Lump

A few years ago while my family was attending Northeast Christian Church in the Louisville area, we saw an incredible ten-minute video called "Lump," by a pastor named Rob Bell.  We were in some sort of Sunday School class, I believe, and this video served as the discussion starter.  I have seen the video a couple of times since, and each time it has really impacted me in the way I deal with my kids, specifically my son.  The video concerns a situation Rob encounters with his son, and serves as an example of God's unending love for us.  I plan to show the video this Sunday at Drennon Christian Church, and hope it will prove as impacting to our congregation as it always has to me.  All of Rob Bell's videos, including "Lump," can be found (with Spanish subtitles!) on YouTube.

Holy Relics: This Time Paul's Chains

As I was preparing for this week's message I wanted to speak about "Why Be a Christian?"  A great Scripture passage for that question comes from Paul's conversation with King Agrippa in Acts 26.  Paul tells the king exactly how and why he became a Christian, and very nearly converts Agrippa, from the infamous line of Herod, on the spot.

Doing research on the text and the theme I came across mentions of the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, where Paul's remains lie (except for his head, which is kept at another church nearby--he was beheaded, you know).  Here the church has guarded relics of Paul's life and work, including the chains with which he was bound while he was in Rome during his final couple of years on earth.  I find it fascinating that historical remnants such as these are still available to be seen by our naked eyes, straight from the Bible.  I may never visit Rome, or Turkey, or Greece, or especially the Holy Land, but through the wonders of technology I can see items such as these, which once again validate and confirm my faith.  

I don't need these relics for my belief, but I love finding them.  Now, if those Christian Chinese explorers can get on with their next expedition to their location on Mt. Ararat and give us more on Noah's Ark...

Going My Way

Harriet and I just had the wonderful opportunity to watch a movie together on this snow day.  I had first stumbled upon Going My Way, starring Bing Crosby in 1944, about a year or so ago.  I was flipping channels late one night and went to the Trinity Channel.  The movie had already begun and was well into itself, but I absolutely loved what I saw of the remaining hour and a half or so.

I ordered it on Amazon.com lately and just got around to watching it lately.  Bing plays a young priest who is assigned to a struggling church in order to help the elderly minister, unbeknownst to the older priest.  The movie is a beautiful testament to Christian humility, and lives are transformed all around Bing's Father O'Malley.  This movie is a true inspiration to me, and was a tear jerker several times (in a good way).  I would recommend it to audiences of all ages, as it is, naturally in 1944, clean as a whistle and simply beautiful.

Noah's Ark Found?

Now that I have figured out how to post videos to this blog, I have to put up the video from the Chinese expedition team that explored a site on Mt. Ararat a little over a year ago.  The visited a manmade structure buried in the ice at around 13-14,000 feet up, complete with all sorts of rooms and chambers, some even including straw on the floors.  The construction fits with what is known about ancient times, and is far above livable altitude.

I continue to check the website of this team periodically, hoping that I will hear more.  Where it stands now is that they are currently putting together a new expedition team for a return visit this coming summer.

What a great find it would be for the world to be able to see and study Noah's Ark.

The Real Face of Jesus?

My wife and I watched an incredible special the other day from The History Channel.  I always take these sorts of specials with a grain of salt, because there have been some real "winners" amongst their so-called Christian documentaries.  Probably the silliest I've seen was one of theirs concerning Noah's Ark, which degenerated into a speculative mess that completely undermined the Ark story, but without much substance to back up their analysis.

This special, though, which apparently first aired in March last year, concerned analysis by scientists of the Shroud of Turin.  Of course the Shroud itself is controversial, with most folks dismissing it as a hoax.  I myself like to think about the possible authenticity of it, especially since the definitive carbon-14 dating performed on the Shroud has been thrown into very serious doubt due to slipshod methods.  So much documentation over the past two millenia points to a Shroud existing and passing from church to church, country to country, ever since the time of Jesus' death and resurrection.

This special explores just how such an image could exist on a piece of cloth that is at the very least seven hundred years old and quite possibly two thousand.  Not only do the scientists and theologians involved leave the viewers with the conclusion that they have no idea how this sort of image could occur on cloth, at any point in history, unless it was a divine act such as the Resurrection of Jesus, but it also uses modern technology to show just what the person shown in the Shroud would actually look like.

The picture above is from their findings.  Is this the real face of Jesus?  There is really no way we could ever know, here at least.  I sure do enjoy the possibilities, though.  Below I have attached a video showing the image from the Shroud transforming into a possible Image of Jesus.

The Pursuit of God

Yesterday we were listening to Chip Ingram on 94.7 FM, Christian Talk Radio.  Chip was preaching on reading great books, specifically great Christian writings.  The first author he mentioned really learning from was the great pastor and writer, A. W. Tozer.  A couple of his most famous books were The Knowledge of the Holy and The Pursuit of God.  Since I love all things iPhone, I looked Tozer up to see if there were any apps.  I downloaded The Pursuit of God and started reading it today.  The first chapter alone was enough to draw me in, as Tozer wrote about "Following Hard after God," which was his chapter title.

We as Christians must truly follow hard after God.  Even when we're trying hard to worship in a body of believers, study, pray and read the Scriptures, at times we don't really follow hard after God.  Tozer wrote about truly making God our focus, in which case nothing else matters quite as much as serving Him in all aspects of our lives.  When we live our lives focused on Him, everything else is viewed through a much better lens.

I look forward to reading more of Tozer's book on my iPhone, and learning better how to follow hard after God...