Monthly Archives: March 2007

The Illegal Trial of Jesus

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I know that you (the readers) may have read this before and got it, but it takes me some time to process things that don’t include the words “Moff” and “Fett”.

With Jesus’ trial, here are some things that I didn’t know (or had forgotten) about Jewish law:

  1. The judges had to be impartial. Now that seems like a given, but when you look at how many witnesses they tried to get that couldn’t tell the same story, it shows their partiality.
  2. A capital crime could not be tried on a Friday, a feast day, or after dark. The Friday leads into the Sabbath, so just like a feast day, it would be holy. And, aside from Richard Moll and Harry Anderson, nothing good can come from Night Court.
  3. Capital verdicts could not be pronounced the same day as the trial. They required two days and two nights for the judges to go home and think about taking a man’s life.
  4. A unanimous vote would set the accused free. The courts were worried that if everyone said the guy was guilty, there might have been bias or an unfair representation in the trial. At least one judge had to say that the person was innocent. Judges cast their votes individually. The younger judges would pronounce first, and then the older ones. This was to save younger judges from being swayed. The older judges had seen more trials.
  5. The accused could not testify against his or herself. Much like our fifth ammendment, you would need someone else’s testimony to convict you. The high priest invokes the very name of God (which high priests take seriously, naturally) and Jesus answers. People start yelling after that.

The importance of this is not just that Jesus got ripped off. He could have called 12 legions of angels, roughly 150,000 soldiers, to his side. Can you imagine that? No worries about the mob around him. One angel showed up for Israel and took out the Assyrian army (185,000 men, roughly).

But it’s a perfect demonstration of how we should act when accused. If we had more of an interest in Heaven, we would know that God knows how to do justice. Our justice is short-lived. We’re responsible for mercy. That leads to longer-lasting verdicts.

John G. Roberts

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Why didn’t someone tell me we had a supreme court justice from Chevy Chase, MD?

Yes, to entertain ourselves on a Saturday night, my wife and I mock supreme court justice bios. I find it disconcerting that I can send McCain and Bush a message via an HTML form, but I can’t give a digital shout-out to Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

(That, my friends, is another phrase that has never been typed on this site before.)

JPEG at an End?

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In a bold move from Redmond, Microsoft is wanting every single camera, videocamera, cell phone, and videogame company to ditch their JPEG formatting and switch to a new Microsoft HD picture format. On the positive side, the JPEG format has been around for as long as the Internet has been accessible to anyone not named Al Gore or Matthew Broderick. It might be time to update the compression technology. Some sources have reservations about the Microsoft touch to your future photos.

  1. The DRM only allows you to share your photos with three other people or for three days.
  2. Only photos marked with a hologram from the Official Copy of Service Pack 3 will be able to be viewed by grandmas.
  3. The JPOGs (brought to us by the same division that created gadgets – which are nothing like widgets) will be marked with a hologram of either ALF or The Hoff.

Peter Greig fans at NAU

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NAU is doing some cool stuff (as told by my friend Sue):

“Pray as if it all depends on God and live as if it all depends on you” –Pete Greig
This has become the rally cry of students in Arizona. They want to follow Jesus in radical ways, through their service and their prayer life. This battle cry has led to a movement of what one school news paper called, “prayer marathons”. The 24-7 prayer movement has its roots in Chichester, England beginning in a student church in 1999. You can read about the formation of the type of prayer that has captivated a generation of students in Peter Grieg’s book, Red Moon Rising.

What I can tell you is that as you read this letter students on each campus in Arizona are praying; they are in the midst of their own “prayer marathons”. Each group has had a different journey to the same place. Each group has gained permission from the administration of their university to set up a tent in the middle of their campus and to organize one-hour prayer shifts that go round the clock for 40 days – ending together in a state-wide worship service on Sunday April 21st. Any of you who are around are invited. Email me for more information.

