My family has tickets for May 4th to see Avengers: Endgame. But I noted earlier this week that our local theater had opened up more auditoriums for Endgame. They had over 30 showings on April 26.
So I bought a ticket and saw the movie on Friday, my day off.
No spoilers here.
Endgame is the culmination of over 20 movies for the Marvel Universe, and the movie is successful in "bringing it all together." In finishing the story that began in Avengers: Infinity War, Endgame turns the tables on evil so that good "wins the day."
During the movie, I sat next to Kevin. Kevin's a comic book geek. We chatted some before the movie, and he was pleased with the movie's outcome.
And like Kevin, we're people who love stories. Stories help us process our lives. They touch on our human condition and all its complications.
And while the Marvel Universe is complicated, our lives are even more so complicated.
We're fragile, we're sinful, we struggle. And our story is still being written...sort of.
You see...our hope is in the story and the history that's already been written. Our hope is in Jesus. He was...
conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.
From thence he will come to judge the living and the dead.
Now that's a good story.
And this Jesus, who rose from the dead, He taught people, and He told stories that people could relate to. The Bible is full of these stories, stories that not only teach, but stories that move people's souls, that tell of God's love, that give hope.
Movies like the Avengers - they remind us of our weaknesses, of how we struggle, how we love, lose, and survive. And in seeing good prevail, we're reminded that we have hope, a real hope, a hope that we can count on.
Can't wait to see the movie again!
This Jimmy Carter quote has been making the social media rounds:
Homosexuality was well known in the ancient world, well before Christ
was born and Jesus never said a word about homosexuality. In all of his
teachings about multiple things - he never said that gay people should
be condemned.
There's no need to make this quote into a debate about the gay issue, because Jimmy Carter's correct in saying that Jesus didn't condemn gay people.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. John 3:17
You see, starting with Adam and Eve, sin, condemnation, and death came into this world.
Because Adam and Eve didn't obey their God, the Lord God told them:
...for you are dust, and to dust you shall return. Genesis 3:19b
That means, we're all condemned, all of Adam's offspring. Whether we're full of pride, of lust, sloth, wrath, greed, envy, gluttony, we're all guilty and condemned, and that includes homosexuals.
Jesus came into a world that was already condemned. And He came not to condemn the world, but to save it.
If
anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I
did not come to judge the world but to save the world. John 12:47
My point is, there's only one issue involved here. Every other topic of debate, or of picking at specific sins, they're side-track issues, and they get us off the main problem, our main problem.
We're a sinful people. We're a sinful world, a world that needs a savior.
...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Romans 3:23-24
That's the Christian message. Anything else, it misses the gospel.
And this gospel doesn't mean that our sin is okay, that being gay is okay. It means that, through Christ, we're forgiven.
Thankfully, our Lord doesn't keep us in our sin. He shows it to us, forgives us, and takes us beyond that sin. He does a work on us, on our hearts, and we're convicted...and changed. We struggle against our sin, and we no longer live in overt sin.
Like Adam and Eve, we see with new eyes; we're aware of our sin; we're ashamed. But, through the cross, we're forgiven, and we see and know that as well.
And the forgiveness of sins that we experience, the love we know, it's what compels us to reach beyond ourselves to other people, people who need to hear that gospel message, the message of love and the forgiveness that only Christ can bring.
Last week, after posting my article On Women and Babies, I went to see the movie Unplanned.
I knew the film was about a Planned Parenthood worker who has a change of heart about abortion. I was expecting something wholesome and predictable, similar to the Kendrick brothers' movies (Facing the Giants, Fireproof).
I was wrong.
Unplanned is based on the book and life of Abby Johnson, and is well-written, well-acted, and impactful. The movie drew me into the story, and it moved me emotionally.
The film is rated "R" and it's described as graphic, but I disagree with that adjective.
Together, the words "graphic" and "abortion" evoke a very specific picture - a bloody, aborted baby. The movie didn't go in that direction.
I believe all women can and will relate to what I'm about to say.
I've experienced monthly pain, cramps, and bleeding. I've had accidents and close-calls. I've given birth three times, and there's nothing "pretty" about fertility, pregnancy, and birth - it's messy.
But this isn't something we talk about. With today's medicine, sanitary items, and birth control options - the whole process is now "clean" and "sanitized." The reality of what women live with and experience - it's covered up. We pretend it doesn't happen.
