Current Affairs

The Lost Tomb of Jesus

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

Well…I guess it is my turn.  By now the blogosphere is full of posts about the Discovery Channel special this past Sunday (March 4) titled, "The Lost Tomb of Jesus".  If you have not seen it just follow this link, http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/tomb/tomb.html and you will be up-to-date very quickly.

Basically the claim (or hypothesis as the director, Simcha Jacobovici, puts it) it that this tomb that has been found is the family tomb of Jesus.  Ossuaries (bone boxes) have been found with inscriptions.  The claim is that the inscriptions refer to Jesus and Mary Magdalene (who were supposedly married), Jesus and Mary’s son and James the brother of Jesus; among others (10 in all).  The filmmaker goes to great lengths to prove all this through DNA testing and probability studies.  He says the chances are 1 in 30,000 that this isn’t the family tomb of Jesus.  I have no clue how they come up with those probabilities, but they sure sound good and place more "strength" behind their argument.  I for one am not convinced…and never will be (more on that later).

Simcha Jacobovici claims to be a journalist and a filmmaker.  I will call him a filmmaker at the very least but not a journalist.  He claims to be bias and open minded, but that never comes across in the documentary. 

Simcha also has another title (at least as far as I am concerned).  For those of you who are offended, angry, disgusted, disturbed, <fill in your own adjective> about what he is claiming, consider this.  Simcha, I believe, is an agent of God.  Why would I say something like this?  Why would God allow a person to report something that would seemly contradict the resurrection of Jesus?  You see…throughout time the church has faced challenges to its system of beliefs.  This is how and why our creeds were developed (Apostles’, Nicene and Athanasian).  Heresies were developed and the church was forced to re-think and communicate what it believed.  Challenges to our faith were presented and people were forced to look into their hearts.  I believe God is challenging us through Mr. Jacobovici and it is no coincidence that this is coming during Lent.  Lent is a time of reflection and preparation.  We are suppose to re-examine who we are and (more importantly) whose we are.  Mr. Jacobovici is forcing Christians to speak up and re-examine their faith.

As Christians we have become so complacent.  A lot of people grew up in the church (I am one) and have always believed.  I cannot look back and give you a date when I became a Christian.  I can tell you significant dates in my faith development, but basically, I have always been a Christian.  With this kind of faith (one that has been passed down to us) we have a tendency to to accept what we have been taught.  For many people the only real challenge to their faith is when a loved one dies or some other traumatic event happens in our lives.  But even that is often times not enough to shake us to our core.  I don’t know if we are being shaken to our core with this wild hypothesis of Jesus’ family tomb, but our faith is being challenged; and we are being forced to clarify what we believe.  Our faith is being dragged out of our dark closets to be dusted off and viewed again.  Hopefully this time we do not pack our faith away.

My faith tells me that Jesus died on the cross; was placed in tomb; and three days later rose from the grave.  When the women and the disciples arrived at the tomb it was empty…no bones…only Jesus’ burial clothes.  That is it…nothing more and nothing less.  Jesus died and rose (completely) for the forgiveness of my sins.  Jesus died and rose (completely) that I may have new life.  Jesus died and rose (completely) to give us hope in this cold dark world. 

Jesus died and rose…COMPLETELY…FOR YOU and FOR ME!

No amount of evidence is going to deny that or prove it wrong.  It is just not there.  So I thank God for challenging me.  I thank God for kicking me in the butt.  I thank God for helping see (again) the incredible gift we have in Jesus Christ.  My faith has not been shaken…only strengthened.

My encouragement to you is to go back to your Bible.  Read the Gospel accounts.  Pray and then listen (prayer is a two way street).  Pull out you catechism and read it through.  Ask questions.  Explore.  Re-examine your faith.  But in the end, know that:  "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not died but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

Bring on the speculation…bring on the statistics and probabilities.  Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, died and rose for you.  That fact will never change.  Praise be to God always and forever…Amen! -edh-

The key to happiness

/ The Pastor

This morning while I was watching KARE11 news, I heard a very disturbing story.  Pew Research Center has done some research on happiness.  Read the following quote taken from the KARE11 website, "You’ve heard it before: Money doesn’t buy you happiness, but some new research might contradict that.  According to a Pew Research Center report done this year the percentage of people who declare themselves "very happy" goes up as the family income rises." (Click on the following link to see a video of the story:  http://www.kare11.com/news/local/mornings/sunrise_article.aspx?storyid=134769

This research is very disturbing.  I am not upset with KARE11 or the firm who did this research.  I am saddened by the fact people equate their happiness to money and possessions.  Other factors that made the list of happiness contributors include: job, family, health, and community involvement, to name a few.  I saw and heard nothing of faith.  Nothing.  God was no where to be seen.  I wonder why.  People I know would have faith on the list at the very least.  Most of those people would put faith in Jesus as their number one contributor of their happiness.  So I wonder where Jesus is.  But I shouldn’t be surprised at this omission.

