Category Archives: Christianity

Jesus Junk

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I can’t believe it’s been 2 years since I posted Cross of Christ, a light-hearted little rant about the image at left.  That’s an mp3 player in the shape of a cross.  I asked if this was just another piece of Jesus Junk, a commercialized piece of whatever that nobody actually needs but retailers imagine Christians will buy.  I buy Christian CD’s and t-shirts, and there are some other items that are pretty legit.  I shop Christian bookstores mostly for books but have bought “other” things there as well.  But some people buy Christianized versions of products they already own.  Or ridiculous things that they would never have bought if it wasn’t shaped like a cross, or wrapped in tiny scriptures, or embossed with an image of Jesus.

The Jesus Christ Show has an extensive collection of Jesus Junk.  I’m sorry if 1) that expression offends you, and 2) you bought/own any of the items pictured.  I mean no disrespect to Jesus using that term, and imagine he has facepalmed himself a time a two over some of the things people market Christians just to make a buck.  Browse the pics, have a laugh, and remember: none of us conform to his image perfectly.  I fail every single day and he loves me in spite of myself.

Born Again

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(click “watch on YouTube” when prompted)

Text = John 3:1-15

John 3 is a familiar text for those of us that grew up in church.  That is exactly the point I mean to get at.  When Jesus says the words born again, we know what he means by that.  But to a person on the outside looking in, our choice of words can alienate the very people we are trying to reach.  Terms like born again, regeneration, converted or even saved have meaning to the Christian believer but require explanation to those not versed in our church  jargon.  So, perhaps you are trying to find out what it means to be born again.  Otherwise, we could all use a reminder from time to time; it helps when explaining it to others. Continue reading →

Jesus Would Not Burn a Koran

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Last Wednesday I asked the question “Would Jesus burn a Koran?”  I was responding to recent events in the news regarding Terry Jones and his Gainesville, FL church.  Jones and company will be hosting Burn a Koran Day on September 11th, marking the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001.

That post was somewhat stream of conscience as I worked through the issues and hoped we would all arrive at the same conclusion.  I have worked those ideas into a sermon, with more focus on exactly what Jesus would do and why.  The major points are:

  1. In his Sermon on the Mount Jesus teaches us to live counter-culturally.  He speaks on anger, retaliation, going the extra mile, turning the other cheek, and the golden rule. Continue reading →

Would Jesus Burn a Koran?

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Terry Jones, pastor of Dove World Outreach Centre in Gainesville, FL, has declared 9/11 “Burn a Koran Day.”  Publicizing the event has earned Jones multiple death threats, and many have threatened to burn down his church as well.  Jones is also the author of “Islam is of the Devil,” and his church has a large sign out front that reads the same.  You can read more on the event here.  Many Christian groups have tried to convince the church to cancel the event, still scheduled to take place next month. Continue reading →

Archives: Who Does God Call?

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I don’t make a habit out of running repeats.  Like leftovers in the refrigerator, some old posts keep better than others.  This one is still good.

When Moses encounters the burning bush, he asks of God “Who am I, that I should speak to Pharaoh?”  That’s a legitimate question.  Who am I that I should preach the gospel?  Who are any of us?  We are those called by God into his service.  He calls us, saves us, then equips us to do his work for the Kingdom.  Moses was a herdsman, already wanted for murder.  David was a shepherd when he was called, and only a child at that.  Look at the disciples; blue collar workers at best, rejects and outcasts at their worst.  But look at who God calls; every major character in the Bible was tragically flawed in some way.  God takes the small, the broken and the unwanted and fixes them up.  He then sends us into the world, a world that is fallen and broken.  It may look great at times, but we live in a fallen world affected by the curse.  God calls little children wrecked by sin into his service, to spread the gospel among all his other little sinwrecked children.

Click here for the original post Who Does God Call? (Sep. 14, 2008)

Religion is Bad News

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If you type “religion, gospel” into the Google search bar, you get 3.6 million results in about 0.22 seconds.  Search on WordPress and the results are even more along the lines of “Religion vs. the Gospel” and such like.  Lots of people are aware of the shortcomings of religion compared to the Good News of Jesus Christ.  But even for the believer, and certainly for everyone else, the temptation is still there to not fully trust in the concept of grace.

