more of you in my life

this phrase kept coming out of my mouth as I prayed tonight. I got up, googled it and found this video. It really ministered to me over just what I was praying about. I hope it ministers to you.



In case you missed it, the quotes on the screen were from Smith Wigglesworth. Have you ever heard of Smith Wigglesworth? What have you heard about him? Let me know in the comments section.

Keeping busy

That sounds like such a noble statement doesnt it? Im just trying to keep busy. Or, you have to keep busy. Of course we have all see those stupid...well I shouldnt call them stupid...just poorly misled...bumper stickers that say, "Jesus is coming so you better look busy." That is the thing...we are all too busy. On Memorial Day I was too busy playing with my new Crackberry to spend time with my girlfriend and friends from church who were just a few feet away from me. Too busy. And its not just Crackberries that keep us busy. We have been too busy for years. Even the great Jonathon Edwards talks about the business that was abundant in his life time when he says, "When we look at the world we see that people are exceedingly busy."

So, people were busy in the early 17oo's and we are still busy today. What drives all of our business? Edwards says it is our affections and I tend to agree with that. Our affections have gone astray and we have gotten busy with lesser things. Like CS Lewis says, its not that we dont have enough passion but our passions are too low! I dont even know what affections have been leading me but I do know this, in the last week I have been reminded of the fact that my affections are way out of kilter (whatever that means).

My friend John Robert Dobbs passed away last week in a tragic accident. He was a kid in the first youth group I was youth minister over and his Dad, John Dobbs, is the person who hooked me up with the Presidential Scholarship to Magnolia Bible College (I must give some thanks to my boy Gary Kirkendall too) which is what has led to me now working with Tal at Tapestry of Hope and finishing my M.Div. at Beeson instead of going down the road to pursuing my BA in finance and my MBA. So, I have a lot to be thankful to John for and we used to be really tight buddies.

As soon as I heard the news I sent out an email to about 30 people I thought to be people of prayer and I started praying to God (the God of all comfort) for him to give comfort to John and his family. I realized at this point just how disconnected I had become from my good friend John. And I thought to myself, "I should go down there for the memorial service." But I didnt. I should have, but I didnt. I dont know why. I have read blog posts by people from Tulsa, OK who were there but I didnt make the trip from Birmingham.

John Robert was a wonderful kid. Most of my memories of him are from when he was a young kid in the 5th grade. Some of the pictures I have seen of him are of him leading worship and he looks so different, so grown up. I hate that I missed all of those years with him. I really hate it. It is truly my loss. I dont want to loose the precious time I have with those who love me, those that I love. God has given me the gift of friends and I need to invest in that gift wisely. Its not that Im asking for more time with them, Im just confessing that I have wasted the gift of time God has given me. I dont want to be wasteful anymore.

Where have my affections gone? I dont know, but I know I dont like where they are. I love this man (John Dobbs) and I hope I get to spend some time with him really soon. I hope God opens up that door for me. I need to be asking, seeking, and knocking which is what Im going to do right now.

April 6, 2008 at TOH (Clean Sweep)

http://tapestryofhope.podomatic.com/

We talk a lot about addictions at Tapestry and we believe that a lot of us (maybe every one of us) are addicted to something whether we admit it or not. We might not look like it like the bums (that are bumming off of other bums) in 5 points but us folk (me included) that live in the Bluff Park suburb of Hoover have addictions too. At Tapestry, we believe in the validity of the 12 step program for addiction recovery and on the first Sunday of every month this year we are taking a biblical look at one of the 12 steps. This being the fourth month of the year, we are looking at the fourth step which is "taking a fearless moral inventory of ourselves." Here is some of the stuff you wouldn't know just by listening to the sermon.

We have this idea that people need a place where they can settle down and connect with God. At TOH we open the doors to the worship space at 15 til but we ask that people enter in an attitude of prayer and meditation. We have the foyer area set up with coffee and snacks as an area for people to hang out and talk about what is going on but we ask that every one keep their conversation outside when they enter. This is something we have been trying for a few weeks. Some weeks I feel like it goes over really well and some weeks I wonder if anyone saw the sign or cared about the sign. On the days when it happens I really think the room feels different and worship just seems...well...better.

