To the extent that we bear witness to Jesus’ way, the world system will treat us as it treated him."

- Me! 😄 An excerpt from my upcoming as-yet-untitled book about the other-centered, co-suffering God. More coming soon.

6/6

Our higher loyalty asks us, in every case, regardless of the cost, to bear witness to the way of love, especially when the systems we live within fall into self-centered, ego-defending ambition. That’s awkward for everyone involved.

5/6

Following Jesus’ example, we see that 'going along to get along' in the face of exclusion or injustice is simply not an option.

4/6

You and I may have a warm sense of love and loyalty for our family, church, or nation, but when those commitments demand our compliance or silence, we are forced into a choice.

3/6

Loyalty to Jesus’ way will inevitably mean friction with those whose own comfort or position is challenged by the way of other-centered, co-suffering love.

2/6

Source: Jenai Auman, Othered: Finding Belonging with the God Who Pursues the Hurt, Harmed, and Marginalized. Kindle Edition. Pre-release ARC. Location 2382.

3/3

“I choose not to collude with a culture that is okay with using Jesus to hurt others. I will continue to turn away and not use God-loaded language to make other people small. Repentance means my gaze is set on Jesus, and I walk free, knowing that I do not have to seek retribution for my scars.”

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- Athanasius. On the Incarnation. Translated by John Behr. With C.S. Lewis. St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2011. 63.

5/5

So he rightly took a mortal body, that in it death might henceforth be destroyed utterly and human beings be renewed again according to the image. For this purpose, then, there was need of none other than the Image of the Father.”

4/5

So the Word of God came himself, in order that he being the image of the Father, the human being 'in the image' might be recreated. It could not, again, have been done in any other way, without death and corruption being utterly destroyed.

3/5

But how could this have occurred except by the coming of the very image of God, our Savior Jesus Christ? For neither by human beings was it possible, since they were created 'in the image'; but neither by angels, for they were not even images.

2/5

That’s… uh. Too many fangs!

Something that even two millennia later is considered uncomfortable or even heretical. Jesus said that God is your friend."

Source: Me! This is an excerpt from my as-yet-untitled follow-up to Walking Otherward. This bit is from a reflection on John 15:9-17.

4/4

This description surely stretched the disciples’ spiritual imagination, steeped as they were in a world of rulers, emperors, and monarchical deities. But then, Jesus says something else, something entirely revolutionary.

3/4

This God is not a vengeful judge exacting punishment but a wise gardener working for flourishing. Not confined to special, sacred places, this was a God always present in the inward place of abiding.

2/4

- G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy. B&H Academic, 2022. 198-199.

Christianity is the only religion on earth that has felt that omnipotence made God incomplete…Let the athiests themselves choose a god. They will find only one divinity who ever uttered their isolation; only one religion in which God seemed for an instant to be an atheist.”

Or maybe it's time to learn about how your emotions are a necessary part of your life of faith?

Order now, and I'll get them to you in time for Christmas. Signed, wrapped for Christmas, with a tag to the person you're giving the book to.

marcalanschelske.com/store/

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