What else can I say?

To think that anything could be said or not said about the Jesus Seminar is ludicrous. Either way, whether one would agree or not agree with the findings of the Jesus Seminar you would have something to say. I found that after all was said and done no matter how you put the icing on the cake, if the cake tastes like poo, it is still icing covered poo. I know that is pretty harsh thing coming from me, but I realized this as Johnson was giving all the credentials for all the subjects in the book. Most of them were pretty accredited scholars who had put the time in to get the degrees, but who had never worried about all the ingredients in which the degree was based on.

To think that anyone could unbiasly or even deal with the scriptures without having them affect their lives is hard for me to believe. I know this to be true. I had a friend who was in the past a drug addict. When he would get high he would sit down and read books of the Bible. Not just incoherent passages but books in their entirety. This to me is how someone through the Jesus Seminar could evaluate scriptures and not get that these are the Words of God, and that is all I can say!

Luke and Acts are so interrelated through this portion of the class it almost is like the they were written by the same author. O wait a minute, they were. I find that to be so amazing because growing up in church all my life i have never been so taught that these books went together. i find that there is such need to go back and forth between the two books so that clear understanding of Luke's motivation and how the events in the book of Acts are comprised. Not that I had not learned that Luke wrote both books, but that learning Luke's representation of the life of Christ even through the book of Acts as well.

Think BIG! Think STRONG!

In the first few verses of Mark chapter 16 we see that the Marys were heading to the tomb of Jesus to take care of His body as they would commonly do for all those who had died. The thing I found so interesting was that they contiplated which one of them was going to move this stone that was placed in front of the grave so that no one could get in there and take the body, to fake the resurrection of Jesus. They must have been thinking BIG and thinking STRONG of themselves to have even gone there to annoint the body. I really think it was there unknown faith in the LORD that He would give them the ability to roll the stone away so they could honor this great Man. We sometimes need to just think BIG and think STRONG when it comes to the service of the LORD for the LORD!

In God We Trust

In every time I have read the passage Mark 12:13-17 I have always come to the conclusion that it was about money and that we are required to pay taxes to our local government. When Dr. Foster made mention of the fact that the "graven image" was were some of the focus was placed I was confused. What did this mean, "Give unto Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's"? I never really that about the fact that we are God's and we are created in His image for this passage. We are God's and we are to give all that we are to Him. The coinage says it all, "In God We Trust." Do we really believe and act upon that or do we still think the passage is only about what we owe to our government?

Critically Correct/Incorret

I never really thought much about the fact that there might be other valuable material out there for us to read concerning the area of religion, culture, and history other than the stuff that modern theologians have produced. The information that Dr. Foster shared our of 4 Ezra and Psalms of Solomon were amazing to me. I wondered though why, if so valuable, were they not put into the cannon. I found them to be such great help in the lecture. I do however understand that there are great works of literature out there that have been published like music and books that are very valuable for spiritual growth and these fit in that area. However, they are so historically and culturally right on that that even makes me question correctness or incorrectness with it all. I think that is good, because it is simply getting me to think and anything that makes me desire to think is GOOD!

Can You say, DUHHH!

I never thought that I would be doing something like what we did last Friday night. Can I tell the truth in this matter that when I left the LOC Conference I felt so dum. I too like some of my fellow class members went back to look at what was put on paper as the "Sayings of Jesus" and boy was I ashamed. I never knew that I was so unknowingly dum. Duhhh!
However I would like to talk about the conference itself. I have never known a time in my life that challenged me more. Spiritually, emotionally, and physically I was challenged and to do that goes back to our disciplines as Christians. Head, Hear, and Hands. I saw students do things that I was so proud to see young adults doing, and yes there where things that I was not proud of. The overwhelming consensus of the event was that it changed the way I look at knowing the Bible. I don't jack about the Bible, and that scares me. Pray for me as I desire to know more of the "Sayings of Jesus."

Take a Bath

After reading about demons and unclean spirits it made me think of what all that cleaning that needs to take place in the lives of those who feel they already know the God that cleans to the core. I myself need to be reminded that I too was unclean and full of evil spirits. Forgive me and make me clean that I may be a follower that can rightly show the healing that has truly cleansed me.

Sad You See

This may not really be about the Sadducees, but it is about the sadness that the religious leaders and teachers of the day felt. How trivial we are when we think that the Pharisees and Sadducees were acting so ignorant and foolish. How sad and frustrated would we feel if some new spiritual figure came onto the scene and tried to totally change the way we looked at God and His great love for us. It is something of a power struggle, Dr. Foster explained it as a pie and that if one thing grew then the others had to shrink. We however as New Testament Christians have something the Pharisees and Saducees did not have. We have the Holy Spirit to help us make clear those anti-christs that do and will continue to come and try to make us change our ways of thought. This same Holy Spirit is the one the Son of God said would come and comfort us and guide us so that we would not have to be Sad you see.

Yo Momma, My Momma!

In the latter part of the third chapter we see this statement, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" This is pretty neat for me in that my mother died when I was very young, but I a great support system through our church. Jesus said of those sitting around Him that these were his mothers and brothers. To me this really gives the picture of true family in the Kingdom of God. God has trully blessed me with some wonderful mothers and brothers. I love them and would do anything for them and they also I believe. Who are my mothers and brothers? They are those who love God and love me through God's love.

bullington

This post was recognized as Post of the Week! for promting good discussion. -rlf 1/24/2007

Throughout most of the reading I cannot get past the thought that the author or the decleration of an author simply does not matter. Throughout my entire educational career I have never read anything that was not pushed upon me to read where the main innitiative was not the matter of who wrote the book, article, or poem. Very few times have I ever been prompted to read something that was in authorship anonymous. However I find the example of the Gospel according to Mark that the authorship whether stated, implied, or even unknown matters very little to me. The inspiration behind the writing gives great insight as to who truly the author is. Much like the other writings throught the Bible the true author is God! This has now given me great peace in trying to understand why Mark or Paul or even Solomon wrote what they wrote. They wrote through the direction of the Holy Spirit.