Propmtly at 5:05 we started it if off with a TOH classic video "The Breastplate of St Patrick." Next, yours truly, that would be me, played what might go down in TOH history as one of the worst vids yet. Notice I didnt say graphics...I said videos. Ok ok...I thought it was funny when I saw it on Youtube...and I thought it was funny the second time I watched it...but it just didnt fit after having everybody enter in a spirit of worship and meditation. I dont know what I was thinking. Teresa Prince did the welcome (excellently) followed by reading Psalm 111.

Marc Phillips brought this awesome violinist with him that rocked the house. This week we put four songs together with this video in the background. Next, we had three people stand and read Scriptures (Jeremiah 17:9-10, 1 John 1:8-10, and Psalm 4:4)back to back. We really believe in the value of the public reading of Scripture. This is something that is every worship service we have. We are kind of liturgical in that way. Marc led us in one more song and then we showed "Spoken Word: Woman At the Well."

During the sermon I showed several pictures from postsecret.com. If you havent been there, check it out and check out Drew Marshall's interview with the creator of postsecret. Be careful. Some postcards you might think are OK to show probably arent. If you are like me...or if you ARE me...get a censor for this.

Tal led us in a time of reflection, beginning to make that moral inventory and then we focused on the forgiveness that we have in Jesus as we moved into communion.

This being my first time at writing about this I probably didnt do as good of a job as I wanted to do. But it is what it is.

OVERMATCHED

No Country For Old Men got me. It got me more than any movie has gotten me for a few years now. When I say it got me I mean that I have been seeing images of the main villain in my head. One time when I was walking to the steps of my basement to go back up to the kitchen I imagined that Chigurh might be standing there waiting on me. (I know that sounds freaky…but hang with me) For some reason he didn’t have either of his trademarked weapons with him when I imagined him. I imagined asking him why he didn’t have his weapons with him. Then I realized this wasn’t a conversation I needed to be having so I put him out of my mind. I can’t remember the last time a movie got to me like that. This movie got Becki really good too but I can remember the last time a movie got her that good…movies do that to her. I can normally realize that movies are just fictional stories, especially when I know the actors in it but there was something just too mysterious about Anton Chigurh (played by Javier Bardem). I thought at first it was something about the fact that I have never seen Bardem in a movie and so his character seemed more like a real person since I didn’t know anything of that face other than the character Chigurh. After watching the bonus material I realized that a big part (probably the biggest part) of the fear that Chigurh incites comes from his mysteriousness. We don't know where he came from, exactly why he was there, or where he is going to. One of the most interesting takes on Chigurh is when someone called him a homicidal lunatic Sheriff Bell said he wouldn’t describe him as a lunatic but as a ghost. Why did he describe him as a ghost? I think It’s because Chigurh was unlike (not just unlike but way beyond) any earthly evil he had experienced before. In one of the few dialogues of the movie, an old man in a wheelchair (Ellis) asked Bell why he was quittin’ from being the sheriff. Bell's response simple. He was overmatched. Was he overmatched? There’s no doubt that Bell was overmatched. His entire staff was overmatched! There was no way they were going to catch Chigurh or stop him from doing whatever he wanted to do. Sheriff Bell...I know the feeling. The Bible makes it clear that we have an Enemy that wants to take us down and take us out (1 Peter 5:8) and that this Enemy is more than even the angels can handle (Jude 9). So to say that I'm overmatched by the devil is an understatement. I’m way in over my head. I can’t fight him on my own or even with my accountability group but that’s what I do and I get bloodied up every time. Some feel so overmatched that they may want to retire from this world because this world is no place for any men (old or young). Because you are putting your body and your soul at hazard when you say, “OK. I will be part of this world.” Alone, I know I'm overmatched. But guess what…(whispering voice)…I'm not alone (1 John 4:4)…and really…when all of the chips are pushed forward…my soul is just fine.

