8 posts tagged “jesus”

I'm a pastor. I love Jesus. It makes me happy when others come to love him too. But there's a big gap to cross sometimes between what people know and believe about church and what Jesus came to show about God. So can we help people understand? Well, if Deep Purple's Smoke On the Water can translate into Japanese, we sure can translate the message of Jesus into 21st century life.

I read. A lot.

When a church search committee asked me one time "what are the books you've read in the last two years that impressed and influenced you the most?", I responded with a list of forty something, I think. That's not where my reading ends though. I read the paper everyday, and magazines a couple times a week, and have a list of blogs I keep up with on a daily basis as well as News Feeds. Thanks, Google Reader!

God uses it all I think to shape my mind and heart, to help mold my character into a man who I desperately hope to hope to see always becoming more like Jesus. He's my ideal, my standard, my Lord.

Today there were two posts that affected me greatly. I know that the Holy Spirit reaches into each of our lives and helps us gain what we lack, so perhaps these were meant for me to find and read today. Or perhaps they will be used to affect you too.

The Elevator Question - Brant Hansen

Brant is that guy who you can't help but wonder about. I find myself trying to put him in a box, and at times I think about no longer reading his blog posts, but then he'll provide a window I can see God at work through, so I stay. Today's post is one of those windows.

Marc Driscoll on pride and humility - from Justin Taylor's blog

Justin Taylor's blog is one on the more conservative side of the aisle, but always filled with grace and insight. I've benefited from the way he's handled his questions about where and how the church will move forward in this culture many times. I am in his debt. Today's post contains a snippet of a transcript from a sermon by Marc Driscoll, the sometimes controversial and always outspoken pastor of Mars Hill in Seattle. It is on pride and humility and is as transparent a confession as I have ever read.

Take a moment and read them

Well, it's almost Easter. If you aren't a pastor or sell greeting cards or candy, it can sneak up on you. One sure way to set your alarm is to wait each year for the latest attempt to discredit Christianity. This year's is of Titanic proportions, for the director (and self-proclaimed) King of the World James Cameron is presiding over a Discovery Channel docudrama.

For the tomb of Jesus has been found in Jerusalem.

No, not THAT Jesus. But when you are out to make a quick buck, any old Jesus will do.

Here's a page I created with Google Reader to give anyone who needs some information more than you can shake an femur at.

All You Ever Wanted To Know

If you have any more questions let me know. This is not an area of specialty for me, but after last year's DaVinci Code, my knowledge of early church history is at an all time high. Now I get to learn about 1st century Jewish burial customs. It's like a seminary class without the cost.

Hopefully, we'll see people able to answer friends with grace from truth, and this will serve to advance the Kingdom.

Well, here we go again. The Discovery Channel is about to release a documentary on the greatest discovery of the ages - the tomb of Jesus.

Feb. 25, 2007 — New scientific evidence, including DNA analysis conducted at one of the world's foremost molecular genetics laboratories, as well as studies by leading scholars, suggests a 2,000-year-old Jerusalem tomb could have once held the remains of Jesus of Nazareth and his family.

The findings also suggest that Jesus and Mary Magdalene might have produced a son named Judah.

The DNA findings, alongside statistical conclusions made about the artifacts — originally excavated in 1980 — open a potentially significant chapter in Biblical archaeological history.

A documentary presenting the evidence, "The Lost Tomb of Jesus," will premiere on the Discovery Channel on March 4 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. The documentary comes from executive producer James Cameron and director Simcha Jacobovici.

So what we have here is this year's Da Vinci Code. A little junk archeology, a little dash of goddess, and throw in the director of the Titanic, and finally - finally! We can all stay home on Sundays.

Err... no.

But Bar-Ilan University Prof. Amos Kloner, the Jerusalem District archeologist who officially oversaw the work at the tomb in 1980 and has published detailed findings on its contents, on Saturday night dismissed the claims. "It makes a great story for a TV film," he told The Jerusalem Post. "But it's impossible. It's nonsense."

Kloner, who said he was interviewed for the new film but has not seen it, said the names found on the ossuaries were common, and the fact that such apparently resonant names had been found together was of no significance. He added that "Jesus son of Joseph" inscriptions had been found on several other ossuaries over the years.

"There is no likelihood that Jesus and his relatives had a family tomb," Kloner said. "They were a Galilee family with no ties in Jerusalem. The Talpiot tomb belonged to a middle-class family from the 1st century CE."
 (Jerusalem Post)

I guess it would be too much to ask people to actually check and see if their conclusions matched up well with the facts.

If you'd like to explore the history about that time period, what we know - can know - about Jesus and His world, and what the limitations on our knowledge are, I'd be glad to help. The Church was once described as an anvil that has worn out many hammers. This is just the latest.

Compassion is not some alternate gospel. Compassion is an overflow of the gospel—the Good News of Christ's sacrifice. Compassion says we have embraced the relationship with God through Christ. It's not that we have to earn our salvation by doing good things, but compassion and service flow out of us because we are filled with God's love. If we don't take care of orphans and widows, if we don't care for the poor and hurting, how can we say we belong to Jesus?

—Zach Hunter, Be the Change