Trump vs. Obama

This entire ordeal is ridiculous.

Trump was not asking for anything that the rest of the Republicans have been asking for since Obama became the Democratic nominee three years ago. What's ridiculous is the fact that Barack Obama would not produce his birth certificate while running for President. Look, the fact of the matter is that the majority of the country did not care whether or not Obama is a natural-born citizen. Obama was elected with very little known about his personal life and with absolutely no real political experience.

So what’s the big deal now? Obama does not win in producing his birth certificate for two reasons. First, if he is truly was born in Hawaii, why not produce the birth certificate as soon as questions began to be raised?  Secondly, now that he's President, how difficult would it be while having all the resources of the federal government to forge a birth certificate? Either way, Obama has not swayed the unbelievers. This does not affect those who voted for him because they obviously did not care. I think Obama would have been better off to just ignore the rants of Mr. Trump.

Who cares what Mr. Trump says though? He's just a rich billionaire who has no political experience. Do you know what the difference between Trump and the pre-Presidential Obama is? About a billion dollars and neither one having any political experience. People think that Trump would not make a good President but I ask why not? Trump has built one of the largest businesses in this country. His business savvy and experience making decisions with billions of dollars gives him more qualifications than Obama had before he was elected.

As for my personal views, Trump is pro-life, against gun control and believes that marriage should be between a man and a woman. Trump's business experience gives him an advantage over other candidates, especially in the dire economical situations we are in now. Our country is being taken advantage of by the Middle East in regards to oil and by China in regards to manufacturing. Trump is not one to be taken advantage of- hence the billions of dollars he has made through his countless business ventures. I cannot see these same circumstances staying the same with Trump as President.

Is Trump the answer for our next President? I don't know the answer to that question yet. Would he make as good a President as Obama? Yeah probably. The next few months will be very interesting and I am looking forward to see what happens!

Holy Week

Hello all! As I think about what this week represents in the life of a Christian I thought it would be interesting to give a brief run-down of what Jesus' week looked like. This is the week according to Mark. The reason I chose Mark is because so did Matthew and Luke. Biblical scholars believe that Mark was the first of the Synoptic Gospels to be written. The Synoptic Gospels are Matthew, Mark and Luke. We refer to these books in this way because of their extreme similarity. Scholars also believe that Mark served as the primary reference for Matthew and Luke, making it the primary historical account. It was almost as if the authors of Matthew and Luke read Mark's gospel and it triggered more events and more memories to be recorded.

Anyway, this is how Jesus' week went down. Take a few minutes to read over this and thank Jesus for all He accomplished during this week.

Sunday

This is the first day of Holy Week. It is on this day that Jesus began his journey into Jerusalem for the very last time. As Jesus was preparing for his journey, he sent two of the disciples into Jerusalem to find a donkey to ride in on. As Jesus mounted the donkey and began his trek from the Mount of Olives, the people began to line the streets shouting “Hosanna in the Highest!” and “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” Jesus began his last week on Earth by being recognized as the one who was sent from Yahweh. 

Monday

                Why does it seem that whenever we have a big week planned, something always happens on Monday to get us off on the wrong foot? This is a universal truth that even applies to Jesus. As Jesus was making His way to teach in the temple he stopped to have some fruit off of a fig tree. Seeing no fruit, Jesus was frustrated and told the tree it would never produce fruit again. So after missing His morning breakfast Jesus arrives at the temple and sees chaos. People are buying and selling items, cheating and taking advantage of one another. I’m sure that this did not help Jesus’ mood. Immediately he began to drive the merchants out of the temple. This is where the story begins to turn. Until this time the Pharisees just plain didn’t like Jesus. Now, Jesus was cutting into their pocket books and they began looking for a way to kill him.

Tuesday

                Jesus primarily spent Tuesday teaching within the temple. He began his day with the chief priests and elders questioning His power and authority. He went on to teach on taxes, marriage, the importance of loving one another, offerings and what would happen during the end times. Jesus had a full day of teaching on many subjects while in the temple.

