I wish that this place wasn't so familiar. A friend called earlier this week. His wife has breast cancer - shit. She has surgery today. I am glad that we have each other as they walk through this valley. Many survivors. Many soldiers. Many casualities. My heart aches for his wife, him, and their two daughters.
More later...
WH
3.25.2004
3.11.2004
Going Out With A Bang
Interesting acticle by a well respected former chairman of the Space Research Center, Quebec, CanadaThere Was No Big Bang.
WH
WH
3.08.2004
The Passion, the Hairy Baby, and Creepy Christians
Well, I decided that I would write something about The Passion of The Christ. What started this line of thought was the distaste that I have for the church trying to market stuff for it's own benefit. The Passion is a good example. You can now get little nail necklaces, tracts to hand out to the "unsaved" who are leaving the theaters, books, etc. Soon to follow are Passion Bible studies, small group materials, and counseling tools. This is the very thing that Jesus reacted to concerning the money changers in the Temple. They were in the way of those trying to approach God - exploiting them for their benefit - not making it easy for others to get to the Holy One of Israel.
Some of the materials may actually be good - the thing that chaps my ass is the way that the church seems to be poised to react to everything instead of ACT. If the church were properly positioned in the community they would be able to integrate the discussion of the Passion to the lives of the people in the community because the life of Christ would have already been part of the discussion - evident in the lives of the people who are disciples. I fear that what has happened instead is that the church has cloistered itself behind whatever is available and beckons people to come in rather than BE involved the lives of people who are in the community.
Oh well, I digress. Anyhow, after the movie we were talking. The one thing that none of us could understand was the "hairy baby" that Satan was carrying around during the flogging scene. Now that was creepy. I'm not a Bible scholar but that one flew right by me. There isn't any type of reference, figure of speech, or shadow if intimation that would explain that weird thing. So we left it at that. Weird. Just left it.
A few days later someone asked me if they had told me what some other people had "interpreted" this weird baby thing to mean. I said "No." The person asked if I wanted to know. I said "no." You see, some people just love to tell others what they believe that "the lord revealed" to them about anything. I used to run in these crowds - embarrassingly I admit that. Maybe that's what bothers me. Maybe it's just that in that place you just love to hear what kind of crap comes out of your mouth, and you love that people care - or pretend to care. The attention is intoxicating. I could give a shit about what "prophetic" christians think about the hairy baby. I wanted to know what Mel Gibson was doing! (For what it is worth the "interpretation" was that the baby was a mockery of the virgin birth and Mary - I had another person who wasn't trying to be coy tell me).
Low and behold, a friend sent a link from Christianity Today that was the answer that Mel Gibson gave for the hairy baby. Here is the link Mel's answer to the creepy baby.
Thankfully the answer wasn't even close to the "interpretation" given by the "prophetic" people. Smugly I say, "Thank you Jesus."
WH
Some of the materials may actually be good - the thing that chaps my ass is the way that the church seems to be poised to react to everything instead of ACT. If the church were properly positioned in the community they would be able to integrate the discussion of the Passion to the lives of the people in the community because the life of Christ would have already been part of the discussion - evident in the lives of the people who are disciples. I fear that what has happened instead is that the church has cloistered itself behind whatever is available and beckons people to come in rather than BE involved the lives of people who are in the community.
Oh well, I digress. Anyhow, after the movie we were talking. The one thing that none of us could understand was the "hairy baby" that Satan was carrying around during the flogging scene. Now that was creepy. I'm not a Bible scholar but that one flew right by me. There isn't any type of reference, figure of speech, or shadow if intimation that would explain that weird thing. So we left it at that. Weird. Just left it.
A few days later someone asked me if they had told me what some other people had "interpreted" this weird baby thing to mean. I said "No." The person asked if I wanted to know. I said "no." You see, some people just love to tell others what they believe that "the lord revealed" to them about anything. I used to run in these crowds - embarrassingly I admit that. Maybe that's what bothers me. Maybe it's just that in that place you just love to hear what kind of crap comes out of your mouth, and you love that people care - or pretend to care. The attention is intoxicating. I could give a shit about what "prophetic" christians think about the hairy baby. I wanted to know what Mel Gibson was doing! (For what it is worth the "interpretation" was that the baby was a mockery of the virgin birth and Mary - I had another person who wasn't trying to be coy tell me).
Low and behold, a friend sent a link from Christianity Today that was the answer that Mel Gibson gave for the hairy baby. Here is the link Mel's answer to the creepy baby.
Thankfully the answer wasn't even close to the "interpretation" given by the "prophetic" people. Smugly I say, "Thank you Jesus."
WH
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