Free Beer For Your Story!

Last night was great! The “Men O’ Tapestry” finally put up our “free beer for your story” signs. Why did we do that? We did it because people want to tell their stories, even if it is to a stranger, and we at Tapestry want to hear their stories because we believe everybody’s smaller stories are part of God’s larger story and we want to help people see that and start living for the larger story. The first two times I said to someone, “Tell me your story”, we got into really deep stuff and I had a great opportunity to tell them about the Gospel. Of course this time I was hoping for “greater things than these.” Last night was different though. Last night we just listened. There never really was that wide open door to share the gospel but we are laying the foundation. We heard three real stories (mainly surface stuff) and one outrageous story about the time this guy got drunk at Tiki Bob’s, walked six blocks back to his car (where he passed out laying across the driver’s seat and the passenger seat with his feet hanging out of the driver’s side door), and woke up in the fetal position in the passenger seat with a homeless person driving him around Southside. From now on, as we are doing our study of Blue Like Jazz, I think we are going to have the "free beer for your story" sign up and anybody that wants to can come over and share their story at anytime. Next Tuesday, Casey and I are going to stay at Jackson’s until we close it down. Last time we did that we talked to “the couch surfer” whose real name I can’t remember right now...probably because it wasnt nearly as interesting as the fact that she surfs couches. That was the first time Sea Bass and I really teamed up in a conversation for the Gospel and it was beautiful. If you know Sea Bass you know that we pretty much only agree on one thing…Jesus…anything else is uncivilized. Oh the hopes for the future of Tapestry...

Theologians Dont Know Nothing About My Soul

Monday night Sea Bass and I went down to Mob town to see WILCO! We first heard about them in Blue Like Jazz...and let me say...TY very much Donald Miller for introducing us to them. One of my favorite Wilco songs is Theologians. Most of us at Beeson Divinity School are aspiring young theologians, to use a term I first heard eight years ago in Kosciusko Mississippi and only this year did I realize that the beloved Helmut Thielicke was the one who wrote the book Coker and I got that term from. It used to be said that the main function of the preacher was the cure of souls. Are we still in that business? Do we know anything about souls - let alone the cure of souls? Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:9, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what the Lord has prepared for those who love him.” So, obviously nobody knows anything about what God is going to do in the lives of people, so no one knows anything about the cure of souls. Wow. That sure sounds hopeless. But, look at verse 12. But. Now this is a really big but. I love that word, especially when Paul uses it. Almost every time Paul puts his big but in the middle of a sentence things turn out good. I mean, it looks like it is going to be bad, really bad, and then Paul sticks his big but in there and says, “God has revealed it to us by His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.” This word search can mean to search out or to investigate. When used in the sense of animals it means to sniff out. This is probably why many have called the Spirit the hound of heaven. The hound of heaven is sniffing out your soul but the question still remains. Do we theologians know anything about people’s souls? In Revelation 2:23 in the NIV Jesus says, “I am he who searches hearts and minds.” That word the NIV translates to “minds” (and know that I'm an NIV kind of guy…so I'm not bashing on them) is only found once in the NT. In the LXX (The Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures) it is found several times, most commonly translated as “kidneys” (Ex. 29:13; cf. 29:22; Lv. 3:4, 10, 15; 4:9, Dt. 32:14). It is translated metaphorically in PS 138:13 as “inmost being”. This is not the brain that the Lord is searching but something much deeper. One writer said that the kidneys are where we filter things out and this filtering system is the part of us that the Spirit looks deeply into because it determines what stays and what leaves our bodies. We have the Spirit of Jesus living inside us, the same spirit that Paul had but what are we doing here to grow in that? Because as I see it, any class here that has the word Spirit in it is pushed to the realm (the ever shrinking and hard to get into realm) of “electives.” Electives? If the class has the word grammar, syntax, translation, exegesis, history, or theology in it, it gets pushed to the front and center and made a “requirement” and a “prerequisite.” I don’t think I want to be known mainly as a theologian because as Wilco says, “theologians don’t know nothing about my soul!” I want to be known as a curer of souls! What do you want to be known as?

