IS JESUS DEAD?

James Cameron (of Titanic and Terminator movie fame) claims to have found the tomb of Jesus, and that it contains the ossuaries (coffins) of Jesus, Mary Magdalene (his wife), Judah (their son), Mary mother of Jesus, and Matthew (one of the Apostles). He plans to do DNA and Carbon dating to verify their credibility. How does the Church respond to these claims?

Rational Points Against the Reports

1. The bias of the secular press is blatantly anti-Christian.
2. The misinformation of the press is well known (many examples could easily be cited).
3. The agenda of James Cameron:
1. Filmmaker, not an archaeologist or biblical scholar.
2. His goal is not truth or scholarship, but money.
3. He is part of the Hollywood machine that is trying to discredit Christianity.

Archaeological Points Against the Reports

1. The dating of the cave is not confirmed (nor can be), even though they may argue that it can and will be.
2. The dating of the remains is not confirmed, though they may argue that they will be (carbon dating can only get you in the ballpark, and not provide decades). thus the dating does nothing to verify that the remains were even from the same time period as Jesus, except to within a few hundred years.
   
3. The names (Jesus, Mary, Miriam, Judah) were very popular names, before and after the resurrection of Jesus.
4. There were many imposters and charlatans during the early centuries of the church. Furthermore, the heretical (so-called) Christian Gnostics had a vested interest in producing a body of Jesus, in that, they denied a physical resurrection and claimed only a spiritual resurrection.
   
5. DNA testing cannot prove anything about the identity of the people in the coffins, other than relationships to one another. They cannot prove or disprove the identity of Jesus.

Biblical Points Against the Reports

1. Jesus prophesied that in the last days this would happen: “At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it” (Mat. 24:23). This is just another such claim, though this is unique in that it is a dead Jesus.
2. Given the claim that Matthew, one of the Apostles, was buried in the same cave, this would suggest that the Apostles knew that Jesus never ascended and ultimately died. It is doubtful that ten disciples would have endured martyrdom, or would have allowed thousands of followers to endure martyrdom, if they knew this was a hoax.
3. If the Jews (especially the Jews) or Roman authorities in the area knew of the location or the death and ultimate burial of Jesus, they would have produced Jesus or His dead body and once and for all discredited the faith of the early church.
4. The Apostle Paul affirms the resurrection, declaring of Jesus: “It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us” (Rom 8:34).

Check out this link from Fox News, Father Jonathan Morris.

Growth on the Periphery

How can an organization facilitate growth on one hand, and yet maintain its identity as an organization with consistent values and beliefs on the other hand? As an organization grows, it must be willing to delegate more authority and autonomy to the periphery or growth will stop. If an organization is dogmatically controlled by a central source of power and resources then the organization is doomed to stop growing when the extent of the influence of the central source is reached. Even with inventive and involved hierarchical schemas, there are limits to which an organization can continue to grow without allowing for more autonomy on the edges. Instead, the vital and innovative edges will break away and thrive on their own, independent of the founding organization.

A clear example of this is the contrast between the Church of God (Cleveland, TN) and the Assemblies of God (Springfield, MO). The Assemblies has a much larger membership than the Church of God does, and the structure between the Assemblies and the Church of God helps to explain how the Assemblies has continued to see such growth while the Church of God has never seen the level of growth that the Assemblies has. The centralized and hierarchical structure of the Church of God mitigates growth, while the less centralized structure of the Assemblies facilitates growth.

Even at local church level, growing churches have leadership who have discovered the multiplication factor of empowering others to create, administer, and minister in semi-autonomous small groups, para-ministries, outreaches, extension congregations, and so forth. While I am a Church of God minister, and believe in the teachings and leadership of the organization, I fear that unless substantial structural change is embraced in the near future, the extent of our growth and vitality as an organization may be within sight.

Leaving a Legacy

I received a yearly devotional from the administrative bishop of our state in our denomination. It is a devotional that utilizes historic events and personalities from the church. Each morning I’ve been taking time to read the short devotional and to reflect upon the journey that other great men and women of faith took in their walk with God. I sometimes wonder if my effort, if my contribution in ministry and scholarship will have any lasting impact on the kingdom of God, or if my paltry blood, sweat and tears will result in little more than a castle in the sand, standing only until the next tide sweeps across the beach and all memory of the effort is forever gone.

My weakness, perhaps, is the desire to leave a legacy. I see presidents, past and present, who become obsessed with legacy. What will history say of them? How will their presidency be remembered in the pages of time? The obsession leads to policies and politics that have less to do with sound judgment, than with how they will be remembered. Some, like Jimmy Carter, will try to engage in historiography, rewriting and restating their own importance, as if trying to convince themselves and others.

I want to leave something for the next generation. I want my life to have been significant, but significant to whom? It is, in the final analysis, the review of God and not of man, which is of utmost importance. But still, I want to build something, to grow something, to write something, to say something that will live long beyond my years. Is that a weakness?

It is a weakness when such a thing becomes an obsession and when the pursuit of such a thing blinds a man to his own faults and failures. It is a strength, however, when the legacy becomes a light that points others to the enabling power of Christ in us, the hope of glory. It is a strength when we have left something behind upon which others can build. It is strength when the legacy inspires others to strive for greatness, rather than to fade into the gray mist of mediocrity.

I have found that lasting legacies rarely come without sacrifice, commitment, and selfless acts of compassion. It is wrong, and it is folly, to believe that a lasting positive legacy can be built on words without action, faith without works, or vision without courage. The example of Jesus is one of commitment to the cause, faithfulness to the Father, and courage in the face of criticism. Such men are rare in this time of quick fixes and easy believism.

Dietrich Bonheoffer was one who challenged his fellow ministers and pastors in Nazi Germany to resist the temptation to take the route of least resistance and instead to do what was right regardless of the perceived cost in this life. Still a young man at the time of his execution, his legacy continues to inspire and to challenge all believers to do right in a do wrong world, to count the cost, to consider the reward, and to go the distance.

My Prayer
God forgive me for being complacent, for seeking the easy road, and for being more concerned with how I will be remembered than I am with who will know you through my life today. Help me to become consumed with you, with your love, with your will, and your word in my life. Chip away from my life, anything that does not look like you, until all that remains is your image and likeness fully restored in me. Amen