He Is Risen

The message this morning was excellent. Taken from 1 Cor. 15:1-19, Pastor Mark took a historical view of how Christ's contemporaries viewed the Resurrection.

1 Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.
2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

After Jesus was murdered, something happened to a number of people that transformed them from quaking, frightened fugitives to lions of the faith. His most vocal disciple, Peter, had already denied Him three times; the other disciples were hiding behind locked doors.
What happened was the Resurrection; God's tranforming power restored a rotting, stinking, blotted corpse (He was dead three days, trust me on this one) and it was the sight of a resurrected Jesus that brought new life and conviction to formerly shattered and scattered disciples.

5 and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.

What they saw convinced them to die horrible deaths rather than to forsake their belief. They did not see a Jesus who had "swooned" and then regained consciousness inside a cave. First of all, Jesus was brutally scrouged by a flagellum that produced horrific wounds. This was done to inflict very serious physical injury on a condemned prisoner so he would die relatively quickly during his crucifixion. Without this torture and the resultant shock, a prisoner could last for days on a cross.

Once Jesus appeared to be dead, a soldier thurst a spear into his side. Seeing the blood and water that issued forth, the soldier - no stranger to executions - knew that Jesus was dead. Jesus was then wrapped in burial cloths and placed in a sarcophogus where his body would rot for about a year after which which his bones would be placed in an ossuary.

6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,
8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

Paul here is writing of what appears to be common knowledge to the residents of Jerusalem. Jesus was seen by many people, not just His disciples.

Interesting enough, there is nothing that contests this account from the Romans. There are many documents from this time that have been discovered, but nothing that directly refutes the accounts of the disciples. Josephus writes of Jesus in his Antiquities of the Jews (approx. 90 AD):

Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day.

This account by Josephus was almost universally accepted for many centuries.

Now the resurrection is being questioned by alleged "objective" investigators who claim that Jesus was not God, but merely another mortal who died like everyone else. There was a Discovery Channel special, "The Lost Tomb of Jesus" that aired in 2007. The producers, Simcha Jacobovici and James Cameron, claim that Jesus' burial place was found in Jerusalem and his bones have been recovered. This is not a documentary, it is a Michael Moorish piece of speculative nonsense. The scientists who were interviewed for this pice of rot have responded with disgust how they were manipulated by the producers and how many statements were taken out of context.

A counterpiece, The Jesus Tomb Unmasked, shows how bias and poor science shaped the false claims that Jesus' tomb has been discovered. This movie is free on line or a DVD can be purchased from Amazon for $7. It offers a reality-based view of how liberals distort the truth in order to push their agenda.

Obama And The False Prophet

Barack Obama is an arrogant and corrupt politician who thinks he is much too smart. For him to come out now and say he is outraged by the remarks of Mr. Wright (I refuse to use the honorific Rev. for this cretin) is just too disingenuous for words. He is either a narcoleptic who slept through the sermons in that miserable excuse of a church for the past twenty years or he is deaf as a post. I highly doubt he is either.

Truth is, he thinks The Stoopid is Stong in Us.

Democrat Barack Obama said Tuesday he was outraged and appalled by the latest comments from his former pastor, who asserted that criticism of his fiery sermons is an attack on the black church and the U.S. government was responsible for the creation of the AIDS virus.

The presidential candidate is seeking to tamp down the growing fury over Rev. Jeremiah Wright and his incendiary remarks that threaten to undermine his campaign.

"I am outraged by the comments that were made and saddened by the spectacle that we saw yesterday," Obama told reporters at a news conference.

Mr. Wright has been preaching this unadulterated horse hockey for decades. He screams this victim theology filth to a crowd of itching ears who reward him for his lies by building him a $1.6 million mansion.

Wright's new mansion is located in Tinsley Park, IL, a nice village of 53,792 persons of whom 93% are white and less than 2% are black; median household income is $61,648. Compare that with President Bush's residence in the Town of Crawford, McLennan County, Texas; population 705 - 4.4% are black (31 out of 705) and the median income for McLennan County is $35,225.

