Sacred Digital: Chuckk Gerwig

In the last message from Wisdom for Dummies we talked about wise finances in challenging times. The last point in the message was on giving to God first. Here are some other ideas on how to give in a glorious worshipful and Scriptural way.

Worshipfully
Proverbs 3:9 Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops

Regularly
1 Cor 16:1 Now about the collection for God's people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. 2 On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.

Proportionally
1 Cor 16:1 Now about the collection for God's people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. 2 On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.
"a sum of money in keeping with his income"

Sacrificially
2 Corinthians 8:1 And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.
--Jesus on sacrificial giving:
Mark 12:41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.
Mark 12:43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything--all she had to live on."
---I ask myself is my gift to Jesus 'Sacrificial or superficial'

Faith-FULL-y
2 Corinthians 8:3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints.

Excellently
2 Corinthians 8:7 But just as you excel in everything--in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us--see that you also excel in this grace of giving.

Generously
2 Corinthians 9:6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

Thoughtfully
2 Corinthians 9:7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
"should give what he has decided in his heart to give"

Willingly
2 Corinthians 9:7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Joyfully
2 Corinthians 9:7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
"God loves it when we give with joy!"

Oh Yeah... if your struggling with finances you can check out the Managing your Booty Finance Series on our website at the media vault!

As I said in Sunday's message there are three powerful chapters in the book o' Proverbs that are super helpful in processing the process of adultery and that give wisdom for avoidance. These passages are Proverbs 5:1-23, Proverbs 6:20-35 & Proverbs 7:1-17. I highly recommend a quiet personal study and reflection on these passages for all people; eunuchs, vestal virgins, hermaphrodites, the married and unmarried in the flight from the Cheatin" Heart. Don't go to Jackson, Jack! Don't crash test your life dummy.

Also, check out XXX Church for cool tools and helpful articles about the internet door to the cheatin' heart.

Ok, so you've never REALLY studied Revelation until you check out this website that has the Book of R all translated in the language of Lego... In fact, the site has the Bible done in Lego but Revelation is well a... Revelation. Enjoy, smile and consider just how dispensational you are or not.

In all seriousness the other Bible stories in Lego may be awesome for children's ministry!

ht: The Amazing Melissa Boose Queen of all E - Media

March 21, 1986 Dr. William Edwards M.D wrote an article on the physical aspects of the crucifixion of Jesus in the Journal of American Medical Association. This article can be downloaded for $15 at the JAMA website.

This is the article I referred to in the message Sunday March 28th. A good meditation as we move towards Good Friday and a powerful article for Bible Teachers.

I use the Scriptures themselves for my Quiet Times with God (I'm currently spending time with Jesus as He and I read and talk through the book of Joshua). Even though the Bible is the ultimate devotional guide I do like to add to my quiet times good stuff like at Oswald Chambers in addition to my personal Scripture plans. I found a recent reading from Chambers that I loved and want to share with you.

I can't wait to stand before Jesus when he judges my life, the thought brings me great joy! Heeeeere's Oswald.

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. 2 Cor. 5:10

Paul says that we must all, preacher and people alike, "appear before the judgment seat of Christ." If you learn to live in the white light of Christ here and now, judgment finally will cause you to delight in the work of God in you. Keep yourself steadily faced by the judgment seat of Christ; walk now in the light of the holiest you know. A wrong temper of mind about another soul will end in the spirit of the devil, no matter how saintly you are. One carnal judgment, and the end of it is hell in you. Drag it to the light at once and say--'My God, I have been guilty there.' If you don't, hardness will come all through. The penalty of sin is confirmation in sin. It is not only God who punishes for sin; sin confirms itself in the sinner and gives back full pay. No struggling or praying will enable you to stop doing some things, and the penalty of sin is that gradually you get used to it and do not know that it is sin. No power save the incoming of the Holy Ghost can alter the inherent consequences of sin.
"But if we walk in the light as He is in the light." Walking in the light means for many of us walking according to our standard for another person. The deadliest Pharisaism to-day is not hypocrisy, but unconscious unreality.

from My Utmost for his Highness - Oswald Chambers

How's your person Quiet Time with Jesus going? If it's spotty or stalled - hit reset today, maybe buy My Utmost for His Highest - it's inexpensive ($5.99) and you can get it online at Amazon by clicking the link on the book title above.

If you were with us last Sunday or are planning on listening to the podcast you might want a list of the various scriptures we explored, here they are! You'll notice this study is focused around Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 and connects these Old Testament prophetic passages to their fulfillment in the murder of Jesus.

Jesus himself calls it!
Luke 24: 44b Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms."

Psalm 22:1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?
QUOTED: Matthew 27:46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"-which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

Psalm 22:6 I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people. 7 All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads:
MOCKED: Mark 13:31 In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves.
INSULTED: Matthew 27:44 In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
INSULTS AND HEAD SHAKING: Matthew 27: 39 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads

Psalm 22:8 "He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him."
WORDS: Matthew 27:43 "He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, 'I am the Son of God.' "

Psalm 22:14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint.

Psalm 22:14b My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me.
HEART: John 19:34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.

Psalm 22:15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.
PARCHED: John 19:28 Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty."

Psalm 22:16 Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet.
John 19:18 Here they crucified him, and with him two others--one on each side and Jesus in the middle.

Psalm 22:17 I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me.

Psalm 22:18 They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.
LOTS; John 19:24 "Let's not tear it," they said to one another. "Let's decide by lot who will get it." This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said, "They divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing." So this is what the soldiers did.

Does God forsake us or does he have a plan???
Psalm 22: 1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? 2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent. 3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel. 4 In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. 5 They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed.

Jesus Quotes Isaiah 53 : He understood the prophecies
Luke 22:37 It is written: 'And he was numbered with the transgressors'; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment."

Isaiah 53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
SILENT BEFORE ACCUSERS: Matthew 27: 12 When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. 13 Then Pilate asked him, "Don't you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?" 14 But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge--to the great amazement of the governor.

Isaiah 53:8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants?
John 18:24 Then Annas sent him, still bound, to Caiaphas the high priest.
John 19:13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge's seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement.

Isaiah 53:8b For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken.

Isaiah 53:9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death
Matthew 27:57 As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. 58 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. 59 Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock.

Isaiah 53:9b he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.

Isaiah 53:11 After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
RESURRECTION! :Luke 24:38 He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see

Isaiah 53:12b He poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors.

Isaiah 53:12c he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
INTERCEEDED: Luke 23:33 When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals--one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

...6 days before his crucifixion
Luke 18:31 Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, "We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. 32 He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him.

