Following Jesus out of fear and violence, into Love and Peace – Real Life Radio: Episode 004 with Keith Giles [Podcast]

In Real Life Radio: Episode 004, I have a discussion with my friend Keith Giles.

I wanted to host Keith on the program because he was very instrumental (without knowing it) in causing me to seriously re-think my understanding of Jesus’ commands of non-violence for His followers. In light of recent events such as ISIS and the new American Sniper movie (which I wrote about here) – the topic of violence vs. non-violence – especially for professed followers of Christ, has been heating up.

There are very few topics that cause so much opposition, challenge and discomfort as this. That’s usually a good signal that we, as a people, need to do ALOT more talking about it, with each other. So, that’s what Keith and I are doing here.

What you will hear:

• Keith’s background, ministry, books, writing, passions, etc. – and why following Jesus into non-violence is of particular interest to him
• Brandon’s personal testimony of hearing the message of Jesus and the non-violent Gospel, really, for the first time, and how it impacted him
• “What about if there is an intruder in your home?” “What about the Old Testament?” “What about Hitler?”
• Love “disarms.” How? And why is this important?
• Justice from God: it is restorative to BOTH the oppressed, AND the oppressor
• Why is this message in particular, so difficult for Christians to follow? Why is there so much pushback?
• American Christian Nationalism – perhaps the most dangerous (and deadly) idol of our day
• There are really only two operating paradigms of the human experience: Love and fear. What are the characteristics of each? How can you tell which paradigm you are living in? How does it connect to the issue of violence/non-violence? Why does it matter?

Resources Mentioned:

• Todd Hunter
• Greg Beale – “The Temple and the Church’s Mission”
• Greg Boyd
• Walter Wink – “The Powers That Be”
• Herb Montgomery – Start here at Part 1 and keep going. Please.
• Real Life Radio Episode: 002 – How to understand the Bible, and exposing the greatest lie about the Cross
• See the bottom of this post for a comprehensive list of the podcasts and articles, mentioned in the podcast, from Keith on non-violence. Many of these specifically address the “What if” and “What about” pushback questions.

After you listen:

• Check out Keith’s website
• Subscribe to Real Life Radio at iTunes
• Comment below or on social media – Engage in this important discussion
• You might want to read these articles from Brandon: American Idol — Kingdom Forgiver: Looking for the Other Way in an ‘American Sniper’ world — and Fear is not real. Fear is a choice.

Keith’s Resources:

• Blog Posts:It’s Not About Pacifism:
  http://subversive1.blogspot.com/2014/02/its-not-about-pacifism.htmlJesus: The Prince of Peace (Part 1)
  http://subversive1.blogspot.com/2011/09/jesus-prince-of-peace-part-1-of-4.htmlJesus: The Prince of Peace (Part 2)
  http://subversive1.blogspot.com/2011/09/jesus-prince-of-peace-part-2-of-4.htmlJesus: The Prince of Peace (Part 3)
  http://subversive1.blogspot.com/2011/09/jesus-prince-of-peace-part-3-of-4.html

  Jesus: The Prince of Peace (Part 4)
  http://subversive1.blogspot.com/2011/09/jesus-prince-of-peace-part-4-of-4.html

  The Love Chapter: Remix
  http://subversive1.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-love-chapter-remix.html

  Christ or Anti-Christ
  http://subversive1.blogspot.com/2014/02/christ-or-anti-christ.html

  Early Christian Soldiers:
  http://subversive1.blogspot.com/2012/09/early-christian-soldiers.html

  Onward Christian Killers?
  http://subversive1.blogspot.com/2013/12/onward-christian-killers.html

• Subversive Radio Podcasts:
  Jesus: The Prince of Peace
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVPxbbi48p8Following Jesus Into Nonviolencehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyF94gDF558The Power of the Gospelhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQ05hCPGH6g

  Herb Montgomery and Keith Giles Discuss Non-Violence

  Greg Boyd and Keith Giles: Jesus, Love and Nonviolence

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