How To Be A Christian Without Being A Jerk

Faith in real life

Taking Disciplinary Action Against Breathing…

November 11th, 2015

I saw this email sent out by the Missouri University Police Department:

 

To: MU POLICE
Subject: Reporting Hateful and/or Hurtful Speech

To continue to ensure that the University of Missouri campus remains safe, the MU Police Department (MUPD) is asking individuals who witness incidents of hateful and/or hurtful speech or actions to:

 

  • Call the police immediately at 573-882-7201. (If you are in an emergency situation, dial 911.)

  • Give the communications operator a summary of the incident, including location.

  • Provide a detailed description of the individual(s) involved.

  • Provide a license plate and vehicle descriptions (if appropriate).

  • If possible and if it can be done safely, take a photo of the individual(s) with your cell phone.

 

Delays, including posting information to social media, can often reduce the chances of identifying the responsible parties. While cases of hateful and hurtful speech are not crimes, if the individual(s) identified are students, MU’s Office of Student Conduct can take disciplinary action.

 

What is wrong with this?

 

It is a meaningless email.

 

There is no human being living today who has not internalized what someone else has said to them as hateful or hurtful. Add to this you don’t necessarily know the intent of the communicator and whether they intended to bring out either of those emotions.

 

I find what Timothy Keller says about this genius. In The Freedom of Self Forgetfulness he writes:

 

“The ego often hurts. That is because it has something incredibly wrong with it. Something unbelievably wrong with it. It is always drawing attention to itself – it does so every single day. It is always making us think about how we look and how we are treated. People sometimes say their feelings are hurt. But our feelings can’t be hurt! It is the ego that hurts – my sense of self, my identity. Our feelings are fine! It is my ego that hurts…My ego would not hurt unless there was something terribly wrong with it. Think about it. It is very hard to get through a whole day without feeling snubbed or ignored or feeling stupid or getting down on ourselves. That is because there is something wrong with my ego. There is something wrong with my identity. There is something wrong with my sense of self. It is never happy. It is always drawing attention to itself.”

 

Also, there is no human being living today who has not purposely said something hateful or hurtful. We are broken people without exception.

 

In summary, there is no one alive who has not had their feelings hurt and there is no one alive who has not said something someone else internalized as hurtful.

 

If the University of Missouri Police Department wishes to draw this to a logical conclusion, 100% of all students, faculty, and staff on the campus, including the officers themselves, will be subject to disciplinary action.

 

Actually, this email is the equivalent of saying,

 

“To continue to ensure that the University of Missouri campus remains safe, the MU Police Department (MUPD) is asking individuals who witness incidents of breathing to:

 

  • Call the police immediately….”

Helping the Hurting

September 10th, 2015

At the church where I am pastor, we are hosting a conference for the national Stephen Ministries team. These ministries provide training for one-on-one Christian care giving for hurting people.

As we are hosting the conference, a letter was sent out from me to 1500 congregations in the LA area inviting folks to consider attending. One of those letters reached Bethany Baptist Church of West Los Angeles. The pastor, LA Kessee spoke with one of our Stephen leaders, Vickie De Blasio, about the struggles occurring at his church. Just recently, they have had 13 deaths in their congregation!

Overwhelming, but the people of God are there. Bethany is sending folks to the workshop, but our Stephen leader, Buzz Brown decided we could offer more. Four of us traveled down to their church on Tuesday. We did a mini “taster” workshop for their congregation including help with dealing with grief, healthy healing, and visiting folks who are grieving.

The people of Bethany were such gracious hosts and interacted greatly with us as we shared our experiences and the experiences of other Stephen Ministers from LIFEhouse. What a blessing to see God at work connecting two communities of brothers and sisters in this way!

As LA said, “Can I get an Amen?”

Everyone is invited to attend this workshop September 19, from 9-1 p.m. If you are interested, here is the information.

My New Book is Here!

July 14th, 2015

 

My new book,

REBOOT: 70 LIFE LESSONS WITH DALLAS WILLARD

available from

ebay and Amazon!

 

Here is what others are saying:

 

Publisher’s Note

A daily tool intended as a catalyst for life change aimed at the everyday adult and young adult. Along with Dallas’ writings, author Dana Hanson, a long-time student and friend of Dallas, relies heavily on the influence of personal conversations with Dallas and the experiences he witnessed of the model of Dallas’ life for over 12 years. Begun with the purpose of making the work of Dallas more accessible for his own adult children, Dana takes the best of Dallas’ thinking, including some specific concepts and language from Renovation Of The Heart: An Interactive Student Edition, by Dallas Willard and Randy Frazee, and blends this with illustrations from popular culture and his own personal transformation. In clear and concise daily words, Dana invites the reader to join him on this path of transformation, open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

 

Endorsements

“My friend Dallas Willard would love this little book because it is
intended to form rather than just inform the reader. Those who choose
to take Dana Hanson’s seventy day journey will discover that Jesus
truly invited us into an “easy yoke” of daily intimacy with Him.”

—Bill Dwyer, Dallas’ former pastor

“I strongly recommend this series…With intelligence and compassion,
Dana Hanson helps us through barriers to real life companionship with
Jesus in the Kingdom of God now and right where we are.”

—Dallas Willard, author of The Divine Conspiracy on Dana Hanson’s How to Be a Christian Without Being a Jerk

 

“Dana will take you on a 70-day enjoyable and refreshing tour of some of Dallas’ most thought provoking sayings and introduce you to the wonderful life that Jesus promised. (John10:10b). While written for everyone, this book should be a required tour for college students, in particular incoming freshmen.”

— Lynn Cory, pastor, author of Neighborhood Initiative and the
Love of God, and leader of Neighborhood Initiative

 

“Dana Hanson, one of the premiere preachers in America today,
leads you through a clear path upward which opens your receptivity
to joy and all things spiritual. Take a “before” picture of yourself before
reading this—you won’t be in the same place afterwards”

— David Housholder, author of Kindle top-5 self help book
The Seven Secrets to a Meaningful Life


How To Be A Christian Without Being A Jerk

Faith in real life