Suicide doesn't solve anything

I ran across an interesting perspective on suicide the other day while reading Kreeft's book on heaven.

If Heaven exists and is so great, why not escape earth right away and get there as quickly as possible? First of all because you don't get there that way. The God who revealed Heaven also forbade suicide, and all the medically dead and resuscitated patients who had committed suicide and had seen something of the next life reported hellish rather than Heavenly experiences. They saw that suicide was a disastrous mistake, that all the problems they had tried to escape followed them, but after death they could no longer do anything to change them... [Suicide is] like trying to get into college from elementary school by burning down the high school.

When you look at it like this, suicide doesn't solve anything. Why on earth would we ever consider it as an option?

"Seriously!" John 5 part 3

It's pretty crazy if you think about it: God coming to earth so He could be even closer to us. But, when he gets here, the people that claim to know him hate him! Jesus did a lot of good things: healing people, teaching, and (my personal favourite) feeding people. Plus John (see chapter 1) was respected by the Jews, and he said Jesus was the Messiah. You'd think that this is enough evidence that Jesus is who he says he is, but the Jews still reject him.

Jesus isn't a prophet, he's who the prophets talked about. He isn't a guy who did some good things, everything he DID was good. This is who Jesus is. Maybe it's time for all of us to take him a little more seriously.

"Judge Jesus" - John 5 part 2

Many people believe that judging others is in general a bad thing. But really, it's impossible not to judge people or situations. We can be less critical, but that won't change the fact that we are critical. I love Jesus' rationale on his good judgment:

"By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me."

If we want to be like Jesus, our judgement MUST be godly. That is, it must occur not to please ourselves (gossip, rude joking, teasing, pride) but rather God.
So here's my question: What does it look like when we judge someone like Jesus does? What are the results? Is it possible?

"Stir It Up" John 5 Part 1

We've decided to shorten posts up a little more, so here's our first attempt!

In this passage, it seems like the only thing Jesus likes better than a healing is a healing that makes a point. But what point is he making? He heals a man, then tells him to pick up his mat and walk, and people get all worked up. Apparently, it's against Jewish law to carry your mat on the Sabbath (the holy day of the week). Then, when Jesus sees him later on, he tells him to stop sinning.

Gwah?! I thought Jesus told this guy to carry his mat! So here's your assignment: Why did Jesus tell this guy to stop sinning?

Oh, and you can't answer "because Jesus didn't want something worse to happen to him." That's too obvious.

Q.O.T.D.

Why is it so hard to do the right thing? AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!

John 4: Obey Your Thirst...

...is one of my least favourite slogans of all times. I can't put my finger on it, but it just annoys me. Just like Paul. HA! Just kidding, man.

Anyways, that's what Jesus talks about in John 4 (if you haven't read it, do so now!) Jesus meets a lady (a very promiscuous lady) at a well, and starts asking her questions. This Jesus guy is crazy: talking to a Samaritan woman (taboo), then he tells her he has living water. Her reply?

"Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water."

Paul's brother, Kevin, made an excellent observation. It sounds like this lady is frustrated and being sarcastic. Go ahead, read that in a sarcastic voice. But then he pulls out the big guns and starts telling her about all her past broken relationships. She is floored. The disciples are confused. The lady goes home and cries in her house, goes to church for a couple months, then eventually goes back to her old life.

NO WAY!

Of course not! She goes home and tells everyone about Jesus. Then they all track Jesus down, convincing him to stay with them for a couple days. Many become believers. All because of one woman had to tell others about what Jesus did.

Is that what happened when you got home from camp? Is that what we do when we feel especially close to Jesus? Or do you just go home, feel better for a few weeks, then go back to your old life. How has Jesus changed your life? Are you different because you've "met" him? The challenge here is a HUGE challenge for all of us: If Jesus is so great, we need to tell everyone about him, how great he is, and how he's changed our lives. Don't go it alone, you'll fizzle out. Get together with other people who love Jesus, read some Scripture, tell some stories, pray, and fire each other up. But don't stop there. Change other people's lives like Jesus has changed yours.

