Answers About Jesus

Everyone has a perception of Jesus. We’re all influenced by what our friends say or what we see about Him on TV. Regarding Jesus does a great job of letting us learn about the most pivotal figure in human history. As C.S. Lewis said, Jesus was either a liar, a lunatic or who he said he was. Being just a “good man” wasn’t an option he left open to us. We should take time now and again to investigate these claims for ourselves.

An Interview with God

If you could ask God a question or two, what would they be? I wonder what mine would be if I were truly given that opportunity. No doubt, I’d be surprised by His answers. Would I even hear His words, or would I be distracted by His presence? The Interview with God is one artist’s rendering of what it might be like. Reminds me of another short movie called The Journey, I saw years ago.

The Passion: Reviewed

I didn’t want to immediately post my thoughts after seeing the movie yesterday. But rather, I wanted it to sink in. It’s truly a tough movie to watch… painful. Especially so for those of us who consider Jesus our hero. So here’s what I thought…

Filling in the Gaps
The Bible is like an onion, in that, as you read and study it, layer upon layer is revealed and we catch glimpses of what God is really like.

The Passion covers the last 12 hours of Christ’s life. The Bible covers a good number of those events and some dialog, but to cover 12 hours in sufficient detail, we’d need a transcript hundreds of pages long, which the Bible is not.

This opens the door for interpretation and we all interpret things differently. This is because we are amazingly complex beings who’ve had vastly varied experiences. The Passion is Gibson’s interpretation. He takes what is given from the Bible and “fills in” the missing parts to tell the story.

Pain, Pain and Then Gratitude
To me, the moive was a painful experience. Thinking about it, I get tears in my eyes even now, and probably will for the rest of my life. As I consider it, the pain may be proportionate to the depth of our relationship to the living Savior, but that’s just a theory.

Some consider Christ only rarely—Easter, Christmas… a funeral. Others more frequently, perhaps each week. I strive to consider Him daily. On occasion he deems it worthwhile to reveal more of Himself to me and our relationship grows.

So while I watched the humiliation, the completely unjust actions, the unbearably painful torture… it hurt me, to see my friend, my hero, treated like that.

To know that He did it for me, made me love Him even more.

Looking Ahead
And so the film did what I had expected it to do. It gave me a newfound, and as close to permanent, vision of who it was that died for me.

My only complaint was that I had to watch the film in a crowded theater. I would rather have seen it by myself, in some small sanctuary somewhere. Alone with my thoughts, but not really alone.

Phatmass and My Own Personal Gravity

From a friend’s site I came across phatmass. Makes me think P.M. Dawn with a Lutheran bent. Anything that brings to mind questions of faith and eternity is a good thing in my book. Wish they’d complete their mission statement though, ‘cuz it’s nice to see how well their walk matches their talk.

Who Should Say, “I Do”?

As the country moves towards the biggest social issue of 2004—homosexual marriage—more and more in the liberal media will work towards promoting the idea. Deroy Murdock uses the National Review to basically say that homosexual marriage is a good idea because traditional marriages haven’t done so well. I agree with him on half of that point, can you guess which half?

Murdock uses three examples, from the world of entertainment no less, to attempt to prove that heterosexual marriages are screwing things up. And he’s got a point. The divorce rate has continued to rise as society has moved further away from traditional values. America’s 49% is horrendous, even if it isn’t up to Sweden’s 64% or Russia’s 65%.

But what these examples fail to do, besides being statistically irrelevant, is highlight the many positive heterosexual marriages that are producing well-adjusted, healthy offspring.

If you decide to put aside issues of morality, which I believe one should never do, the statistics are irrefutable that children are better off being raised in a home with where a man and a women are full-time fathers and mothers.

This doesn’t even address the fact that producing those children is possible in the one case and impossible in the other.

He also uses a good portion of the piece to deride his opponents as not critical of heterosexual marriages’ failures. This is an obvious straw man. Of course the supporters of the family are appauled when Britney Spears treats marriage like nothing more than a trip to the movies. Of course they express outrage over the way Jerry Seinfeld’s now-spouse ditched her “old” husband for a new, rich-and-famous one.

