Shane Claiborne - Being connected to those who are suffering

He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Isaiah 2:4

Notes from Shane Claiborne's 2nd talk at the Henri Nouwen 'Way of the Heart Conference' - June 11, 2016

• The bringing of God's kingdom down to where life hurts
• We are not to ignore the world
• If our kids don't follow us in the faith it's because we have made it too easy rather than made it substantial
• Reading the newspaper and reading the Bible
• How can we worship a homeless man on Sunday and ignore one on Monday?
• Stop complaining about the church that is and start working for the church we dream of -
• The inner city is the contemporary desert
• Christians are not to be normal but trouble makers - that is what keeps us alive and young
• We are to be near the pain
• We are to be near the roads where Good Samaritans are needed
• If we are connected to the people who are disenfranchised we will know where and what the injustice is
• Watching the church become the conscience of the community
• To say we are going to feed the homeless is a sacrament - we are feeding Jesus
• The people in the margins are the people of God
• Sanctuary churches - of course we welcome refugees, we are Christian - Jesus was a refugee
• Philadelphia is a sanctuary city
• Our love doesn't stop at borders, if someone is suffering on the other side of the wall, it is the same as if that person is on our side of the wall
• Gun violence - end Gun Violence - join a larger movement
• Stay in the pain of Good Friday
• God knows what it is like to lose your son
• God is very much in tune with the pain of the world
• Stay connected to that suffering
• Our grief is not an excuse for war
• 2 wrongs don't make a right
• The cross is our way of counteracting evil in a way unlike the world
• North America has domesticated the church
• What kind of extremists will we be? For hatred or for love?
• The world is longing for Christians filled with love
• We can't settle for life after death when so many hurting people are asking 'Is there life before death?'
• Peace begins with people - not governments or nations - but with people - Isaiah 2:4