Wanna see a Miracle?

Burning bush.  Parting of the Red Sea.  Angelic appearances.  The walls of Jericho.  The resurrection.  All were crazy awesome miracles.  And you and I didn't get to see a single one of them.  Just once, wouldn't it be awesome to see a miracle?  Why did Moses, the prophets, and the apostles get to have all of the fun?  It would be amazing to actually see God doing something real in my life.  It would be a huge anchor for tough times when doubt creeps in.  But it seems that spotting a miracles is harder than finding Waldo in those old picture books.

Which is harder: Spotting a miracle or finding Jesus in this biblical Where's Waldo pic?

Training: Penal Substitutionary Atonement Part 3

This is the fourth video in this training series.  You can find the previous videos in the links below.

• Intro
• Part 1: Defining Penal
• Part 2: Defining Substitutionary

To recap, penal substitutionary atonement is a fancy theological term that answers the question, "What did Jesus do by dying on the cross?"  The word penal tells us that His death on the cross was the just penalty for the crime of sin.  The word substitutionary tells us that His death was actually paying the penalty for our crimes and sins. Jesus traded places with us sinners.  Today's video will focus on the word atonement.

Training: Penal Substitutionary Atonement Part 2

This is the third video I've put up to discuss the theological concept of Penal Substitutionary Atonement.  If you're just joining in, you can find the INTRO HERE and PART 1: DEFINING PENAL HERE.

As a recap, we have learned that phrases like "Jesus died for your sins" are often misunderstood by non-Christians and not necessarily fully understood by Christians either.  Penal Substitutionary Atonement is a theological term used to address the issue of what exactly Jesus' death did.  The word Penal is used to convey that His death on the cross was related to the crime of sin and the just penalty for sin which is death.  Today's video will hopefully explain the second word: Substitutionary.

Apparent Contradictions: God or Satan?

 First order of business, I apologize for my lack of updates lately.  I took a trip to California two weekends ago with family and was busy before and after prepping and catching up.  Now I'm back and hope to resume my normal Tuesday, Thursday, Friday routine.

You guys have voted in the next apparent contradiction for me to debunk today and it is the one found in the following verses.

Again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, "Go, number Israel and Judah."  -- 2 Samuel 24:1

Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel.  --  1 Chronicles 21:1

Both of these passages are telling the story of the same exact event.  So the question is "Who incited David to number Israel?"  2 Samuel says that God did it.  1 Chronicles says that Satan did it.  Is the Bible calling God and Satan the same person?  Did the author of Samuel (likely Samuel) and the author of Chronicles (likely Ezra) disagree?  What's the deal?

What Jesus Endured and Accomplished on the Cross

 
Today is Good Friday.  Its the day that we remember the death of our Savior as a sacrifice in our place.  But do we get it?  The only place I've ever seen any really violent deaths is through the television.  When I hear that Jesus was crucified, I don't have any experience to draw on to fully understand what he went through.  My guess is that most of you are in the same boat as well.  A crucifixion is so far from reality to us that its hard to comprehend.  So let's look briefly at what our Savior endured for us.  This will be detailed and may make some readers feel uncomfortable.  It should.  The goal here is not gore, but the truth of what our Savior went through for us.

Feature Friday: Religion and/or Jesus?

Have you seen this video that's been blowing up on Youtube?  If not, take a look.

This is a very common view among more and more Christians today.  Religion is a bad thing that is all about working your way to God and earning God's favor and love.  Religion is all about following rules so that you look good on Sunday.  Religion is all about what happens in the church and doesn't care about the rest of the world.  Religion judges everyone else while living hypocritically.  Jesus on the other hand doesn't call people to follow rules, He gives us freedom.  Jesus doesn't judge, He gives grace.  Jesus doesn't make you earn God's love, He earns it for you.  Jesus would rather get out of the church than spend time inside of it. 

But is that the case?  Take a look at these passages.

Theology Thursday: Can Demons Hurt Us?

The votes are in and today's question is: Can demons hurt us?  Whether you're a Christian or not, you've probably been scared of demons at one point or another.  Have you seen the Exorcist?  Have you heard strange, scary, and unexplainable stories around a campfire?  The devil and demons can be a scary thing to talk about, but what is true and what is Hollywood?  What is real and what is hype?

That Which We've Seen and Heard

Evangelism is a scary word for most of us.  We feel frightened at the thought of sharing our faith with others.   Factoring family and friends into the equation can actually make us even more nervous and embarrassed.

As a pastor, I've sat through quite a lot of evangelism classes and seminars that offer steps to sharing your faith.  I've heard recommendations ranging from memorizing the Romans Road to wearing Jesus memorabilia like buttons or crosses.  I've studied the tactics of soap box preaching and seeker based Bible studies.

All of those things have merit and can be incredibly beneficial.  But sometimes its the simplest things that work.

Reboots and Mulligans

Have you heard about the new Spiderman movie scheduled to come out in 2012?  Don't believe me?  You can watch the trailer HERE.

You may have noticed something strange.  Its not part four in the Spiderman series.  Its a total reboot.  Tobey Maguire will not be playing Spiderman, there is a totally new Peter Parker.  In fact, all of the actors are new.  It's not even called Spiderman anymore.  Now, its "The Amazing Spider-man" (which you'll recognize as the original comic title if you're a nerd like me).  Marvel is completely starting over and taking everything back to the drawing board.  Its a fresh start.

Amy Winehouse

Amy Winehouse died last Saturday.  For those of you who don't know, Winehouse was a very successful music artist who won five Grammys from one album alone.  She died at the age of 27.