Jesus is self-sacrificial love (Who is Jesus when most American Christians back Trump? Wk 5) - Abby Dye, Vince Brackett, Kyle Hanawalt

It’s no surprise that white American Christianity has chosen Donald Trump as its leader when for decades its prevailing use for Jesus on the Cross has been “motivation by fear of punishment from a strongman, violent God”. What an unhealthy, worthless picture of God! BLC stakeholder Abby Dye helps us discover Jesus on the Cross as a totally different (and inspiring) picture of God that models a totally different kind of leadership: self-sacrificial love.

Art: Ethiopian painting of the Crucifixion, ca. 2000

Matthew, Mark, Luke, JohnVincent BrackettNovember 3, 2020Who is Jesus when most American Christians back Trump?Comment

Who is Jesus when most American Christians back Trump? (Wk 4: Jesus, the Outsider) - Sami DiPasquale, Val Buchanan

With last week's news about so many families still separated on the US-Mexico border we feel a renewed need to educate ourselves on what we can do and find hope for change in Jesus, the God who identifies with outsiders. Special guest Sami DiPasquale, who works on the border in El Paso & Ciudad Juarez, is interviewed by friend of BLC Val Buchanan, as we continue try to shift the American narrative about God away from white, conservative, Trump-backing evangelicalism.

Art by Tim Vermeulen.

John, LukeVincent BrackettOctober 27, 2020Who is Jesus when most American Christians back Trump?Comment

Who is Jesus when most American Christians back Trump? (Wk 3: Jesus, the Revolutionary) - Leicester & Laura Mitchell, Vince Brackett, Kyle Hanawalt

#DefundCPD's message is "the safest neighborhoods have more resources, not more police." Yet, one day of Chicago's budget for police ($4 million!) accounts for 32 months of its budget for Violence Protection Programs. BLC stakeholders Laura & Leicester Mitchell share with us about "Jesus, the revolutionary" and their work with #DefundCPD, as we continue to try to shift the American narrative about God away from Trump-backing, white, conservative evangelicalism.

Art by Alexander Smirnov.

Matthew, LukeVincent BrackettOctober 20, 2020Who is Jesus when most American Christians back Trump?Comment

Who is Jesus when most American Christians back Trump? (Wk 2: Jesus' Mission) - Joey Rodil, Vince Brackett, Kyle Hanawalt

Constant movement instead of strict adherence, defending those without power instead of those with power -- Special guest (and BLC's old friend) Joey Rodil shows us how Jesus' descriptions and modeling of his own mission can help shift our narrative about faith (and our experience of it) away from typical white American Christian notions.

Mark, MatthewVincent BrackettOctober 13, 2020Who is Jesus when most American Christians back Trump?Comment

Who is Jesus when most American Christians back Trump? (Wk 1: The God Who Became Human) - Hayley Larson, Vince Brackett, Kyle Hanawalt

It should break our brains that the biggest reason we might get four more years of Donald Trump as president is American Christians. What if our church could help shift the narrative in our country about who God is, and whose side God is on? One of BLC’s resident theologians Hayley Larson leads us through our first starting point for answering the question "who is Jesus?" — the God who became human.

Art by Edward Knippers

Matthew, Luke, John, MarkVincent BrackettOctober 6, 2020Who is Jesus when most American Christians back Trump?Comment