LOST Theology

LOST is over. If you would have asked me last week, I would have told you that LOST was my all-time favorite tv show. Now... not so much! I admit it, I hated the ending, absolutely hated it. However, I didnt give it a major thumbs down just because I thought it stunk that they all ended up dead. I openly admit I did not like that, or the fact that they ignored at least 50% of the mysteries that kept me watching over the last six years! However, my main beef with the finale was something totally differnt and much more "real life".

I knew it was going downhill when Jack walked into the church and I noticed a cross alongside a buddha, a menorah, and various other religious symbols, In the world of LOST, the characters all merged in this reality where they all "moved on" and into some sort of heavenly light. The idea was that all roads led to this eternal togetherness and bliss, with no relation to what people did or what they believed. Don't get me wrong, I am certain there are many murderers and adulterers in heaven (Moses, David anyone?) Yet I hated the way the writers handled this. Sure it is popular and pleasant to think that everyone goes to the same place no matter what they believe. In the post-LOST show, Jimmy Kimmel summarized it by saying, "In many religions, Christianity in particular, people believe that in your life if you were good enough or did enough good things, that you eventually end up in heaven."

No Jimmy, that is not what Christianity believes. In fact, all of the major religions of the world teach separate worldviews and have contradictory beliefs. They all have a different views on God, their holy books, the existence of sin, the state of man, on who Jesus was, on what the afterlife is like, how to be right with God, etc. etc. In Christianity you don't "move on or let go" based on what you do. It is based on accepting what Jesus did for you. Now, I am absolutely not suggesting that LOST should have had a Christian ending with everyone accepting Christ or something like that (imagine the firestorm). In fact, I was hoping that Christian Shepherd would tell Jack that his sacrifice caused a reset and second chance for everyone. It would have been awesome for them to walk out and Kate be up there at the altar, it could have ended with a wedding! Instead, we get this universalist ending where everyone moves on into the light because they redeemed themselves in some way. Not only did I think it was a cheap cop out of an ending. I think it is horrible theology as well.

Oh well, now I have my tuesday nights back. Life without LOST begins tonight.

He Earned It!

In the movie “Saving Private Ryan,” Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks)survives the American landing at Omaha Beach in World War II. Captain Miller is then given a new mission: to find and extract Private James Ryan. The youngest of 4 brothers, the other 3 of whom have been KIA. Captain Miller’s squad moves inland to search for Private Ryan. When they finally find Private James Ryan he refuses to leave his fellow soldiers. They defend the bridge from overwhelming odds as reinforcements arrive but it is too late for Captain Miller and his squad, all but 2 are dead
Captian Miller has some dying words for Private James Ryan that have a lasting impact on him for the rest of his life. He tells him to "earn this, earn it."
Those words stuck with James Ryan for his entire life. The ending of the movie depicts him as an old man at Captain Miller's grave. There he is trying to convince himself that he led a good life and tried to earn the sacrifice that those men made for him.
I think back on Jesus' last words. He uttered phrases from the cross such as "Father forgive them" and "It is finished." What if Jesus had said "earn this, earn it"? I cannot imagine the burden and the guilt of trying to earn something so un-earnable. Like Private Ryan we would go through life with heavy guilt on us as we tried to somehow live worthy of that sacrifice. God created us, sustains us, confined himself in human flesh in order to teach us, identify with us, and pay the price for our sins.
If there is no way a soldier could earn the right to live when other soldiers
died to save him, how much more unachievable is it to earn what Jesus did for us?
Praise God we don’t have to. If you have been trying to clean yourself up before you come to God, realize today that Jesus loves you as you are. He also loves you too much to leave you that way. We need to accept the fact that we can never earn God's love or merit heaven.
The words of the risen Christ are quite different from Captain Miller's words to private Ryan. As Jesus shows his scars, he says, “I earned it.”

So That Was It?

Was anyone else underwhelmed by the Tebow commercial in the Super Bowl? I liked the spot, but I was expecting something so serious and contraversial to warrant all of the hate that was spewed towards him and Focus on the Family and CBS. I thought the spot was perfect and it illustrates the insanity of many in our culture. Wackos like the president of "NOW" who claimed the commercial promoted violence against women LOL. These folks have gone past the fringe and into utter idiocy.