Review
Cry from the Cross
Mocked
Insulted
Heads Shaken
"Let God Save Him' - spoken by the crowd
Total Exhaustion
Bones Out of Joint
Heart "melted"
Great Thirst
Surrounded by Gentiles
Can see His bones protruding
Lots cast for his clothing
Pierced
Punished
Silent before his accusers
Legal Trials: Judgment
Oppressed
Taken away
Have no descendants
He would be Killed
Buried with the rich
No violence or lies spoken by him
Counted along with sinners
Prayer for his persecutors

In just a few days the 12 volume Expositor's Bible Commentary set will be available on Logos Bible Software (the most amazing study tool in the cosmos!). It is on pre pub pricing right now and will save you tons of dollars over the post publication price you'd pay in a few days.

If you like this commentary series and have Logos and some spare cash you may want to get over there wiki wiki and order the pre-pub. Here's where to find it at Logos.

Last night we wrapped up the Hello My Name is Jesus series. If you're paying lots of attention you may have noticed we didn't have a message on Jesus' statement "I am the Vine". I intentionally left that one out of this series because we worked through that passage in our reConnect series a while back. If you want to listen to that last "I am" you can find it on our website's media vault - HERE.

This Sunday should be a great one we have a Worship and Communion night followed by our first all church meeting now that we're all of 8 weeks old. Next series on deck... CSI: Jerusalem.

Last Sunday we explored Jesus: The Good Shepherd. My Dog, "Chilly Cheese Dog" made a special guest appearance as a sheep of sorts. Catch it online at our media vault or at iTunes - the message will be up by Tuesday this week.

Thot: Jesus doesn't love you because it's His job as God. God's love doesn't come as a duty because he is God...

Jesus loves you and I because he chose to go down to the pound and pick up mutts to show his love to - because he wanted to. If you are His sheep U R Chosen and loved by the Shepherd of Souls. Love others likewise; be a good shepherd who lays down your life for others - don't be like a hired hand who bails on others when things get dicey.

"To sum up all in one word—what the soul is in the body, that are Christians in the world. The soul is dispersed through all the members of the body, and Christians are scattered through all the cities of the world. The soul dwells in the body, yet is not of the body; and Christians dwell in the world, yet are not of the world."

Mix a little religious legalism and a little 21st century technology and you will find new problems... Legalism is not a problem facing only Christians, our human nature is to make rules and laws that encumber the pure knowledge of God with the philosophies and traditions of this world. With legalism comes bondage and complexity whether you are a follower of Jesus, Muhammad or the Easter Bunny.

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. - Colossians 2:8 - (from New International Version)

A meditation: What are the freedom robbing, life complicating extraBiblical rules, traditions and encumbrances that I bow to?

Further Directions:
1. Place extraBiblical legalistic laws in escape hatch
2. Push button marked " Jettison"

Well, no. Here is a GREAT artical that goes beyond the Hollywood money making machine hype and gives you some cold hard facts. Read The Truth Behind The Lost Tomb of Jesus

...and here's yet another neat Tomb Facts site this one is written for teenagers. HT: Tiffynoodle.

And this is a great simple site too HERE

....

James Cameron, the Hollywood movie director who brought you The Terminator and Titanic says he has the ossuary (bone box) that Jesus' bones were laid in. This is convenient since he's promoting his new documentary called The Lost Tomb of Jesus and a book -The Jesus Family Tomb. I smell big money and BS Hollywood-style.

The idea here is Jesus died and was buried but didn’t literally resurrect from the dead three days later. In fact according to Cameron he had a wife and kid named Judah and lived around town in Jerusalem until his death. Hmmmm. I guess the fact that the archeologists and historians don’t think the ossuaries could be connected to Jesus of Nazareth doesn’t really matter… Lights, camera action! Read the Jesus Bone Box article here

I'm pretty sure that the big comeback thing is important to the Jesus movement:

1 Corinthians 15:14 … if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.

1 Corinthians 15:20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Are there any reasons to believe that Jesus actually did come back from the dead? Look HERE or HERE

On the iPod: Death Cab For Cutie - Plans

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As many of you know, my friend Smittie of Tako Productions and I have been shooting some less conventional videos exploring faith and life. We call them Sacred Digital Videos.

We have an Online Vault where all 6 episodes we have shot so far reside in one place - They're also on YouTube, Google Videos, Yahoo Videos and iTunes (in lower resolution than the Vault versions). It's been a fun project allowing me to share from God's Word, compose, record and play some music and explore video.

Here's the location of the Sacred Digital Videos Vault . Remember, these videos are pretty big files shot and presented in high quality and they take a few minutes to download.

We'll be shooting onsite in an a funky moldering cemetery next month focusing on post death life - What happens after the big dirt nap?.

In the iPod - The Who: Live at Leeds...
...pure visceral rock and roll thrust from the past :: prepunk punk from Valhalla on high!

.....

Some people keep their faith-life crammed into nice cardboard containers to keep their religion well organized, manageable and compartmentalized.

Some folks have tiny boxes where their spiritual life is squirreled away. The lid of the tiny cube is lifted only for a few painful watch-checking moments on Sunday and then drops silently closed immediately after the final hymn.

Some of us seem to have bigger containers like big Tupperware bins in which to store our religious urges, thoughts and inclinations. These bins hold more and stack elegantly with other large compartmentalized areas of life inscribed with Perma-marker labels that read; family, job, hobby, school, and secrets. These are bigger containers but they are still made for segregating our spiritual life from our real life in the real world.

Still others have huge portable storage canisters like the ones you rent from PODS in which they warehouse their larger than average faith-life. These large rusty mass storage units are still just compartments to stockpile religious assets and separate them from the whole of our being and our daily life.

I’ve been focusing lately on a simple truth which I’ve always known; faith is not made to be placed in a compartment - however colossal. Faith fits appropriately nowhere, it fits best in the "everywhere" of my life. My faith is designed to permeate every area of my thoughts, actions, decisions and relationships. Faith out of the box is a dangerous and wonderful force.

Mixed Metaphor Alert!

Faith isn’t an important spoke on the wheel of our life, it is the hub on which all the spokes find their anchor and drive.

Note to self: Don't simply buy bigger boxes.

On The iPod: Muse - Black Holes and Revelations

There’s a fake silicon “jesus” around these days it’s Mr. Drive-Thru Fastfood Jesus of late 20th century. He is employed at Our Lady of the Immaculate Convenience Burger over on Ocean Street. He’s evidently a pretty busy guy rushing around making sure everyone’s drive through order is correct, hot and delivered fast. I guess he makes minimum wage because as a convenience service guy that’s all He’s worth to the consumer. But hey! He probably gets the soggy left over fries as a tithe / bonus – it’s important to make sure we give to Jesus! His customers are often demanding and impatient because they know it’s His job to make sure they “have it their way”.

The real Living Christ is inconvenient, and I love it. He’s not available to make sure I get my order fresh, hot and fast. He’s not available to make sure I get good celestial service. He’s available to be my Soul’s King; not the Burger King.