We say we live in a Christian nation, but in reality we do not.  Our Pledge of Allegiance is under attack because of the phrase "under God".  The Ten Commandments are being removed from the public eye.  Family values are being re-written by judges and the government.  And other Christian symbols and saying are being closely scrutinized because they "discriminate" against non-Christians.  The ACLU says it is looking out for the freedoms and the liberties of all Americans, when actually they are attacking them.

The media bombards us everyday with advertisements that suggest we will not be truly happy unless we wear such and such a clothes lines or drive a certain car.  The simple life is never suggested and moderation is not even in the vocabulary of an advertising firm.  The so-called best jobs to have are all ones where the income in relatively high.

Things are really messed up.

Happiness goes up with income?  Talk to the many individuals who have won the lottery who are now broke.  I have heard story upon story of how their lives changed drastically when they vowed it would not.  Are they happy?  Maybe at the beginning, but now?  I wonder.

It seems absolutely silly to put so much stock into something that will not last.  Money comes and goes.  Possessions can be taken away in a flash.  Just ask anyone who has been a victim of a major storm or natural disaster.  Here one minute and gone the next.  What gets them through those difficult times?  For me it would be the fact that we have a loving God mourning with us.  We have a gracious God who will provide for our needs even though everything looks hopeless.  We have a merciful God who has already given everything we will ever need…Jesus Christ our Lord.

I wish I could do something.  I wish this research firm had talked to me or at least the people I know.  I want to world to hear that there are some people who equate happiness with Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  I wish I could get the word out better.  It’s frustrating. 

Maybe I am just writing this for my own sake.  I know there are many people out there who will never read this.  I am not saying that I have "The Truth", but what I am saying is that there is a greater Truth out there that many people do not know about…Jesus.  What else do we need?  Luke 12:32-34 says this, "Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.  Sell your possessions, and give alms.  Make purses for yourself that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moths (or hurricanes or other natural disasters) destroys.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." 

Well, there you have it.  I guess we know where many people’s hearts reside.  The greatest treasure of all is Jesus Christ.  Place him on the top of your happiness contributors list and I promise you, you will never be disappointed.  For it is God’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Be happy…God loves you! Amen! -EDH-

My morning rant

/ The Pastor

I am not one who usually gets too excited about political issues and other things the President and the government does, but this story caught my attention.  I read this story in the Star Tribune this morning.  Here is the link to the complete story:  http://www.startribune.com/587/story/603460.html

Basically President Bush wants to make it harder to prosecute people for certain war crimes that violate the Geneva Convention.  Here is a quick excerpt:

"The draft U.S. amendments to the War Crimes Act would narrow the scope of potential criminal prosecutions to 10 specific categories of illegal acts against detainees during a war, including torture, murder, rape and hostage-taking.

Left off the list would be what the Geneva Conventions refer to as "outrages upon [the] personal dignity" of a prisoner and deliberately humiliating acts — such as the forced nakedness, use of dog leashes and wearing of women’s underwear seen at the U.S.-run Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq — that fall short of torture."

How is forced nakedness, use of dog leashes on people, and forcing someone to wear women’s underwear not torture.  These offenses may not physically hurt the person.  No medical treatment may be necessary after being forced to endure these acts, but what about the emotional and mental abuse and torture.  These acts do not fall short of torture…they ARE torture.  Is the Bush administration really that blind?  Do they not value the dignity of human beings?  Here’s what I think:  The Bush administration is so embarrassed about the abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq that they are willing to go to these lengths to justify their actions.  I think it is clear that the orders came from higher up than what we know.  Plain and simple.  Dealing with prosecuting US military personal is something that really hurt The US efforts in Iraq. 

But this proposed new law will not help anything.  It will only give the administration more leverage with prisoners and that is scary.  The International Committee of the Red Cross is even concerned(This is the group that is responsible for making sure the Geneva Convention is enforced).  And we should be concerned as well.  If this law passes, what is to prevent them from eliminating other abuses from the torture list.  This is a slippery slope.

Anyway, that is my thought on the matter (at least for right now).  What do you think about this proposed new law?  Am I over-reacting?  Am I missing something?  I would love to hear (read) your comments.

Thanks for putting up with my rant this morning.  I needed this outlet since I am alone in the church building today.  God bless you in all that you do.  Jesus loves you.  -EDH-

Pink bats

/ The Pastor

On Sunday, May 14, major league baseball players used pink bats in recognition and support of breast cancer awareness.  It was nice to see these guys do something positive instead of testing positive.  I just hope this was not a publicity stunt to boost their image but something they believe in.  I also hope it is something they support privately and in their small sphere of influence.  One does not need to have a large stage to get a point across.  Remember, Jesus started with 12 ordinary guys and look what we have today.