Tag: Jesus

Not the Same…

Posted on by Alan

Graphic depicting that Christianity and Islam are not the same thingOne of the web pages I check on pretty much daily is The Corner at National Review Online. A couple weeks back I ran into the article "You're a Good Man, Cardinal Dolan." Michael Potemra's piece starts off with:

The highly mediagenic archbishop of New York, Timothy Cardinal Dolan, visited a mosque on Staten Island and encouraged the worshipers there to hold on to their faith.

Regardless of whether Islam is a "religion of peace" or not, if you are a Christian who holds on to traditional faith, you probably reacted to that sentence the same way I did.

Not so well…

Although I am an inclusivist (see also here), I cannot reconcile Potemra's opening statement with John 14:6:

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6, English Standard Version, emphasis mine).

Now, before I judge someone's words I try to read (or hear) them in context, and I clicked through to the news report that was the genesis of Potemra's entry. I could not find the cardinal specificaly encouraging Muslims to hold on to their faith, but in some respects this was even more disturbing:

The cardinal asked questions about the Muslim faith and emphasized throughout his visit how much the two religions and their members have in common.

"You love God, we love God and he is the same God," the cardinal said of the Muslim and Roman Catholic faiths.

Ack! Continue reading “Not the Same…”

Jesus on the Cross

My Very Last Sermon Ever

Posted on by Alan

Jesus on the Cross

This is it…

The title of this sermon, “My Very Last Sermon Ever,” is likely an exaggeration, but this is the very last time I’ve been scheduled to preach anywhere. Michelle, Augie, and I don’t yet know what church we’ll be attending in the Denver area, and there is a pretty good chance they won’t be in need of a preacher. As such, I’ve been thinking about what I would say if I knew for sure this was it…that I’d never get to stand before others in the body of Christ on a Sunday to provide a lesson.

I am reminded that Paul was in a similar, albeit much more severe, situation when he wrote today’s Scripture to his son in Christ, Timothy. Let’s turn together to 2 Timothy 4:1-6 and see what the Apostle to the Gentiles had to say:

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come (2 Timothy 4:1-6).

Now, obviously, I cannot claim to be “being poured out as a drink offering” — I am moving because of a new (ols) job God has blessed me with (again). Also, my “departure” is far less significant than the one Paul was speaking of. I’ll be climbing into a Nissan Frontier along with Michelle, Augie, Bear, Granite, and Sunny…and the last three will probably be drugged a bit to lesson the impact of an 1,800 mile trip.

We’ll see a couple days in if Michelle wishes she had been drugged. 🙂

Continue reading “My Very Last Sermon Ever”

And Who Is My Brother?

Posted on by Alan

Ignoring a man in need

Narrowing Down Our Responsibilities

I assume most of us here today are very familiar with the story of the good Samaritan. To conserve time we won’t read it all, but let’s turn together to Luke 10:25-29 and see what led up to it:

25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

First of all, you know it doesn’t bode well when a lawyer is involved, eh? 🙂

Now, this person isn’t a lawyer as we think of it…instead, the Holman Christian Standard Bible translates it as “an expert in the law” and the Common English Bible as a “legal expert.” This guy won’t be able to defend you in a modern criminal trial or sue a doctor for malpractice, but he should be able to comment authoritatively on what the Jewish Law said…well, at least what the Jews of that time thought it said.

And, as we can see in what we read, Jesus confirms the lawyer actually got it right.

Well, that is, until “desiring to justify himself” the expert in the Law didn’t stop while he was ahead.

What do you think “desiring to justify himself” means? The Common English Bible starts verse 29 with, “But the legal expert wanted to prove that he was right…” and The Message paraphrase states, “Looking for a loophole…”

Continue reading “And Who Is My Brother?”

Atheist Twitter Bio #1

“Alan the Atheist”

Posted on by Alan

If you are a regular reader of my bulletin articles, you already know that Twitter is often an inspiration for what I write. This week's motivation began when a Christian I follow retweeted:

I am #atheism, and the behavior of the most fanatically devout is so often my best argument. #islam #catholicism #christianity

I responded to the original tweeter:

Legit embedded criticism of religion acknowledged *****. However, do misbehaving rabid atheists equally disprove atheism?

What ensued was a conversation that continued long enough to mean I was a wee bit tired the next day. Initially it was painful—and I ultimately I found out why:

I started suspicious of you because you are a minister. I have found your profession to debate dishonestly in the past.