I love the fact that many people seem to be moving away from the idea that God exists to fill my order and meet my needs. There are rumblings that God is huge and mysterious and the world revolves around Him and His Glory, not our convenience and comfort. This is the God worthy of our worship, worthy of dying for and more importantly worthy of LIVING for.

On The iPod: Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American ..........

One of the practices of modern Christianity is a worrisome trend towards using the Bible in quiet times as some kind of assignment making God’s word a tiresome duty. Have you ever found yourself doing your personal Bible study or quiet time and rushing to get it over with? There have been times in my life where this has been true is. Has the Bible ever become an assignment or burden for you? Have you ever done a Bible reading plan and felt the desire to read a bunch to catch up and just rush though to check off a check box? Have you ever had a time where you memorized scripture as a pure cranial exercise, bypassing the heart ? A scripture heart-bypass is almost a sacrilegious toying with the life changing soul shaking words of the Creator. God didn’t ask us to hide the Word in our head, but to hide in our heart. The heart is where we really are, and where we feel. - our core

A familiar Old Testament passage:

These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your HEARTS. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:5-9 (from New International Version)

I surmise the following:

God’s words are to be in the heart - at the core of me not just in my head

God wants me to talk and process his words when I’m at my house or away from it, (that’s pretty much everywhere) Not ONLY in a specially compartmentalized time called quiet time.

I should be dealing with them if horizontal or vertical which is the pretty much the 2 main coordinates I find myself in :: unless I am in the process of falling down.

AND THEN...

There’s this idea of putting the Word on the door frame.

"Christian Freedom" is almost a contradiction in terms at many churches.

Do Christians have true freedom to drink asparagus margaritas, smoke Marlboro Reds, get tattoos of cartoon characters, listen to music that isn't "Christian" and view "R" rated movies and the like? How does conscience, freedom, maturity and stumbling others play out in the free life of The Rescued?

Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle gives Romans 14 / 15 a great preach on HIS PODCAST at iTunes. Select message #40 titled The Weaker Christian. This message is one of my favs.

Today is Friday the 13th, the day of bad luck. The number 13 had been considered unlucky for ages and this superstition had its origins on the night of Jesus� last pizza.

There were 13 men gathered for a dinner party that night and the following day one of them was stapled to a cross after being tried and tortured � unlucky for Him. This is why it is considered bad luck to have 13 people at a dinner party � (it is thought to be sure death for the last one seated). This by the way, is why you wait for everyone to be seated at the same time for dinner. This is why many buildings don�t number the floor above floor #12 with the number 13. This is why ancient sailors didn�t start a voyage on the 13th of the month (you�ll be surely doomed, like Jesus). Friday the 13th creates dread fear for some people; this phobia even has a clinical name: paraskavedekatriaphobia.

I say horse-pucky - 13 is not an unlucky number. Jesus didn�t have a day of misfortune after his pizza for 13 dinner party. Luck didn�t play in at all, Jesus was in control of the situation; He came for those hours following the last supper. Listen to His own words regarding the events following the final dinner party.

The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life-only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father." John 10:17-18 (from New International Version)

"Do you refuse to speak to me?" Pilate said. "Don't you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?" 11 Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. John 19:10 (from New International Version)

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Mark 10:45 (from New International Version)

I have a boyhood memory of Jesus on velvet�When I was a about 9 or 10 I was in Tijuana, Mexico shopping and sight seeing with my family. I remember seeing donkeys painted like zebras. I remember seeing paintings of naked women holding hypodermic needles. I remember seeing several velvet paintings of Jesus there - He looked, unlucky. Jesus was bloody and hung limp from the cross, He looked beaten and forlorn, sad and weak. The images are still seared in my mind. As I�ve read His Story though I�ve come to know the theology of Mexican Velvet Paintings is wrong, the cross was Jesus� Triumph.

Paul the Apostle yells out:

�having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Colossians 2:15 (from New International Version)

Jesus the Christ was large and in charge the number 13 not withstanding. He is still in charge today too, so have a lucky day.

On The iPod: Japan - Tin Drum

The Book of Revelation Series Begins THIS Sunday - I can't wait!

Revelation 6:12 I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, 13 and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. 14 The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place

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"Here Comes The End Of The World : The Book Of Revelation For Dummies" - This sunday begins Episode #1 of 6 messages. Audios will be available weekly (usually up by Thursdays) at my iTunes page.

Some words just sound cool when you say them �they have vibe. The word relic is like that for me, I�ve always been enamored with the word. There was a Pink Floyd album named Relic (a moment of reverent silence please), but it�s the word relic itself that I love. The idea of an ancient artifact encrusted with dirt uncovered in some moldering tomb, giving testimony to the past � it�s a magical thought for me. I love the fantasy of uncovering a relic of a lost civilization; Mayan, or of Avalon or Atlantis. Some men never fully forsake the childhood that resides in their hearts.

A relic in the religious sense of the word speaks a different testimony to me. The very concept of a "religious relic" vacuums the magic right out of the term. Relics in the ancient church were (often but not always) actual body parts of dead saints kept in churches for the perceived benefit of worshippers. The idea was that the bodies of these dead Saints still held some power; common thought was that you could be blessed by viewing these sacred remains. Some wealthy people actually bought and collected relics at various times in history.

In Hungary this summer I viewed an ancient church relic; the severed hand of Saint Stephen, the first Christian king of Hungary. Steve�s funky old hand is seen here resting encased in its small golden shrine.

The tiny shrine of the hand is kept behind glass in a small room of Budapest�s St. Stephen�s Basilica. It is a truly strange item to behold. It�s inane to believe that the remains of people could hold miraculous power to heal, raise the dead, or impart blessing - but it was common thought in ages past and is still believed by some.

Why did people flock to view these relics? Maybe it was the longing for ocular evidence of the invisible God�s power. Possibly we humans long to see something of God to comfort us on the long walk. I want to see God and I am seeing God as He has revealed Himself in his Son. The Bible tells us that when you see Jesus clearly you have seen the invisible One.

Colossians 1:15 He (speaking of Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. NIV

Hebrews 1:3 The Son (Jesus) is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being. NIV

John 14:9-10 Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? NIV

The Book tells us if we want to know what God the Father is like, look at Jesus. I�m seeing Him as I read His story in the Gospels. Have you seen God lately? I hope you�ll look for Him in the excellent life of Jesus. The more I study His words and actions, the clearer the Father comes into focus.

The power of God won�t be found in the crusty palm of St. Stephen or any other relic, it will be found in the living body of Jesus.

More details about church relics can be found here.

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:16-19 (from New International Version)

Anyone you know need you to pray this one on their behalf?

On the iPod: Mogwai - Mr. Beast

Narcolepsy is a strange disorder, it causes people to just drop off to sleep involuntarily and at inopportune times, like when they might be using a chainsaw or flying a hang-glider .

