The big news going around is this announcement that James Cameron, the director of "The Titanic," has produced a Discovery Channel special that supposedly reveals the actual tomb of Jesus. Among the bombshells: Jesus' bones are found, suggesting that he was not physically resurrected; Mary Magdalene's remains are entombed next to him, suggesting that Jesus and Mary were married; another ossuary says "Judah, son of Jesus." In addition, the remains of Mary and Joseph are purported there as well. This news supposedly shakes the foundation of the Christian faith. Does it?
Nah. Most credible scholars are quick to point out that several tombs with the title "Jesus, son of Joseph" have been discovered. The name Mary is one of the most common of all during that time, and Jesus and Joseph were also common names. It's like the movie "Goodfellas" when Karen was introduced to all of Henry Hill's friends at the wedding: "I think I met two dozen Peters and Pauls...and they were all with girls named Marie." It could have been the family tomb of several different families who just happened to have the same name.
In addition, Jesus' family was from Nazareth in Galilee, and Joseph died before Jesus' public ministry which included Jerusalem. Scholars point out that a Galilean family would not have their family tomb in Jerusalem. This tomb was for a fairly well to do family, which goes against the evidence we have about Jesus' upbringing.
The discovery of this tomb was made in 1980. Why hasn't this supposed earth-shattering discovery made waves before? If there was any credibility to the claim, it would have been big news much earlier.
Rather than shaking the foundations of faith, I think it is just another attempt to "shake down" the wallets and the time of people who will scramble to watch the special, buy the products advertised, then buy the book and DVD. One person who lives in the area around the tomb was delighted about the news, because Christians will want to live near the tomb and her real estate values will go way up. That says it all about what I think this is really about.
I have often said that if they ever found the bones of Jesus conclusively, I would give up the whole Christian thing. The key word is conclusively. In this case and in any case, how could you ever conclusively prove that a certain set of bones was actually those of Jesus?
Therefore, since I will never know conclusively that the bones of Jesus will be found, I don't waste my time on stuff like that (although I will probably watch the special to help other people with questions about it).
However, if all this fuss causes a few more people to investigate for themselves the life of Jesus Christ, and it changes their lives, it will be a good thing overall.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Friday, February 23, 2007
John Wesley's Questions
John Wesley was the founder of Methodism. He founded "Holy Clubs" at Oxford. At these meetings, probing questions were asked very "methodically" in order to keep people accountable about their faith. Here are some of them:
I particularly like question 9. It doesn't ask if I am praying regularly or something dutiful like that. It asks if I am enjoying prayer. This is a question which leads us to reflect if our prayer life is about going through the motions, or if we are truly taking advantage of developing a life-changing relationship with God.
Question 11 is one which I have never heard anyone answer yes, including myself when I first saw it. Wesley very much knew that money is the basis for much of our life focus, and wanted to make sure that we approach money with God in mind.
I would suggest going through these questions and focus on one which hits you especially at that moment. Or you might go through one per day and reflect on that.
I have definitely found these questions to help sharpen my focus on God. I hope you do as well.
Thanks for reading....
The 22 Questions of John Wesley’s Holy Clubs
- Am I consciously or unconsciously creating the impression that I am better than I really am? In other words, am I a hypocrite?
- Am I honest in all my acts and words, or do I exaggerate?
- Do I confidentially pass on to another what was told to me in confidence?
- Can I be trusted?
- Am I a slave to dress, friends, work or habits?
- Am I self-conscious, self-pitying or self-justifying?
- Did the Bible live in me today?
- Do I give it time to speak to me every day?
- Am I enjoying prayer?
- When did I last speak to someone else about my faith?
- Do I pray about the money I spend?
- Do I go to bed on time and get up on time?
- Do I disobey God in anything?
- Do I insist upon doing something about which my conscience is uneasy?
- Am I defeated in any part of my life?
- Am I jealous, impure, critical, irritable, touchy or distrustful?
- How do I spend my spare time?
- Am I proud?
- Do I thank God that I am not like other people?
- Is there anyone whom I fear, dislike, disown, criticize, hold a resentment toward or disregard?
- Do I grumble or complain constantly?
- Is Christ real to me?
I particularly like question 9. It doesn't ask if I am praying regularly or something dutiful like that. It asks if I am enjoying prayer. This is a question which leads us to reflect if our prayer life is about going through the motions, or if we are truly taking advantage of developing a life-changing relationship with God.
Question 11 is one which I have never heard anyone answer yes, including myself when I first saw it. Wesley very much knew that money is the basis for much of our life focus, and wanted to make sure that we approach money with God in mind.
I would suggest going through these questions and focus on one which hits you especially at that moment. Or you might go through one per day and reflect on that.