Happy Valentine's Day

One of my profs said today, "I dont celebrate those Roman Catholic Holidays...just to show how Protestant I am." Do you think that'll go over well with Becki? haha. Well, this Valentine's Day I dont have to go to work (for like the first time in like 5 years) but Becki and I are not doing our big Valentine thing until next week. You see, the first few years I couldnt do something with Becki on Valentines Day because I had to work at the restaurant...well...lets just say my little girlfriend didnt like not celebrating the traditional lovers day on the traditional lovers day. But, by the third year, we had established our own tradition...that we would celebrate Valentine's Day the week after Valentine's Day. So, a new tradition was started. But this year, when I told my love that we could actually go out on THE ACTUAL VALENTINE'S DAY what did she say??? She said, "Thats not our Valentine's Day. Our Valentine's Day is the week after." So, I have set the reservations for next Wednesday and tonight we dine at Chic Fil A. I gotta love my little "STJ". Here is a vid from the great people at PostSecret.com. We run some PS stuff during the our worship gatherings at Tapestry sometimes...and it can get a little dicey. Have a great Valentine's Day and dont't forget to call 1-800-1BISHOP Sunday, March 2 between 8:00 and 9:00 central standard time.

The Office

Since the strike is still on full force, why not admit that you reall are addicted to the office and join this group for addicts. It is not really a recovery group per se, but a way for you to feed your addiction until it takes over even more of your life.

http://apps.facebook.com/iwatchtheoffice/invite.php?id=6856734

The Leader Of Our Company

Thank goodness it is not Ossama Barack or whoever it is...haha...inside joke. Oh boy...the joys of the first day of school. I just sat through a class where we actually read out loud the entire syllabus. I stayed up really late last night studying for a Hebrew quiz and we didn't even have the quiz today. Doesn't that suck!? I did get a free lunch in the Global Center and carry the flag in the processional for today's service of chapel. Man I looked like a tool. No pictures were taken...sadly.

Time at Starbucks and O'Henrey's has been good. Now on to Jackson's for a little Blue Like Jazz! How I go to church w/o getting angry.

Do do da-do do da-do do da-do-do...

My Dad will probably tell me that I am going to burn out from blogging to much. He is probably right. My lovely gf and I watched Juno Friday night after we ate at Prairie Fire Grill. That link I gave sends you to the IMDb site but you should really check out the official movie website too. There are some super sweet things on there for you homeskillet! Oh man...and check out wikiquote's Juno page! Juno was great. I think I give it a 5/5 stars. I say "I think" because this whole stars thing is new to me. I quickly give it 5/5 because I'm already ready to watch it again. Be watching for a future post on how the gospel is portrayed in that movie.

School starts back Tuesday and I have'nt touched Hebrew ANY over the Christmas break. OUCH! But, to easy my pain I get a free meal (since im in the SGA) tomorrow night with the newbie Divinity Schoolers. Possibly a few future Tapers of Hopestry in there...who knows?

A Lot of Trouble (I Got Trouble All Over Me)

Im listening to Wilco, Sky Blue Sky right now. Good stuff and hopefully I will see them in Mobile (my hometown) in a few weeks! So, last Sunday I preached at Tapestry. That was a scary thing and an awesome thing. I didnt have my boys Tal and Casey there with me but I had the support of my wonderful gf, Becki Moseley, and my boys Clint, David, and Kaelan (still celebrating 27 years of Kato). I must give kudos to Clint for doing a good job keeping up with me as he went through the Mediashout presentation I made, Becki for doing a great job with the welcome, Kaelan for doing all of those little things that Casey normally does, and Steve Wingo (Wingo Star) and full band (featuring our very own Barry Paige (possible sp)) Here are some of the things I did with the sermon, including the pics and vids for you listeners that want to know what was going on.

