Archives for February 2004

I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I’ve already been asked by someone who has seen it how is it that the wounds of Christ heal us? In other words, how does the atonement work? How do we connect the dots or draw up a flow chart that shows how the suffering of a Jewish […]

I really appreciate the discussion about “The Passion” that we’ve been having around here over the last week. I’ve asked some questions and shared a few opinions. I’ve had good friends disagree with me sharply and people I don’t know very well chime in with support. The conversation here has spilled over into email and […]

“. . . you can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.”Anne Lamott

Frederica Mathewes-Green has written an interesting article on the sufferings of Jesus. (via fluidfaith) Most of us have yet to see Mel Gibsons “The Passion,” but weve gained one sure impression: its bloody. “I wanted to bring you there,” Gibson told Peter J. Boyer in September 15s New Yorker magazine. “I wanted to be true […]

Let me be clear: I have no problem with The Passion of Christ. I have no doubt that Gibson has made an emotionally devastating and spiritually transforming movie. Before I write my next thought, I need to make a disclosure. I have a cynical nature. I might even go so far as to call it […]

Last night I read the article in Newsweek about the death of Jesus and the controversy surrounding Mel’s movie. Here’s an excerpt from a paragraph early in the piece: The fight about God, meanwhile, has been good for Mammon: Gibson has made what is likely to be the most watched Passion play in history. Prerelease […]

It has been said that Christianity started in Israel, then was taken to Greece and turned into a philosophy. Then it was taken to Rome where it was made into an institution. Later, it was taken to Europe where it became a culture, and then it was brought to America where it was made into […]

I’m calling my series of sermons from Proverbs “Living in Between the Miracles: Ancient Wisdom for Everyday Life.” This comes from a line in the opening message when I was introducing the series. Miracles are cool and we love it when they happen, but what about the days, weeks, years, and decades that pass in […]

Here’s a great line from Randy Harris: “The only thing holding some churches together is lack of communication.”