/activist/thinker Brian Mclaren is diving into one of the most important issues on earth today:  Can our world religions learn how to get along, or are we going to blow up the planet?  How can I maintain a strong religious identity without being hostile to the other?  In my opinion, he offers a really compelling (although not easy) path forward…

If you’d like to dig more deeply into this, check out Brian’s new book Why did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road?  (I’m half-way through and finding it really helpful)

09.04.12

Pro-Israel, Pro-Palestine, Pro-America, Pro-Peace, and Pro-Jesus

Filed under: God's movement,Palestine / Israel — 2:54 pm

written on The Wall in Bethlehem

The most profound (and terrifying) realization from my two trips to Israel and Palestine was:  this is what happens when “either/or” and “us vs. them” thinking gets taken to the farthest extent.  Once you’ve demonized “the other”, you no longer have to listen to them.  And when we stop listening, the other side loses their humanity, and things can get really ugly.

We see this in politics all the time.  And if I’m honest, I can do the same thing in my own life.

But there are people who believe – and are living out – a different way.  And two of my favorites will be sharing their stories at Willow Creek on Friday, September 21st, 7-9pm.

(1) Lynne Hybels.  You’ve heard me talk many times about my mother-in-law Lynne.  (Those thoughts here).  She has been leading a grassroots Pro-Israel, Pro-Palestine, Pro-America, Pro-Peace, Pro-Jesus movement in the Chicagoland area for the last couple years, and there are few people I respect more.

(2) Sami Awad.    Sami is a Palestinian Christian who has given his life to peacemaking.  His non-profit organization, Holy Land Trust, works with the Palestinian community at both the grassroots and leadership levels in developing nonviolent approaches which aim to end the Israeli occupation and build a future that is founded on the principles of nonviolence, equality, justice, and peaceful coexistence.  Lynne calls him ” the MLK Jr of Palestine”.

On September 21st, following a short time of prayer and worship together (lead by myself and a few others), Lynne will share her story about becoming a peacemaker in this tumultuous region, and then interview Sami.  I really believe it’s going to be a stunning, beautifully powerful night.

So whether you are an expert in international affairs, or brand new to this conversation, please join us for this free learning community!  Let us all become peacemakers together…

If you’re interested in learning more between now and then, may I recommend two resources?
(1) “Blood Brothers” by Elias Chacour
(2) This short film created by our friends and Kensington Church…

05.31.12

Worship for the world

Filed under: A New Liturgy,God's movement,Palestine / Israel,worship — 1:50 pm

20120531-140302.jpg

I just finished a fascinating conversation with Shane Claiborne and Tony Campolo for their Red Letter Christian television show. Honestly, I felt a little nervous and “out of my league” (I hugely respect them both), but the interview was really fun as we talked about worship and liturgy and the future.

Tony hilariously called himself “the old guy” who doesn’t understand or even like much of modern worship – for both artistic and theological reasons. His passion and honesty is contagious. And then Shane shared that his most profound worship experience was listening to a group of orphans in Calcutta singing “We Shall Overcome”. (Can you image that heartbreakingly beautiful moment?). We talked about how Christian worship should help us engage our world, not just barricade ourselves from it, and Shane mentioned the great quote: “Always pray with the bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other”. Which got me thinking…

Our worship services should not just create better Christians, but better humans.

As a worship leader, I hear this as both a challenge and an inspiration. How can we invite our community into a liturgy that doesn’t just insulate us into our own subculture, but launches us into meaningfully engaging the real world? What are the prayers and scripture readings and songs that best do this? And on the other hand, should any well-meaning songs or prayers be respectfully retired?

When the worship service is over, do our people say “Wow, our God is the best. I’m so glad to be on the right team!” OR does our worship experience lead people to say “Wow, God is so much greater than I realized, and He loves every person on earth as much as he loves us! I’m so glad to get to join God in what He’s doing to restore the world.”

The line between these two responses is probably more subjective and murky than I’m making it sound. It’s not an exact science. But the two paths don’t lead to the same destination. And I really believe its worth wrestling with the huge implications of the worship culture we are creating.

What have you found? What practices, songs, readings, etc help you and your community best engage with God’s work in the world? How will you lean more deeply into them?

03.19.12

Christ at the Checkpoint

Filed under: God's movement,Palestine / Israel — 8:33 am

Last week, a number of peace-pursuing Christians gathered in Bethlehem for the Christ at the Checkpoint conference. My mother-in-law spoke, along with a handful of our friends, and I must admit to a slight bit of jealousy as I sat home and followed via twitter. (And by “slight” I mean “humongous”!!!)