You can listen to the sermon in several ways but the best is to go to the sermon page on Tapestry's website. From there you can download it into itunes and listen to it from there.

I got this video from Sermonspice.com It ran during the introduction and as the background to the three Scripture readings we had (Matthew 25:31-40, Luke 5:27-32, and Mark 10:17-22) and the Scripture references during the sermon. I felt like this was a good video to get people thinking about what title they give Jesus. As I started my sermon, this video was playing and whenever there was not anything else I wanted up there, I had this playing. One of the biggest things I wanted to get across in this sermon is that some people (probably everybody at some time or another, even me, even dedicated Christians) come to Jesus as just a teacher or someone who has a quick fix for their problems but we need to come to him, falling at his feet, as the ONE we have waited for, the ONE with all of the solutions to the trouble we face.

This is the Derek Webb video I showed at the beginning of the sermon.


This is the picture of Becki's nieces I showed


This is the self portrait I showed


This is the Tomlin vid I made to close the sermon and move into communion.


Communion is a very important part of what we do at Tapestry every week. We are kind of traditional in that way. It is probably one of the only ways we are traditional. I love that community and we would love for you to come be a part of what is going on there.

How do you see Jesus? Who are you waiting for? How can you be part of God making everything right on the earth?

Great Day to be Alive

Today has been a great day of relaxation. I REALLY slept in today. I guess that means I will be up really late tonight. I watched three more episodes of Six Feet Under which I still love then I went over to Becki's and we watched Home of the Brave. Home of the Brave was OK. I guess I give it 2/5 stars. It's main strength was the portrayal of how the different characters were getting back into the patterns of normal life after their tour in Iraq. It really makes you think about how tough it is when soldiers come back from war. Last night I watched Death Sentence. I think a lot of people will not like this movie but I really appreciate the honesty that is in it. A lot of stuff is really stretched, like how all of the sudden Kevin Bacon's character, Nick Hume, goes from being someone that knows nothing about guns to being a tactical genius that can chase down people while reloading his shotgun and spitting BA lines of intimidation at them The honesty is over the fact that revenge gets you nothing. All of the paths of revenge that the people took in this film just led to their own destruction. That is totally the Bible's teaching on revenge. For some reason, as Tal always says, we don't trust that God is going to take out the vengeance on evil that He promises to take, so we don't let Him do His job. The vengeance I can take out on someone will never be as full or redemptive as the vengeance that God takes out on evil. I am on my way to hang out at J Clyde's with some buddies. What things do you not let God handle and in doing so ruin everything in your own life? Can you connect Kevin Bacon to Six Feet Under and Home of the Brave in six steps or less?

Sermonspice

I will be preaching this Sunday at Tapestry! What am I going to preach on this week you ask? The same thing I always preach on! I will be using a video from Sermonspice in the sermon and I look forward to using more vids from them. This website is a great place to go for a wide range of videos from a wide range of producers. I will let you know how Sunday went.

Is He present in a very real sense in my life?

I just read a great article in Golf Digest on Tiger Woods that has a lot of commentary on his father’s role in his life and what has changed after his father’s death. The author, Jamie Diaz, quotes several times from Neil Chethik who says that after a father’s death, sons that were close to them start to do things to connect themselves to their fathers and integrate their fathers inside themselves so that the father can still be around. Diaz says that in Tiger, Earl Woods is still around in a very real sense. The first thought in my mind was how our Father in heaven lived through His Son and how after Jesus’ death the Father can live through us who have His Spirit. Chethik said that sons do things that connect them to the memory of their father. They wear their father’s old clothes, use their old tools, read their favorite books, and listen to their music. What am I doing to connect with my father? I ask that question thinking about my earthly father (who is still alive and well) and my heavenly Father (who BTW is very alive and very well too). According to Chethik, men who were close to their fathers often achieve their greatest accomplishments after their fathers are no longer physically present. This happened in Jack Nicklaus’ career and it is happening in Tiger’s. The Bible is satiated with statements of the superb things we will do with the Spirit’s presence in us. The sad thing is that I really resonate with what Chethik says when he says that the process of connecting to the father is a healthy process that tends to wane in intensity in about 18 months. 18 months huh? That’s 540 days. I normally wane in intensity in about 5 days and I know I'm not alone. My Father lives through me and I can do great things because of that but I need constant encouragement to be doing the things that connect me to Him so my communion with Him is deeper (same goes for my communion with my Dad in Jackson, AL). Diaz sees Earl Woods’ presence in a very real sense in Tiger’s life. I pray that people see my Father’s presence in a very real sense in my life. So...may the heavenly Father’s presence be very real in Tiger’s life and in your life and in my life.