Wednesday

                Wednesday was an interesting day. We don’t know what happened during the day but we do know that evening Jesus and his disciples were at Simon the Leper’s house having dinner. It was at this dinner party an unnamed woman anointed Jesus' head with perfume that would have cost a year’s wages. The way Mark records this event, it is almost as if this is the last straw for Judas. It is directly after Jesus rebukes those who were speaking against this woman that Judas gets up and leaves to meet with the chief priests.

Thursday

                Thursday is the beginning of the end. This is the first day of Passover and the day Jesus shared the Passover meal with his disciples. It was on this night Jesus predicts Judas’ betrayal and Peter’s denial. It was on this night Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane to ask the Father to allow this cup to pass, if it be His will. This is the night that Jesus was arrested and the disciples fled. It was also on Thursday night that Jesus went before the Sanhedrin and the chief priests tried to bring false charges against Jesus. 

Friday

                This was the longest day of Jesus life. After staying up all night praying, being arrested, and in court it is now time for Jesus to go and meet with Pilot. After meeting with Pilot, Jesus is sent to Herod who was also in Jerusalem that day. Finding no basis for death, Herod sends Jesus back to Pilate. Pilate then offered to release either Barabbas or Jesus and the crowd chose Barabbas to be released. The crowd then demanded Jesus be crucified. Pilate’s men took Jesus and beat him with a cat o’nine tails. This whip as laced with leather chords and tied into the leather were sharp pieces of rock, metal, and glass to inflict the maximum amount of pain. After this beating the Bible describes Jesus’ body as not recognizable as a human being. After being beaten within an inch of his life, Jesus was then required to carry his own cross with the help of Simon the Cyrene to Golgotha, where he was crucified. In those days death by crucifixion could take up to several days.  With the Sabbath only a few hours away the guards stuck a spear into Jesus' side to increase rate at which Jesus was dying. Not long after, Jesus breathed His last words and went to be with the Father. Jesus body was given to a man named of Joseph who placed Jesus body in his personal tomb. 

Saturday

                The only events we have recorded for this day is the sealing of the tomb by Pilate. In order to stop the disciples from stealing Jesus body, Pilate put a seal on the tomb and put guards on watch.

Sunday

                The first day of the new week. This week begins differently than last week. This is the day Jesus raises from the dead. As Mary and Martha went to the tomb to spread spices on Jesus body they found the stone rolled away, the guards had disappeared and the body of Jesus was no longer in the tomb. There was this man present though. The women did not recognize this man. It was only through a conversation with this man that they realized it was Jesus! Jesus body had been restored, and he was no longer dead. Jesus had overcome sin and death and was alive in the flesh. The tomb could not contain Him. Death had no power over Him. He won the battle, once and for all.

Love Wins... or does it?

Recently the pastor of the church where I do youth ministry preached a sermon series entitled “Losing My Religion.” Our religion- it’s something we hold tight to. We like church, as long as it’s done the way we want it to be done. We like our music, our pews, and our beliefs just the way they are. 

We like them because they fit into our box. 

They are easy. 

They are comfortable.

We have turned living a life in dynamic relationship with Jesus into just another religious act. This is what Pastor Dave was talking about. We need more Jesus and less me. 

More of God’s Word and less traditional, religious beliefs and practices. 

We don’t like this though. We don’t like to have our religion challenged. We certainly don’t like it when people ask questions. 

We have to be right. 

We must be right.

 Because it fits in our box. So what happens when somebody challenges our religion? What happens when someone offers up a belief that doesn’t fit in our box?

All of a sudden everything becomes uncomfortable. Instead of taking two seconds to think about what this person is saying we automatically go into our defensive mode and begin to use the “H” word. 

This has been true since the very beginning. With Jesus. With Paul. With Calvin. With Wesley. With Edwards. With Luther. The same is true today with Bell.

