I am amazed by people who are so brazenly sure they are right about what they believe. I have friends who are completely sure there is no God and there is no logical need for such beliefs. They believe science is the ultimate answer for everything and they view my faith as a naive weakness and crutch. Sometimes I long to be as sure of anything as they are of everything. So I will be honest. I have wrestled with doubt in my faith journey. I am not convinced that I know everything. The movie Risen was an interesting take on the decision I made about the validity of the resurrection. Historically, there was a Nazarene who was crucified, and two groups had a tremendous interest in making sure that his death was the end of the story. The Romans wanted no movement to grow so large that it would cause political unrest. The Jewish leaders wanted to stamp out the heresy that
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When I was a little boy I remember the standard prayer at bedtime. I know it was meant to comfort but one line always freaked me out. Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, Wait? What? If I should die before I wake? I think I will just stay awake for awhile thank you very much. Six decades later that prayer makes a lot more sense. If I should die before I wake I believe I will be in the presence of Jesus. I am not anxious to leave this life but I am not afraid. I talked about loss in my book Stay: Lessons My Dogs Taught Me about Life, Loss, and Grace. I wrote that “preparing for death is preparing for life,” a principle that has radically changed my perspective. The corollary truth is when you are not afraid to die you are
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The movie Risen offers a unique look at the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. How did a worldwide movement arise after the ignominious death of their leader? It all hinged on one question. Did Jesus rise from the dead? I wrote the following about the improbable rise of these early Jesus followers in my book “When Bad Christians Happen to Good People” a few years ago. History records that several alleged messianic figures were running around during the time of Christ. It is possible that some of them had followers as impressive as the twelve selected by Jesus. Jesus took twelve guys of questionable attributes and built the largest faith in the world. Not one of the other would-be messiahs’ influence made it into the second century, let alone the twenty-first. So our calendar is dated by the birth of Christ. Does it not pique your curiosity that such a band of men could have such a global impact? No
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