bethinking.org

My buddy Idaho Paul put me on to this site. I've just skimmed the surface but it looks to be a place full of interesting brain food. bethinking.org addresses numerous questions about God, culture, science, other religions, and spirituality. Why not take a few moments and bookmark this site for future reference?

Monday Morning Message - Jesus Is Better

Consider this a "catch up" post for the Monday Morning Message. I have been preaching a series through the book of Hebrews leading up to and following Easter. The intent of the series was to focus our collective attention on Christ and the work He accomplished. This has not been a verse-by-verse exposition of the entire book but rather a visit to the mountain tops.

As I have studied, read, prayed, and preached through this magnificent missive I have been personally struck by two things. First, and foremost, the unflinching and single minded focus of the author on the person and work of Jesus is stirring. The writer of Hebrews purposefully and powerfully grapples with the questions of who is Jesus and what did He accomplish. Second, I am humbled by the grand and repeated presentation of the finished/completed/concluded/wrapped up work of Jesus. When Jesus cried out from the cross, "It is finished," He meant it was finished. There was not, and is not, anything remaining which needs to be done to achieve salvation. There is only the gracious gift to be received and a life of gratitude to be lived.

The "mountain tops" we visited on this too brief tour of Hebrews are outlined with the references for your consideration.

Jesus is a better word - Hebrews 1:1-4. He is both the revealer of God and the redeemer of humanity.

Jesus is a better builder - Hebrews 3:1-6. The question the Hebrew Christians were asking in the midst of their lives was, "Can Jesus be trusted?" The compelling question of our lives is, "Will I trust Him?" Jesus is building His church, will we be part of what He's doing?

Jesus is a better priest - Hebrews 7:20-27. The Old Testament priest was always busy offering sacrifices, both for others and for himself. In the New Testament our better priest, Jesus, is able to offer one sacrifice "once and for all" (Heb. 7:27) for us. He had no personal need to offer the sacrifice because He was perfect before God. He offered the sacrifice for us and there was need for another to be offered ever again!

Jesus is a better sacrifice - Hebrews 10:1-25. The Greek verb tenses in this passage leave no room for doubt about the finished work of the cross. These verbs all speak of the completed and finished work of Christ's sacrifice and the continuing effect and reality of that sacrifice. Verse 14 may be the pinnacle of the entire missive for me, "For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified."

Jesus offers us a better kingdom - Hebrews 12:18-29. In uncertain times it is wonderful to know that there is a "kingdom that cannot be shaken."

Now to Him, who has once and for all secured the blessing of salvation for all who believe and who even now is interceding on our behalf before the Father, be offered the worship of our lives lived in gratitude to Him.

About the Goat...

Since I discovered how to add a photo to the header of the blog I hope to change it every month or so. After you've all had a chance to enjoy the image and imagine the story that goes with it I will tell you a little about it.

This old billy lives in North Eastern Venezuela and is the de facto guard at a crossroads there. Our missionary friend told us to have our camera ready because this old guy is always there. Sure enough, as we came to the crossing and greeted the guys with the machine guns my beloved rolls down the window and gets this great photo! If you're ever on the road between Maturin and Puerta la Cruz be sure to look for him, I'm sure he's still keeping the intersection neatly trimmed!

Anybody Need a Reason to Believe?

"The following probabilities are taken from Peter Stoner in Science Speaks (Moody Press, 1963) to show that coincidence is ruled out by the science of probability. Stoner says that by using the modern science of probability in reference to eight prophecies, "we find that the chance that any man might have lived down to the present time and fulfilled all eight prophecies is 1 in 10¹⁷." That would be 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000. In order to help us comprehend this staggering probability, Stoner illustrates it by supposing that "we take 10¹⁷ silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all of the state two feet deep.

"Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man."

Stoner considers 48 prophecies and says, "we find the chance that any one man fulfilled all 48 prophecies to be 1 in 10¹⁵⁷, or 1 in

100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000, 000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.

The estimated number of electrons in the universe is around 10⁷⁹. It should be quite evident that Jesus did not fulfill the prophecies by accident."

From Evidence that Demands a Verdict, Josh McDowell

I Had a Blogoversary!

It passed right by and I didn't even notice! I just happened to glance at the little widget and realize that it was now counting down from the 300's again which could only mean one thing, my blogoversary had passed! I felt a little guilty. I didn't even send myself a card, much less throw a blogoversary worthy party. There wasn't even a simple, "Woo-hoo!" offered up on this auspicious (maybe suspicious?) day.

