Archive for the ‘Jesus’ Category:
Confessions of A Christian
2 Peter 1:3-11
“Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”
This short confessional statement makes it clear that the realization that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior produces a life change. So when this confession is made, what does it mean? Most Christians hear these words so often that we can repeat them without considering their implications. As a result, I am going to attempt to define each of these loaded terms with regard to their Biblical context and describe which aspects we as a culture tend to omit or elaborate. Read more »
Jesus Christ!!!
There has been a lot of talk about whether or not Jesus viewed Himself as divine, and whether or not the early church viewed Him as divine. In response to these questions, I had asked for permission from Dr. Dan Doriani to post his lecture notes specifically on the implicit divinity claims throughout scripture. As I said, these are in note form and as such dont read that fluidly. If you are interested in reading a scholarly article by him that has been published on this topic, you may go here. If anyone simply wants a point on the notes clarified, please ask a question and I will do my best to answer. The PDF of his lecture notes is in our resource page as well. Enjoy:)
“My HomoErotic Relationship with Jesus”
Your lips, O my spouse, Drip as the honeycomb; Honey and milk are under your tongue; And the fragrance of your garments Is like the fragrance of Lebanon. - Song of Songs 4:11
Popular Christianity places an emphasis on believers having a Personal Relationship with Jesus. As a Christian, I proudly proclaimed that I did not follow a religion, but that I had a relationship - a personal one-on-one with the Messiah. Looking back, I have no idea how to Biblically justify the idea of a personal relationship. I am pretty certain it is nothing more than modern Christian pop culture. And on a more practical level, I don’t think Jesus wants a relationship with any of us anyway. As a Christian, I talked to Jesus for years, but never heard a word back from him. That is in no way a relationship, despite all the effort I put into it. Read more »
stretching it out
“So teach us to number our days?, that we may get a heart of wisdom.” –Psalm 90:12
This is going to be a little scattered. Bear with me. These thoughts are still sifting out in my brain.
American evangelist Billy Graham gave a fascinating interview to Newsweek in August 2006 about a myriad of personal topics, but a lot of it was reflection on growing older. In particular, he said, “I have a certainty about eternity that is a wonderful thing, and I thank God for giving me that certainty. I do not fear death. I may fear a little bit about the process, but not death itself, because I think the moment that my spirit leaves this body, I will be in the presence of the Lord.”
I found it interesting that he was more at ease with death than with the dying process. While many haven’t articulated it like he has, I bet that resonates with a lot of people.
Christmas Chaos
Christmas. Yep. It’s here. Ready or not, here it comes. Prepare to spend more than you can afford on gifts, laugh at your uncle’s dumb jokes, and gain 5-10 pounds of holiday junk food. Isn’t it crazy how life speeds up right when we should be able to slow down and appreciate it?
Does anyone else feel like Christmas has become really… fake?
Right before I started Seminary last year, I had a brief career in retail Asset Protection. I was in charge of security and safety for an entire store. I had the (dis)pleasure of working 12-14 hour days over the holidays, and specifically on Black Friday (day after Thanksgiving), and the day after Christmas. “Nightmare” is not strong enough of a word… Read more »
The “Country Club” Church Is Crap.
Say that ten times fast…
Danielle recently made a comment concerning a post comparing Jack Bauer of the TV Series 24 with Jesus Christ:
And I think there’s a comparison to the church in there. Because although the suspense is pretty cool (as in what will happen here on earth, as well as after we die), it is the human parts of the story that compel people to keep reading/listening/feeling/believing perhaps. And the church has been nothing if not revolutionary in history. Jesus’ story is a prime example.
It instantly reminded me of a couple quotes that generally make me want to pick up sword and shield to charge headlong into this cosmic revolution. This is an axe I gring almost continually. Having not grown up in the church, paradigm for what church should be is not as convoluted by tradition and/or fundamentalism. I am perhaps more able to read how the church is portrayed in scripture without the baggage of moralistic rules and cultural taboos. Of course, I do have other things that cloud my judgment, and there are people who have grown up in the church and are able to see through much of that. But this is something that is particularly close to my heart because of my experiences.
For your reading pleasure, here are two of my favorite quotes Read more »
Jesus Christ and… Jack Bauer?
This post makes me smile. Mark Driscoll, a Seattle Pastor often criticized for being “overly macho” and dudely (to which he will gladly admit to the latter and deny the former as even being possible) wrote an article last year that I keep coming back to for some valuable perspective and laughs.
While I am not nearly as outgoing in my “dudeliness,” or advocation thereof, I certainly appreciate the perspective and agree that a responsible, biblical, and moral masculinity is sorely lacking in our culture. Neither he nor I are advocating misogyny, subjugation of women, or anything else that would disagree with the heart and spirit of equality between the sexes. Rather, we both see a need to redeem men in our culture to values like responsibility, fatherhood, loyalty, faithfulness, sacrifice and selflessness service. Driscoll’s article uses humor to connect biblical masculinity as lived out by Jesus to similar parallels in culture. In this instance, we have the pleasure of giving you Jack Bauer.
Enjoy!
