Super: Samson is the Incredible Hulk

Hulk: The Engine of Destruction

If you've seen any Hulk movie or read any of the comics, you know what the Hulk does well.  SMASH!  In Marvel's Avengers, we saw this as the Hulk chased down Black Widow in SHIELD's flying fortress and ended up wrecking the whole place.  There are Hulk comics that end with the Hulk being the only living person left on earth after nuclear fallout has killed everyone else.  It's just him and the cockroaches.  There's an animated movie called Planet Hulk that starts off with Hulk being locked in a spaceship and shot into outer space because the Avengers realize the Hulk will destroy everything on earth.

When it comes to superheroes the Hulk is definitely Super but the jury is out on the hero part.  He's just as likely to make things a hundred times worse as he is to save the day.  His blinding rage and anger consume him.  That's why almost all of the Hulk's stories end in disaster.  There is a man in the Bible who fits this description.  His name is Samson.

Super: Release Your Inner Hero [Gideon]

Have you seen Captain America?  It was good, not amazing, but pretty good.  Steve Rogers starts off as this scrawny nobody.  No powers, no abilities, nothing that makes him special in any way whatsoever.  He gets jumped in the alley and needs his buddy to rescue him.  He’s so weak that he tries to join the army and they won’t let him in!  Finally, he makes it and he’s a trainwreck.  He can’t keep up.  He’s no good.

But what he does have are his convictions.  He’s got the kind of convictions that lead him to charge straight into the enemy camp all by himself at the end of the movie.  And because of those convictions, he is given great power and leads the team to victory.  The Cap's story is a lot like the story of Gideon in Judges 6-7.  You may want to read these two chapters as I'll only be sharing a few verses.

Judges that give Two Thumbs Off

I'm going through Judges with the youth group and came across a really rough story that gave me a pretty strong warning.  Judges is a tough book to study and go through because it was a time when everyone, including most of God's people, had turned away from God and were living in tremendous sin.  The time period is summed up at the end of Judges with its final verse.

In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.  (Judges 21:25)

Imagine a world where nobody cared what God or anyone else thought.  Imagine a place where everyone did whatever they wanted and whatever they thought was right.  People took what they wanted and only looked out for themselves.  This is the time of the judges.

Theology Thusday: Does the Old Testament Teach the Trinity

A few months ago, I got an E-mail from a friend.  He quoted Genesis 1:26 and asked me who is the "us" mentioned.  That got me talking to him and a few other people about the Trinity and the Old Testament.  Does the Old Testament teach the Trinity?  If not, then why not?  If God really is one Being who eternally existed as three Persons, then why would He not feel like mentioning that in the Old Testament?

Theology Thursday: Can Women Lead in the Church?

Most of us have never seen a female pastor or priest.  How come?  Is the church sexist?  Why can't women be leaders in the church?  What is the deal?

Well, not all Christians agree on this issue.  In fact, there are now several denominations of Christianity that are allowing women to be pastors.  So what is your opinion Pastor Mark?