Here is why I am so thrilled at this development. I have known for a long time that students needed a big challenge to capture their imagination AND they needed an evangelism style that was incarnational and radical all at once. What I didn’t know was that these prayer tents are both of those things wrapped together. They love the big challenge of keeping a chain of unbroken prayer for long stretches at a time. And as they do this they are seeing God move. And they love the witness of a tent of prayer. People who are curious and interested stop in to pray and end up experiencing God in a new way…People who are skeptical of the authenticity of Christians see the dedication and commitment of this group and their interest is piqued. And, groups of believers on campus who have long wanted unity between them are finding it through prayer for themselves, for their campus and for the world.
Arizona Schools Experience 24-7 Prayer
The University of Arizona in Tucson gained a vision for 24-7 prayer last fall and quickly gained the permission of their university. They also quickly created a partnership between six different Christian campus groups who have bonded together to cover the 168 prayer shifts per week. The school news paper interviewed the president of the Geniuses of Diversity: Atheists, Agnostics, Deists and Freethinkers about the prayer tent, he was quoted as saying, “They have a right to (pray), I don’t feel offended in any way; I don’t think most atheists would.” God has given this group favor, and the campus is accepting their witness as authentic and genuine.

Students at Arizona State University in Tempe had a prayer tent last fall. They prayed for 56 consecutive days; they are going for another 40 this spring. They saw people renew their faith or begin a faith journey in their prayer tent.

Northern Arizona University students have been working toward a 24-7 prayer push for over a year and finally gained the permission of the university, and the partnership between Christian groups to take on such an adventure. Churches in Flagstaff are so excited about this that they are hosting a 24-7 prayer event simultantously.

I can’t say for sure what the effects of these concentrated prayer efforts will be. But, I do know that in other places where this has happened students have gained a love for God and a love for the world that has turned them to service in rapid order. I expect to see students changed, campuses renewed and world changers developed…just what InterVarsity is all about.

Pray with Us…

–Pray for the student leaders of these movements at U of A, ASU and NAU. Pray that they would be encouraged and refreshed, and not burdened by the task they have undertaken.
–Pray that many students who come into the prayer tents would have their faith renewed and revived. Pray that they would be open to God’s leading.
–Pray that any pre-Christians who come into the tents would be met by God as they pray their first prayers. Pray that Christians who are also there would respond sensitively to them.
–Pray that the universities would be blessed by these prayer efforts. Pray a blessing over the administrators who allowed this and worked hard to let these groups of students do an unconventional event on their campus.
–Pray for lasting fruit from these 40 day prayer events. Pray that the fellowships would have new impetus to reach out to their campus and to their world with God’s love.

Here’s an NAU “fansite”, if you will. (View the site in a non-Safari browser.)

ASU’s got a good site, too.

Meh

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In a surprising twist of oxymoronocism, its widespread excitement and usage means that ‘meh’ is being considered for submission into the Oxford English Dictionary.
When asked for a reaction, local cynicist Jimmy McCloudyface replied…

You guessed it.

“Hooray!”

Project C.U.R.E.

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We volunteered at Project C.U.R.E. tonight. They take medical supplies that would have been tossed into landfills by hospitals (because when the hospital has to upgrade, they throw away the extras). All of their supplies are donated and they rely quite a bit on volunteers to sort and package the material in the warehouse. They then send a representative to the country to do a needs assessment to make sure the right supplies get to the right places and then ship the supplies.

Here people are sorting the mixed boxes and looking up the product numbers in a catalog.

You have to be careful counting because when you are the packer, you are the last step before customs looks at the supplies.

More updates from Nigeria

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So what has been happening here…
Well to start with the weather, it hasn’t been too hot yet. MB said it should be the hot season but it is still the cold season and the Harmattan (dust that blows down here all the way from the Sahara Desert) is thick especially in the morning and late afternoon. It’s cool enough in the morning and evenings that I’ll wear a sweater. The Nigeria’s always look so surprised when I do because they think that all of America is cold. When I try to explain to them that I come from a HOT part of America they don’t really understand! I’m guessing they just think I’m crazy! But MB said that I will see 3 seasons while I’m here because the cold season has hung on so long. And then the hot season will come and then in April the rains will comes.