I have definitely found these questions to help sharpen my focus on God. I hope you do as well.
Thanks for reading....
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Welcome to the KUMC blog!!
Hi...thanks for visiting the Kailua United Methodist Church (KUMC) blog. I decided to start this blog on Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. In the Christian calendar, Lent is a special time of reflection, meditation, and focus. It is derived from the 40 days that Jesus fasted in the wilderness as he started his public ministry (see in the Bible the Gospel of Mark, chapter one; you can find it here: http://bible.crosswalk.com).
Usually, people give up something (in the old days, they gave up meat or even fasted during the week, which is why if you count the days from today until Easter (this year, it's April 8--in a later blog, I'll explain why the date for Easter changes from year to year), it adds up to more than 40 days. That's because Sundays were considered "feast" days, so people could eat (or eat more complete meals) in order to survive.
The day before, on what is called Shrove (penance) Tuesday, people who were going to give up meat for Lent ate up the meat left in their homes. This led to people gorging themselves on this day since they would be deprived of meat. Some had parties for this, called a "carnival." Notice that the first part of this word is the Latin word for meat, carne, as in carnivore. In French, the day came to be known as Mardi Gras.
Anyway, instead of having people give up meat, I am encouraging people to read the Gospel of Mark. This is the oldest book about Jesus in the Bible. All of the sermons during Lent at church will be based on this book. Our Bible studies will also be based on Mark.
If you can't make one of the studies, you might consider reading the blogs. If you are coming to the Bible studies, check the blogs for background material for the studies.
*******
The Gospel of Mark was probably written during the period of the First Jewish-Roman War (A.D. 66-73...for more info go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Jewish-Roman_War). It was a time of great turmoil and led to the destruction of the Temple. That was a debilitating symbol. When planning the 9-11 attacks, Osama bin Laden targeted economic, military, and political symbols of American life: the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the Capitol Building (which was spared when UA Flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania). He knew that this would have a devastating effect on the American people.
The destruction of the Temple was probably even more devastating for the Jews. Not only was the very symbol of their life and culture destroyed, the symbol of their faith and hope was destroyed.
So Mark was written at a very important time. Most likely a follower of Peter, he wanted to give a word of hope and good news to a distraught community, devastated by these events (Peter himself was executed by Nero in A. D. 64; it is thought that Peter asked to be crucified upside down, because he felt unworthy to be crucified like Jesus).
Mark's book is called a "Gospel," which means a good story, or good news. It is, I hope you will discover or re-discover, the greatest news of all time. It even begins "The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ."
I hope that it will be good news for you. Thanks for reading....
Usually, people give up something (in the old days, they gave up meat or even fasted during the week, which is why if you count the days from today until Easter (this year, it's April 8--in a later blog, I'll explain why the date for Easter changes from year to year), it adds up to more than 40 days. That's because Sundays were considered "feast" days, so people could eat (or eat more complete meals) in order to survive.
The day before, on what is called Shrove (penance) Tuesday, people who were going to give up meat for Lent ate up the meat left in their homes. This led to people gorging themselves on this day since they would be deprived of meat. Some had parties for this, called a "carnival." Notice that the first part of this word is the Latin word for meat, carne, as in carnivore. In French, the day came to be known as Mardi Gras.
Anyway, instead of having people give up meat, I am encouraging people to read the Gospel of Mark. This is the oldest book about Jesus in the Bible. All of the sermons during Lent at church will be based on this book. Our Bible studies will also be based on Mark.
If you can't make one of the studies, you might consider reading the blogs. If you are coming to the Bible studies, check the blogs for background material for the studies.
*******
The Gospel of Mark was probably written during the period of the First Jewish-Roman War (A.D. 66-73...for more info go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Jewish-Roman_War). It was a time of great turmoil and led to the destruction of the Temple. That was a debilitating symbol. When planning the 9-11 attacks, Osama bin Laden targeted economic, military, and political symbols of American life: the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the Capitol Building (which was spared when UA Flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania). He knew that this would have a devastating effect on the American people.
The destruction of the Temple was probably even more devastating for the Jews. Not only was the very symbol of their life and culture destroyed, the symbol of their faith and hope was destroyed.
So Mark was written at a very important time. Most likely a follower of Peter, he wanted to give a word of hope and good news to a distraught community, devastated by these events (Peter himself was executed by Nero in A. D. 64; it is thought that Peter asked to be crucified upside down, because he felt unworthy to be crucified like Jesus).
Mark's book is called a "Gospel," which means a good story, or good news. It is, I hope you will discover or re-discover, the greatest news of all time. It even begins "The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ."
I hope that it will be good news for you. Thanks for reading....
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