What if God had Narcolepsy? What if every now and again the Majesty in Heaven dozed off for a moment in His comfy chair, then woke quickly to check if he had dribbled in His beard wondering what has transpired during His catnap?

An ancient plea for a current reality. Here's a passage to meditate on today.

Psalm 122:6-9
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
May those who love you be secure.
May there be peace within your walls
and security within your citadels.
For the sake of my brothers and friends,
I will say, "Peace be within you."
For the sake of the house of the LORD our God,
I will seek your prosperity.
(from New International Version)

Join me in praying for peace in the East today.

I was on a flight from Budapest to Frankfurt the other day and had a strange moment. I saw one of my boyhood rock-star heroes on my plane, he was old as trains. This man had been the lead singer of a couple of mega-huge rock bands in both the 70�s and 80�s. When I was about 16 I sat in the front row of a concert and watched him rock a humongous concert hall to the ground, he was a god in my eyes. I set my heart on being a guitar player in a band like the one he was fronting that night. It was something like a religious experience, the Birth of Cool.

Chronos has been unkind to this rock star. His band is no longer a big headliner band. They have fallen from favor and struggle to get attention from younger fans. He is now flying economy with his band and the road-crew as they left yet another small venue concert. Gone are the days of the private band jet he used to fly in. I was thinking how humbling it must be to go from being on the top and having a plane with your band�s name emblazoned on the tail to the tight, hard communal seating in class economy Lufthansa.

Unpacking Philippians 3:12 - 14

�Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. - (from New International Version Bible)

According to the Bible God is seeking a few silly homo-sapiens for an experiment in the ragged edge-tolerances of undeserved divine kindness. I love it that the Maker is willing to allow us to be less than ideal, in the process of growth without just disintegrating us when we come up short. Personally I�d be done with the humans on planet #3 by now� I love it that God Himself has �taken hold of me� for something bigger than a brittle monochrome existence. He lives in color.

So, I desire to:

�Press On� (not the artificial nails)
�Grab hold, and grip tight�
�Forget the wreckage in the rear view mirror�
�Strain forward with Harley-like torque�
�Reach for the reward in His hand�
�Move Northward to where He�s got the party started�

The Jesus experience is situated well above religious philosophical thought, church attendance and nice deeds.

The Jesus experience is about a daily journey with this real person who knows us completely, at the subatomic soul level and yet is still wild about us.

What�s your current and personal experience with this GodMan? I hope you live in color - in the fullness of grace.

I'm sitting here with my laptop burning a red cancerous divit into my right thigh, thinking about my wife Andrea. I was thinking... this coming July 25th we will have been married 25 years. Amazing, AND since we met and started dating 4 years before that we've been together for 29 years, many more years than we lived apart from each other. So I'm reflecting on what a fortunate man I am and what a great gift Andrea is. We will be celebrating our 25th in Hungary with Andrea's family. Our dads are coming with us, as are our kids and we're going to spend 2 weeks touring, visiting family, looking at castles and looking into each other's eyes

Here are some of God's thoughts about a good wives and a crummy wives (I got the GREAT one!!!) - Girls can reverse and apply many of these thoughts to help find the futuredreamman in their lives ...if they haven't found him yet.

GOOD WIFE :BY GOD

-Prov 18:22 He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD. (from New International Version

-Prov 31:10 A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. 11 Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. (from New International Version)

CRUMMY WIFE : BY GOD

-Prov 21:19 Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and ill-tempered wife. (from New International Version)

-Prov 23:27 for a prostitute is a deep pit and a wayward wife is a narrow well. (from New International Version)

-Prov 25:24 Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife. (from New International Version)

-Prov 27:15 A quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping on a rainy day; 16 restraining her is like restraining the wind or grasping oil with the hand. (from New International Version)

So I'm really so thankful God blessed me with Andrea.

Chuckk Loves Andrea more than breath.

Judas betrayed his friend Jesus for a few bucks and when he saw the results of his betrayal a type of remorse struck him driving him to suicide. Jesus� buddy Matthew the �ex-mafioso� and first century historian records the following:

Matthew 27:1 Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people came to the decision to put Jesus to death. 2 They bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate, the governor. 3 When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. 4 "I have sinned," he said, "for I have betrayed innocent blood." "What is that to us?" they replied. "That's your responsibility." 5 So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself. 6 The chief priests picked up the coins and said, "It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money." 7 So they decided to use the money to buy the potter's field as a burial place for foreigners. 8 That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day. 9 Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: "They took the thirty silver coins, the price set on him by the people of Israel, 10 and they used them to buy the potter's field, as the Lord commanded me." (from New International Version)

Judas was seized with a type of remorse, a destructive variety that caused him to take his own life. He felt guilty for taking the money condemning his friend to a torture-death. Judas tried to give it back but since the priests knew that Jesus would die, they wouldn�t take it. They had laws about taking blood money; strangely they didn�t seem that bothered by paying it though. The knowledge of God when boiled down to laws and rules taught by men becomes a sick soup.

The next moments must have been gutwrenching for Judas. He throws the coins on the floor of the temple and runs out to the sound of silver pieces spinning, high pitched, faster and faster until they finally come to rest on the ground in front of the religious leaders. Judas heart was beating fast, his mouth was dry and his mind was spinning. He ran out of town exhausted and then he lifted himself from the ground to a tree and stopped himself by his neck, the companion of Christ dangling lifeless in the breeze. Judas� death above the ground on wood accomplished nothing; in contrast Jesus death above the ground on wood accomplished everything.

We find more gruesome detail of his suicide in the book of Acts, recorded by Luke the historian.

Acts 1:18 With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. 19 Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood. (from New International Version)

There were no friends to come cut down and bury the lifeless body of Judas the betrayer of Christ; he died fresh out of friends. After a short time in the hot Mediterranean sun the rope or his belt broke or his rotten body tore off from his head and burst open upon the ground. This was a disgraceful unclean death to the people in this time, an ignoble death ended an ignoble life.

The field where Judas hung himself was later bought with his own Messiah blood-money and afterwards made a place for burial of unknowns. The people in that day walked by that deserted field looking at that ground and whispering �this is The Field of Blood�, and they told the story of sadness to their children.

The Judas of the Gospels is a tragic figure, a man possessed by money, a man destroyed by greed. This is the end of the historic Judas, no book written, no "gospel of Judas" book tour, no autographed copies of National Geographic for the fans. Judas died before Jesus leaving no written memoirs. The gospel of Judas was written much later by an unknown author using Judas' name in an attempt to gain attention (it worked!), there is one partial copy of the non-factual and unsubstatiated gospel of Judas.