What has been going on. Well I worked with the VBS just monday and tuesday last week. J was the director for a retreat this last weekend and we had a LOT of things to prepare for that. The weekend retreat they try to do about 4 or 5 times a year. The whole point of Mashiah Foundation is to help AIDS victums. Every woman in the Women of Hope group that does the quilting is HIV positive and it is a requirement to have HIV to be in the Women of Hope group. In the past 2 years or so they have been seeing a new need. A need for AIDS prevention because if they don’t get to the young people before they get AIDS then in 10 years those youth will be in there Clinic and Women of Hope Program. So this weekend retreat started about a year ago. It’s called Precious Jewels for the girls and Treasure Seekers for the boys. This weekend was the first time they did it with both girls and guys. The theme of the weekend is Sexual Purity in God’s Eye’s. Because even if these students have been going to church their whole lives sexual purity is enver discussed. So what Mashiah foundation is attempting to do is instill purity values in the youth. Right now many young Christians don’t even think that it is wrong to have sex before marriage. What happens is a young girl will need money for school (which is NOT free here and even at the cost is not a good education) and food and just living expenses, and so a man who can make money will ask her to be his girlfriend and will pay for things for her and she feels obligated and pressured to sleep with him. It’s not prostitution they aren’t explicitly selling their bodies but they need the money to live! In this culture a woman has no value until she is married and has children. So it is very hard for a woman to find a job. So anyway the weekend is hopefully to help the youth understand God’s will for sexual purity and all the risks that go with being sexually active. They are free to ask as many and whatever kind of questions they want. Unlike America the Nigerians are not embarassed to ask questions. The weekend went well as far as the Nigerians were concerned. However, for J and I (structured, organized, Americans) it was a mess! But all the students seemed to really like it.

What I will be doing. MB and I sat down and talked about my trip this week. She ask me what I wanted to do here, and I said just help. She said that is good but she wants me to have a goal in mind and a project that I’m working on so that when I leave I feel like I’ve accomplished something and that in 5 years it is still making a difference. So what they have seen so far with the Weekend Retreats is that it is a mountain top high, they all commit themselves to be abstinent until marriage, and then they go home still in their old ways. So what J and I are really going to be working on while I’m here is #1: Creating a Manual for the Retreat weekend so that we can teach Nigerians to run it #2: Creating a 12-week Follow-Up Discipleship program to come after the retreat. The dicipleship group will meet once a week and will be 3 hours long. The first hour will be a planned specific Bible Study lesson, the second hour will be literacy, and the third will be a craft. The Bible Study’s will be 12 specific topics and lessons that J and I will plan out and write to really give the students some core Christian values and teach them how to grow in Christ so that they can continue their walk after the dicipleship is over. For the literacy hour, many Nigerians, whether educated or uneducated, do not know how to read and do simple math. So we will have an evaluation at the beginning and help each student further their skills from wherever they stand. Then the third hour, the craft, we want to teach them how to make items they can sell here so that they do not have to depend on others for money. The craft will be something marketable to the Nigerians and something they can get supplies for on their own. So J and I will be creating that program so that it can been run by Nigerians as well. And hopefully will continue to work for many years.

