I am Barnabas?

Tonight in men's group we'll be looking at the life of Peter. He is my favorite Biblical character...maybe b/c he is so different than I am.

But that got me to thinking, what Biblical character am I most similar to? At Bethany, I sometimes referred to myself as 'The 4th member of what was formerly known as the Trinity.' But, surprise, I made that title up. There is no such position and if there were, I wouldn't be Him! But who in the Bible would I be?

I ran across this 10 question quiz and it told me:

"You are Barnabas! You just wish everyone could get along. You seem to spend your life trying to mend other people's problems. Everyone likes you. But sometimes you feel like a bit of a doormat."

But I don't really find that very accurate. Do you? What character are you?

Directions

Last night my mom handed me directions she had obtained from MapQuest so that I could drive her someplace in the mornin.

The directions were quite complicated. Lower Lake to Burgess to Lake to Hess to Ridge to Lake Ave to Grand to Transit to Millersport to 990 to 290 to 90 to 219 to exit 55 toward Orchard Park to 219 again to Milestrip to Sterling. Estimated time: 1:15.

That sounded dumb. So I made my own directions.

The directions I made were simple. Lower Lake to Lake to Hess to Ridge to Transit to Milestrip to Sterling. Actual time: 1:15.

I am a rigid simpleton.

Passion of the Christ, the

After 9 straight posts about the Passion Week, I figured it made sense to review Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. I just watched it for the 2nd time the other night.

The first time I watched it I was all by myself. I watched it on the big screen in our sanctuary. I'm not an emotional guy. I didn't cry. But it did show me, probably more accurately than I'd ever seen before, what Christ really did for me. It made me take a walk outside.

The second time I watched it in the same place, but this time the congregation watched with me. This time I was interested to see how useful it was as a ministry tool. After seeing people react to the film, I'd say it's a pretty good tool.

Gibson made some strange choices regarding the Satan character, but nothing that ruined the flow of events. Overall, I'd say the movie was very good. I probably like it better as a resource than as a movie. I'm also glad it made a lot of money b/c that means more religious/Christian/Bible stories will hit the big screen.

RATING: 8.7
STATUS: Must Own

The Passion Week

This is an 8 part devotional series on the Passion Week.

Palm Sunday
Pure Monday
Parable Tuesday
Planning Wednesday
Passover Thursday
Pain Friday
Patient Saturday
Power Sunday

Power Sunday

I remember hearing Deion Sanders (professional football player) talk about his Super Bowl experience some years ago. Super Bowl Sunday is, perhaps, the biggest day in the sporting world. 100 men meet their destiny on the evening of the Super Bowl. They've dreamed of and prepared for this 1 game their whole lives. 50 of them come out victorious. Deion Sanders was one of those 50. But, for Sanders, the accomplishment didn't satisfy. Later that very night he seriously contemplated suicide. He had reached his preferred destination only to find he'd started with the wrong dream.

All of us have dreamed of a Super Bowl of sorts. Some want Super-Power. Others want Prestige and Popularity. Still others seek Pleasure or Plenty. Many will find them to some degree. But, like Deion Sanders, they may find their dreams were wrong to begin with. Or maybe the dreams just got twisted along the way.

I really do believe we all, deep down, long for something greater than our own variation of the Super Bowl. We long for something powerful, but not the kind of power the world offers. We long for real relationships, not the fleeting popularity found with fickle friends. We long for pleasure, but not the kind that lasts mere moments. Who remembers the names of all the Super Bowl winners 10 years ago? 5? Last year?

Super Bowls come and go. There is only 1 Sunday that has stood the test of time. I believe only the empty tomb matches our original dream. Power over death. Popularity with God. The Pleasure of painless eternity. We're forgiven through His death, but we're victorious through His resurrection. The Super Bowl is the end of a false dream, the resurrection is the beginning of a dream come true.