No need to worry though, for it seems pretty clear with even a brief look at the evidence that this box didn't hold Jesus' bones. Dr. Ben Witherington wrote a good article here. If you didn't know, Dr. Ben wrote James the Brother of Jesus a book with Hershel Shanks about the recent find of the James', the brother of Jesus, ossuary.

Interestingly enough, the so called "Jesus ossuary" was found 20 years ago. It has been explored now for almost thirty years. It is pretty clear for reasons Witherington mentions in his article that there is no truth to it being Jesus of Nazareth's burial box.

But the question remains. If Jesus' bones were found what would it do to your faith?

Labels: archeology, faith, Jesus, ossuary, Witherington

Labels: 1 Samuel, celebrity, culture, worship, Yahweh

Labels: community, individualism, Jesus, salvation, soteriology

Labels: liturgy, music, worship

Labels: Christianity Today, Wilberforce

The story of William Wilberforce is hitting the big screen this Friday. I will be one paying the money to see the cinematic representation of this story, for it is a great story. If you haven't heard his story, take a read here.

I don't want to into Wilberforce's life here, however, I do want to ask the question, "what does the life like Wilberforce's challenge us to do today?"

I believe it is easy for Western Christians to not see the oppression present in our time because we are so removed from it. However, just as there were horrible things such as slavery in Wilberforce's time, there unspeakable acts of oppression and evil in ours.

I think of slave/prostitution rings in Cambodia, or the urban slaves of Haiti. There are countless examples in third world countries of groups of people being oppressed by systemic evil. What is our role today in the face of these evils?

In evangelical circles we have been really good at taking a stance against personal sin. Reminding ourselves and others that God will free us from the oppression of sin, by forgiving us. Yet, we have many times forgotten that Christ died to free the "world" from sin, not just the person. The "good news" speaks to both personal sin and systemic. In what ways can we recapture the spirit of men lik e Wilberforce?

Labels: Christian action, oppression, sin, Wilberforce

Labels: Christian Calendar, Lent, Repentance

We got close to 10 inches of snow yesterday, and with the drifting, it is upto 3 feet in some places. I spent all morning blowing snow from our driveway.

As I was blowing the snow, and the wind blew mists of it back into my face, I had this overwhelming urge to be somewhere tropical. Somewhere that I could wear shorts, and no shirt, having to worry about getting a sunburn, not digging myself out of a snow bank. I guess I can dream and look at pictures of warm places. I like the seasons, but too much snow gets to me. Drags me down a bit.

Last fall my alma mater, Asbury Theological Seminary, went through a messy situation where the president was fired, for some reason. I spent some of the past few snow days reading some posts on an alumni website that explained some of the situation. It seems that there might have been a difference between the president and the chair of the board. It was kind of ugly.

It brought back feelings from the past year and a half. Feelings I thought I was getting over. I realize that maybe you never "get over" those feelings, but you learn to live with them; allowing them to make you a better person, and able to deal with others better. When I read how the president seemed to be treated negatively, it struck a cord with me. But then I read a post by Keith Drury that reminded me that in Christian love we are never supposed to break relationships. We can have disagreements, even oppose each other on certain issues, but we are kept together by Christian love.

I don't feel like I have kept my relationship with the individual who hurt me. I wonder what I am supposed to do to keep that relationship. I really don't feel like calling him. I am and have been asking God to help me to see him with his eyes, not mine.

Sometimes these feelings can be heavy and hard to dig out from under. Kind of like the snow.

Labels: forgiveness, relationships