So for those of you who have asked me, I will unveil to the degree that it is possible the plans for the Jubilee Project. I begin this with a relatively high degree of ambivalence, because I, in my own heart of hearts am so tempted to turn stone into bread. I am tempted to use my powers/gifts to make life happen for me, to provide for myself. I am also tempted to do this thing "for God" and so step off the pinnacle of the temple and presume there will be God's holy angels waiting to swoop me up and make this "thing for God" to work. And I am also tempted to go on a search for glory, and have power by means of this Project, and yet in attaining this power I would bow and worship the tempter and not the Beloved Son of God. Maybe some of you feel the same ambivalence, maybe some of you feel with fiery conviction that this is the thing for us to do.
The Jubilee Project began as an idea spawned from Jesus' words in Luke 4 wherein He proclaims that the Kingdom which He is ushering in is the substance which cast its shadow as the Jubilee Year (found in Leviticus 25). It is a time of reconcilliation, liberty, justice, and reparation. It is the re-ordering of the now decayed worldly order. Thus the Jubilee Project was an idea centered around liberty, justice, and reconcilliation as functions of the Kingdom.
It has morphed a number of times, and I am sure will continue to morph if God wills. But as I surveyed the group of people that sorrounded me I thought to myself, "surely this is no coincidence!" Gifted people, friends. So the idea was the The Jubilee Project would be a sort of Board of Trustees all mutually committed to the Values, Goals, and Purposes of the Project, who would in turn oversee a multiplicity of expirements. These expirements would include things like a music label/recording studio, a clothing company, a publishing company (including online and paper publications), perhaps cafes, art studios, reading rooms, etc... Each of these expirements would be overseen by a member of the Board of Trustees, and would not by name be attached to the Jubilee Project. These expirements would, if God so willed, generate profits, the profits would then be collected by the overseer and turned over to the Board of Trustees. This Board would then decide how to allocate these funds in such a way as to fulfill the values, goals, and purposes of The Jubilee Project. In other words these funds would be used to contribute toward the purposes of the Kingdom. This could be anything from supporting Sudanese Pastors and freeing women from African slave trading (yes it still happens!), to building wells for clean water in impoverished areas and supporting evangelists who work in the Muslim world. Literally anything that can be legitimately be shown to fulfill Kingdom purposes.
That is a broad brush stroke, without many details, primarily because as of this moment there are no details. What do you think the Spirit of God is doing, is this something He is leading us to do, or is this something that we may be tempted to do "for God?" I don't know, I don't have peace, but I do have a group of friends I trust, and a group of friends I trust that the same Spirit is moving within. May He whisper in our ears, "go this way." And may we follow where He leads.
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2 comments:
Finally...sheesh, we've been waiting with baited breath!
In order for the Jubilee Project to function properly it is going to take great sacrifice from all that feel led to be involved. I think we must carry a constant weight of ambivalence around our hearts and minds concerning this project. I say this because it is what we have to face every time we make a decision that is "Christ centered."
The bottom line is, how much are we willing to give up of ourselves in order to see what God wants to do with us? This is a frightening question to ask, and I at times am very conscienscious when asking myslef such things. The only truthful, untainted response I can give to this is that I am not willing to give any of myself up. There is no good found in me. It is only through the Holy Spirit, the Great Wooer, that I even have the slightest inclination to give my talents/time/money/life to something that will glorify the kingdom. It is by this calling of the Holy Spirit that will orchestrate all of our hearts and actions to be working together to serve a kingdom that is much greater than the one that is set before us.
So are we turning stones into bread? No, God is. And we need the Holy Spirit and eachother to remind us of that.
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