Quote of the Day...

"Triangles can never be non-triangular, and rocks are always guranteed to be rocky, grass grassy, and dogs doggy--but humans can be inhuman. We alone can fail to achieve our nature. Our nature is a task to achieve, not a fact to receive... (Kreeft, The Philosophy of Tolkein, 108). Virtue is an important part of what it is to be human. Anyone whom you find transfored by vice cannot be counted a man. Gollum is an ex-Hobbit, a failed Hobbit, Ringwraiths are ex-men.

The treacherous conspirator who steals by fraud may be likened to a fox; the man who is ruled by intemperate anger is thought to have the soul of a lion. The fearful and timid man who trembles without reason is like a deer; the lazy, stupid fellow is like an ass. The volatile, inconstant man who continually changes direction is like a bird; the man who is sunk in foul lust is trapped in the pleasures of a filthy sow. In this way, anyone who abandons virtue ceases to be a man, since he cannot share in the divine nature, and instead becomes a beast. (Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy, 82-3)

Question of the Day?

What is your favorite TV show?

Cloak & Dagger - John 3

Okay, what's up? Are we too intimidating, or are we really that enlightened? Please share your thoughts and comments! Anyways...

I can just picture it: an important religious figure crouching through the shadows to talk to a "rebellious" teacher. Thank goodness only a couple torches are lit, because this guy does NOT want to be spotted! That's how this chapter begins. Nicodemus had a lot to lose: Jesus was not a good guy for influential Jewish teachers to spend time with. But he just HAD to know more about what Jesus thought. So here he is.

"Born again" is a tag line that many Christians use to identify themselves: "I'm a born-again Christian." This is where this label gets it's origin: it's an illustration of the process we must go through to know God. Just like we're born physically, we must be reborn spiritually. In short, we must allow the Holy Spirit to change us from being like the world to being like God.

And then comes one of my favourite parts:

Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God. (20, 21)

Here it is, in case you've ever wondered. Don't be surprised if people don't like the Christ you believe in or what he teaches. (This isn't a license to get people to hate you, but that's another topic.) When you are in the light and doing what God wants, it'll be as plain as day that you're acting through God's power. When you read John, remember this! You'll see those who do evil hating Jesus, but God is clearly working through Jesus. In fact, Jesus is God.

After this conversation, our pal John the Baptist has a little talk with his disciples about Jesus. (They're a little jealous about Jesus baptizing people like it's going out of style.) I'm always so amazed that John is so humble. Instead of even showing a little jealousy, he is happy for Jesus, and pretty much tells his disciples to follow Jesus. But that's definitely the right thing to do. After all,

"Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." (36)

Jesus is the life of the party

So what are your thoughts on Jesus' first? Not the sort of thing you would expect from a religious teacher.
Some of you may be confused by the placement of the overturning the tables incident at the beginning of John; the other gospels have this story right near the end. Some people speculate that Jesus must therefore have done this twice--John tells us of the first time and Matthew and company describe the second. I don' t think that this is the case. It doesn't appear as though chronological order is always the priority in 1st century story telling as it is with storytelling today. Jesus birth always shows up before his death, but everything else is up for grabs.
So why has John moved this incident to the beginning of his gospel? What do you think?
I can just imagine how awkward the disciple must have felt as they watched Jesus spill everyone's goods in the temple. Then, just when you think things can't get any worse, Jesus responds to the Jews' question by talking about their temple being destroyed. That would be like someone saying, "Destroy the Whitehouse and I will rebuild it in three days."
The Jews were likely saying to themselves, "First of all, how dare you even suggest that our temple be destroyed, and even if it was, there is no way that you or anyone else could rebuild it in three days."
Hangin' out with Jesus must have been really hard at times.