One of the participants was Shane Claiborne. There are very few Christ-followers that I respect more than Shane, so I couldn’t wait to hear his response. Here are a few of his reflections…

Shane Claiborne on his week in the Holy Land from Christ at the Checkpoint on Vimeo.

If you want to hear more, check out Shane’s thoughts about the conference HERE. He also shares the Christ at the Checkpoint manifesto, which is profoundly inspiring. This is really worth reading.

May we all become peacemakers in deeper, wider, and more concrete ways today.

02.10.12

Pro-Israel and Pro-Palestine

Filed under: God's movement,Palestine / Israel — 7:30 pm

Capital Building

I spent the last three days in DC with Christian, Jewish, and Muslim leaders from all over the world who are absolutely committed to a just peace in Israel and Palestine.  We told stories, shared experiences, heard from experts, had a briefing at the White House conference room, met with 7 members of Congress on Capital Hill, watched films, and committed ourselves to do whatever we can to be agents of peace.  It was overwhelming, often depressing, sometimes heart-breaking, but ultimately invigorating.  By the end of the week, our rallying cry became very clear:

We are pro-Israel, pro-Palestine, pro-American, and pro-peace.

And this is more than just pie-in-the-sky idealism.  In fact, here are three reasons that being pro-Israel, pro-Palestine seems right to me…

(1) Pragmatics.  The evidence on the ground suggests and nearly every expert agrees that the two-state solution is the only solution.  It will either work for both sides or neither.  So the common approach of supporting one side while demonizing the other is specifically not helpful.  In the words of Fr Elias Chacour, if we become “one-sided” we are simply “investing ourselves in the conflict.”

(2) Facts.  The only way to be one-sided is to ignore half the story.  Both sides have blood on their hands and both sides have taken steps toward peace.  An honest person cannot reduce this conflict to “good guys vs. bad guys.”

(3) Faith.  I believe that every single person on earth has been created in the image of God.  We each have a fundamental dignity that must be protected and honored.  And further, as a follower of Jesus, I am called to be a peace-maker.  I am called to bless and pray for my enemies.  I am called into the “ministry of reconciliation.”

Please join me.  Please join us!

If you have always been pro-Israel, then great!  Remain a strong friend of Israel.  But please learn the Palestinian story.  Open your heart to what life is like for them under Israeli occupation, and try to put yourself in their place.  A great place to begin is by reading the wonderful memoir “Blood Brothers” by Elias Chacour.  You will never be the same.

And if you have always been pro-Palestine, then great!  Remain a strong friend of Palestine.  But please learn the painful and beautiful history of the Jewish people, and compassionately put yourselves into their place.  An important place to begin is by visiting a Holocaust museum.  I’ve been to Yad Vashem, and each visit shook me to my core.  We can’t understand the present without understanding and honoring the past.  HERE is a list of all the museum/memorials in the U.S.

on the wall in Bethlehem

12.15.11

O Little Town of Bethlehem…

Filed under: God's movement,Palestine / Israel — 8:26 pm

This time of year (especially after approximately 2500 hours of Christmas Service rehearsals!), I find my thoughts drifting back to what I saw in Bethlehem.  It was inspiring and disturbing and confusing and moving…and honestly, changed my life.  (You can read profoundly wise words from Lynne Hybels about peacemaking in the Middle East HERE).  So in honor of this wonderful and deeply troubled town, here are a few pictures and thoughts from modern day Bethlehem.

Just hover over each picture to bring up my short description…

11.17.11

The Third Side is Us (a brilliant 18 minutes)

Filed under: Palestine / Israel — 9:12 pm

In 2010, I had the opportunity to go on two trips to the Middle East.  We met with Muslim, Jewish, and Christian brothers and sisters in both Israel and Palestine, and learned as much as we could about the conflict.  It was heartbreaking and inspiring and confusing and deeply troubling, and it changed my life.  (You can read a blog from when I returned from trip one HERE, and a series of blogs after my second trip HERE.)

Today I watched this wildly inspiring and insightful TED talk about peacemaking in the broader sense…while also using the Middle East as an example.  For anyone who is interested in bridging conflict – either in your family or work or town or world – these are 18 brilliant minutes.

