oasisCHURCH

Pondering Heaven

If you had to describe heaven to someone right now, what kind of language might you use? For many Christians the description often seems to run something like this:  "Heaven is place of eternal joy and comfort.  Those who have believed in Christ as Lord and Savior will one day go to heaven.  In heaven there will be no suffering.  There will be no sickness, no pain, no hate, no anger, no war, no sin of any kind.  Those in heaven will tread upon streets of gold.  We will breathe life anew.  We will be without stress, fear, or anxiety of any kind.  We will be reunited with all of our loved ones in Christ.  All will be beautiful and all will be loved.  Heaven will be more than just an echo of perfection, it will be perfection and it will be eternal."   The variations of this description are many but similar threads seem to run through most.  What, if anything, is curiously missing from the italicized description above?  Some Christians may stare at this description and say, "Nothing at all."  Others might stare at it and say, "You've left out the most important thing!"

Do you realize that the true joy of heaven is not escape from sickness, pain, hate, anger, war, stress, fear, anxiety, and what we see as our physical inadequacies?  Do you realize that the true joy of heaven is not the paved streets of gold?  Do you realize that the true joy of heaven is not a reunion with those whom we have loved and lost?  So what is the true joy of heaven?  I believe that every Christian should start their description of heaven with some semblance of this sentence, "The true joy of heaven and the great yearning for heaven should be in this realization:  We will be able to stand in the presence of God and worship him for eternity.  We will have the opportunity to give God glory and honor and praise for all time." 

I'm leaving this post short on purpose.  I would like for you to consider the minimal amount that has been said here.  I want you to generate questions in your mind then I want you to ask them here.  Do you agree/disagree with what's been said?  What can you add to what's been said?  How can we consider heaven from a biblical perspective and grow in our understanding of God's gloriousness in heaven and earth?  Enough from me.....your turn..........    

Hebrews 1:3 - A New Song

This is one of the new tunes that you've been hearing once in a while during our times of gathered worship on Sundays.  Chris posted the lyrics in another post but I'll go ahead and post them here again.

A dying son birthing righteousness
For the Father, for His Father’s renown
All have fallen low
All have failed to see
But mercy through grace
From the Father, to honor Him as He

Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God
All the universe stands by the power of His word
When He died He brought all I could not see
Without Him

For all You are
All in joy should raise all the praise that you deserve
For Your splendor, Your immaculate renown
Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God
All the universe stands by the power of His word
When He died He brought all I could not see Without Him

All hearts open here
See the grandeur, greatness, vastness of the King
You’re astounding; breathtaking
You’re astonishing; awe-inspiring
That’s You, I love you Lord, that’s You
That’s You, I love you Lord, that's You

......I hope you enjoy this recording

Download Hebrews_1_3.mp3

Current Events: The Lost Tomb of Jesus

If you follow television much, particularly channels like the Discovery Channel or the History Channel, you'll see many interesting specials.  I have to admit that I have an almost unhealthy addiction with the Discovery Channel.  This past Sunday a new film was aired on the Discovery Channel.  The film was/is called "The Lost Tomb of Jesus".  Now you might be thinking, "Have they found the tomb that Jesus was buried in before his resurrection?"  Well...no. 

In 1980 a tomb was discovered by a construction crew in Talpiot (a suburb of Jerusalem).  This was actually quite a common occurrence during the 80's.  During the 1980's construction crews unearthed hundreds of tombs which contained thousands of ossuaries (small boxes that contained the bones of the deceased).  During the time of Jesus it was common for families, with the means to do so, to build tombs for their departed family members.   A freshly deceased body would be laid out on a rock in the open air to help it decompose rather quickly.  Once the body had decomposed the family members would take the bones, put them inside a small box (ossuary), and then place them inside the family tomb.  Well, in 1980, in Talpiot, a tomb was discovered with ten Ossuaries inside of it.  Several of the Ossuaries had inscriptions on them.  These inscriptions were as follows:  Jesus, Son of Joseph;  Maria (the Latin form of Mary);  Mariamene (the Greek form for Mary);  Matthew;  Judah,  Son of Jesus; and Jose, a diminuitive form of Joseph.  The original official report of this find was written by a man named Amos Kloner and he found nothing remarkable about this discovery.  His reasoning?  The following is a quote from an article in Newsweek magazine, "The cave, it was said, was probably in use by three of four generations of Jews from the beginning of the Common Era.  It was disturbed in antiquity, and vandalized.  The names on the boxes were common in the first century (25 percent of women in Jerusalem were named Miriam or a derivative).  The original report does not speculate on family relationships nor does it make any connections between the inscriptions and the figure countless Christians through two millennia believe physically rose from the dead and, according to tradition, 'ascended into heaven'."  To this very day Kloner believes that there is nothing significant about the discovery of the cave in Talpiot. 

