In recent weeks I have gone down a YouTube rabbit hole on the subject of the Shroud of Turin. If you’re not familiar with it, the Shroud is the most famous of religious relics. It is a 14-foot length of finely woven linen which has a faint full-bodied image of a man who apparently died of crucifixion. For centuries it has been promoted by the Church as the same burial cloth mentioned in all 4 Gospels.  I remember the Shroud being in the news sometimes during my formative years, but it dropped off my radar in the 1980s when scientists…

Matthew’s account of the resurrection of Jesus and the aftermath is fairly brief, comprising only 20 verses.  The first ten verses have “Mary Magdalene and the other Mary” going to “see the tomb” just before dawn on Sunday morning and there experiencing an earthquake followed by an angel descending and rolling away the stone.  The guards tremble and “become like dead men”. (Did they pass out?) The angel addresses the two Maries, inviting them to see the place where Jesus’ body had been laid and saying that Jesus would be heading to Galilee.  As they are leaving the tomb “with…

Palm Sunday is coming – and with it comes the most predictable and oft repeated sermon of all time. Generally, the Palm Sunday sermon is a 2-pointer: 1. The crowds wrongly assumed Jesus was about to establish an earthly, political kingdom – which they were all in favor of. And 2. The crowds were fickle, proclaiming Jesus as king on Sunday and calling for His crucifixion by Friday … because they wrongly assumed He had intended an earthly kingdom and was failing.  But is that all there is to the story? I don’t recall ever hearing a sermon on the…

At first glance, it might not seem like a particularly profound difference.  But contrary to what most believers have been taught, the Bible makes it clear: You are not going to Heaven when you die.  Heaven is coming to you. And that makes a world of difference.  (When you stop and think about it.) 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It was prepared like a bride dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Now God’s presence is with people, and he…

Right in the center of my 25-minute drive to Sardinia Baptist Church the road hugs a small creek for a quarter mile.  With all the flooding around Columbus, as I drove to worship yesterday morning, I had my doubts the road would be passable. But I drove right past the little creek.  It was swollen but still flowing within its banks.  Columbus was flooding because a sizeable river, the Flatrock, cuts through its heart. Two other streams join the Flatrock near downtown. Countless others join up north before its waters ever reach Columbus.  Maybe this is another workable metaphor for…

Colossians 3:1-4 1 Therefore, since you have been raised with Christ, strive for the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Paul says so much here in just a few words. A few early notes on the passage I will be preaching this coming Sunday … Therefore, since you have been raised with…

I’ve been looking for a metaphor to explain the shortcomings of the typical American “gospel”: i.e., “You’re a sinner so Christ died in your place to enable you to someday go to Heaven.”  Here’s one that came to mind today that might have some potential: the Gospel as a Three Act Play. In your typical play, the acts fall along these lines: Act 1 = Exposition. All the relevant background information is established and the conflict is introduced. Act 2 = Complication. Something stands in the way of the hero’s achievement. Act 3 = Resolution. The hero succeeds. He reaches…