Recently, Rob Bell’s fourth book entitled “Love Wins: A Book about Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of every Person Who Ever Lived” was published. Maybe you have heard and maybe you haven’t, but this book is causing quite the stir in many “Christian” circles. Why? Because he challenges what we believe. He asks intriguing questions. Because people haven’t read the book. 

I spent the last week reading this book. I have underlined, looked up quoted Scriptures and asked questions in the margins. This book has asked questions of me that I am uncomfortable with. He thinks outside of our box. 

Here are just a few snippets:

“Does God punish people for thousands of years with infinite, eternal torment for things they did in their few, finite years of life?” (pg 2)

“So is it true that the kind of person you are doesn’t ultimately matter, as long as you’ve said or prayed or believed the right things?” (pg 6)

“the phrase ‘personal relationship’ is found nowhere in the Bible.” (pg 10)

“What you believe about the future shapes, informs, and determines how you live now.” (pg 46)

“Often the people most concerned about others going to hell when they die seem less concerned with the hells on earth right now, while the people most concerned with the hells on earth right now seem the least concerned about hell after death… There is hell now, and there is hell later, and Jesus teaches us to take both seriously.” (pg 79)

“Restoration brings God glory; eternal torment doesn’t. Reconciliation brings God glory; endless anguish doesn’t. Renewal and return cause God’s greatness to shine through the universe; never-ending punishment doesn’t.” (pg 108)

“To shun, censor, or ostracize someone for holding this belief is to fail to extend grace to each other in a discussion that has had plenty of room for varied perspectives for hundreds of years now.” (pg 111)

“Will everybody be saved, or will some perish apart from God forever because of their choices?... We don’t need to resolve them or answer them because we can’t, and so we simply respect them, creating space for the freedom that love requires” (pg 115)

“It is our responsibility to be extremely careful about making negative, decisive, lasting judgments about people’s eternal destinies.” (pg 160)

“A discussion about how to ‘just get into heave’ has no place in the life of a disciple of Jesus, because it’s missing the point of it all.” (pg 179)

“I believe that the indestructible love of God is an unfolding, dynamic reality and that every single one of us is endlessly being invited to trust, accept, believe embrace, and experience it.” (pg 194)

“While we continually find grace waiting to pick us up off the ground after we have fallen, there are realities to our choices.” (pg 197)

Based on his reading of Scripture, Rob is asking “do we ever get to the point where we can no longer respond to God’s grace”.  That is what this book is about. Rob is arguing that we never run out of opportunities. That includes those who are dead and in hell. 

To call Rob a Universalist is not really a good term. Rob believes that there needs to be a decision to accept God’s grace. Rob believes a Holy lifestyle is important for Christians as we live out our lives. Where he differs from most “Protestant Evangelical” thought is that he believes there will always be opportunity to respond to the grace of God, in this life or the next. 

The problem I have with this thought is that the Scriptures Rob uses to support his argument are not that compelling. Often times the Scriptures he uses contain a word such as “every” or “all” which is where he draws this idea that all will eventually be saved. 

But what about God’s justice? Yes, God is love. But God is also just. As much as God is love, He is to the same degree just. If God wasn’t just, and only loving, Jesus’ sacrifice would not have been necessary. God’s justice requires blood to wash away sin. It was the blood of Jesus that washes away our sin. If God was not just, and only loving, there would have been no need for blood to be spilled. God’s overwhelming love would be enough for forgiveness, if he wasn’t just. 

Does love win? I don’t think so.

Certainly I do not agree with the premise of Love Wins. I do not believe that all will be saved. What I will say is that Rob raises some very interesting questions throughout this book that need to be examined. Not every question he raises pertains to heaven and hell. 

Some questions relate to the Church.

Some questions relate to our evangelistic methods.

Some questions relate to the goofy beliefs the Church has no Scriptural basis for. 

All of which challenge us. It is only through these questions and challenges that we can take a step back and examine why we believe what we believe. Who knows, maybe an examination of our beliefs is exactly what we need to do if we are truly going to “lose our religion”.

It’s not about chairs or pews.

It’s not about hymns or choruses.

It’s about Jesus and what He has done for us.