As I watched Unplanned, the reality, the shame, and dirtiness of what befalls women's bodies - it hit home with me.
And I go back to man's fall into sin and God's Words to Eve:
I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Genesis 3:16a
From Genesis on, God ordains this. Bringing forth children is both bloody and painful. Life can't be divorced from the reality of the fall.
But!!! Lest I forget, it's also in Genesis that God says to Satan:
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. Genesis 3:15
Jesus - He came into this cursed world, in that manner, in blood, pain, and shame.
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. Galatians 4:4–5
Even as women bring life into this world in blood, pain, and shame, so Jesus, even more so and perfectly, He saved us and gives us life, and He did it at the cross through His own blood, pain, and shame.
But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our
iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and
with his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:5
I've been reading 1st and 2nd Peter, and thinking a lot about Peter.
Peter's definitely my favorite apostle. He's clearly the leader of the twelve apostles, but he also speaks and acts on impulse.
Peter's the one who tried to walk on water. He also argued with Jesus until Jesus told him, "Get behind me, Satan."
At the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter suggested that they build three tents and stay on the mountain. Not long afterwards, Peter even cut off a man's ear.
And then there's Peter's relationship with Paul.
As recorded in Galatians 2, Paul accuses Peter of acting self-righteously:
I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. Galatians 2:11b
Although the Bible is silent on their reconciliation, Peter speaks of Paul in one of his letters, and it's clear that they did reconcile.
As I think about Peter's stupid acts and words, and his relationship issues, I'm both convicted and relieved. You see, life's hard and it's full of conflict and situations in which I can and do act stupidly.
Sin and failure are awkward and humiliating. It's hard to "face" people who've seen you fail, and it's hard to reconcile those strained relationships.
But again, I look to Peter. In his biggest failure, Peter denied knowing Jesus, not once, but three times.
Peter was in despair, and he cried when he recognized his own sin, that he'd denied his Christ.
But it's in those moments of despair, despair and shame over sin, that the sweetness of the cross is best known.
There's no greater feeling than to stand before the throne of Jesus, to confess real sin, and to know His forgiveness and His love.
Jesus came to take away our sin and shame, to let us know the love of God; He came to give us hope. And Peter knew that hope.
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” John 6:68-69
Peter knew Jesus's love and forgiveness, and he was emboldened to tell people about Jesus:
...you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 1 Peter 1:18-19
...Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit. 1 Peter 3:18
And it's in knowing my sin, my weakness, my shame, and in receiving His forgiveness, that, like Peter, I'm strengthened to also speak the gospel's truth to others. I'm strengthened to share my weakness, my struggles, to ask for and to know forgiveness, and to love and to forgive other people.
I know a lady who's committed to speaking and praying against abortion. And I've been convicted by her stance.
You see - she's right. Abortion happens.
In my city each Wednesday, medical professionals kill unborn babies and get paid for it, pregnant mothers are lied to and scarred for life, and innocent babies die. And there's seemingly no end in site.
I recently added to my daily prayers, "Pray for the unborn."
This week I happened to see a video that portrayed abortion as an attack on women's equality and worth. The upshot was, "Women are awesome because they can bear new life."
Growing a baby inside of you and giving birth is an amazing thing! One minute, you're struggling with the pain. The next minute, a new human being is alive in this world.
My youngest son and I sometimes argue and jest about who's worked the hardest on a current project. Eventually I play the mommy card, "Hey, I grew you inside of me for 9 months and then gave birth to you."
His reply is priceless, "Quit bragging."
"Quit bragging!" Ha! He knows how incredible it is that women have babies.
In today's world, there's confusion about sexual identity, sexual orientation, and the act itself.
Fact is...two women can't create a baby. Two men can't create a baby. A trans-woman can't become pregnant. A trans-man can't impregnate a woman.
And the sexual act, when between a man and a woman, always has the potential of creating a child. God created women's bodies to bear and nurture new life.
All our sexual issues and conflicts today are attacks on that life.
Just go back to Genesis and Adam.
Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Genesis 2:18
Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. Genesis 2:24
The two becoming one flesh actually happens with the birth of that one flesh, that baby.
And when sin entered the picture, it entered as a conflict and attack on life. God told Satan:
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. Genesis 3:15
That's the first gospel, the first promise of a Messiah, the One Who is to come. It's the promise of Jesus.
