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Livin Leviticus Loca part 1

I received an email the other day that had a Bible application question in it, and since I like thinking about those types of things I asked this person if I could share the main thrust of the question and my answer on the blog.

Tattoo
Are Tattoos Christian?

The question was basically – “What do Christians do with the Old Testament law?” And it was specifically in regards to tattoos. If I have a tattoo is that a sin, or what do I do with Leviticus 19:28?

I love this question for a couple of reasons. To begin with it shows that we need to have some sort of stance on how the Bible applies to our lives. It is not an option. How we apply it to our lives is an option. For example, we can say that the Old Testament stuff is antiquated or I don’t do Leviticus or something that amounts to just writing it off a priori. Or, we could go just a tad deeper and decide something like, “the Old Testament doesn’t really matter to Christians, we are New Testament people.” Another option is to read the laws and feel a bit uncomfortable about them. Why are they there? Why aren’t church people concerned about all of them? Why doesn’t Deuteronomy 22:11 keep people up at night (the prohibition of wearing clothing that is wool and linen woven together)? We have to decide, and I like that. The Bible messes with your head if you read it right and take it seriously. If you read the Bible and come away from it realizing how awesome you are and how awful your neighbor is than you are missing the whole thing.

What we do in our life matters to God. That’s why this type of question is exciting. How we live matters to God. What we wear and eat and do with our bodies matters to God. So, what do we do with this question? Continue reading “Livin Leviticus Loca part 1”

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When tragedy strikes part 2

I actually got some comments last time, which was cool (thanks Sam and April). As I continue my thoughts on tragedy and God I want to build off of one of the comments left by April. She writes,

Anyway…suffering, as far as I know isnt a part of Gods plan…although all things, IN the END, I believe will bring glory to God.

I think this is an important point. It is essential to add that God knew how to handle sin, suffering and death when it came, and that God allowed it to happen when he granted true freedom to humanity. I would also add that God knew that evil would occur. This is different than suggesting that evil and suffering were an essential part of God’s design or intent for creation. There are good Christian people who think things along those lines, such as John Piper (here’s a recent article where he writes just that). I happen to disagree with them. As I read scripture, such as the Genesis creation accounts, I see glimpses of God’s original intent for creation. I hear God proclaim, “It is good!” and he doesn’t follow that up with, “and it would be even better if there were evil and death!”

With these things in mind I want to examine a verse that seems to be misused at times. Romans 8:28 states,

We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.

Continue reading “When tragedy strikes part 2”

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When tragedy strikes

At my new appointment in Carson City I find myself in a small town that has seen a tremendous share of tragedy in the past 6 months. There have been three deaths of students in the community since the spring, and two deaths of people in their early 30’s in the past couple of weeks.

Tragedy hits not only here, but around the world. There are bad things that happen. There are unfair things that happen. Christians have traditionally had a couple of different ways to address these in terms of faith and God. One way of looking at them is that God is the cause of everything that happens and that nothing happens outside of the will of God. God in some way is the cause behind the tragedy and death. Furthermore, this stream of thought states, we all in some way deserve it because we are sinners who have broken God’s law. So we need to learn from these tragedies because God is teaching us something. There is some reason for the death of a 12 year old that somehow serves God’s purpose. And, even though we don’t see it now, someday we’ll understand how a child dying or a father leaving behind children serves God’s grand plan and brings God glory.

I very strongly disagree with this understanding of God. Continue reading “When tragedy strikes”

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Living the Resurrection

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:20-22

Death has been swallowed up in victory
1 Corinthians 15:54b

This man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law. But God raised him up, having freed him from death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power.
Acts 2:23-24

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.
Romans 8:11

These are just a few of the verses taken from the New Testament that speak to what the resurrection was and means. It is the driving force behind New Testament theology and behind what we are to do as the church. The resurrection of Jesus is the supreme sign that God has taken on and defeated the forces of evil and death. It is also the source of the hope that we have not only in this life, but after our death. Paul was very clear in claiming that he believed that by faith in Christ we could hope for and expect God to raise us too from the dead on the last day, not because of our righteousness, but because of Christ’s. Somehow, through faith in Christ, we are saved from death itself. This means that Christians should be celebrating life and giving life. We are a people of life and light.

Continue reading “Living the Resurrection”

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Was the tomb empty?

The news this week will be full of stories about the upcoming documentary about the discovery of the tomb and bones box of Jesus and his family. This is, of course central to our faith so I just wanted to put up a post with some links to resources in regards to this story. I want to point out myself something that should make you take this new information in with some hesitancy. This tomb and the 10 bone boxes were discovered in the 80’s and a BBC documentary aired in Britain over a decade ago. The information then was criticized not only by clergy, but also by archeologists. Since the DaVinci Code there is a popular trend to undermine Christianity for a lot of money. So, keep in mind how carefully orchestrated these press releases have been, and how they coincide with the release of a book and a documentary to be aired this Sunday. There is money to be made. In the “documentary” the Israeli archeologist that oversaw the project thought the claims were a stretch and he was not included in the film. Along with that there are many other problems that these links will point out.

I hope these help to answer any questions you have.

Associated Press article, Dr. Witherington’s blog post, Jerusalem post, A good article by a Christian apologist