…delirium Mk. III

Posts Tagged “jesus”

Jesus vs. Cthulhu

I’m sad that October is almost over. I love this time of year. Fall is here and with Halloween in a few days, we all have an excuse to indulge in some spookiness. As such, I decided to draw the themes for our first XLM weekly Bible studies from horror stories.

Life is Co-op

If you haven’t seen The Avengers yet, do. It’s smashing. Joss Whedon has once again done what he does best: thrown a team of weirdos with supernatural powers at a seemingly insurmountable problem so we can watch them tear it up.

Why it's Good

In the end, Good Friday is not about guilt and shame. It’s about hope and love.

Ancient Rules Lawyers

You know, they had real life rules lawyers in the first century.

Jesus' Character Sheet

I love my RPGs, my video games, my novels, my movies. I love a good adventure. And apparently, so does God.

XLM Bible Study!

You’re invited to the inaugural Extra Life Ministries Bible Study! We’ll discuss a Biblical topic for about 45 minutes, then have lunch and hang out. Questions are very welcome.

Fail Better

I tried recording a podcast this morning for my day job. I moved our Mac Mini to an empty office, plugged in our shiny new Blue Snowball, and fired up Garage Band. My subject matter expert did great: very articulate. Good info. It looked like we were on our way to a respectable episode one.

Authenticity with God

When we pray, I think we sometimes try to think of the most holy thing to say. For some of us, there are certain subjects that just don’t come up when we talk to God.

Apologetics Finale: Jesus

In the final lesson of the apologetics series, we touch on perhaps the most important question of all: how can Jesus be the only way to God? What about all the other religions of the world? And aren’t all religions basically the same anyway?

Apologetics: The Problem of Evil

In this morning’s Sunday School class, I tackled one of the most troublesome questions in religion and philosophy: why is there evil in the world?

The Point

Christians, pray for tomorrow morning.

The Cost of Mercy

The name Good Friday bothered me for a while after I learned what it was all about. It offended my sensibilities to call such a horrendous day “good.”

The Mandate

When you think of Christians, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?

Forget the Bunny

It’s Easter this Sunday. You know what that means: church and chocolate. Probably brunch with the family. Gotta find a clean shirt. Gotta get up early for a weekend.

One Kind of Grace

We Christians talk about God’s grace a lot. It’s central to how Christianity works. If you’ve spent any time around a church, you’ve probably heard it defined as “undeserved favor.”

God is Made of WIN

I don’t think we acknowledge Jesus’s cleverness nearly enough. Consider this:

Love Comes First

God is not an old white guy with a long white beard and a long white robe, sitting on a little white cloud and judging you.

Lent, Razorclown Style

For the past two years, I’ve done most of my writing for the year in one 46-day span.

The First Noel, 2010

The Hanukkah travel rush was over, and Bethlehem was quiet again. Hence, the corner where Ben Simon worked the graveyard shift hadn’t seen a car pass in ten minutes. He looked up from his English textbook and peered across the street, to the small booth where his friend Isaiah worked. They had both gotten late-night jobs at gas stations at about the same time, and frequently used faux company loyalty as an excuse to pick on each other. Diagonally across the intersection from Ben was a third gas station manned by Mordecai Steinberg. While Ben and Isaiah had the occasional squeegee fight in the middle of the empty road, Mo usually stuck to his booth dutifully, reading the Torah.

In All Its Truth

One of my deepest fears is that, no matter what I do or how hard I try, my actions just won’t be enough. I’m afraid of my own inadequacy.

The Divine Conspiracy

[this is the last lesson in my Acts series, and when i presented this lesson in Sunday School this morning at my church, i could tell i was going out on a good note. i’ll explain at the bottom.]

Zealots

Acts 5:12-5:42

Last time, on …delerium

Much has happened since the last post. Oh, so much. The honeymoon, by the way, was great.

Who Sees

What patience, His, to watch our stumblings, having paid for every one, and then with yearning heart to seek us, only then to watch us run.

Longsuffering

If God weren’t as patient as He is, I’d be so screwed.

Day 40

Lent is a season of fasting. The day before Lent begins is, for some, the biggest party of the year. In New Orleans, they actually change the rules for Mardi Gras; things that are illegal on any other day of the year are allowed on Fat Tuesday. May as well live it up now, the logic goes, if we're gonna have to be all pious for a month plus. At least, that's how it started. Now, people join the party without knowing why.

Quiet

Golgotha was quiet, and had been for a day. The guards and the onlookers had long since departed. The two dead thieves still hung from their crosses, mouths open as though still in a weary plea for mercy.

Friday's Coming.

John 12:20-36 is intense. It’s a piece of the New Testament I haven’t spent much time studying, but I looked over it tonight in honor of Holy Week. Easter is coming, and in this passage, no one is more aware of it than Jesus.

By Your Love

In Jordan, publicly preaching the Christian faith is illegal. This we learned from two missionary friends who gave us a presentation in Bible study last night. They've lived in the Middle East for two years, now, and have met with some success in their mission.

When As Yet There Were None

For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there were none of them.
—Psalms 139:13-16 (ESV)

Sloth: Not the Mammal

My entry tonight is just my notes from tonight’s Bible study. Ashley’s lesson could have been written specifically for me.

The Scatterer

“Hear then the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”
—Matthew 13:18-23 (ESV)

Overcome

There are a few stories in the Bible I can hardly finish telling without choking up.

Of Dogs

Tonight was another amazing night at Bible study. Ashley’s lesson was out of Mark 7:24-30, one of the most challenging passages in the Bible. In it, Jesus miraculously heals a pagan woman’s daughter because she comes to him with extreme humility. It’s a very deep story, with a lot of cultural and historical subtleties — which, in the context of the original story, weren’t subtle at all. We focused mainly on two ideas: that Jesus offends the proud, but shows mercy on the humble.

A New Twist on an Old Favorite

Some of you hypothetical readers may have guessed my intent by now. I plan to write a post on this blog every day for Lent, Sundays excluded. But you’re supposed to give something up, right? Really, I’m giving up my excuses not to write.

Regime Change

There’s been a slow revolution in my thinking. Not in the sense of a slow turning that ends up right where you started; I mean the Che Guevara sense. Revoluçion.

Cheering section

A little personal insight: I have very low expectations of myself.

and Omega.

His words will be full of ancient wisdom and boundless mercy. But first, he must learn to speak.

God sighting, 12.19.2006

At the Jplus Architects Christmas party, I got $150 cash in a gift exchange. A fifty dollar bill, and a hundred dollar bill. I assumed God was giving me some extra money to cover expenses.

Wretch.

Sometimes, I seriously hate myself.

Upcoming Releases (updated)

I’m excited. Today, I recorded my addition to the Pipeline Devotions podcast: a reading of the devotional I wrote for the Pipeline MySpace page. If you’re interested, follow the link above and look for the episode entitled “The Purpose of Religion.” Don’t miss the other good stuff there, too.

For Me Every Day Is Christmas

For me, every day is Christmas. Though the official feast day has passed, Jesus continues to invade.

Destruction is Certain

Destruction is certain for those who say that evil is good and good is evil; that dark is light and light is dark; that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter.
—Isaiah 5:20 (New Living Translation)