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law. Galatians 4:4
That Son, Jesus, the Life that saves and gives life to all, was promised to us as being born of a woman.
In him was life, and the life was the light of men. John 1:4
May our society wake up and see all new life as God's work and His gift.
I just finished The Art of Exegesis: An Analysis of the Life and Work of Martin Hans Franzmann by Pastor Matthew E. Borrasso.
I was at first intimidated by this book's title, which is somewhat of a misnomer. Martin Franzmann was a theologian and a college professor. He's famous for a lecture series called The Art of Exegesis. But the book isn't a textbook on exegesis. It's about Franzmann's work, his influence, events that influenced him, and his approach to God's Word.
Besides being a theologian, Franzmann was a hymn writer, and he authored one of my family's favorite hymns, Thy Strong Word. He also translated many hymns from German into English.
And being both a hymn writer and a theologian, Franzmann incorporated the idea of "music" into his theology in a way I'd never considered.
Whether it is Exegetical, Historical, Systematic, or Practical, there is a temptation to let "divisions become separate compartments of study, not clearly and organically related to one another and to the whole." (page 18)
Our aim is to keep theology whole, that mind and heart, according well, may make one music. (page 18)
This idea of bringing unrelated topics together reminds me of the university. A university, by definition, has a diversity of subjects and areas of study, but the subjects are brought together in unity.
I like that Franzmann advocates a theological "unity within diversity" and calls it "music." God's word is the greatest "writing" we have. It's beyond the words on the page, and it's abundant in meaning and beauty. And Franzmann understood and articulated the beauty and "music" of God's Word.
I have three takeaways from this book:
1. Franzmann's passion for God's Word convicts me on the
importance of Bible study and of listening to preaching. God brings people to truth through His very Word.
We
can teach men languages, and we can teach them history...we cannot
"teach" them to deny themselves and follow the Good Shepherd...For here
God Himself must take over, and He does take over. (page 44)
For
I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for
salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the
Greek. Romans 1:16
2. Franzmann had things he called "PSHA!"
...there are things not worth a person's time; as such, one must be willing to dismiss those things...time should be spent on the things that see the biblical text as life-giving. (Pages 51-52)
I'm going to remember and use this one, as I find myself getting caught up in "PSHA."
3. Franzmann lived through many conflicts - including conflicts within his own church and between church bodies. The book portrays him as disliking the controversy, and working to bring peace while remaining faithful to God's Word.
We also live with conflicts, both within Christendom and within our own churches. In these conflicts, we should neither compromise nor be too harsh. I'm convicted to remain in prayer and keep my faith and trust in the Lord who brings all things to His glory.
Thanks, Pastor Borrasso. It's valuable to read about the lives of influential Christians. I was inspired by many aspects of your book.
My good friend, BethAnn, uses metal forearm crutches to help her walk. We were together recently, and a new acquaintance came up and jokingly asked BethAnn, "So, what did you do to make you a cripple?"
Really, she said that.
Of course, this lady thought BethAnn had been in an accident, had maybe broken her leg, and that her condition was temporary.
And BethAnn gave me that look, and politely answered, "I was born prematurely, and this is how I walk."
And now, we keep laughing about the cripple comment.
But there's a bigger truth here.
You see, someone could look at my life and legitimately ask me, "What's wrong with you?"
Or I can ask myself, "What's wrong with me? Why am I like this?"
And the answer is, "I was born crippled, sinful, from my mother's womb."
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Psalm 51:5
And that's each one of us. We're all born sinful and lame.
We literally stumble around, in broken bodies, unable to "walk" correctly in this life.
And because we're ashamed and uncomfortable with our sin, we try to hide it or pretend it isn't there. We don't like to talk about our crippleness; it doesn't seem appropriate to mention.
But the Bible abounds with verses about the lame person.
And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them. Matthew 15:30
That's why Jesus came - to heal the lame, to deal with our sinfulness, so that we no longer walk crooked, but walk in straight paths.
...and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. Hebrews 12:13
For now, today and in this life, God's Word and Spirit help us and strengthen us to walk straighter and better, as we live as both a sinner and a saint.
Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Psalm 119:105
But we're looking for that day, when we're no longer crippled, either in spirit or in body. We're looking for the day when we're free from the bonds of our sinful flesh, free from sickness, disease, lameness, and sin, and our bodies are made new.
...in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 1 Corinthians 15:52–53
Until that day, just call me cripple.
