redirect?

Clearly my web attention has been diverted from this blog, here are a few places you can find me much more frequently:

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text

Today's passage of scripture for Riv's Text Project is 1 Corinthians 15, which is my favorite chapter in the whole Bible (Romans 8 probably comes in second).

Paul begins this section by giving a concise explanation of the Gospel, the Good News. He emphasizes that this message is what is most important:

"I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said."

Paul goes on to mention all the people who saw Jesus resurrected from the dead. He points out that many witnesses were still alive, which was basically his challenge to the doubting reader to check his sources; we are never called to a blind faith:

"He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him. For I am the least of all the apostles. In fact, I’m not even worthy to be called an apostle after the way I persecuted God’s church."

It is becoming more popular amongst supposed Christians to claim that Jesus was only raised spiritually or "in our hearts". Paul takes this old issue head on. He brings it back to the essentials of the Gospel, that Jesus died and raised for our sins, and that without this message we are lost and our supposed hope is temporary and pitiful. I love that Paul is willing to say, "Hey, if I'm wrong about this it's a big deal, I'm wasting my life, and I'm pathetic.":

"And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. And we apostles would all be lying about God—for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world."

Along these same lines, Paul then explores what life should be like if this life is all there is. I love his honesty here. "If this is all there is, then live it up!" I think this is a valid challenge to many atheists, "If there is no greater purpose, then why are living with such purpose?" I have told many people that if they can convince me there is no God and nothing beyond this life, then my life would dramatically change, in a very selfish way.

"And if there is no resurrection, 'Let’s feast and drink, for tomorrow we die!'"

Paul finishes this section with a summation of our hope; that one day sin and death will be completely conquered:

"Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled:
'Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?'
For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ."

new (used) car

So Kelli and I bought a new (to us) car last week! It's a little Chevy econo-box Aveo, emphasis on little. Next month I will have had my driver's license for 9 years, and I counted up today and in that time I have bought 7 cars, each of which was a daily-driver for at least a year. Crazy.

capitalism:bankruptcy::christianity:hell

"Capitalism without bankruptcy is like Christianity without hell." - some government finance lady on The Daily Show

question

What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?

easter, jesus and bart ehrman

Bart Ehrman is a guy who became a Christian as a teen, was educated at Christian universities, has been teaching for some time at UNC as the head of the religion department, and has published 3 books now showing his reasons for discrediting the Christian faith.

Here he is on The Colbert Report on Thursday speaking about his most recent book:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Bart Ehrman
colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor NASA Name Contest

I've read his other books and found them lacking in areas crucial to his arguments, but I will have to pick up this new one and see what detail he goes into. Based on this interview it will be more of the same. Colbert does a good job of highlighting the different perspective of the Gospel writers, though the argument could obviously be made much more clearly without the humor. Ehrman is also wrong regarding Jesus' claims to be the "son of god" in the synoptic gospels; this was clearly a divine title, as evidenced by the reactions of people, Satan and demons. I won't list all the passages, just follow this link and look at them for yourself.

facebook passion

Many people that read this probably read Noel's blog and already saw his link, but seriously, this is great: Passion Week according to Facebook

hawaii photos - slideshow

If you want to see my Hawaii photos in higher resolution and able to move through them at your own pace, you can see them here:



[flickr link]

hawaii photos

It's been 8 days since we got back, and I would have put photos up sooner but I was trying to make a slideshow that included some of the video I took. Well, video editing will have to wait, here are some photos:

freaking cars.

About a month ago I was driving my car early in the morning and there was a solid sheet of ice that I couldn't stop on. I rear-ended a guy at like 1/2mph. Didn't even scratch his truck bumper, so that was good, but crunched my hood a bit and broke a headlight. I replaced the headlight, but hadn't gotten around to the hood yet.

Then today I was driving 60mph down College Road and all of a sudden my hood flies up and smashes my windshield. Fortunately the road was straight and there was no one around me, so I was able to quickly and safely pull over. My windshield is now completely cracked up, to the point I don't feel safe driving with it, and my hood is way worse. I guess that little fender-bender a month ago had messed up the hood latch.

Arg.

Now add that to the few other repairs it needs like shocks, alignment, and eventually a transmission, and it just doesn't seem worth keeping. So I guess I'm shopping for a new car now.