Saturday, April 10, 2004

8:41 PM Rabbi Daniel Lapin explains why so many Jewish groups passionately hate Mel Gibson. Instead of following the Torah (which we call the Old Testament), they are infected by “secular fundamentalism.” The entire article is well worth reading. Here is his conclusion:

Once Mel Gibson revealed himself to be, like the president, a person of serious religious faith, the gloves came off. Mel Gibson has done a major favor for serious faith, both Jewish and Christian, in America. He has made it “cool” to be religious, but in so doing he has unleashed the hatred of secular America against himself personally, against his work and against his family. God bless him.

8:36 PM All the boys are home this weekend—Nick came in from Samford last night and Mark came in from Moody late yesterday afternoon. At their request, we had Grand Slam Pizza again—hadn’t had it in ten years and now twice in three weeks. Mark Goeke is right—It’s high in Vitamin G (grease). Tonight all three boys are out and about, I’m in my office downstairs and Marlene is relaxing upstairs. We watched a bit of the Masters Tournament this afternoon and I took a bike ride. I’ve ridden 767 miles so far this year. 9:47 AM Last Sunday I mentioned the doctrine called “The Harrowing of Hell,” the idea that between his death and resurrection, Christ entered the realm of the dead and burst open the gates of hell. The Scofield Reference Bible suggests that before Christ, “hades was formerly in two divisions, the abodes respectively of the saved and of the lost. The former was called ‘paradise’ and ‘Abraham’s bosom.'” You can read the whole entry here. Incidentally the notes from the “old” or original Scofield Reference Bible are available online because they are in the public domain. There are many versions of the “Harrowing of Hell” concept and some of them are clearly unbiblical. But others are plausible. I found some reproductions of medieval versions of Christ freeing righteous souls from “sheol” or “hades.” Click here, here, here, here, and here. In this painting, you can see the wounds of Christ as he reaches out to free the righteous souls of Old Testament saints. I don’t know if this doctrine is correct or not—perhaps Old Testament saints went directly into the presence of God when they died—but there are plenty of hints in the New Testament that the death of Christ radically changed everything in the universe. 9:31 AM This day has sometimes been called “Silent Saturday” or “Holy Saturday.” In remembrance of the hours Christ spent in the tomb, there are no church services until Saturday night when the Easter Vigil begins. Richard Hall, a Methodist minister in South Wales, offers this meditation on the cry of Jesus just before he died, It is finished. 9:23 AM This morning the Allied Force spring break missions team left for Memphis, Tennesse. Led by Pastor Craig Hammond, the team will work with the For the Kingdom Camp and Retreat Center doing rehab work in the inner-city. They will return next Saturday.