Hurrah! The Video Podcasts that I have spoken of are now ready for public release (free) at iTunes. For those who know, many moons ago my friend Smittie of Tako productions and I set out to shoot some short movies for release on iTunes. The idea was to use VIDEO Podcasting to specifically use the visual elements in the messages in impactful ways - most video podcasts seem to be just a guy video-taped while he does his Sunday sermon at a church. We set out to do something less usual both visually and spiritually. In the end people get unique free movies for their iPod or computer!

After months of hard work the videos we have been shooting are now released. Thank you to Tako Productions for their tireless efforts and great artistry �BTW they did every single bit of this at no charge, amazing! The first video called �Clayman� is now on iTunes and is ready to be viewed. I get to do some stuff with clay in it and find as an artist, I�m more guitar player, less sculptor! I did get to do some guitar playing for the project to redeem myself after my clay debut, I did the music at the beginning and end of the movie.

The second Video will be uploaded to iTunes on July 1st and then a new episode will appear every month around the first of the month. You can subscribe (free again) and have the videos automatically come to your computer if you like. You can view these your directly on your computer in iTunes, or better yet put them on your Video iPod if you have one. It�s also possible for people to download them and use them as illustrations or teaching videos for church group meetings if they like.

If you already have iTunes on your computer: to see the first episode, Clayman click the following link: Get Clayman

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=160185458

IMPORTANT: to see the whole episode you have to click the "get episode" button on the right of the iTunes screen or you'll just see a snippet of the film.

If you don�t have itunes but want to see the video or hear the weekly audio messages I share at Santa Cruz Bible Church Insight you first need to download the iTunes program, it�s a quick, small and free program. Download Itunes by clicking the following link http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/ .

Remember these are video and take longer to download than mp3 audios, they are bigger files. You can also find ALL the chuckk-junk by going to the itunes music store and typing in �chuckk� in the search box it will show you where to go for my weekly Sunday messages (in audio mp3) and where to find the Sacred Digital Video Podcasts. If you like the video Podcast or audio messages leave a comment on iTunes and it will help others find the messages.

We hope these videos will be a light in dark places for folks curious about Jesus and an encouragement and spiritual growth engine for those already convinced. If you have friends who aren�t into church / religion / God share these videos with them, they�re not religious in any traditional sense.

Cheers Smittie and many thanks!

Today is a special day, it is June 6, 2006. It is 666. 666 is a mysterious number related to the coming world ruler known as the Antichrist. Since Bible prophecy has been spot on all through history, it's also going to be right about this coming world leader who will bring in true hell on Earth, for a time. Today probably isn't his birthday, and it probably doesn't relate to California state elections happening today, and today isn't likely the day he becomes the president of Microsoft (I do think works there in the Windows programming division). Today is simply an interestingly numbered day in history. Happy 666 - like all days here's God's plan for today.

Psalm 118:24- This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Or in the New Chuckk International Version: "Hey Chuckk today God made you to be alive on purpose. He created this day specially as a gift so take joy in life and be glad you are hanging out above the Earth's crust. Eat good sushi today and give thanks for the sun, the sea, and the gift of taste buds". - 1 Harley 3:16

On the iPod: The Clash

This series of blogs sets out to describe the real historic Judas of the Gospels as opposed to the new emerging non-historic Judas of recent gospel of Judas fame. Here is part 3 of the 4 posts exploring the person we know as Judas, Iscariot.

Prologue for a Betrayal: In a previous post I wrote about the incident where the woman poured a high-dollar bottle of �Channel #5� on Jesus� feet and Judas got really upset about the �waste of money�. Right after the perfume incident Judas truly got mad and left to see if he could make some bank on Jesus� betrayal. Here�s the story.

Matt 26:14 Then one of the Twelve-the one called Judas Iscariot-went to the chief priests 15 and asked, "What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?" So they counted out for him thirty silver coins. 16 From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over. - Judas sells Jesus out for a few bucks; it was not a lot of money. Judas later returns to the group with some change jingling in his pocket, looking for the right time and place to do his dirty deal.

I love Jesus. He is the master of all things - especially understated humility. This morning I was hanging out with Jesus, talking and listening to Him in the Book (Matthew 8). In the passage Jesus is talking and makes a simple statement to a soldier he says; "I will go".

The scene is this, Jesus is now a superstar, he followed by huge crowds, he can't really go to 7-11 for a cherry slurpy without being mobbed and the National Enquirer's paparazzi are stalking him everywhere. Jesus is a major celebrity teacher healer at this point in his Earth career.

Enter this soldier who has a servant that he is worried about. The servant is paralyzed and suffering big time and the soldier cares about him and wants to help his servant. The soldier remembers that Jesus the healer and miracle worker is in town and goes to see him. After wading through the massive sweaty crowd he gets to Jesus and says �hey Jesus please help, say the word and I know my servant will be walking and healthy, please just say the word�.

Now Jesus does something amazing. He's waaaaaaayyyyy too busy , He's waaaaaaaay overcrowded with requests, He's waaaaaaaaaaayyyyy too important to bother with this one guy BUT. Jesus says "I will go and heal him". Now here is where all the Sunday School stories get into the faith of the soldier and all that, which is fine BUT� It�s too easy to miss this important point � Jesus the creator of every atom in the creation, the messiah and savior of the world, the most important man who ever made a footprint in the sand stops everything and says �I will go�.

�I� - He himself , not too busy for one solitary person�s request.

�will� - He chooses and it is His pleasure to help and save,

�go� the action that changes all, Jesus acts

In a sense these are the three words he spoke through action when He left Heaven to glide south to heal us off kilter humans, paralyzed by our mistakes and messes and sick with impending spiritual death. I am glad he said � I will go�. He's still the same these days. To read the passage in Matthew click continue.

Judas had a drug problem; he was intoxicated by a narcotic called cash. The Judas of the Gospels was the disciple who acted as Jesus and the disciple�s financial secretary. It was Judas� job to keep track of the money, pay for the needs of the group on their road trips and distribute money to the poor. Here�s what we know from ancient history about Judas� job as treasurer for Team Jesus.

Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the Feast, or to give something to the poor. John 13:29 NIV

�he (Judas) was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. John 12:6b NIV

So Judas was the banker for the disciples, but lifted from the purse.

The gospel of Judas has people buzzing like a old ceramic bong. So it seems to me a perfect time to write a few blogs about the Judas of the Gospels.

We know little of his background; we do know Judas' father was a man called Simon. There are many theories about what "Iscariot" means but it most likely means inhabitant of Kerioth. Judas was one of the main followers of Jesus just like the other 11 disciples, but his name is always mentioned last in every list of the disciple's names.

