National Geographic Article: The Birth of Religion

Hey everybody!

I love how the cover articles of the magazines my family get keep pertaining to the topics we're discussing in Sunday School. So here's the National Geographic article I mentioned about the birth of religion. I hope you enjoy it and that it gives us a good idea of how religion originated by learning in particular about this old temple called the Göbekli Tepe.

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/06/gobekli-tepe/mann-text/1

Psalm 139 (TNIV) -- for contemplation

Psalm 139

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.  ¹ You have searched me, LORD,
   and you know me.
² You know when I sit and when I rise;
   you perceive my thoughts from afar.
³ You discern my going out and my lying down;
   you are familiar with all my ways.
⁴ Before a word is on my tongue
   you, LORD, know it completely.
⁵ You hem me in behind and before,
   and you lay your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
   too lofty for me to attain.
 ⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit?
   Where can I flee from your presence?
⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
   if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
   if I settle on the far side of the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,
   your right hand will hold me fast.
¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
   and the light become night around me,”
¹² even the darkness will not be dark to you;
   the night will shine like the day,
   for darkness is as light to you.
 ¹³ For you created my inmost being;
   you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
   your works are wonderful,
   I know that full well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
   when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
 ¹⁶ your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
   were written in your book
   before one of them came to be.
¹⁷ How precious to me are your thoughts,^[a] God!
   How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸ Were I to count them,
   they would outnumber the grains of sand—
   when I awake, I am still with you.
 ¹⁹ If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
   Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
²⁰ They speak of you with evil intent;
   your adversaries misuse your name.
²¹ Do I not hate those who hate you, LORD,
   and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
²² I have nothing but hatred for them;
   I count them my enemies.
²³ Search me, God, and know my heart;
   test me and know my anxious thoughts.
²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me,
   and lead me in the way everlasting.

verses to think about...

John 12:31-32

Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. 32And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself."

I Tim 2:1-6

I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and human beings, Christ Jesus, himself human, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all people.

Ephensians 1:7-10

7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

2 Peter 3:8-9

 8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

I Cor 15:20-26

 20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a human being. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But in this order: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

*sigh*

This is going back a ways, but I was just looking at WBC's website, and they somehow managed to get Obama's name into a Bible verse.

"Then Obama will lead the nations against Jerusalem to battle, Zechariah 14:2."

Yup, that's a direct quote.

Time Article: What If There's No HELL?

Hey all!

What a coincidence! The cover article of this month's Time Magazine is called What If There's No HELL?: A popular pastor's best-selling book has stirred fierce debate about sin, salvation and judgement. It talks about Rob Bell's new book that we have talked about as well as lots of other stuff. Read it through! It's very interesting and definitely worth your time. http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2065080,00.html

God and Smiting

First, a definition (thanks, Google):
to smite=

inflict a heavy blow on, with the hand, a tool, or a weapon

affect suddenly with deep feeling; "He was smitten with love for this young girl"

afflict: cause physical pain or suffering in; "afflict with the plague"
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

Now, some links with different perspectives on the question of God and violence:

Paul Copan (on Ravi Zacharias's page) gives us some historical background about the Canaanites...

Brian McLaren talks about the Apocalypse and pretty hardcore images of Jesus...


Have you found any others you'd like to add to the page?

Illuminated Scriptures from Epiphany 8 (Feb 27)

(click on images for larger sizes)

So, a question ...

What's the strangest thing you've encountered while reading the book of Matthew? What questions does it leave you with?

(I want to know how to interpret all of those parables!)

What the Bible/God says about Angry and Judgemental Christians

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged,and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

Matthew 7:1-2

"But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother 'you good- for- nothing', shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says 'you fool', shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell."

Matthew 5:22

"Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."

Ephesians 4:31-32

"for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God."

James 1:20

What the book of Matthew (masically chapters 5&7) has to say about topics that may somehow relate to Angry Christians...

So Anika and I looked through the beginning of Matthew and found a few verses we'd like to share:

(These verses are from the New International Reader's Version)

5:7 - "Blessed are are those who show mercy. They will be shown mercy."

5:9 - "Blessed are those who make peace. They will be called [children] of God."

5:10-11 - "Blessed are those who suffer for doing what is right. The kingdom of heaven belongs to them. Blessed are you when people make fun of you and hurt you because of me. You are also blessed when they tell all kinds of evil lies about you because of me." The Bible says that we should suffer for doing what is right, unlike the Angry Christians who make others suffer by doing what they think is right.

5:19 - "Do not break even one of the least important commandments. And do not teach others to break them. If you do, you will be called the least important person in the kingdom of heaven. Instead, practice and teach these commands. Then you will be called important in the kingdom of heaven."

5:22 - "But here is what I tell you. Do not be angry with your brother. Anyone who is angry with his brother will be judged. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca (stupid head),' must stand trial in the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire in hell."

5:38-39 - "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye must be put out for an eye. A tooth must be knocked out for a tooth.' But here is what I tell you. Do not fight against an evil person."

5:43-45 - "You have heard it was said, 'Love your neighbor. Hate your enemy.' But here is what I tell you. Love your enemies. Pray for those who hurt you. Then you will be the [children] of your Father who is in heaven."

7:1-2 - "Do not judge others. Then you will not be judged. You will be judged in the same way you judge others. You will be measured in the same way you measure others."

7:3-5 - "You look at the bit of sawdust in your friend's eye. But you pay no attention to the piece of wood in your own eye. How can you say to your friend, 'Let me take the bit of sawdust out of your eye'? How can you say this while there is a piece of wood in your own eye? You pretender! First take the piece of wood out of your own eye. Then you will be able to see clearly to take the bit of sawdust out of your friend's eye." The Angry Christians were trying to point out what other people were doing wrong, but they failed to notice what they themselves were doing was even more wrong.

7:15-16a - "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you pretending to be sheep. But on the inside they are hungry wolves. You can tell what they really are by what they do."

7:21-23 - "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven. Only those who do what my Father in heaven wants will enter. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord! Lord! Didn't we prophesy in your name? Didn't we drive out demons in your name? Didn't we do many miracles in your name?' Then I will tell them clearly, 'I never knew you. Get away from me, you who do evil!'" People like the Angry Christians who are supposedly doing "Christian" deeds won't necessarily be let into the Kingdom of Heaven. God sees through them.

Challenge: The Gospel of Matthew

For the next three weeks, we will be reading (and re-reading!) the narrative of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. We'll use the comments section on this post to discuss what we find.

Angry Christians - Week One

They rampage on Crusades, kill each other in Ireland, burn people, bomb abortion clinics, and protest homosexuality at military funerals. Why are so many Christians so angry and violent?

A Beginning

And here were are, at the beginning of an epic journey...