What makes our message different?

To go off of the idea about the t-shirt slogans that we talked about in class I though of something. When my oldest brother Tim and my dad and I went to the LSU game this past fall, Tim showed me how he kind of viewed Christians. He began to joke around about it and then said this to one of the LSU fans "Could I talk to you about making Darren McFadden your personal lord and savior?" When he said that at first I just laughed it off. But thinking back on it I realize that it is how he views Christians. And I think the reason he says things like that is partly do to Christians throwing around religious language in the same way that a beer commercial advertises. And when we do that we are basically saying that are message is no different from a beer commercial. But our message is different because it is the message that saves people through Christ's blood.

LOX Seminar

I really enjoyed the Seminar on Friday night. I must admit that I was worried because I knew that I would be late due to the EPE and I knew what the Pauline Seminar was like. Both seminars were very good, the LOX seminar was a bit more challenging though because we could not use any narrative. But I feel that we did a successful job. I was surprised at how much scripture I was able to remember and how much of a change it was from just a year ago trying to remember things about Paul. I enjoyed it and was happy with the success and the challenge which it still put on me to continue to learn scripture.
There are a few people who I would like to thank for stepping up during the seminar. The main leaders Toby and Matt Duran, you both did a great job of getting us to stay on track and to make sure that we kept a fire lit under our butts. Also to the Editors, Melanie, Alex, and Michael, we really appreciate the work that you did with organization and everything else you did. Also to everyone else that participated, you did a fantastic job, thank you. Finally, thank you to Dr. Foster for allowing us to be able to have this experience to challenge us and help us realize how much we do know and how much we don’t know.
Matt Justice

Blind Disciples

I found it very interesting the section in the Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels on Blindness. After I read Mark 6:14- 9:1, I found it very interesting how the disciples still were not getting it. They were with Jesus when he healed a deaf and mute man, then Jesus feeds the four thousand. After that Jesus warns them to watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and Herod and the disciples think that he is just talking about bread. Following that Jesus heals a blind man and Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ. Right after that Peter rebukes Christ for Predicting his own death. They just did not get it. They had personal one on one relationship with Christ everyday but yet they could not comprehend the things that Christ was trying to teach them. But like this section in DJG says it was not until after Christ death that they finally realized and understood what he had been teaching them.

Just a touch Mark 5:24-34

Imagine how scary it must have been for the bleeding woman when Jesus turned around asking who had just touched him. This woman was sick for twelve years and no doctor was ever able to help her but instead made matters worst. But she heard about this guy named Jesus who had healed others, and she thought to herself "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." So she saw him coming, got close enough to Jesus, reached out and grabbed his cloak. Immediately the woman was healed but then Jesus turns around and asks who touched me? Women were not though of very highly in that culture but she steps out and tells her whole story to Jesus and he just says "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering." This is just another passage that just amazes me at how much power and authority Christ has, that this woman just had to grab a piece of his clothing and she was instantly healed.
Matt Justice

Mark 3:22-30

In Mark 3:22-30 Jesus is accused of being "possessed by Beelzebub!" by the scribes, then they say that Jesus is driving out demons by the prince of demons. I love Jesus’ response to this, he basically says "Y’all aren’t making any since. Why would the prince of demons cast himself out? A kingdom against itself will not stand, so what you are saying does not make since." I always enjoy reading about how people are around Jesus and start talking about him so then he tells a parable that will either shut them up or just make them a little more up set.

Matt Justice

Shush yo mouth

In this weeks reading of the Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels I really enjoyed the section Mark, Gospel of 3.3.1. Silencing the Demons. Alex and I were talking about this section and I found it very interesting about how Jesus showed his authority by silencing the demons. Also this section mentions how exorcist would normally battle with demons for power or control by calling on name different names. But with Jesus it was different, first the ones who were possessed came to Jesus. They did not wait for Jesus to come to them, they came to Jesus and then begged "Please don’t hurt me". Once Jesus spoke the demon would obey and be silenced and the come out. To study about the awesome power of God through Christ plows me away, because Jesus did not have to call up on different names, because he is a part of God.
Matt Justice

it takes more than one pic

I do not want it to seem like I am copying straight from Tasha but I kind of had the same thoughts as I was reading Burridge. I liked how he demonstrated that there is a need for several different versions of the gospels, just as one photograph or painting did not fully depict Sir Winston Churchill. The same would be true of any of us because we do not have just one part to our personality. I could be depicted as an archer, artist, sculptor, preacher, brother, son and the list goes on. The same is true for everyone. Which to me makes even more since to show the different perspectives of Christ, which helps us come to know him in a more personal way.
Matt Justice