Ouch…but mostly because I suspect it is true.

The conversation improved after that, although he no more ended as a Christian believing in our resurrected Lord than I ended as an atheist believing in evolution. At best, we laid a foundation for future interactions. We will see what the future holds.

However, what I especially found interesting is something in common between the four atheists that crossed my path that night. Here is the Twitter bio of the original gentleman:

Atheist Twitter Bio #1

Demanding proof of all religions' legitimacy. How offensive you find my tweets is inversely proportional to your rationality.

That wasn't especially contentious, but also not very welcoming to those of us who believe. The second atheist of the evening was a biologist the first suggested could answer any questions I have about evolution. From his Twitter profile: Continue reading ““Alan the Atheist””

Did Jesus Shed a Tear Over Judas?

Posted on by Alan

Eye with tearsConsidering the difference between today's culture and that in the early years of the kings of Israel, it may be a bit hard to do an "imagine"…but…

Imagine you are a popular king of your nation, blessed by God. You make a huge, huge mistake, but you are honestly (and completely) contrite.

You understand if your enemies try to take advantage of your error, but you expect your sons…the sons you love…to support you in your politically weakened state. Instead, your third oldest decides to try to grab your thrown. One of the maneuvers he makes to cement his coup is to sleep with your concubines…and, we aren't talking about a private approach here: Continue reading “Did Jesus Shed a Tear Over Judas?”

Brit Hume Tweet

Don’t You Dare Tell Sinners that Their Sin…!

Posted on by Alan

Dr. Dobson steps into it…

I don't always agree with Fox New contributor Brit Hume, but I respect his work and levelheaded-ness. I also appreciate Christian psychologist Dr. James Dobson, although I'll admit that his shows are generally too foofy for my tastes. So, when Hume tweeted:

Christians seeking meaning in the horror of Newtown who may be drawn to the words of James Dobson should read this:

http://t.co/pDXK0J6F

Brit Hume Tweet

Well, I went and read most of it. Basically, it was a hatchet-job on something Dobson recently said written by Peter Wehner and posted by Timothy Dalrymple. Dalrymple describes Wehner as "one of the leading evangelicals in Washington for a long time now"1…and, based on Wehner's piece, I suspect Washington has had a greater effect on him than he has had on our nation's capital.

The statement that Wehner felt deserved taking Dobson out back to the shed for a whipping? It was from Dobson's radio show this last Monday, "A Nation Shaken by the Sandy Hook Tragedy." Wehner quotes Dobson as saying:

Continue reading “Don’t You Dare Tell Sinners that Their Sin…!”

Christmas Tree Star

Church Bulletin Goulash

Posted on by Alan

Christmas Tree StarI had hoped to write this bulletin with Augie. I didn't know if it would work (never tried it before), but I figured that if he and I pulled it off it would be one of my best. Everything goes better with Augie. 🙂

Alas, I also made the mistake of convincing him to try Amazon.com's new service, Kindle FreeTime Unlimited. Basically, it is a program that locks your Kindle Fire or Kindle Fire HD into books, applications, and videos that are appropriate for your child. (Even so, I've already let my munchkin know that SpongeBob and Yo Gabba Gabba are off limits. SpongeBob first because I really do think it's a bad influence on kids, especially ones who already are hyper and/or have behavior issues. The second 'cause it is just plain weird, and I'd rather watch Thomas the Tank Engine for seven months straight than view one episode of that bizarre show. For those wondering years ago…yes there could be something worse…far worse…than Barney the Purple Dinosaur. :-)) Continue reading “Church Bulletin Goulash”

A Super-Apostle’s Kryptonite

Posted on by Alan

Bad Boys, Bad Boys…

Have you ever wondered why it seems that a lot of women seem to have a penchant for only dating “bad boys”? A really nice, well-established, and good looking guy either isn’t on their radar (regardless of what they may claim) or is quickly ditched…

But the guy who treats her like dirt…it’s like some kind of magical pheromone.