That's how much Wright loves his poor, black congregation - these funds could have been more wisely used in other endeavors. But only now is that charlatan Obama outraged.

What the false teacher Wright says from the pulpit has nothing to do with the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ did not preach a social Gospel. Christ's teaching about Government said but one thing about man's relationship to Government, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's"as stated in Mark 12:13-17, Matthew 22:15-22 and Luke 20:20-26. Pauline doctinre can be best summed up in Romans, Chapter 13:

1Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. 4For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. 6This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. 7Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

And this was written during the Roman era. Roman rule was fairly lax as long as you paid the taxes/tribute and did exactly what the Romans wanted - and you weren't a slave. Otherwise, the Romans were incredibly brutal. Crucifixion was a particularly gentle exercise invented by the Romans as a form of capital punishment. It could take as long as three days to die lashed or nailed to a crossbeam.

Spartacus led a slave rebellion in 73 BC. The Romans eventually crushed the rebellion in 71 BC and crucified 6,000 survivors. The population of the City of Rome was approximately 1,000,000 at it's peak. About half of it's residents were slaves who lived under horrible conditions.

But not much is said about slavery in the New Testament except for Paul preaching to remain in whatever social/marital condition you accepted Christ (except for slavery - 1 Cor 7:17-24 - Paul writes if you can get free then do so for the implied purpose of serving Christ) and the troubling Book of Philemon - troubling to false prophet Wright that is, who obviously has ignored this passage of Holy Scripture:

8) Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do,
9) yet I appeal to you on the basis of love. I then, as Paul—an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus—
10) I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains.
11) Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.
12) I am sending him—who is my very heart—back to you.
13) I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel.
14) But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do will be spontaneous and not forced.
15) Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for good—
16) no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord.

What Paul is doing in the Book of Philemon is sending a runaway slave, Onesimus, back to his master. Onesimus stole from Philemon and then took off. He is literally facing the death penalty if Philemon desires so. And yet Paul does not rail against the system or the government that allows this. He appeals to Philemon's Christian experience to forgive Onesimus and accept him back as a brother.

I don't read anything about damning the government anywhere in the New Testament. I read about obedience to authority because goverments are ordained by God so that Men can live in peace. Governments should be obedient to God also, but no where in the New Testament is rebellion taught as a desireable course of action.

The Apostles Peter, Paul and John had a lot to say about the likes of Mr. Jeremiah Wright and it boils down to one thing - the spirit of the Antichrist operating through the unbridled mouths of false teachers.

Two thousand years ago we were warned about the likes of Jeremiah Wright and the hellish bent of his preaching in such passages as these.

Matthew 7:15-20
15) Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
16) You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?
17) Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
18) A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.
19) Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20) Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

2 Peter 2:1-3
1) But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.
2) And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.
3) By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.

1 John 4:1-3
1) Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2) By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,
3) and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.

2 Timothy 4:3-4
3) For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4) And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

Here are some more verses and advice that deals with false teachers and the damage they do to the Christian faith.

1. Romans 16:17-18 Avoid those who cause divisions. The truth causes divisions (John 7:43, John 9:16, John 10:19), but people who fight the truth also cause divisions. They do it through deception and emotionalism. You will notice that they offer no positive solution, only negative attacks. Avoid them.
2. II Thessalonians 3:6, II Thessalonians 3:11 Stay away from disobedient Christians. Anyone who refuses to obey the teachings of Jesus should be regarded with suspicion in all that they teach. It will almost always lead to division and confusion.
3. Titus 3:9, II Timothy 2:23 Avoid foolish questions. When people question you, consider where it is leading. Do they acknowledge good answers, or are they just picking away in order to make trouble?
4. Titus 3:10 Don't waste time on people who just want to argue. If argumentative people bring up new issues each time you give them the truth on a previous one, do not be too proud to simply walk away from them.

Sodom And Gomorrah And Asteroids?

