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Saturday, 21 November 2009

  • Question About the Crucifixion: Did Jesus Go to Hell?

    Jesus went to Hell. This is a totally new concept for me.

    I was having lunch with a mid-western Protestant, Catholic from Queens yesterday and someone who didn't have an opinion either way, and I was astounded to hear the latter two begin discussing the "fact" that Jesus went to Hell for three days after He was crucified and placed in the tomb.     My personal opinion has no place here; I am simply stunned by the fact that I was raised in the Church of Christ until my teens and I have never heard anything about Jesus having gone to Hell for three days while His body was in the tomb. 

    Did you know about this?     I was always of the impression that being crucified on a cross would be pretty much enough misery and sin taking to account for mankind, but apparently there is a huge Christian contingency that believes that Christ spent three days in Hell as part of His suffering for our sins. I am not one to say one way or the other about what I believe and don't believe, nor to preach, but I am totally confounded at not having heard this before, since it seemed to be, at the lunch table today,  such a commonly know thing. I'm certain my mother would have had a strong opinion about it one way or the other, and I never heard of this concept. More Here...

  • Why do We Partake in Religious Rituals?

    A few days ago, I was conversing with a dear friend who shared some her thoughts on why she wasn't sure that she wanted to get married. As she pointed out, in American society, marriage hasn't any deep significance. Celebrities seem to change spouses as often as they change outfits. Divorce rates have become astronomical as people have come to view divorce like the Wite-Out of marriages, a quick fix to a casual mistake. All in all, the deep covenant-like quality of marriage has been largely lost.

    A few days after this conversation, my hubby and I were talking about the class he is in at church to prepare for baptism. He was sharing with me some of his reasons for not wanting to be baptized in the denomination in which he grew up as well as his reasons for wanting to be baptized in the Mennonite congregation we now call home. I was deeply impressed with his thoughtful reflection on the matter. I was baptized when I was 14 or 15, and while I was old enough to have some sense of the significance of what I was doing, in hindsight, I think I was also rather naive and just figured this was something that I had to do at some point or another and may as well do it then. More Here...

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    Many thanks to thecuttingtruth, WasaiWarrior, subSacred, and all of you wonderful readers who submitted content this week!

  • Reflections on Sabbath

    Hear this, you who trample on the needy and bring the poor of the land to an end, saying, "When will the new moon be over, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale, that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great and deal deceitfully with false balances, that we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals and sell the chaff of the wheat?"

    The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob:"Surely I will never forget any of their deeds. Shall not the land tremble on this account, and everyone mourn who dwells in it, and all of it rise like the Nile, and be tossed about and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt?" "And on that day," declares the Lord GOD, "I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight."
      -- Amos 8:4-9

    As I have mentioned before, I grew up in the Worldwide Church Of God. Because of this, I grew up going to church on Saturday, as it is their Sabbath. The above quoted passage is a section of scripture that someone I know in real life quoted to me, saying that it supports the Sabbath as being over. The argument as I understand it is that in this verse, God says that Israel has asked him when the Sabbath is over, and that in Verse 9 God responds to them saying that it will be over when He makes the sun go down at noon and darken the Earth in broad daylight. This having happened when Jesus died on the cross, so therefore the Sabbath is over. More Here...

  • How to Have the Spiritual Life of a Saint: Devotions

    By Justin at BeDeviant

    Call it what you want, but a “quiet time” (a.k.a. QT, devotions, devotionals, devos, God time, date with Jesus [editor's note: *shudder*], etc.) has been a staple of the evangelical diet for decades. And for good reason.

    The primary purpose of this time is to get with God and let him speak to you–through his Word, through prayer, through other literature, through music, etc. Although this practice can quickly lead into a “checklist” activity (i.e. “I must have my quiet time with God or he won’t love me anymore!” We snicker, but I knew kids in college who truly believed this. And it showed. Striving much?), it is profoundly helpful in hearing God’s voice in your life.

    So how do we do it? What does a quiet time even look like? If you’ve been wondering how, or if you want to start, here’s a quick and easy guide to get your devotional wheels turning:

    1. Find a consistent time. I find mornings work best, but maybe you’re a night owl. Pick a time and own it. More Here...

Friday, 20 November 2009

  • The Road: Coming Soon to a Church Near You

    By Justin at Faith and Geekery

    Awhile back I talked a little about the trend of marketing movies to Christians — both Christian film directors talking about their faith as well as other films that are being marketed specifically to churches regardless of the intent.