Well, science has discovered the reason (as summarized in a Glamour.com article):

Researchers had women look at dating profiles of either sexy men or reliable men during periods of high and low fertility. … Women who were near ovulation guessed that the sexier man would contribute more to parenting and domestic duties. In a second study where the women interacted directly with male actors playing the roles of sexy cad and reliable dad, they once again thought the sexy guy would contribute more to childcare, but…only as her partner. Interestingly, the women would point out the bad boy’s shortcomings when asked how he would father children with other women, but when it came to imagining their own child, women believed the cad would be a really great father.1

Continue reading “A Super-Apostle’s Kryptonite”

Apple chrome Logo (from http://www.technobolt.com/)

Surrendering to Be Free

Posted on by Alan

Apple chrome Logo (from http://www.technobolt.com/)As I keep my eyes open for ideas for these bulletins, sometimes it seems more than coincidental that two items cross my social media streams so perfectly to highlight a potential subject. In one case, it was a random tweet that someone I follow must have retweeted combined with a Gawker article where the author explains an electronic wrestling match he had with, of all people, the late Steve Jobs (of Apple fame).

I'm not sure why those two didn't inspire the article the week I ran into them, but luckily I keep a note with sermon and article ideas…and I was reminded of them again today as I scanned through my list of potential topics.

I mean, you really don't want another article connected with the presidential election do you? 🙂

First, the tweet. This is what @lanalue wrote (Sorry…I didn't grab a screen capture at the time):

You will only experience the amount of freedom that u are willing to surrender to God.

Hmmm…seems contradictory, doesn't it? How many soldiers would say that they surrendered for freedom? You don't surrender for freedom…since it means (if you aren't just shot) you are going to become a prisoner of war.

Yet @lanalue is telling us that our freedom is directly proportional to our surrender to God (not inversely proportional as we would expect).

So, how can Steve Jobs shed more light on this apparent contradiction? Continue reading “Surrendering to Be Free”

Greek 'I am'

Jesus’ 7 “I Am” Statements in John

Posted on by Alan

Greek 'I am'Jesus’ 7 “I am” statements in John for my Twitter friends Julie and Mike:

John 6:35 (ESV)

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

John 8:12 (ESV)

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Continue reading “Jesus’ 7 “I Am” Statements in John”

Boy with his hand raised

Pick Me! Pick Me!

Posted on by Alan

Boy with his hand raisedOne of the reasons I like being around young children is because their excitement is infectious—even when it is about inconsequential or mundane things. Michelle and I have been blessed by the fact that Augie is especially able to appreciate life's ordinary occurrences. There is no school day where he isn't thrilled to hear the words, "The bus is here" or where an evening meal of noodles doesn't excite him. While the rest of the world is trying to find the next best thing, Augie is enjoying life's smallest and most repetitive events. I will miss when his little-boy, heartfelt "Fanks" disappears, but I suspect it'll be replaced by a grown man's "Thanks"; somehow I can't imagine the contagious glow that permeates his being will ever disappear. Continue reading “Pick Me! Pick Me!”

“One Light” by 3 Doors Down

Posted on by Alan

A great "almost Christian" song by 3 Doors Down:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alKUu4g-HM0&w=512&rel=0]

I know what (who) the “one light to shine” should be…must be…

(And, who knows, maybe this isn’t an "almost" Christian song…)

P.S. As of right now you can get a free copy of this single here.

Augie and Sunny

The Patience of Sunny

Posted on by Alan

Augie and SunnyThe English language owes much to the Bible, especially the King James translation. Even the most non-religious often use expressions directly from its phrasings or stories—for instance, "the patience of Job."

And Job did seem a pretty patient man. Even though he "was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil"1 (Job 1:1), things went terribly south for him. First he lost his vast riches and all his children, but even in the midst of his grieving we learn that "in all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong" (Job 1:22). Then, with no knowledge of why the former or latter happened to him, he was "struck…with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head: (Job 2:7). His wife then encouraged him to give up his integrity and "Curse God and die" (Job 2:9)… Continue reading “The Patience of Sunny”

5 Solas Tattoo

5 Solas

Posted on by Alan

5 Solas TattooNot sure what your feelings toward tattoos are, but…

  • Sola Scriptura — By Scripture Alone
  • Solus Christus — By Christ Alone
  • Sola Gratia — By Grace Alone
  • Sola Fide — By Faith Alone
  • Soli Deo Gloria — Glory to God Alone

If you click on the thumbnail, you will see a larger image…

(Credit for the tattoo goes to Alana from Main St. Tattoo and Body Piercing in Merced, California.)