If God is Love, Don’t Be a Jerk
Join us this winter as we invite ALL PUCCers to engage with our friend John Pavlovitz and others who find him to be challenging and inspiring.
Secure a copy of his newest book, If God is Love, through your fave book distributor or pick one up from church for $15 (checks to PUCC with JPav Book in the memo) starting on December 19.
We will give you access to 6 pre-recorded videos from John, one each week, beginning the week of January 9. You can watch it whenever you can.
We will come together in-person at church for Live Zooms with John and others for six Wednesdays at 7pm CT beginning on January 19 and ending on February 23. (Links and recordings will be available if needed.)
We will come together again for a special live closing message on Saturday, February 26 at 8pm CT in the Heritage Room - or you can do it from home.
** More about the book….
Imagine for a moment what the world might look like if we as people of faith, morality, and conscience actually aspired to this mantra.
What if we worked to create a world that was more loving and equitable than when we arrived?
What if we invited one another to share in wide-open, fearless, spiritual communities truly marked by compassion and interdependence?
What if we daily challenged ourselves to live a faith that simply made us better humans?
John Pavlovitz explores how we can embody this kinder kind of spirituality where we humbly examine our belief system to understand how it might compel us to act in less-than-loving ways toward others.
This simple phrase, "Thou Shalt Not Be Horrible," could help us practice what we preach by creating a world where:
* spiritual community provides a sense of belonging where all people are received as we are;
* the most important question we ask of a religious belief is not Is it true? but rather, is it helpful?
* it is morally impossible to pledge complete allegiance to both Jesus and America simultaneously;
* the way we treat others is the most tangible and meaningful expression of our belief system.
In If God Is Love, Don't Be a Jerk, John Pavlovitz examines the bedrock ideas of our religion: the existence of hell, the utility of prayer, the way we treat LGBTQ people, the value of anger, and other doctrines to help all of us take a good, honest look at how the beliefs we hold can shape our relationships with God and our fellow humans―and to make sure that love has the last, loudest word.