10.22.11

Actual faith in our actual lives

Filed under: God's movement,Palestine / Israel — 11:48 am

If you are someone who is trying to follow Jesus with your actual life, then I highly recommend this stunning video.  It may be the most moving 23 minutes you have all week.  (It certainly was for me!)

Daoud Nassar is an Arab Palestinian Christian who is living out his faith in an enormously difficult situation.  Most people (possibly many Christians) would give up or turn to violence, but because he follows Jesus, he chooses another way…

Here’s the question it raised in me:  Does my claim to follow Jesus actually affect how I live?  Really?  When I was younger and in more fundamentalist circles, it was easy to be like Jesus and unlike “the world”:  don’t drink, smoke, or listen to secular (cool) music.  Seriously, that was it.  As long as a person didn’t do most of the things on the bad list, they were “living for Jesus”.

But reducing the epic invitation of Jesus (to join Him in bringing beauty and justice and grace back into this world) to an arbitrary checklist is a cosmic tragedy where everybody loses.

However, once we are able to set that checklist mentality aside, we have to ask much more difficult, subtle, honest questions of ourselves:  Is this life I’m living a result of my faith, or would I live this exact way regardless of my faith?  Am I simply living the life I want to live, and then overlaying the christian brand on it?  Is it possible that control and ambition and comfort are my gods, and God is just my means to get them?

I don’t like even writing these questions down because then I have to wrestle with them.

And this is why people like Daoud Nassar (and Shane Claiborne and Mother Theresa) are so inspiring and unsettling to me.  Their lives are unexplainable without Jesus.  There is no rational rationale for why they live the way they live other than trying to put Jesus’ teachings into practice.  And the paths they’ve chosen would be impossible without Jesus, as well.

I guess this is what I’m most worried about:  With or without Jesus, most of my life is very explainable.

08.24.11

From activist to peacemaker

Filed under: God's movement,Palestine / Israel,quotes — 7:09 pm

As many of you know, my mother-in-law Lynne is a passionate, brave advocate for the poor and oppressed around the world.  I’ve learned a ton from her – particularly about the complex conflict in the Middle East – and continue to follow her lead in many ways.  She recently commented that she is…

“…in the process of moving from being an activist (angry about injustice and determined to fight it) to wanting to be an authentic peacemaker (responding with compassion and wisdom to victims on both sides of the conflict).  It’s a lot easier to be an activist than a peacemaker.”

I found this to be both inspiring and deeply challenging.  It’s so easily to rage against what is wrong (and there is a time for that, I suppose), but only peacemakers change the world.  (Tomorrow, I’m going to post a new blog post called “We all Want to Change the World”)

If you’re interested in learning more about making peace in the middle east, Lynne just posted a fantastic Middle East resource list on her blog.  It’s really worth checking out and digging into.  As Americans, we are all a part of this conflict (huge amounts of our tax dollars go to Israel and Palestine, and our political positions play a huge role in peace or strife), so let’s learn as much as we can…and be peacemakers in the widest possible sense!

a painting I saw on the wall in Bethlehem: Lady Liberty weeping over Handala (forgotten Palestinian Refugees)

08.01.11

What the world needs now (especially me)

Filed under: God's movement,leadership,Palestine / Israel — 10:50 am

“The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either, but right through every human heart, and through all human hearts. This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. Even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained; and even in the best of all hearts, there remains a small corner of evil.”

Russian author Alexander Solzhenitsyn, in The Gulag Archipelago

I often think about this quote in terms of the Israeli-Palestinian mess, or any kind of religious conflict, but can you imagine if our country’s political leaders believed this? What would Washington look like if each person was so aware of their own contradictions that they could disagree passionately without ever demonizing “the other side”?

But that’s easy. Here’s a more difficult question: What would MY life look like if I could fully internalize this truth and let it infuse every part of me? What if I could pursue what I thought was right without having to prove the other wrong? What if I could learn to see and value the good and beauty inside ‘my enemies’? What if I became an absolute expert on the evil corners of my own heart, and instead of wallowing or denying, I humbly held on to grace?

I have resorted to “either/or” “bad vs good” thinking way too many times in my life. (And wouldn’t you know it, but I always happen to find myself on the “good” side. What a coincidence!). There is a time to stand up and courageously speak the truth as we see it, but I’m really tired of all the sawdust in my eyes getting in the way. (M 7) There must be a better path.

O God, please have mercy on us all. Give us eyes to really see, ears to really hear, and hearts to take it all in.

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