Jesus Pays His Taxes?

"Then the Pharisees went and plotted together how they might trap Him in what He said.  And they sent their disciples to Him, along with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any.  Tell us then, what do You think? Is it lawful to give a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?" But Jesus perceived their malice, and said, "Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites? Show Me the coin used for the poll-tax." And they brought Him a denarius. And He said to them, "Whose likeness and inscription is this?" They said to Him, "Caesar's." Then He said to them, "Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's." And hearing this, they were amazed, and leaving Him, they went away."

What were those 7 Words?

Traditionally, what I refer to as the seven words of Christ are considered the seven "last" words of Christ.  This is of course a ridiculous title since Christ said plenty of other things after this, and is still speaking today.  Do people who are alive as Jesus is not speak if they are able?

So here are the seven words of Christ spoken from the cross, as it were:

"Father, forgive them, because they don't know what they are doing." Luke 23:34
"Truly I say to you today, you will be with me in paradise."Luke 23:43
 "Woman behold your son...behold your mother." John 19:26
"My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me?" Mark 15:34 (Psalm 22:1)
"I am thirsty." John 19:28
"It is finished." John 19:30
"Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." Luke 23:46

I want to emphasize these are NOT the last words of Christ.  They are the last words of Christ prior to His death on the cross.  They are a tool that helps us to appreciate the sufferings of Jesus on that day many years ago.  And we appreciate them even more when we realize that our sins were the reason for them, and not His own sins.

The last words of Jesus before His miraculous ascension are those I used in the benediction Easter Sunday, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the naitons, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Frequent Church Attendance Again

Here we go!

http://www.gallup.com/poll/181601/frequent-church-attendance-highest-utah-lowest-vermont.aspx?utm_source=Social%20Issues&utm_medium=newsfeed&utm_campaign=tiles

Why I Went On Mission To Jamaica

"...if we would not be infinitely parochial, and thus fail in true virtue, then our private life, our public life, and our global life must be driven not by a narrow, constricted, merely natural self-love, but by passion for the supremacy of God in all things--a passion created through supernatural new birth by the Holy Spirit, giving us a new spiritual taste for the glory of God--a passion sustained by the ongoing, sanctifying influences of the Word of God--and a passion bent on spreading itself through all of culture and all the nations until Christ comes."

John Piper, God's Passion for His Glory: Living the Vision of Jonathan Edwards, p.113, 1998

True Torture and Hypocricy on Display

Ahem,

THIS is Torture:

Now, try hard not to make fun of it.

NPR's News Quiz makes fun of Church Outreach

People involved give an opinion of Torture Report

NPR's news quiz often has guests who appear to be stuck in puberty.  So does the Senate.  And is it not ironic how a secular materialist outlook on life enables both false outrage (Torture Report) and nervous mocking of important religious figures and activities (NPR's News Quiz)? 

And how both help the cause of evil?

And then there's this:

Jesus said, "Therefore I say unto you, Every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in that which is to come. Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt:for the tree is known by its fruit. Ye offspring of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. The good man out of his good treasure bringeth forth good things:and the evil man out of his evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. And I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned."  Matthew 12:31 ff.

For those with questions, let me 'splain it to you.  Jesus died for you, to save you from your sins.

Dissipation makes no sense to anyone.

I see a relationship between Romans 3:12's cryptic (!) quote of Psalm 14 & 53 and Ephesians 5:18.  That word in Ephesians 5:18b (that is used to describe the cosmic/moral state of drunkenness) has fascinated me.  I've translated it as "unsavedness" because of the quality of warning that gives to the command of 5:18a. But recent meditation in Romans 3 caused the über-harsh word "useless" to hang out there loose also.  Why would God call people "useless?" Now I think the two are theological twins, especially in light of the debauchery of 1st century Ephesus and the presence of the word for the "moral status" or corrupt-ness in Genesis 6 that motivated the Great Flood Judgment there.  If you compare what early Christians must have thought of the religious climate in Ephesus with what ancient Judaism must have thought of antediluvian morals, you can see a conclusion to which to jump.  Some of these passages, like Romans 3, can seem so harsh and judgmental, and VERY many people would have a problem with linking spirituality to Ephesians 5:18a--BUT the problem is there is 5:18b "because that is unsavedness."  Paul is encouraging the Ephesians not to be drawn into any of the habits surrounding their persecuted circle of wagons.  In Romans, Paul is making the case for the saving action of God in Christ, clearly demonstrating the parallel between salvation from the Great Flood and salvation from the apocalyptic Last Judgment.  He sees the same God warning good people everywhere to ESCAPE by faith in God through Christ.  (Peter does also I Peter 4.4, and notice the pun!) So, the Psalms echo the sentiments in the Pentateuch, and Paul echos the Psalms in light of Jesus' mission.  So the selection of this word for Ephesians 5:18 rings like a plea from God not to be fooled by the sauce into thinking it is some escape.  In fact, too much sauce can actually HINDER the most important escape of all!  Then Paul gives the better alternative in the verses that follow in Ephesians 5.

Peace of God in Philippians 4:7

What we are after is "the peace of God that is far beyond/above the known."  How do you like that translation? I mean unknown to us.  It is "far beyond all comprehension" or "knowledge" or "logic."  So see then we can experience it, but we will not ever understand it.  I venture then it is supernatural, or mystical (!).  And such an experience over time has a predictable result.  "...will protect your hearts and your minds IN Christ Jesus."  We can think of this as "keeping us within the sphere of Christ Jesus' power" or more simply "Christ Jesus will be the means of soul-protection via the peace of God."  So without a doubt what we are after is spiritual.  On this day when the perpetual adolescents in our media are showing video of children being run over by trains (uninjured though they were), we need "soul protection" more than ever.  My prayer is that I would be always pursuing that peace of God through the commands of Philippians 4:4-6!