Genesis Chapter 19:
24 - Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire, from the LORD out of the heavens.
25 And He overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.
26 But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
27 And Abraham got up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD.
28 And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the lands of the plain, and saw, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.
29 And when God destroyed the cities of the plain, it happened that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.

A new twist on an ancient Assyrian clay tablet may give credence to the biblical account of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorroh - by an asteroid. From Fox News:

A clay tablet that has baffled scientists for 150 years has been identified as a witness's account of the asteroid suspected of being behind the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Researchers who cracked the cuneiform symbols on the Planisphere tablet believe that it recorded an asteroid thought to have been more than half a mile across.

The tablet, found by Henry Layard in the remains of the library in the royal place at Nineveh in the mid-19th century, is thought to be a 700 B.C. copy of notes made by a Sumerian astronomer watching the night sky.

He referred to the asteroid as a "white stone bowl approaching" and recorded it as it "vigorously swept along."

Some terminology: an asteroid is basically a small planet that is in orbit around the Sun. It can be anywhere from over 700 km to about a kilometer or two in diameter. A meteroid is cosmic debris, smaller than an asteriod, that becomes a meteor when it hits the Earth's atmosphere.

So it was a big honking asteroid and not a meteor that struck Austria 8700 years ago. That someone made notes regarding this event is not surprising. That the record survived is amazing.

How much of our modern culture could survive 8,700 years without massive restorative efforts? Many of our buildings do not last a hundred years. Our books, newspapers, CD's, DVD's, microfiche, photos - everything not carved in stone, written on scrolls in humidity free storage with acid free ink or cast in some kind of rust resistant metal will be gone.

If you can, examine an old cemetary (there's one not far from my house) where Revolutionary War vets are buried - some of the tombstones are getting hard to read after less than 270 years. Now consider ten, twenty or even thirty times that period of time - I wonder what will still be legible of our passing?

Using computers to recreate the night sky thousands of years ago, scientists have pinpointed his sighting to shortly before dawn on June 29 in the year 3123 B.C.

About half the symbols on the tablet have survived and half of those refer to the asteroid. The other symbols record the positions of clouds and constellations. In the past 150 years scientists have made five unsuccessful attempts to translate the tablet.

There is a truly extraordinary (and inexpensive - around $12) DVD available that explains in great detail the computer generated calculations that enable astronomers to reproduce ancient skies and even ascertain with absolute certainty dates reconstructured by stellar observations. It is extraordinary how carefully the ancients documented the movement of stars, planets and constellations.

The DVD shows how the Bethlehem Star (Gospel of Matthew Chapter 2)was an actual cosmic phenomena that was observed by many people. The actual date that the Star appeared above Bethlehem is based on Johannes Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion. The Laws are still used today with few moderations. It is amazing how accurate they can be. (Yeah, I know I didn't provide the date... buy the DVD, I promise you it's worth it).

Mark Hempsell, one of the researchers from Bristol University who cracked the tablet's code, said: "It's a wonderful piece of observation, an absolutely perfect piece of science."

He said the size and route of the asteroid meant that it was likely to have crashed into the Austrian Alps at Köfels. As it traveled close to the ground it would have left a trail of destruction from supersonic shock waves and then slammed into the Earth with a cataclysmic impact.

Debris consisting of up to two-thirds of the asteroid would have been hurled back along its route and a flash reaching temperatures of 400 Centigrade (752 Fahrenheit) would have been created, killing anyone in its path.

About one million sq kilometers (386,000 sq miles) would have been devastated and the impact would have been equivalent to more than 1,000 tons of TNT exploding.

It's a moot point whether or not these two cities were destroyed by an asteroid or something else. There is evidence that indicates that there were twin cities located at the southern end of the Dead Sea and that they were destroyed long ago. The historian Josephus wrote about the ruins of these cities which were observable in the first century AD.