How I am doing. Well, life isn’t easy over here. I pretty much hit the ground running as soon as I got here and it deffinately showed this weekend. On Friday the first day of the camp I feel asleep in J’s office for a few hours. So instead of sleeping at Bezer home, will all the students, where I would be uncomfortable and up very early I went home with Mary Beth. Then I was okay on Saturday until I was setting up for the banquet and I started to get a Migrane. So saturday night I was pretty miserable and I slept at MB’s again. Then on Sunday morning Bayo, MB’s Husband, was supposed to preach for the sunday morning service at the camp and there was no NEPA (electricy) so at 10am when the service was supposed to begin he was still heating up water on the gas stove for his bucket bath. MB had said that she thought I should stay home because I had been so tired but I slept until 9:30 and then I didn’t really want to just sit at her house so I did end up going to the service, just very late. My neck is still soar today from my migrane on saturday so it was a pretty bad one. Anyway I’m doing okay. Somedays I’m okay here and others I just want to come home. I keep on having dreams about coming home and about being home so that makes it hard when I wake up and am still in Nigeria. But I just keep telling God that he’s going to have to give me a good attitude and make me want to be here, because I really miss home and A and everyone. I don’t know if he told you be we had a phone date on Sunday night. Well, 9pm my time but 1pm your time. It was really nice to get to talk to him but it made me sad hearing all the stuff I’m missing. I love you guys!!! I’ve been showing everybody the pictures I brought!!! They like seeing me and my family.

Some of the strange things about living in Nigeria. Well for starters, I did my laundry for the first time yesterday. 3 buckets of clothes. I hand washed all of them. Washing then rinsing twice, then rung out and hung on the clothes line. It took me about 2 1/2 hours to do it all. I thought that was pretty good for my first time. Last night we didn’t have NEPA. So I was using a lantern to do things. When there’s no NEPA we use lanterns and candles. It came on this morning for a little bit enough to heat up water for showers but it’s been off most the day. We just keep praying that it will come back on because it’s very hard when it gets dark at 7 to work past then. Also just a few word differences
You don’t walk places you trek places.
It’s not soda it’s mineral.
Pants are trousers
Underwear are pants.
So you don’t want to be talking about your pants around the Nigerian’s cause they’ll think you’re a little crazy. So anyway, it’s not so bad here. It still kinda feels like I’m playing house. You know I wash the dishes and we cook and there’s no mom. It’s funny but it’s not so bad. And we’re living the HIGH life here. So anyway I have MUCH to be greatful for at home.

A funny conversation from last year

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This is in regards to a picture of my daughter and wife that I added lightsaber effects to:

  1. Devin said,

    April 10, 2006 at 9:13 pm · Edit

    Wow. I need to get pictures next time we fight with shinai.

    For fan films, have you seen this one: http://www.impstherelentless.com/

    It scans like Imperial propoganda, but the visuals are great. Only Chapter One is up, but they’re supposed to be pretty close to getting Chapter Two soon.

  2. Devin said,

    April 10, 2006 at 9:17 pm · Edit

    P.S. I’m sorry to hear that your wife has fallen to the Sith.

  3. Taciturna said,

    April 11, 2006 at 7:42 am · Edit

    Seriously… why do my eyes look like that?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

    I don’t think I gave permission for this picture to be put up!

    :)

  4. Administrator said,

    April 12, 2006 at 4:25 pm · Edit

    Thanks! Yeah, get me some pictures and I’ll Lucasify them. (Ha ha, George! I trademarked your name! Sweet Irony, I spit at thee!)

Afikomen in the Lachatz and Lechem Oni

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Here’s an interesting Passover tradition that John taught us: hiding the afikomen. The eHow.com guide to hiding the afikomen says:

Difficulty: Easy For most children the afikomen, which means dessert, is the highlight of the Passover seder. In fact, its whole purpose is to keep children awake, alert and attentive throughout the ceremony as they look forward to the game at the end. The fun starts just after the symbolic vegetable, or karpas, has been dipped in saltwater and eaten.

Instructions

  • STEP 1: Notice the three ceremonial matzahs on the table. Break the middle matzah and return half of it to the plate.
  • STEP 2: Cast your attention elsewhere while the parents “steal” the other half and hide it.
  • STEP 3: Continue with the seder to the end of dinner, or shulchan orech.
  • STEP 4: Encourage the children to hunt for the afikomen. Typically, the children earn a reward when they find the elusive stuff.
  • STEP 5: Divide the piece of matzah among the participants and eat it.

