Bob Marley and Jesus: Rebel or Prophet?

Just got back from an amazing weekend at Greenbelt Arts Festival! they had a fantastic line up and i even got to see Daniel Beddingfield live, (was was better than i thought he would be!)
there is always so much to see and do at Greenbelt, that most of the talks i wanted to go to clashed with something else!! but the ones that i did go to were excellent.

everybody, at least once in their life should here John Bell speak... (in fact he is coming to Chester uni at christmas, but you did not here that from me!) he is passionate, open and tackled issues of civil partnerships, the femininity of Jesus and heaven. his broad scottish accent is to die for, and he has a very dry wit, which makes listening to him a real pleasure!

Shane Claiborne was pretty good too. i only got to one of his talks but will be ordering the rest from the shop as well as his latest book. to find out more about shane and his ministry visit www.thesimpleway.org

But the one talk that got me thinking for the rest of the weekend was the first one i heard on saturday morning by Bev Thomas called Bob Marley: Rebel or Prophet. Bev's specialty is race and christianity so i was looking forward to hearing her. She explained how Marley was a revolutionary of his time, and how he used music to speak out against injustice, racism and politics in Jamaica. Marley is of Mixed race desent. His father was a white Jamaican (and fairly wealthy cournel) and his mother was black Jamaican (and fairly poor) this meant that because he had lighter skin, people thought he was better than those with dark skin (the lighter your skin, the more popular you are, and more respected) Marley hated this and expressed his anger through his music. for him his songs tell a story of slavery, hope and freedom.

he was a voice for the voiceless! but of course not everyone liked this! some thought that he was rebelling from his culture and upbringing, denying who he was. Marley brought to the for front the injustice of the govenerment and asked people to rise up and stand up for what they belive in. to not be brain washed by the church who keep saying everything is going to be alright when we get to heaven, that we should suffer now, cos in heaven there is no suffering. the churches in the west indies dumbed down slavery and injustice and just another day, Marley stood up against that!

Won't you help me sing theses songs of freedom?

a bit like Jesus eh?

Now of course i'm not aying that Bob Marley was the Son of God, who came to take away the sins of the world, but he came with a message of hope.

Things can only get better when you stand up for your rights!

Marley died in 1981, but his music still lives on. his message still lives on. he wanted tomake a difference, and in some ways he did. he spoke from the sidelines, not in the heart of it, but being heard by thousands, make a stand, make a change!

Jesus the rebel?

i'll leave you with that one!

New

Its a new dawn its a new day, its a new life for me!

So Uni is over, i was still clinging onto everything that was. everything that was comfortable! my room in London is laid out exactly like my room in Chester (sad i know!) but i really wanted to keep an essenmce of uni life.

but...

its a new day. its time to move on. things can only get better.

Ive got new job, in the process of getting a new waldrobe (not just clothes but an actual new waldrobe!) and i'm beginning to rediscover my relationship with God!

Sometimes God says no and we need to wait, sometimes God says not now, and we need to be patient, sometimes Gods yes, NOW NOW NOW! and we are busy watching the clock!

its a new life for me!

Bring it On!

fear

I've just finishing watching V for Vendetta, and not long ago finished reading How (not) to Speak of God by Pete Rollins (founder of Ikon, described as an iconic, apolcalytic, hertical, emerging and failing 'church' check out http://www.ikon.org.uk/ikon/ to find out more) and i feel strange... i feel empowered, angry, frustrated, scared, shocked, powerfull but useless.

let me try to explain.

Vendetta has been described as 'anarchy for teenagers' a phase that we went through when we wanted to rebel against everything, parents, school, authority, but now that we are out of that phase we have lost our vigor, our fight, what do we fear.. everything.

I love watching small children (not in a weird kinda way) but they have no fear, no sence of danger! i watch 2 year olds jumping from the 3rd step of our staircase, with enjoyment and thrill in thier eyes, no fear! they run around with not a care in the world, they fall over, cry for literally 2 seconds, enough for you to notice them, then carry on, on the obstical that they fell off! amazing!

most of us would have never got back on again, but childern have no fear!

anachy? is terrorism justified? can we rise up as a nation, without fear and stand up against things we feel strongly about?

the thing that strikes me the most about rollins book is the message of Love, its all about love! You love God, you love your neighbour, simple! but sadly not... because some people think you have to know God to love God, but that is something we can never do! fully know God. even when we think we've got it we ain't!

so how do theses to merge? why do i feel so confussed?

If all is required of us is to love, then where did we go wrong? surely, thats easy! you know, go feed a homelss guy, or give him all your change, or go volunteer in South America for 6 weeks and build an ophanage, and experience how they live. but if you went and did all that stuff just because someone told you too, that is not love, is an obligation! you feel guilty. you demonstrate love best when you don't realise your doing it.

like a habit (not the ones nuns wear!) but rather; A recurrent, often unconscious pattern of behavior that is acquired through frequent repetition. (thanks dictionary.com!) ie au naturel!

terrorism and love? is this possible? can the two exsist side by side? can we be angry about injustice, but demonstrate love? are we able to love God and our neighbour?

i feel that the emerging church has something very inmportant to say about how we interpret scripture. a fresh new perspective that can be seen as heretical, but sometimes the heretics, are right! look at Paul or Peter or Mary Magdelene!

these people were outcasts, because they went against the grain, they rubbed people up the wrong way, they got angry and were killed and stoned for it! but not because they wanted to be different, but because they believed so dearly in their cause that they were ready to die!

can you call them terrorists?

comments welcomed