In Mark’s Gospel (Mk. 5:1-20) Jesus and the disciples land on the coast of the Gerasenes.   They encounter Legion, a mad man filled with demons.  After Jesus casts the demons into a herd of pigs, the locals are amazed to see the man formerly known as Legion clothed and in his right mind.  Rather than allow him to follow, Jesus commands him to go back to his home town and tell them what God has done.  In this case, the man does so.  Ergo: You don’t have to fix all your problems before coming to Jesus.  How many people plan to come to church as soon as they quit drinking, stop smoking, get back with their ex-wife, find a job, etc. etc.  We cannot fix our own problems, and if we could then we wouldn’t need Jesus in the first place.  Remember what Jesus told the Pharisees; it is the sick who need a physician, not the well.

The rich young man (Mk. 10:17-22) come to Jesus with one simple question; What must I do to be saved.  Religion is about what we do.  We could substitute Law if we were comparing the Law to the Gospel.  Keeping the Law, very religious.  This man claims to have keep each of the commandments since his youth.  Unlikely.  David was a man after God’s own heart, and he failed all kinds of ways to keep the Law.  We simply cannot do what is right, just like we cannot in and of ourselves fix what is wrong.  Religion is what we do; grace is what God has already done.

We can’t.  That’s the story of fallen man.  We can’t keep the Law.  We can’t be right.  We can’t fix what’s wrong.  Religion is our attempt to either be right or fix the wrong, and we the human people are epic failures at both.  Religion is bad news; the Gospel is Good News. Tell the world.

For God and Country

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The 4th of July falls on Sunday this year.  The comparisons between our liberty and freedom as Americans and the freedom found in Christ are easy to make, but we need to be careful.  I wish to present a sermon that is both patriotic and scriptural, but also fair and truthful.  The Declaration of Independence was written in 1776 – the Bible was not. Continue reading →

Unusual Father’s Day Text

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And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’  But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.”  Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.”  Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.”  Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same.  -Matthew 26:30-35

This selection from Matthew’s Gospel is well known, but is most often used during the Easter season.  We all know what happened next, right?  By the end of v. 56 the scripture says “Then all the disciples left him and fled.”  The sad truth is that people are going to let you down.  There are some folks we are naturally suspicious of, but most people we would like to think we can trust.  My advice to people is trust in God, but lock your car.  Sometimes it is the very people we should be able to put our trust in that let us down.  In this sinful, fallen and broken world it is sometimes the police, a school teacher, a church leader or a parent that crosses the line and hurts rather than helps. Continue reading →

“This Means Something”

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“This means something.  This is important.”  So said Roy Neary in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  He was right.  But what does this mean?

Anything?  Nothing?  Some things are still considered acts of God; hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, lightning, etc.  It’s all over the Internet, but just in case you’ve been hibernating, your power’s been out, or perhaps you’re a long-haul truck driver that just got in, what you’re looking at is the 62′ statue King of Kings.  The statue was completed in 2004 on the site of the Solid Rock Church in Monroe, Ohio.  It was highly visible even while speeding by on the Interstate.  On Monday night the statue, molded styrofoam  over a steel frame, was stuck by lightning and quickly burned down.  Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damage was done to the church’s amphitheater, seen behind the statue.

Is this God’s judgement for building a 62′ styrofoam Jesus, or an attack of Satan against the church?  Or maybe when you put up anything 60 feet high made of steel in a state as flat as Ohio it is going to be struck by lightning.

I’d Like to Give a Shoutout

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It’s always a pleasure to make new friends.  Amanda, author of Theologigal, left a comment yesterday and I was introduced to her site for the first time.  The religious blogosphere is pretty much a man’s world, but she has just started blogging theology and is off to a fine start.

In Mere Churchianity (haven’t finished reading it yet) Michael Spencer makes a distinction between being a follower of Jesus and following a particular church.  There is certainly a church culture, and it can be a distraction at times (or all the time) from what is really important.  Daniel is the author of Non Religious Christian, a blog devoted to taking the “religion” out of following the Christ.  I checked out his blog and found my button there.  Thanks for the link love.

I think these blogs are worth a look into, and in the next couple of days I will take the time to add them to the blog roll.  BTW, The Joy of Grace (thank you Sonny) has a Master’s Table button as well.  Just wanted to acknowledge I noticed.