Our knowledge of previous generations is based on the written records provided by contemporaries of that time. How reliable are they? For this reason it is reasssuring to have external (and neutral) verification that such events may have actually occured. But there is no doubt that something did happen at Köfels, Austria, about 8700 years ago.

Dr Hempsall said that at least 20 ancient myths record devastation of the type and on the scale of the asteroid's impact, including the Old Testament tale of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the ancient Greek myth of how Phaeton, son of Helios, fell into the River Eridanus after losing control of his father's sun chariot.

The findings of Dr. Hempsall and Alan Bond, of Reaction Engines Ltd., are published in a book, "A Sumerian Observation of the Köfels Impact Event."

The researchers say that the asteroid's impact would explain why at Köfels there is evidence of an ancient landslide 3 miles wide and a quarter of a mile thick.

The book described above is available at Amazon.com for $25. I just ordered a copy.

A UK publication The Register also has some information on the clay tablet and the Köfels Impact Event:

[...] Alan Bond, Managing Director of Reaction Engines Ltd and Mark Hempsell, Senior Lecturer in Astronautics at Bristol University, subjected the Planisphere to a programme which "can simulate trajectories and reconstruct the night sky thousands of years ago". They discovered that it described "events in the sky before dawn on the 29 June 3123 BC", with half of it noting "planet positions and cloud cover, the same as any other night".

The other half, however, records an object "large enough for its shape to be noted even though it is still in space" and tracks its trajectory relative to the stars, which "to an error better than one degree is consistent with an impact at Köfels".

That a large body had impacted at Köfels had long been suspected, the evidence being a giant landslide 500m thick and five kilometres in diameter. The site had no impact crater to back the theory, but the researchers now believe they have a plausible explanation for that.

The Bristol Uni press release explains: "The observation suggests the asteroid is over a kilometre in diameter and the original orbit about the Sun was an Aten type, a class of asteroid that orbit close to the earth, that is resonant with the Earth’s orbit. This trajectory explains why there is no crater at Köfels.

Somehow screaming "Incoming!" at the top of your lungs does not begin to describe what this must have been like. The distance from the south end of the Dead Sea to Köfels is about 1,500 miles. How do you document something like this occuring during a time when there was only rudimentary communications? How would we document something like this with no radio, television, newspapers, cameras, telegraphs and *shudder* without the internet?

I saw something similar to this but on a much, much smaller scale on April 25, 1966. I was almost 17 years old. My brother and I were practicing with a drum and bugle corps in Smithown, NY. Actually we were using the football field at the nearby Hauppauge High School. There was an incredible light in the sky, a meteor, more like a brilliant smear. I remember it as being greenish in color.

The event made all the newspapers and we talked about it for weeks. You never forget something like that because it scared the crap out of us. Literally. For a while we had no idea what the hell it was - I thought it could be the end of the world, it was that spectacular. It lit up the sky for a second or three like a flare from hell.

"The in coming angle was very low (six degrees) and means the asteroid clipped a mountain called Gamskogel above the town of Längenfeld, 11 kilometres from Köfels, and this caused the asteroid to explode before it reached its final impact point.

"As it travelled down the valley it became a fireball, around five kilometres in diameter (the size of the landslide). When it hit Köfels it created enormous pressures that pulverised the rock and caused the landslide but because it was no longer a solid object it did not create a classic impact crater.

"Mark Hempsell, hinting at the possible fate of Sodom and Gomorrah, adds: “Another conclusion can be made from the trajectory. The back plume from the explosion (the mushroom cloud) would be bent over the Mediterranean Sea re-entering the atmosphere over the Levant, Sinai, and Northern Egypt.

“The ground heating though very short would be enough to ignite any flammable material - including human hair and clothes. It is probable more people died under the plume than in the Alps due to the impact blast.“ While the biblical fate of the legendary dens of vice (“Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah - from the Lord out of the heavens” - Genesis 19:24) sits nicely with the asteroid theory, it's never been categorically proven that they actually existed in their suspected location close to the Dead Sea.

Other sites having links to this clay tablet are here.