Tips & Warnings

    • In some families the children hide the afikomen and the parents search for it. If parents can’t find it, they offer a “bribe” to the children to retrieve it.
    • During the Middle Ages the afikomen was considered a good luck charm, though no one seems certain how it assumed these mystical properties. Some Jews took chunks of afikomen with them on sea voyages to ward off storms; others hung pieces of it in their homes to fend off demons.
    • In 2000, Passover begins at sundown on April 19.

So, what happens if you ask someone who celebrates this tradition why they break the middle of the three matzahs? Some will say that the middle represents Isaac. Others say that it represents the Levites. But why not break the “Abraham” matzah? Or why not break the “Israelite” matzah? Why the middle one?

Let’s look at the matzah from a Trinity perspective:

  1. The middle matzah is broken, like Jesus.
  2. It is then wrapped in linen, like burial clothes.
  3. Next you bury away the bread, like a tomb.
  4. A search, knowing there is a reward, ensues.
  5. A celebration happens when the bread is found.
  6. Some sailors used to throw the middle bread into the water to calm the storm. I think I may have seen this before. (Actually, I’ve experienced it in my own life.)(It’s in the Psalms, too.)

In the Jewish wedding tradition, the bride and groom would drink from the same cup of wine as a contract of marriage. They then would live apart for some time while the chatan (groom) would build a house for the kallah (bride). They then would not drink wine again until they were reunited in the new house. That’s why it’s cool when Jesus says that he will not drink from the fruit of the vine again until the kingdom of God comes. He’s building a house for us.

Wine’s in the Passover, too:

Pour the third cup of wine, recite birkat ha-mazon (grace after meals), then bless and drink the wine. Pour a fourth cup of wine for everyone. Then have someone (a child if possible) open the door for the prophet Elijah, who is supposed to arrive on Pesach to herald the Messiah.

From ritualwell.org, a Jewish traditions site:

Afikomen

The broken half of the middle matza, hidden by the leader of the seder and ransomed back by the children. The seder meal cannot be completed without the return and eating of the afikomen.

We will not truly be complete until the bread returns. A deep Jewish culture is a great foretaste of coming attractions. I’ll talk more about this when I review Dominion by Randy Alcorn. It has just replaced To Kill a Mockingbird as my favorite book. I know! Huge! Okay, so in the spirit of foretaste, I’ll give you the first sentence from Randy Alcorn’s Dominion:

The young man sat holding the .357 Smith and Wesson revolver, polishing its stainless steel with his mama’s scarf until he could see in it his distorted reflection.

Dude.

Music in LOST – Hurley rocks out

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I didn’t catch this the first time. My VCR (bought from the mystic in SoHo) has a preview where you can see what has been recorded playing while you browse. The song that plays while Hurley drives the bus around the island is the same that played on the radio at the very first part of “Tricia Tanaka is Dead” (Tricia being the news reporter crushed by the meteorite.) Hurley as a kid got ditched by his dad at the beginning. Then he’s lonely at the end, but he seems more fulfilled. He drives doughnuts by himself as the lyrics to “Shambala” by Three Dog Night blasts. Then Michael Giacchino (same guy who did The Incredibles score) wrote an orchestral arrangement of it for the credits. Pretty cool. Kinda like when “Moonlight Serenade” by Glenn Miller played when Hurley theorized about time travel for the first time on the beach. Further searching gave me this list of all of the songs.

Wash away my troubles, wash away my pain
With the rain in Shambala
Wash away my sorrow, wash away my shame
With the rain in Shambala

(chorus)
Ah, ooh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Everyone is helpful, everyone is kind
On the road to Shambala
Everyone is lucky, everyone is so kind
On the road to Shambala

(repeat chorus)

How does your light shine, in the halls of Shambala

I can tell my sister by the flowers in her eyes
On the road to Shambala
I can tell my brother by the flowers in her eyes
On the road to Shambala

(repeat chorus)

How does your light shine, in the halls of Shambala

Enlightenment in the land of Peace is not here yet, my friends.
(But you will find a yeti in the Himalayas. Perhaps one with a snowcone.)