I’ve just added a new post to Bible Survey, my 30 year plan for reading through scripture! I exaggerate slightly. At any rate, Jacob’s Ladder explores Genesis 28. Describing Jacob’s dream is easy; interpreting what it means, that can be a different story. Jewish and Christian traditions differ, but at the end of the day I think there’s only one place we can land: it’s about Jesus.
Read Genesis 28: Jacob’s Ladder at Bible Survey.
Swiebodzin, Poland is now home to the largest statue of Jesus in the world. At 167 feet, it is more than 40 feet taller than Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro. Swiebedzin is a town of 22,000. One hope of the community is that this will put them on the map and bring tourism – and tourist dollars. Full story on Economic Stimulus Jesus here. Please share thoughts/ideas/opinions on what this means.
On a related note, remember what happened to the King of Kings?
A couple of days ago I published The Challenge to be Christ-Like on the blog Life in Mordor. It’s a group blog that I contribute to. In Luke 23:34, while Jesus is hanging on the cross, he prays “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” How can anyone be that Christ like? Perhaps some have given sacrificially, prayed for our enemies, served on the mission field, maybe even given up their own life to save another. Jesus prayed the prayer of intercession for the very people mocking him while they crucified him. And we are commanded to have the same mind in us (Phil 2).
As I have continued to think about this challenge, I am reminded of a couple of things. One, we are never tempted beyond what we can bear. God knows what we are made of, and he has searched and knows each heart. As we learn from Job, the devil is on a leash. Even when he’s the devil, he’s God’s devil. Secondly, and more importantly, is the promise that God’s grace is sufficient to meet each need. His grace provides our daily bread, as Jesus taught us to pray and history demonstrates in Exodus with the heavenly manna. When Elijah asks the widow to feed him (1 Kings 17) she was just about to make one cake for herself, one for her son, and then they were both going to starve to death. By God’s grace, she makes three cakes and they each have a small meal. The next day, there was enough flour and oil for one more day; and the same the next day, and the next day, and the next day. There was always just enough; the Bible never says one morning the bowl was full of flour, nor the bottle full of oil. God’s grace was sufficient daily.
By the way, the original challenge was about being Christ-like to the extreme. I asked who besides Jesus himself could do what he did on the cross. Read Acts chapter 7. As Stephen is being stoned to death, he prays in verse 60 “Do not hold this sin against them.” It’s one of those “With God all things are possible” moments. When the time comes, his grace is sufficient for whatever he has called us to.
I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. – Galatians 4:1-7
We are by nature the enemies of God. Ever since the Garden of Eden, humanity has been prone to do the opposite of whatever it is God wants us to do. Jesus describes us in John 8 as being slaves of sin. It is easily witnessed throughout the history of God’s people in the Old Testament, the struggles of Paul with his own sin nature, and for that mature the course of all history. While in a general sense we are all belong to God, our natural state is like that of the prodigal son. God is watching and waiting for us to come down the road where he will welcome us with open arms. Continue reading
There are two things I never do; one is over react in a restaurant if my order isn’t right. I rarely send anything back, and when I do it’s with a lot of respect for the kitchen staff and multiple apologies. You should never act like a jerk to the people who are spitting in preparing your food. The other thing I don’t do is complain about the postal service. No matter how bad it gets, keep your mouth shut if you ever want to see your mail again. It’s not like they have competition.
Becky Garrison’s new book Jesus Died for This? went on sale in August. A batch of our local mail was misdirected, and just discovered this morning. The postmark on what would have been my advanced copy was July 21. I’m not bitter, I just bring it up to say this: I’m reading it now, and will post a review as soon as I’m able. Keep in mind that Garrison is a satirist, not a theologian. Her books combine hard-hitting journalism and good common sense with frequent LOL’s. Read more about the book and author here, and perhaps purchase a copy for $14.99. There is also an audio download and e-book available as well. My review will be up in a few days.
I was introduced to Becky Garrison when I reviewed The New Atheist Crusaders and Their Unholy Grail for the Internet Monk. You can read that review here.
John Lennon’s quote that “we are more popular than Jesus” sparked controversy and protest once it reached the United States. That statement, part of a much larger discourse, was taken terribly out of context. Here’s what Lennon really said:
Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue about that; I’m right and I’ll be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now; I don’t know which will go first—rock ‘n’ roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It’s them twisting it that ruins it for me.
Lennon was commenting on the decline of Christianity in England (and all of Europe for that matter) and over there no one even got upset. In it’s context, what Lennon was saying was true. Continue reading
Who is Jesus? Sounds simple. And you could answer simply. But no matter how you respond to the question, we all know that in reality it just isn’t that simple. Everyone has a default image that comes to mind when we hear the name Jesus. The question becomes “Which Jesus are we talking about?” That my friend is the right question.
UPDATE: I’ve removed the link to the Who’s Jesus website because that blog has been deleted by it’s author.
Who is Jesus is also the title of a blog I’ve just been reading. The author identifies himself/herself only as C. You don’t learn a lot about C by reading the blog, but I already know a lot by the clues that are given. Continue reading
(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
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:
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)
The Master's Table 