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Podcasting baby!

Check out Tal Prince's sermons!

Treo Problems

Pic 1 - Trying to get it to work.
Pic 2- Getting a little frustrated.
Pic 3 - I just found out that it will not work at all!
Pic 4 - The tool that sold me this phone left a self portrait on the memory card. What a jurk.
Pic 5 - My Treo sits there...dead and useless.

Ok, so here is the story...
I am an avid Ebayer. Im not as avid as some of my friends, but I shop there from time to time and I love to check on the prices of items. I have recently been watching Palm Treos. I love those things! I found one that was pretty cheap because it didnt come with a charger or a stylus and it was kind of beaten up. The add said it worked wit AT&T wireless, so I thought that since AT&T and Cingular merged that my Cingular SIM card would work in it. Well, I recieved the phone, bought a charger, charged it, and the SIM card didnt work. So, I called Cingular ("the new AT&T wireless" as they call themselves) and they told me that all AT&T customers received a new phone when the two companies merged! HA! So I tell this guy that I want a refund and he tells me that he is not refunding...you know what. So, after a little threatening, he relented and is refunding me minus 4 dollars, so I am out the money for shipping the phone back to him plus the 4 dollars. I will keep you updated on what happens next.

In other news:
I got a free cup of lemonade while I was out running today!

This is Idol Gives Back

I loved the idea of Idol giving back. Great concept and great job on the corporate sponsors and matching donations. I would have liked to have seen "off camera Simon" in that garbage dump. So, here is my rundown of the contestants.

#1 (Chris) "This song is about how someone has the will to change someone's life." Good try Chris. This show is about giving to people who are starving, not manipulating someone into thinking your love is so good. I don't think that is the kind of world changing they are going for. I didn't like your singing anyways.

#2 (Doolittle) Of course she got me with the content of her song! There will come a day! She is the resident pro. A vocal masterclass! Whatever that is...it sounds good.

#3 (Blake) Good answer to the question and I still like your hair but a song about Communism? Come on. Give me a break. You keep imagining that there is no hell. The judges were right this time. Next.

#4 (LaKisha) The singing was OK at best. I agree with Simon. "Anything is possible when you believe." Is that right? Believe in what? Sounded like the song to accompany The Secret.

#5 (Phil) Good answer to the question. I wasn't impressed by Phil in the last two weeks but this week was a little better. I don't think he gave Garth justice in his rendition of that great song, but it was pretty good.

#6 (Jordin) Now, Jordin has been my favorite for the past two weeks and she is definitely one of my favorites this week. Good comments Randy. What a closer.

Weren't LaKisha and Blake in the bottom two last week too? Hmmm...

As a wrap up, I believe that part of our job as Christians is to be a part of God's work of the holistic salvation of the earth. AI started us out on one part of that, now lets pray that God raises up people to see these people's eternal lives changed.

IN OTHER NEWS:
I just updated from Slimbrowser to Mozilla Firefox.
I preached my final sermon of the year for preaching class today.
I am about to go for a run. First one in some time.

Spring Break is almost over and I'm getting ready to go back to school tomorrow. I have a book reviews due on three books, a test on another book and an essay midterm due this week. Needless to say I should have been working on these things last week, but here I am. The Tulsa International Soul Winning Workshop was great. Hopefully I will have a chance to sit down and write out what it meant to me. I did pick up some great books while I was out there.