    I have to say up front that I knew nothing about the movie The Road or the book it came from before doing a little research. I see it has some great actors and it looks like a good story. It’s getting positive reviews, and is a film that may have Oscar potential. I don’t want to criticize the movie itself, but I would like to question how it’s being marketed to Christians.

    Jared Wilson at his blog The Gospel-Driven Church mentions an Entertainment Weekly article (which doesn’t appear to be online, although maybe that will change) that talks a bit about The Road’s plans. Directly from the article:

    [T]he adaptation of . . . McCarthy’s acclaimed novel about a father (Viggo Mortensen) and son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) traveling through a bleak wasteland is getting the full pitch to Christian audiences . . . Plans include 15 advance screenings for church leaders nationwide, a website featuring free sermon and discussion guides, and a special trailer with extra scenes underscoring the film’s moral message.

    The website in question is here, and you can download a PDF filled with multiple sermons and questionnaires. The studio is using a marketing firm that has marketed to Christians in the past. More Here...

  • Thoughts on Transition

    I just moved into a new place. Every time I move in to a new building, city, or ministry there is a tension present. I always feel as though I can't properly rest or be fully comfortable because I'm not settled. The movement from one house to another, from one job (or unemployment) to a new job, or from one form of marital status to another is difficult All transition seems to have this tension. Being in between two places makes you feel like a stretch Armstrong doll being or a tug-of-war rope. When I think about my moving around in the last several years and the ministry of Jesus I see a shared tension.

    "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
    -Jesus of Nazareth, The Gospel of Matthew

    Jesus was on the move. He lived in the tension. Jesus was between his heavenly kingdom and the world. Both were of Him and he was in both. The Church lives in a similar tension as she aims to be the kingdom of heaven on Earth. She is to embody the all ready (in Christ) and not yet (new earth) kingdom. More Here...

  • Anger, and the Eternal Perspective

    By Clayton King

    I was commenting this weekend to my pastor about the culture we are living in right now in America and how everyone, or at least alot of folks, have such a short fuse.  Really, more and more people get riled up about less and less.

    I’ve seen this on TV, in the movies, and on the news, but I’ve noticed more and more in my daily routine as I drive my kids to school, buy groceries, or go see my 7 year old play football.  It doesn’t take much for most people to have an all-out meltdown, to go from sitting still and quiet to ranting, raving, cursing and threatening those around them, for insignificant things like taking a parking spot, failing to let them in the line of traffic, or for just looking at them (seriously, the other day I was staring off into space thinking about something random, and a guy in a truck thought I was looking at him - I was wearing sunglasses - and he challenged me to fist fight.  I turned him down).

    What’s behind all of this?  When people crater and just go nuts, like some parents recently did at a little league football game I attended, what is the cause of such out-of-control behavior?

    Well, there are many factors, to be sure.  Immaturity.  Stress.  Family problems.  But I really wonder if the reason why we all tend to blow up about such minor things is that we fail to realize the difference between what really matters and what is absolutely unimportant in the grand scheme of things.  We lack an eternal perspective. More Here...

  • Divorce and Loss

    I live in one of two remaining countries in world which doesn't allow divorce.  We're a Roman Catholic country, as stated in our constitution, and hold on dearly to our traditions, culture, the family and its values.  We have had endless political and religious discussions and debates over whether or not Malta should introduce divorce.  So, this 'hot' topic gets a lot of coverage in the media.  To date, there is divided opinion on divorce: 

    The anti-divorce camp (made up of conservatives, moralists, right-wing politicians, the church and it's various organizations), zealously see 'the family' as the cornerstone of society and morally claim that everything must be done to preserve it.  They argue that families need to be strengthened and that help should be given to those families in trouble so they can face their difficulties which strength and courage to overcome them.  The focus usually turns to children and their needs.  They argue that the introduction of divorce will make matters worse - not better.  It will bring more chaos than order.  When referring to the family, they are of course, referring to the nuclear, conventional family.  Family diversity does not feature in their discussions.  Yet, their staunch anti-divorce views sit unrealistically with social reality.  Maltese marriages are breaking down at an accelerated rate each year.  And even with separation, children are still the casualties of such breakups.  Couples have fought endless battles in court over 'their children.' 

    More Here...

  • How Biblical is Too Biblical?

    By Dean Lusk

    I had a great discussion with a friend this evening. We talked about several things, but one that kept me thinking was the fact that sometimes Christians don't hold to the same standards. That's pretty much fact.

    A question that came to my mind -- one that I'd like for you to respond to -- is, how Biblical is too Biblical?

    I won't qualify the question further for now, though it's admittedly a very broad question. You're free to take whatever angle you'd like, whether it touches on legalism, liberalism, literalism, or any other "l" word.

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