Sorry Superman and Michael J Fox

Remember the campaign? Poor Michael J Fox promoting embryonic stem cell research and all those liberals blaming Bush. Even saying that Superman would have been able to walk if it wasnt for Bush. Oh well, add it to the list of things he was right about.


From today;s INVESTOR'S BISS. DAILY

Five years after a budget-busting $3 billion was allocated to embryonic stem cell research [through Prop 71], there have been no cures, no therapies and little progress....

Supporters of the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative, passed in 2004, held out hopes of imminent medical miracles that were being held up only by President Bush's policy of not allowing federal funding of embryonic stem cell research (ESCR) beyond existing stem cell lines and which involved the destruction of embryos created for that purpose.

Five years later, ESCR has failed to deliver and backers of Prop 71 are admitting failure. The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the state agency created to, as some have put it, restore science to its rightful place, is diverting funds from ESCR to research that has produced actual therapies and treatments: adult stem cell research. It not only has treated real people with real results; it also does not come with the moral baggage ESCR does.

great read

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=35103

FANTASTIC article about Christianity by my girl Anne Coulter

Will Tiger come back as a slug?

We all know about the famous golfer's moral failures this year. One interesting point is that he is a Buddhist and there is no real place for grace and forgiveness in their doctrine. So if Karma is real, Tiger is in trouble.

Fox News Correspondent Brit Hume offered a different and wonderful suggestion:
Maybe Tiger should consider Jesus.

You can see the video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgMr_Zc3OtA

If you are too lazy to copy the link, here is the transcript:


"Tiger Woods will recover as a golfer. Whether he can recover as a person I think is a very open question, and it's a tragic situation with him. I think he's lost his family. It's not clear to me that -- whether he'll be able to have a relationship with his children.

But the Tiger Woods that emerges once the news value dies out of this scandal -- the extent to which he can recover seems to me depends on his faith. He's said to be a Buddhist. I don't think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith.

So my message to Tiger would be, "Tiger, turn your faith -- turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world."


****UPDATE****

Brit does not back down! Here he is on O'Reilly defending and expanding what he said!

http://hotair.com/archives/2010/01/04/quote-of-the-day-578/

Suggestion for the New Year!

January of 2004 did not start off very good for me. My Father, in his early 50's, died on January 10 from lung cancer. That single event affected me profoundly. I was 30 years old at the time and I really took life for granted. Dad was the first immediate family member of mine that had passed and it really shook my worldview. Now anything was possible, anything could happen, anything was fair game. Of course as I mourned my Dad I thought about the things I would miss and the things we would not get to experience together. However, not all of my thoughts were so downtrodden. I was blessed to have a wonderful Dad for 30 years. Sure he wasnt perfect, but I never met anyone else's dad that I would have traded him for. I knew teens and kids who had rotten Dad's or no Dad at all. Slowly, my grief turned to gratitude for the times we shared together.
One thing that I have really focused on since his death is being aware of the special moments in my life. I don't stop to smell the roses from time to time, I stop and thank God that these are the best smelling roses anywhere and there is nothing I would rather be doing than smelling them! There are times in my life, even simple times, when I stop and think to myself: "If I could be doing anything or be anywhere at this moment, THIS is where I would be and what I would be doing." That is an awesome thought. I call it my NOW moments. I have felt that way at family outings, in Church, while sitting in a great seat at a UNC game or at a concert, in the company of a great friend, or in private times with my family.
I believe that by thinking about things in that way I have really started to sieze the day and enjoy life more. Of course, every day can't be a Kodak moment, but that makes them all the more sweet when they do come. My latest NOW moment came tonight. This evening I was blessed to be a part of my Grandmother's 90th birthday celebration. Nana has lived strong since the passing of my Dad and of her husband. She has a sharp mind, lives at home and still drives! When my Dad and Grandpa died, I thought Nana would be gone soon too. As I sat there tonight I thought to myself: "There is nothing else on Earth I would rather be doing tonight. There is nowhere on Earth I would rather be than right here right now." Friends, there is power in that! It is a life of gratitude because each time I feel that way I also take time to thank the One who made that moment possible. The One who holds the past, the future, and the NOW in His hands. Happy New Year!