First and Second Chronicles from the Thru the Bible Commentary Series by J Vernon McGee

A Generous Orthodoxy by Brian Mclaren

How to Read the Bible Book by Book by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart

What to Wear to the War by Warren Wiersbe

On Saturday, my Dad and I went to one of my favorite restaurants in Tulsa, Kilkenny’s. After parking the car, we were walking to the restaurant and passed this “New Age” store, Peace of Mind Bookstore. They had some books for sale outside and I picked up these titles…

Saint-Watching by Phyllis McGinley

The Lord’s Horesman (John Wesley the Man) by Umphrey Lee

A Handbook of Contemporary Theology by Bernard Ramm

The Waiting Father (Sermons on the Parables of Jesus) by Helmut Thielicke

I am most proud of the last book! I got all four of those books for about ten dollars and I got the first four books for about 20 dollars. All in all I think it was near a “Viking style pillage”.

Were the claims of Christianity unique in the first century

I just finished listening to Rob Bell in sermon 399 from Mars Hill Bible Church. In it, he says that the claims of Christianity were not that unique from the other religious claims from that day. The main god from the Roman Empire was Mithra who was born of a virgin in a cave, was worshiped by shepherds, had 12 followers, had something to do with life and death being conquered, and originated around 600 BC. The myth of Attis originated around 200 BC. Some of the beliefs include that he was born of a virgin, , was hung on a tree, and rose from the dead. Another, the Adonis religion, originated around 200 BC, born of a virgin, was referred to as the son of god, and his followers believed he died to save humankind. Horace, an Egyptian god, was born of Isis who was a virgin, the legend originated around 1500 BC, he died from a crucifixion, and when he was a child foreign kings brought him gifts. When Caesar died, there was a comet and twelve people came forward to say that they saw this comet and Caesar’s followers said that of course they saw a comet because it was Julius, because he was the son of god, rising from the dead and ascending to the right hand of the god in heaven. So, if in the first century you said, “my God was born of a virgin and rose from the dead”, you might get a response like, “sweet man! Mine too!” The claims of the Christian faith simply were not that unique or original. Everybody’s god had risen from the dead. So, Paul writes in Corinthians saying that he didn’t come with persuasive words, but in humility with a demonstration of God’s power.

Have you heard anything like this? I have heard that the claims of Christianity are very unique when compared to the other religions. Maybe many other claims are unique, but those mentioned above are not?

One well respected biblical scholar told me that this was simply hogwash. He said that there was an inscription found in a Roman cave of a person with a donkey’s head being crucified. He said this was done because the Romans thought the Christian religion was so stupid and even Paul said that the unspiritual would think that someone hanging on a cross to save humanity was foolishness. He also said that Christianity was very different from other religions because it is the only one that doesnt make you earn your status. While I fully agree with that final statement, it still doesnt speak to the other claims like virgin birth, where he was born, who visited him, and how many followers he had.

As I researched this, I found this website, and this article written by a preacher turned atheist.

I first posted this with the third paragraph as the end. Then, I wanted to add in some links to the names of Attis, Adonis, and Mithra. First, I realized that I had all of those names spelled wrong. Secondly, I found that there is a ton of info on the net about these religions being very similar to Christianity and even more general info on those gods in general. Even the early church fathers commented on this very thing. This post was at first going to be just throwing up the question to see if anyone had heard of this stuff. Now, I see that it is all over the internet and I cant believe I have been in church for all of my life, have a BA in Bible, and am half way through a Masters Degree in Divinity and I have never heard this stuff. Let me make this clear to any of you out there that are Rob Bell haters...he totally believes in Jesus and his point in all of this was to get Christians to live more like Jesus would have them to and less like we have been living. The whole point of the message was that we should be demonstrating the power of the gospel, announcing that this is the kingdom of God coming to earth, and then if they want to hear more, fine, and if not, shake the dust off and move on.

So, I go on to more discussion on this and I hope you will join me.