I expect that Murdock doesn’t hear these views expressed because, 1) the popular media rarely asks conservatives to comment on the morality of Hollywood’s celebrities. What kind of ratings would a show like that garner? 2) His personal friends and co-workers aren’t likely to be people he characterizes as social conservatives.

But I do have to agree with Murdock on one point. Almost half of all marriages get a failing grade when it comes to honoring their marriage vows. And furthermore, all the poor children who are conceived out of wedlock, one in three, are ultimately playing the game of life with severe disadvantages.

[via Thunderstruck]

What Color Is Your Jesus?

Baby Jesus was stolen! Then returned, with a make-over. The formerly white baby is now black, unfortunately lacking the fro. The pastor took it in stride, “There‚Äôs something poignant about this Jesus coming to us like this, representing another race. It‚Äôs a reminder to us all that Jesus came for all people.” That’s the cool thing about Jesus, he’s an equal opportunity savior. [via Thunderstruck]

Senior Woman Carries Man From Burning Home

I better start working out if I’m gonna keep up with Elnora Denmark. She’s 51-years-old but didn’t let that stop her from rescuing her 79-year-old client after an airplane crashed into two homes, setting them on fire. She’s giving God credit for helping her from the burning home. Great to have the story and photo, but I want to see what Elnora looks like. [via PostivePress]

Questioning Faith

Anyone who’s said they’ve never questioned their faith is either simple or lying. It’s the world’s greatest question—”Why am I here?” Ruth Tucker has written a book on this topic and setup a forum, of sorts, for people to ask/answer their faith questions online. Our world needs more discussion on matters of faith, rather than labeling it “personal” and eliminating it from public life. [via Web Evangelism]

Volunteers Make a Difference

It’s an ironic, but universal truth that giving of yourself benefits the giver more than the one that receives. Volunteerism is up in the U.S. and I see that as a very good thing. Groups like Faith in Action show how the personal freedom that America affords will accomplish far more than any centralized, government-run institution. Hopefully, voters/representatives will believe this axiom for areas like school choice and healthcare.

The Church: Refuge or Love Brigade

When Craig Gross drove his “porn mobile” as a visitor to the Mosaic Church, the reception his family received wasn’t loving. The collective church is far from perfect, but identifying our shortcomings is the first mile on the road to being truly useful.

Common Christmas Myths

Shrode debunks three Christmas myths over on Thinklings.org. Funny how certain statements become tradition and thereby verified, but clearly the Bible doesn’t back them up. Now, if they’d just clear up that whole “swaddling clothes” debacle, we’d be all set.

What’s Christmas All About Anyway?

Since when has celebrating Christmas offended someone? Just lately, as a matter of fact. For centuries Christmas has been celebrated by people who’s faith in Jesus naturally led them to celebrate his birthday. But nowadays, mall employees are being told not to say “Merry Christmas” but use “Happy Holidays” instead. Wouldn’t want to offend anyone, you know.

It might surprise some people to learn that the ACLU is the chief proponent of removing Christianity from all public life. They’ve sued churches to remove nativity scenes, threatened a Colorado school system against singing any Christmas songs that contain religious references, and many more similar strategies. It ultimately amounts to censorship, a term that most agree is not what America is about. The good news is that another acronym—Alliance Defense Fund (ADF)—is fighting the ACLU in courts across America. If more people knew what the ACLU was really about maybe people of faith could celebrate their religious holidays without fear of a pending lawsuit.

The Writing on the Wall

Yesterday an etching of Luke 2:25 was found on an ancient shrine in Jerusalem’s Kidron Valley. The verse talks about Simeon who held Jesus as a baby. The question archeologists are now debating is whether Simeon, Zachariah and James are buried in this tomb as some believe.

Tattoo Heaven

Have you ever wanted to get a tattoo? Sure, sometimes people too spur-of-the-moment with “Let’s get tattoos!” and “Yeah!” then 30 minutes later it’s a done deal. Now you’re living with that decision for the rest of this life. Some have said that tattoos defile the body. Jason Gennaro thinks the contrary and has some Bible verses to back it up. What do you think?

Faith & Healing

Newsweek’s cover story is called Faith & Healing. Some religions believe that healing is a matter of faith, others providence or God’s design. In any event, the interest in spiritual matters, as they relate to health and wellness, is on the rise. Thought-provoking read.