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Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Those Bones, those bones, those...dry bones...
So they found the box that held the bones of Jesus? I remember the first Philosophy of Christian Religion class that I took in seminary from Dr. Jerry Walls, and how he asked the question, "What would it mean to your faith if the bones of Jesus were found?".

So what would it mean? It would mean that he didn't bodily rise and ascend to heaven. It would mean that Jesus wasn't the "first fruits" of resurrection like Paul said he was; and it would mean that a basic foundation of the Chrsitian faith was false.

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?

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posted by Unknown @ 11:49 AM   2 comments
Monday, February 26, 2007
The Cult of Celebrity

Behind the Super Bowl, the Acadamy Awards seem to be gaining momentum as a "much watch event" within our culture. I admit I too wasted a few hours sitting in front of the tube watching the endless parade of pop icons pass by in clothing that cost more than my house, and I got sucked into it. The question I have a few days removed from the display of famous people giving other famous people accalades is this, "Why do we care so much?".

I think it is because we are a society enamered with celebrities. That is, we love the idea of the famous; with their beautiful faces and bodies, their endless amounts of money, and their glittering lives full of cocktail parties, tropical getaways, and expensive cars. More even than these things, humans have an inner yearning to "look up to someone", unfortunately we usually look up to the wrong someone.

A Biblical story comes to mind that illustrates this. It's story of the people of Israel depicted in 1 Samuel. Yahweh had saved their ancestors from Egyption slavery, led them through the wilderness into the promised land, and had forgiven them and protected them over and over again, regardless of their "stiff necks". Yahweh had proven to them his love and care for them, and what do they do? They ask for a human king. Why? Because everyone else has a king and they want one to. I think it is because their yearning to look up to someone became misdirected.

In our culture today there is definitely a focus on the celebrity, almost a cult of celebrity. The church is not absent from the temptations that plagued the people of Israel. We too look for celebrities in our midst to look up to. Maybe we look up to them for different reasons than fame, money or beauty, but none the less we create celebrities. The danger in this is placing our trust in those that are not perfectly trusthworthy.

When talking about our culture's "cult of celebrity", I am sure there are other dangers not listed in this brief post. Just something going through my head. Any thoughts?

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posted by Unknown @ 1:43 PM   0 comments
Friday, February 23, 2007
We Live in Jesus

I was listening to a lecture today by Dr. Mark Alan Powell as I drove a patient of mine around to do some errands. It is not a usual thing for me to drive patients around, but this was a special situation, and the PT needed help. So as she went in and out of stores picking up items for the home, I sat in my car and listened to a lecture, which is one of my favorite things to do (besides watching Ohio State football of course).


Without going into the whole lecture, let me talk of one point made about the modern protestant understanding of Jesus' presence with the Christian. Powell correctly noticed that it is common within protestant circles to use language something like, "Jesus lives within my heart", when describing the relationship between a believer and Jesus. Powell notes that it is more correct to say, "I am in Jesus", as the apostle Paul said, rather than "Jesus is in me". Of course there are going to be those that quote the verse, "your body is a temple of God", but Powell anticipates this by showing that the context of that verse most definitely shows that Paul was speaking primarily about a congregation of people, not an individual.


The point Powell made was that Christianity has been in many ways influenced by the focus on the individual when the scripture is most undoubtedly focused on the communal. Powell correctly recognizes that within scripture the emphasis is on the plural not the singular. Meaning that to be a Christian is a communal act, opposed to a private individual set of beliefs.


What does the church look like that lives this out?


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posted by Unknown @ 3:05 PM   0 comments
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Has Music Hijacked Worship?
I saw this on Odyssey and thought it interesting. I have felt this with out being able to articulate what I have felt. What do you think. Read here.

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posted by Unknown @ 2:28 PM   0 comments
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
What would Wilberforce do?
Interestingly enough, the day after I posed the question in my last blog, Christianity today posted an article. Its like they read my blog. Well, they would be the only one's lately...haha.
Here is the link. It is a good article answering the question.

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posted by Unknown @ 12:23 PM   0 comments
Monday, February 19, 2007


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?

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posted by Unknown @ 4:13 PM   0 comments
Friday, February 16, 2007
random thoughts...
Does every post have to have a point? I hope not...for I am not sure what I am writing about as I begin the act of writing.

It is freaking cold here! It was -5 degrees this morning as I woke. Yeah that is right, -5. I am insanely jealous of my friends that live in warm weather climates. Oh well, I guess I will get back at them when it is 205 degrees there in the summer. But quite frankly, hot weather sounds great at this point. Oh well, if I can just make it to Tuesday I hear it will be 42 degrees that day.
I don't know if it is the winter weather, the dreary skies, or the total absence of the sun, but I have been a little blah lately. Maybe I should get one of those lights that simulate the sun.

I have been diving back into some N.T. Wright stuff. I have been listening to his lectures (all available here), and wanting to get into some written material. I am teaching a brief seminar on the New Testament in April. I haven't taught an introduction to the N.T. before, so I am excited about it. The crazy thing is, as most of you probably know, the more you learn the more you see that you don't know much. I have to fit this seminar into three hours. It is kind of crazy, and I don't know if I can do it well.

I don't want to get in a rut. I can do that sometimes, and I feel like I might be leaning over the edge of one. I don't know what it is, but I can just "float" along sometimes, not seeming to have any direction. I need things like teaching, goals, challenges, because if I don't have them, I can just exist. This is not good for me, my wife, or my son. I don't get things done, and am without much energy. Tif is great to recognize this, but she can't do anything unless I let her. So, maybe verbalizing it is the first step.

I have been thinking about Greek lately ... mainly about studying biblical Greek again on a steady basis. I haven't kept up with it as I should have since seminary, but need to reapply myself.

Like I said, random thoughts.
posted by Unknown @ 8:44 AM   0 comments
Thursday, February 15, 2007
40 Days in the Wilderness.
Ash Wednesday is now less than a week away. This is the beginning of the Lenten season for Christians. The season of Lent is the 40 days (excluding Sundays) leading up to Easter. It is a time of repentance, reflection, and personal re-dedication to God, remembering what he did through Christ, preparing for the Holy Week which is culminated by Easter.

It is also a remembering of Jesus' 40 days in the wilderness at the beginning of his ministry. Jesus spent purposeful time fasting and dedicating himself to his father in preparation for his ministry. The observation of Lent is a Christian tradition followed for thousands of years, and yet, I don't know if there was ever a time that needed to recapture the "40 days of wilderness" more than the time we live in.

The world we live in is going "100 miles an hour", never stopping to do much reflection or dedication. It is all about the now, and our memories and attention spans grow shorter every day. The observation of Lent reminds us that we can not live life as we should with out God, and that maybe the most important "productive" thing we can do is to stop and pull away from everything.

This "pulling away" has been traditionally done by Christians during Lent by the disciplines of prayer and fasting. Also, many give up things other than food to create that wilderness experience, being alone with God.

I did not grow up in a church that observed Lent. I think this is sad for it adds so much to my faith. I am still praying about what God is desiring for me to give to him this year. Lent is difficult, just like it was difficult for Jesus in the wilderness, but God does a good thing in the repentant and dedicated person.

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posted by Unknown @ 9:22 AM   0 comments
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Snowed In


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.

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posted by Unknown @ 10:34 AM   1 comments
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