We generally think of Judas simply as the giver of the traitor's kiss, but other events in the life of Judas include hearing to the Great Teacher whisper magic, casting out demons in His name, as well as healing and proclaiming the Kingdom of Heaven. Have you considered this… Jesus sent Judas out in the power and ministry of His name…

When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. Luke 9:1-2 NIV

Judas was one of the 12 hand picked leaders in Jesus band of world changers. Judas spent many nights around campfires with Jesus, walked many miles at his side, and likely laughed with Jesus and snored by his side in the night. Maybe Jesus and Judas both shared a bad chicken dinner and suffered from stomach gnomes together during their travels. ...How many times did they hug as bros? I would give ALL that I have to have had the experiences with Jesus that Judas had the privilege of.

The sadness is that somehow Judas witnessed the amazing grace of the Christ but missed siphoning it deeply into his own soul. Judas speaks to us and says it is possible to be mentally present to the ideas of the Messiah, to even witness His power, but never draw Him personally into your life and be transformed by Him.

Judas missed Jesus, even though he knew Jesus' nicknames, freckles, favorite jokes and even witnessed Him working the acts of divinity. Could it be that even today there are many who know the name, that may even be known as followers of Jesus (Christian) but do not possess a true loving life-giving relationship with Him? Could this be why we see so much unjesus in some Christians? More Judas of the Gospels to come…

So I'm pretty sure Jesus was saying that the goal of us is not us but others. Jesus said even He didn't come to be served, but to serve Himself up for all --

Mark 10:43 reads ...whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man (Jesus name for himself) did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Today many folks think that the organization known as church is to be the purveyor of religious goods and services, one stop shopping for all your personal spiritual "stuff". Here's a video for ya ( by the way the video is a joke and not for a real church...)

Here'a meditation: If I attend church services do I go primarily for me or for God?

-Did Christianity borrow from pagan religions? -Is there a real Priory of Scion, was Leonardo in it? -How does the Bible you read compare with the original documents and all historic ancient texts? -How did the books we read in the New and Old Testaments make it into your Bible? -Did Jesus marry Mary Magdalene? -Did the Bible you have get pieced together in 325ad at the Council Of Nicea at Constantine's request?

People asked and we've got it done for you. You can now download the messages I give every week at Santa Cruz Bible Church from iTunes, free (and they are worth double the price of free). We'll have each week's mp3 message online by about Wednesday of that week.

You can find me easily in iTunes by:

1. Looking under sources (on the upper right of the itunes window) click podcasts -then

2. Click podcast directory in the lower left corner of the screen -then

3. Type in Chuckk (with 2k's ) or the word bible in the search box

4. Click on my picture to get to the place where you can see what "Chuckk audio messages" are online

A Popular thought and urban legend these days is that Jesus didn't belive Himself to be God and never said that He was. Last Sunday I spoke about this but a gremlin got into our audio system and the message recording was completely corrupted. I thought I'd throw my notes from the message up here for anyone who is interested in the subject since we don't have any audio for ya. So here are the notes from the study, the formatting won't carry over to this blog sorry.

Did Jesus Claim to be God?
A. The new Urban Legend about Jesus
1. Some people are saying Jesus never Use the �G� bomb ---that he never claimed to be God
B. DaVinci Code reading:
1. Read Pg 233 in the Da Vinci Code (it claims Jesus divinity decided at Nicea)
a) Council Nicea 325 a.d.
b) Even though the D code is fiction millions will believe it is FACT, as the first word in the book says�
2.  Without the D Code this is a popular concept today urban legend) Jesus was a good teacher but Not God, and didn�t say he was)
II. Jesus Claimed God-ness by His Actions
A. We�re going to look at 2 of the many examples of Jesus doing GOD only stuff
1. Forgiving sin and accepting worship

I'm not a reader of Dilbert , maybe you are. I stumbled on this interesting blog by Scott Adams the creator of the Dilbert comics. Like I said, it was interesting to read his point of view about religions. I don't get the feeling that he claims a particular religion, but interesting thoughts.

see it by clicking the word : BlueSilkManateeToenail

This is from the Bible itself...

On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight. There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were meeting. Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead. -Acts 20:7-9 (from New International Version)

Lessons to learn:

1. Pastors shouldn't keep on talking and talking... Long sermons are murder. ( I have never done this...)
2. Don't sit in a 3rd story window if you are a narcoleptic idiot.
3. Don' t name your son Eutychus, it sounds like a tree, if you want to name him something foresty "Woody" is much cooler.

Read the rest of the story in the book of Acts to see how it turns out in the end.

I've been home sick with the �nuclear flu� for a couple of days. After some powerful atomic reactions inside my flesh and some profound porcelain gazing I found myself weakened to the point where I could actually sit and watch a whole film without multitasking. I watched Memoirs of a Geisha. I watched it 2 times. I even watched the accompanying DVD bonus materials. I am struck by the beauty of the filmmaker�s craft and the moving story itself. I am a romantictattooedbikerpastorguitarist, I am a sucker for love stories. In a scene that sings hope out loud the little girl Sayuri is gifted a small cone of sweetened shaved ice by a stranger. This single kind act changes her experience of life, knowledge of hope and in the end, her destiny. Great art should move us to action beyond mere feeling. There are many around us whose lives might be impacted deeply by a single merciful act.

A single act of kindness in the coming day might be...

There were some great comments left under my original post about the J gospel, you can find these comments a few articles below this one. Here are a couple of thoughts that may be helpful to thinking though the gospel of Judas and other Gnostic materials making a pop culture showing these days.

Thought #1: The Judas manuscript is a SINGLE document, one papyrus is available for study. In contrast the four biblical Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are documented by thousands of ancient manuscripts. The many individual manuscripts of the four Bible gospels help us to see the trustworthiness in the transmission of the texts and helps decipher what was originally written. The large number of surviving texts also gives credence the fact that these documents were well cared for and highly valued by the early Christians. Christians died for these books, they were careful to only cling to what they thought was authentic enough to risk life and limb for. We have a single document of the Gnostic Judas idea, it wasn�t worthy of revering and preserving by the ancients. This also means we don�t even know if the Judas manuscript we have is like the original papyrus or a completely unreliable copy, there are no other documents to cross check. To see the rest of this article including thoughts about Benjamin Franklin's prostate issues click the link right below these words...

New ancient document found, The Gospel of Judas

Interaction : Is important? Does it threaten historic Christian faith? Talk to me a little and then I'll share my thoughts here later.

For some the term “Christian tattoo” is akin to a terms like “Satanic kindness” or “strawberry bricks”. Do these words function together?

There is much controversy today as to whether young Christians are defacing the original artwork of God by funneling ink under skin. What about Leviticus 19:28, is it not a clear injunction against Christians getting tattoos? Often our Christian culture smears the ink of the scriptures until we begin to truly explore the text below the surface tension of our present customs.

A place to begin your personal study on this issue might be, HERE.

