When we were developing the cover for What He Said, we knew that we wanted to include Jesus’ blessings from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew. Among these, 5:9 was always a favorite:
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.”
Peacemakers. Not peacewatchers or peaceenjoyers. Makers. Active participants who work toward peace. In the middle of a conflict, working toward peace is a difficult task fraught with peril. And Jesus bestowed a special blessing on those who at least try.
“Last month’s 6-3 Supreme Court decision in the case of Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project found that humanitarian groups can be judged guilty of aiding and abetting terrorism merely by holding peaceful dialog and engaging in political discussions with proscribed organizations. Those convicted may be sentenced to up 15 years in prison.”
Earlier today I was wondering if there was a consensus out there as to people’s favorite gospel. Short answer: no. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are all chosen and for many different reasons. I surfed around a bit and found this post to best illustrate my point. Yes, I know it’s three years old, but they had the same Gospels way back in 2007 that we do now.
Scroll down to see the 47 comments and you’ll see what I mean.
The Pew Research Center in Washington, DC conducted an April poll of 1,546 adults. One of the questions they asked was if the respondent believed Jesus would return by 2050. 41% said “yes.” Among white evangelical Christians, the “yes” response climbed to 58%.
They also published data broken out by education level. 59% of people with no college experience believed Jesus was coming, while only 19% of college graduates believed in a return by 2050.
Among the 28 projects Comedy Central is considering to develop into programs for the coming season is an animated series about Jesus. The network’s blurb sums up the show thusly:
“A half-hour animated show about JC (Jesus Christ) wanting to escape his father’s enormous shadow and to live life in NYC as a regular guy. A lot has changed in 2000 years and he is the ultimate fish out of water. Meanwhile his all-powerful yet apathetic father would rather be playing video games than listening to JC recount his life in the city. JC is a playful take on religion and society with a sprinkle of dumb.”
A coalition led by Citizens Against Religious Bigotry (CARB) has yet to see the non-existent show, but has already come out against it. The coalition also includes the Media Research Center, the Family Research Council, the Catholic League, the Parents Television Council and the American Alliance of Jews and Christians. In urging advertisers to boycott any such project, the group said:
“After we reveal the vile and offensive nature of Comedy Central’s previous characterizations of Jesus Christ and God the Father, we expect these advertisers to agree wholeheartedly to end their advertising on Comedy Central and discontinue their support for unabashed, anti-Christian discrimination.” – Brent Bozell, president of the MRC.
I always thought Christians would be devout environmentalists. I mean, if you believe that the Earth is God’s creation, wouldn’t you do everything you could to preserve His work? Turns out I’m a little naive on the issue.
This is a terrific article about Rich Cizik and his conversion to the climate change cause. Mr. Cizik used to be vice president for governmental affairs of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE). His “awakening” started in 2002 when he attended a conference where Sir James Houghton, a leading British climate scientist and promininent evangelical, was speaking.
“…for three days in Oxford, England, Houghton walked us through the science and our biblical responsibility. He talked about droughts, shrinking ice caps, increasing hurricane intensity, temperatures tracked for millennia through ice-core data. He made clear that you could believe in the science and remain a faithful biblical Christian. All I can say is that my heart was changed. For years I’d thought, ‘Well, one side says this, the other side says that. There’s no reason to get involved.’ But the science has become too compelling. I could no longer sit on the sidelines. I didn’t want to be like the evangelicals who avoided getting involved during the civil rights movement and in the process discredited the gospel and themselves.”
Cizik went to work. In 2004, he got the NAE to issue a paper “For the Health of the Nation” calling for “creation care” and living sustainably. Two years later, he helped organize the Evangelical Climate Initiative. Not everyone was pleased.
“I had people on my board who said, ‘Don’t touch the issue. If you do, we’ll make your life very difficult.'” Twenty-two evangelical leaders signed a letter urging the NAE not to take a position on global climate change.
But he pressed on…
Cizik believed he could still preach the gospel while also talking about these kinds of issues. “You need both. To go to bed at night and say that over a billion people live on a dollar a day and can’t go to bed themselves with a full stomach, can you live as a Christian happily in your suburban home, driving your SUV? Of course you can’t. Not as a real Christian. And if you happen to be a liberal, conservative or centrist, I don’t care. The gospel has priority over politics.”
According to the site and this press release, the book uncovers a wealth of material about additional lessons from Christ, including how to “realize God by going within–the Kingdom of Heaven was the enlightenment of the consciousness.” Sadleir claims these teachings were rejected by the early Greco-Roman churches.
I have no idea how scientifically sound Sadleir’s claims are. He does seem to be a good marketer, however, and you can watch him introduce his book below:
Many people might be surprised to learn that “Christ” is not Jesus’ last name. As in, you wouldn’t instruct your young children to address Him as Mr. Christ in a chance encounter on Main Street. You shouldn’t even address him as Jesus Christ. Jesus the Christ is correct.
“Christ” is actually Jesus’ title and means, in Greek, “the anointed one.” I learned some things in this article.
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