So, what's happened in a year? Upon reflection it is clear that quite a lot has happened with the vast majority of it being quite good!

• I learned (and continue to learn) how to layout, publish, manage, and maintain my blog. This is no small feat for one who still prefers pen and paper to keyboard.
• I have posted on topics from abortion to war (got to post something about zoology soon...), politics to religion (and the relationship thereof), things that make me laugh to things that make me boil, and a wide range of other interesting (at least to me) thoughts.
• I have been exposed to some marvelous and memorable art work and have even been so foolhardy as to put my Philistine opinions forward as if they meant something.
• A quick count reveals 119 posts published and 12 or 13 in the waiting room (many will never see the light of the internet). This means I have probably written as much or more this year than ever before and I'm a pretty regular user of the journal. What is unique about this format for me is that it is much less personal (what I feel, experience, encounter) and much more cerebral. I am working out thoughts about the world in which I live through this format.
• Far and away the most wonderful benefit of this exercise has been the people I've been privileged to encounter and engage. Here's a brief list of a few of my personal faves (in no particular order)...
• Idaho Paul who drives a school bus, pastors a church, and has written a novel this year. What a joy to know I have a brother in Idaho!
• Paul the Dutchman has opened a window on the church in Europe for me and has regularly inspired me with his love of life and family. Paul has unwittingly introduced me to people from South Africa, Hong Kong, and Iceland (to name a few).
  
• Carol, my art teacher, has engaged me with her thoughtfulness. Her willingness to introduce me to some great art has enriched my life and the lives of many others I have shared these works with through this year. (BTW Carol, I have great story to tell you about Chagall's White Crucifixtion!)
• Mike makes me think every time I visit with him in the Upper Room. Wounded but healing, he's being used by God to bring healing to others.
• Brother Maynard's Subversive Influence is always good for a mental, and sometimes, spiritual, shakeup. I don't see how this man generates the volume of material he produces. When I grow up and become a real blogger I want to be like him!
• Lucy has to be my favorite new blog-friend. I disagree, sometimes to the point of needing to take a few calming breaths, with her viewpoints (and, in fairness, she with mine) but I am so grateful for the opportunity to carry on a civil and fair discussion with someone who doesn't think like me. It has been so refreshing to discover that such a thing can actually happen. I always look forward to her posts and I sometimes scold her (gently) about her use of language unbecoming of one of her intelligence.
  

So, one year of blogging down and another year ahead. I've got plenty of unfinished projects lying about.

1. Who knows Mike, maybe, just maybe, A Shepherd's Tale will find a continuation.
   
2. Brother Maynard, maybe I'll get that Reader's Digest Bible review done.
   
3. Carol, The White Crucifixtion is huge. We should have tackled it before Easter, but a look at the cross is good anytime. Don't you agree?
   
4. Lucy, there's a post on funeral's for strangers in the slow cooker. I'll let you know when the table is set.
   

Even with the unfinished projects piling up there are all the new possibilities and adventures out ahead of us that will certainly find some time in this space. To all who have become regulars (both of you :-)!) I look forward to continuing bump into you. To all who have just dropped by, come again soon and introduce yourself. To all who may accidentally find your way here, I don't believe it to be an accident. Who knows what may come of the few moments our lives intersect?

Let me go blow out the candles on my blogoversary cake now! Hasta pronto!

Dead for 3 days. Alive for 2000+ years!

"As surely as Pontius Pilate was a real historical figure, so was Jesus of Nazareth. As surely as the cross really happened, so did the resurrection become it joyous outcome...In contrasting the importance of the cross and the resurrection, we need to remind ourselves that Christ was dead for only 3 days, but he has now been alive for tow thousand years. We need to recall to consciousness that his return from the grave is the all-important victory that has kept Christianity out of the graveyard of other lofty philosophies and religions.

"The risen Christ, made alive again by his Father's power, is the only reason we have for remembering the cross. So we must forget the "Messiah of the media,: who talses so much film to die and so little to rise again. The resurrection is too important to be shelved as an "incidental" area of Jesus' existence and teaching.

"The resurrection is the glorious crown of triubph on the exalted head of tragedy. The despair of Good Friday has been superseded by Christ's return to life. The outcome of the cross is that he has overcome death."

Calvin Miller, Once Upon a Tree

He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!

This day the wondrous, marvelous, still mysterious news is proclaimed anew. He is risen! He is risen today! To you who believe and know, rejoice! To you who know and do not believe, reconsider. He is risen!