Sacred Ink the 12 month art - internet - faith - musical - photographic - Flash - website chaoticsaga is now an online reality. Go see the sacra or sacrilege for yourself at www.sacredink.net. The goal of the project is to present the life / faith stories of 17 people who have been marked permanently by and for Jesus the Christ. The site is filled with stories of hope that you can taste, salvation from the edge and Grace that is still wet to the touch.

All this exploration into the ether-world of the internet has stirred other some ideas: uploading my Sunday sermons to itunes (coming later this month), producing a series of unique Video Podcasts for itunes (coming in May, we have 5 filmed already) and a Soul Sabbatical series of tech-driven scripture meditations (coming early June). I truly desire to speak into the often neglected and less lit corners of this world’s cultures; technology will amplify the human voice if plug in occurs…

Sacred Ink Gratitude: Here and now is the place to say thank you to Mark and April Brandes co- dreamers who supplied all the world-class photography for the project, no charge. Thanks to Rob Brough and his buddy Kevin at Brough Communication. These guys worked for months crafting the unreal Flash and Navigation for the site, also at no charge. Thanks go to Mark Brown @ iHwy who has been providing the web hosting for Sacred Ink, gratis. Frank Johnson of Strategic Digital Outreach and The Smittie of Tako Productions also deserve thanks for the consulting and hand holding during my journey to greater web understanding. Smittie and Machiko Smith get props for designing the Sacred Digital Logo and the blog site you see here (again for no dinero)... wait till you see the Video podcasts. Grace and Peace be to the brothers and sisters who sat and chatted for our cameras and mics. Finally and not least to my wife Andrea and to my kids who allowed me to type, dream, phone, compose record perform and edit music over hundreds hours that might have been given to them this last 12 months. - You humble me. chuckk gerwig

And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away. -Ezra 3:11-13 (from New International Version)

Will the old and new both build upon The Foundation that is Messiah? What resonance will we make together as we build in this age, will it be consonant or dissonant?

A murky memory of the church next to the duplex I grew up in...

My friend Dan Kimball wrote the blog that launched Pew Wars, it got me thinking... When I was a little kid I visited church services in a pew-encrusted edifice a couple of times. I remember feeling FULLY bored but being FACINATED with the perfect little holes for the pencils, little bitterjuice cups and cough-up-the-bucks envelops in the back of the pew in front of me.

I also remember them singing some song that I thought said "bringing in the cheese bringing in the cheese we will come rejoicing, bringing in the cheese"... I later it found out it was bringing in the sheaves, but I like cheese better then and now.

The church's Sunday singing and special clothes had little effect on my spirit but I remember something that did, that pastorguy...His name was Sean Hankenson, he loved me, he gave me a cool comic called Doc Savage, let me and the boys play in the church hallways and best of all he let me ride my green Honda QA-50 minibike illegally in the church parking lot. He was showing me Jesus in a way that pew sitting and cheese bringing singing never would have. Jesus thanks for Sean, make me like him.

I just fired up MySpace a few minutes ago and a super-hot looking girl whose seamstress seems to have had waaaay too little cloth invaded my laptop's glowing widescreen. You know the ads I'm talking about, the MySpace harlot-o-rama, (the word "harlot" is a funny word) When an ad like this pops up you've got to make some quick choices. These are the times when the following passage from Job kicks in or should kick in for all of us fully sighted, red blooded humans if we follow Jesus.

"I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl. 2 For what is man's lot from God above, his heritage from the Almighty on high? 3 Is it not ruin for the wicked, disaster for those who do wrong? 4 Does he not see my ways and count my every step? Job 31:1-4 (from New International Version)

-in short we need to choose to make a commitment to our "us" to not do a sex-brain-feed on images that come careening at us online. - The Word warns us that "ruin" and "disaster" swells up for those who bathe in sewage ( the words ruin and disaster bring Tsunami images to my mind) Finally, it reminds us that God sees our inner filmfest and knows the real us. Good reason to "look away, look away, look away". The cool thing I find is the more you win in this area the more you will win and the easier harlot avoidance gets with practice. Oh and hey girls, let's not pretend it doesn't happen to you too. :)

For the record I'm not saying women who are photographed for things like these ads deserve less respect, they deserve MORE than they are getting. Like all of us models are created in the image of God and are to be cherished. The idea of using women as sexual objects to sell product or as sex toys makes me ill. Humans have value.

The bible sure record some GNARLY stuff...

Last Sunday during the study I mentioned Moloch the horrible "god" of the Ammonites in Old Testament times. When you read the Bible it's vital to understand that even though we see gnarly things in the Israelite culture that seem brutal to us in this age, the people groups surrounding the Israelites were UNREAL horrible in their daily lives, relationships,warfare and even their worship. The ancient world was a barbaric place and the Bible's codes of conduct were humane and limited wickedness found in the surrounding world even though some of it seems strange to us. Check this out.

God tells Israel:

Lev 18:21 "'Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.
(from New International Version)

MOLOCH - the horrible god of the Ammonites... Moloch is represented as a hollow brass humanlike body, with ox's head, and hands stretched forth to receive. When it was thoroughly heated the priests put the babe into its hands, while drums were beat to drown the infant cries, lest the parent should relent. The image was set within seven chapels: the first was opened to any one offering fine flour; the second to one offering turtle doves or young pigeons; the third to one offering a lamb; the fourth to one offering a ram; the fifth to one offering a calf; the sixth to one offering an ox; the seventh to one offering his son.
(from Fausset's Bible Dictionary, Electronic Database Copyright (c)1998 by Biblesoft)

Gnarly.

Technorati Tags: christianity, philosophy, religion, spirituality

Here's something from an article I wrote for the church website, from my devotional time.

Passage

Mark 2:15-17

While Jesus was having dinner at Levi's house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: "Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?" On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." (from New International Version)

Date Feb 22, 2206 Title: The Wrong Crowd

Record / Respond / Reflect

Hello everyone, I’m Dean’s twin brother Chuckk Gerwig, Pastor of Student Ministries here at Santa Cruz Bible Church. It’s a pleasure to share some of my time in God’s Word with you today. In Mark 2, Jesus is hanging out with the “wrong crowd”, he’s at the house of a notorious “Mafioso” named Levi, later known as Matthew the Apostle. Many “gang members” and other local bad-guys (probably the local bikers too) are all hanging out eating dinner with the King of the universe. Why is Jesus so unconcerned about being “above reproach” in this situation? He gave the local religious leaders reason to accuse him of ungodliness, and they did. Jesus’ sinless actions were above reproach but his choice of friends and followers seemed odd to the most religious folks in the neighborhood. Jesus lived a life of INCARNATIONAL mission. Incarnational means in the flesh, first person, come to where the people are. He came from pure and holy Heaven, to this dirty Earth and then reclined himself in close proximity with some of the people most likely not to get to Heaven. Jesus sat close enough to the “wrong crowd” that when He called for a radical new way of living they could hear Him clearly, from across the table. He wasn’t afraid to call sin sin, and sickness sick, but he drew the unhealthy crowd to health in the process of doing life with them while enjoying some bar-b-q.

