In our first Advent podcast, we explore our Advent theme of "The Light of Community in a World of Dark." We begin by talking about our culturalisms--the stories, beliefs, morals, and ethics we have that Jesus may be challenging. We talk about the way of Jesus--that as Christians, that's "the way" we're to put first. Oftentimes, though, we put our culturalisms first. What is the way of Jesus? How might the way of Jesus be lived out in our politics and other culturalisms?

We connect with God when we live in a way that embodies Jesus' spirit. We show the world who God is and what his mission is in thei world when we live in a way that embodies Jesus' spirit. The whole world is a temple now. No longer is it reserved for exclusive places and exclusive people. Now it's for anyone and for anywhere where people embody Jesus' spirit.

Maybe the main story of the bible is God's desire to connect with us? From the begining to the end, God meets people "where they're at" to be with them and to lead them to a better place. Sometimes presence is the best teacher, especially a compassionate and just presence. There are some things we can only learn through presence.

A testimony is powerful because it's vulnerable. Vulnerability is the first step to connecting. "The Good, the Bad & the Ugly" is a short testimony of how God is working in the good, the bad, and the ugly places of our lives.

The ideologies we follow have probably taught as a lot of good things, but at some point, they often work against us. Our ideologies can isolate us, which makes us susupicous of those different than us. These are the kind of people Jesus befriended and worked with: those who prized the "what" of their ideology at the expensive of the "who"--the who of Jesus, the who of people they considered their enemy. People like that (i.e., me and you, most of the time) need to change. The way we change is by prizing presence over ideology.

The Jewish Law was a good thing given as a beginning, a first step on the path to connecting God. Jesus fulfilled the Law, asking us follow him so we'd move beyond a life based on "meeting expectations" to a life based on "character formation."

When God's ways are happening, children are welcomed to the center. More than that, adults are to become like children. One thing children't aren't good at is having all the right beliefs. Yet Jesus still welcomes them to the center. Are we doing a great job believing all the right things or fulfilling all the expectations but not having having our character shaped? Because that's what Jesus wants to do: move us beyond laws and rules to the deeper work of our character.