Enter an Emmy award winning journalist (Simcha Jacobovici) and a major Hollywood filmmaker (James Cameron).  Simcha actually has quite an impressive biography and he has two Emmy awards (one from 1995 and 1996 for Outstanding Investigative Journalism).  Simcha has fallen under some heavy fire from scientists, archaeologists, and theologians for his controversial views of Biblical events and general historical perspectives.   Some seem to think Simcha is a hack whereas others seem to think he is a certifiable genius and a brave innovator of his generation.  I can't really say.  I've never seen any of his documentary work (except the one being spoken about in this article).  So as far as the credibility of Simcha Jacobovici goes, I cannot render an intelligent opinion based merely on one work that I have viewed by him.  James Cameron needs little to no introduction for anyone who has had a pulse in the last twenty years.  Cameron is responsible for some of the biggest films in popular culture over the last 21 years.  Cameron is responsible for films such as the 1st and 2nd Terminator movies, the insanely successful Aliens, the thought provoking under water drama The Abyss, and the epic Titanic (which won the Academy Award for best picture in 1997).  Simcha and Cameron have combined their respective disciplines to bring us The Lost Tomb of Jesus.  The filmmakers seem to assert the opinion that the Talpiot tomb that was discovered in 1980, which was sighted as not historically relevant by Amos Kloner (the head archaeologist overseeing the cataloging of the Talpiot tomb in 1980), is actually the lost family tomb of Jesus of Nazareth, Mary his mother, Mary Magdalene (the wife of Jesus according to the assertions of the film), a child of Jesus and Mary Magdalene (according to the film) named Judah, Matthew, the tax collector and disciple of Jesus, and Yose (a nickname for Joseph) i.e. the younger brother of Jesus.  The claim here is that Jesus did not physically arise from the tomb and ascend into heaven as the gospels and the book of Acts asserts.  Rather, the body of Jesus, to be more precise his bones, were actually buried in this tomb in Talpiot. 

As you can imagine, the recent documentary "The Lost Tomb of Jesus" has raised more than a few eyebrows.  I watched the bulk of the documentary when it aired on Sunday night and found myself largely unaffected by it.  The whole theory presented by the filmmakers, in my humble opinion, is so full of holes and partial conclusions that it is nearly impossible to take any of the information presented in the documentary as credible.  My opinion on this documentary is obviously not a flattering one but it is not simply because I'm a Christian.  It just all seems like bad science, bad archeology, and bad theology rolled into, as one critic of the documentary put it, an "archeoporn" film.  There is far too much information to go into regarding the intricacies of the Talpiot tomb so what I wanted to provide for you were several links that will lead you to information about this new documentary.

Here is a link to the documentaries official website:  www.jesusfamilytomb.com
Here is a link to a Newsweek Article Regarding the Film:  Raiders of the Lost Tomb
Here is a link to a Christian critic's viewpoint of the documentary:  Alpha & Omega Ministries Article

I was trying to find an objective source to support the documentary but I didn't really have a whole lot of luck in the time I spent searching.  View the material for yourself.  Pray and use great discernment.  Do not be shaken by this documentary.  I encourage you to watch it.  Stand firm and steadfast in the word of God.  He is true and unshakable.  After you check out the material, maybe even poke around on the web to see what else is being said about the documentary and the Talpiot tomb in general, register your thoughts back here.  It should prove for some good conversation. 

all my love

chad