Jesus’ model for me about how to “do” ministry is one of incarnating myself into the lives and around the dinner tables of the wicked to bring words of Life to the dying. I need to leverage more time to be in the midst of the wicked wrong crowd if I want to live and minister as Jesus did. Note for action to self, look into joining the local motorcycle club called BACA.

My Prayer: Jesus make me a person more like you, a man who can be accused of hanging with the wrong crowd. Let me spend more time in the company of those who are soul-sick and need your healing so badly. Let me be effective in reaching lost souls for your glory. Thank you for being willing to come eat bar-b q with me when I was one of the wicked and soul-sick. Thanks for healing me Lord.

ART is about to happen. I'm going with a bunch of friends to the lovely RIO Theater here in funky ol’ Santa Cruz to bear witness to some musical ART in motion, the Derek Trucks Band. I saw 'em last year at the Catalyst club and it was TRUE ART.

Funny how when ART “happens” it moves something inside us towards feeling. This is in my mind a clue to the riddle of God's goodness to his kids. Why does it make you feel pleasure and even cause involuntary movement in your body when audio ART enters your ear, maybe God built us this way as a gift to bring joy hold us over until Heaven knowing life here would be difficult. He didn't have to place ears next to our sideburns, He chose to on purpose.

When we see visual ART it in all it's forms (God's creation around us or our works on canvas and other media) it also moves many people, causing us to feel. Maybe when God was making us He decided to cause our eyes see color, depth and texture and made the world in color, depth, variety and wonder to bring Himself pleasure as an artist and to bring us pleasure as his children.

Isaiah 45:18 --> For this is what the LORD says--he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be INHABITED.

I want to add a new word to the evangelical dictionary of terms. "Busyapathy". Busyapathy is a disease that effects millions of evangelicals and other followers of Jesus. Symptoms are overindulgence in church programs that put us into such overload we rush everywhere and see nothing of the needs around us. People who have this malady are often heard making the vocalization " hurry" to others in their family as they head towards the church campus. Blurry vision can be a problem. Some sufferers may be seeking to avoid contamination from the germs of those who have the "don't love Jesus syndrome".

Busyapathy causes a dulling of the concern and feeling for those who are perishing without Jesus - sufferers are too busy invalidated with their illness to administer healing to others. Busyapathy is defined as APATHY towards reaching out in ongoing friendship to those not yet Christian because of the BUSYness of our over programmed church-ghettoed lives. "Church" subculture causes many followers of Jesus to find they have few real friendships with non believers (or for those still in school ) the relationships they have with non believers don't often point towards the excellent lifesaving Jesus. Be on guard for this sickness. I think I want to get healthier myself in this regard.

RX for Cure. Less church program gluttony, increased relationship time with those who are in need of the TRUE DOCTOR and a healthy balanced diet of worship and growth in local church services.

I'm sitting here with my laptop burning a red cancerous divit into my right thigh, thinking about my wife Andrea. I was thinking... this coming July we will have been married 25 years. Amazing, AND since we met and started dating 4 years before that we've been together for 29 years, many more years than we lived apart from each other. So I'm reflecting on what a fortunate man I am and what a great gift Andrea is.
Here are some of God's thoughts about a good wives and a crummy wives ( I got the good one!!!) - Girls can apply many of these principals to the futuredreamman in their lives ...if they haven’t found him yet.

GOOD WIFE :BY GOD
-Prov 19:14 Houses and wealth are inherited from parents, but a prudent wife is from the LORD. (from New International Version)
-Prov 5:18 May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. (from New International Version)
-Prov 18:22 He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD. (from New International Version
-Prov 31:10 A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. 11 Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. (from New International Version)

CRUMMY WIFE : BY GOD
-Prov 19:13 A foolish son is his father's ruin, and a quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping. (from New International Version)
-Prov 21:9 Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife. (from New International Version)
-Prov 21:19 Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and ill-tempered wife. (from New International Version)
-Prov 23:27 for a prostitute is a deep pit and a wayward wife is a narrow well. (from New International Version)
-Prov 25:24 Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife. (from New International Version)
-Prov 27:15 A quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping on a rainy day; 16 restraining her is like restraining the wind or grasping oil with the hand. (from New International Version)

So I'm really so thankful God blessed me with Andrea.

Chuckk Loves Andrea more than breath.

The parable of the "sower" is really the parable of the DIRTS

Jesus Says... ... "A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop-a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Matthew 13:3-8 - (from New International Version)

So here's a new thought - the four soils, good or bad, they're all still just dirt. I love it that God brings flowers from dust in our dirty lives. Produce happens. The ground of this earth doesn't quiver with hard effort to MAKE fruit "happen" it produces because it is dirt that the farmer has cultivated. Maybe instead of struggling we should just sit well in the palm of the farmer. More on this Sunday morning with Mr kaka pelican, a blowup raft, sunflower seeds, and Travis Barker's crib.

...too serious??? sorry. How's this? what's the difference between a Hoover Vacuum Cleaner and a Harley Davidson??? "The dirtbag rides behind the Hoover not on top of it." nuf said.
The Dirtbag.

I'm sitting here, in my living room in fav chair with my laptop incinerating my thighs (does this cause cancer?) Wednesday is my special day to be with Jesus and listen and study for an extended period of time and then write it all down for teaching on Sunday. What a privilege.

I was reflecting that most all people who have ever lived have not had the privilege of knowing God, of having daily access to his Word and the calling to speaking for Him, --> I am blessed, and humbled.

There's a cool breeze blowing in the sliding glass door, it smells of sun on redwood trees outside , I can breath it because I have life, what a privilege.

HOOLIO asks... WHY NOT GET HIGH AS CHRISTIANS...GOD FORGIVES
A good question / interesting thought from a student came up on a MYSPACE bulletin board asking why shouldn't Christians just party / sin since they can ask Jesus to forgive them on Sunday and then start again. Hoolio the Dog (who has a not so secret drinking problem...) also asked me this question when we were in Mexico. Hoolio just looked to be sleeping ....he was baked most of the time we saw him, cheap tequilla you know... note the blood shot eyes... bad breath???
...actually it's a pretty good question. if Jesus died and we're clear can't Christians just sin like crazy and then say sorry on sunday?
--here's some thoughts on why we shouldn't just party our brains out or live wrongly, I'll let God speak 4 himself :) - He doesn't need my help.

Roman 6:1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

2 Cor 7:1 Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.

Gal 2:19 For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Eph 4:20 You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. 21 Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

1 John 2:3 We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. 4 The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

1 John 3:6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

Rom 13:12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

...and partying makes you Crisp... I know about that personally
peace-chuckk