Beauty was once attainable by anyone. But the rise of print advertising shifted Beauty from metaphor to concrete images. We must resist the unattainable forms of Beauty ads show us.
Continue readingBest iPhone Games – 2011 Edition
An updated list of my favorite games on the iPhone. All of these games were available as of December 2011! Click on the Game Name to buy it in the App Store!
Continue readingTop 10 Posts of 2011
2011 was a big year for this blog. Here are my 10 most popular posts by number of visits. Okay, technically eleven, since there was a two-way tie for the 10 slot.
10. 26 New and Improved Reasons I Love My Wife
What can I say? Everyone loves my wife. So in honor of her 26th birthday, I listed a few of the many reasons I love her. Obviously the masses agreed.
10. The Black Swan Review
One of the craziest films of 2010, but also a great retelling of the Garden of Eden story. If you’ve never seen an Aronofsky film, prepare yourself. If you have, you have some inkling of the sort of crazy you’re in for.
9. Erasing Hell by Francis Chan Review
An awful, half-hearted response to Rob Bell’s Love Wins. It didn’t perform nearly as well for all kinds of reasons. My review was basically a call to save your money and skip this book.
8. The Fighter and The King’s Speech Reviews
These two movies were basically the same exact story. What separated them out was the incredible acting from the entire casts. They transformed a standard underdog story into something pretty special.
7. A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan Review
One of the best books I’ve ever read, and one that really has its finger on the pulse of our collective consciousness right now. Absolutely outstanding writing, and well-deserving of the Pulitzer it won.
6. A Christian Response to Osama bin Laden’s Death
The only piece of theological writing to crack my top 10, and again, not a big surprise. I was saddened by much of the celebrating I saw around bin Laden’s death. And while I understood it, I believe Christians are called to be better than that, especially when it comes to how we treat our enemies.
5. Why I Switched from a Nook to a Kindle
A dated post since both Nook and Kindle have newer versions available. But I’m still sticking with my Kindle 3/Kindle Keyboard for the same reasons I listed in this post.
4. The Dark Knight Rises Previews
Click here for my take on the Prologue and the Trailer
No one is surprised that I’m pre-obsessed with this movie. But both of my write-ups on it so far have gotten more attention than most reviews I’ve done of movies that are already out.
3. The Dexter Season 6 Reviews
Click here to go to my review of episode one
Dexter took on God in Season 6, with some surprising results. Though I wasn’t wild about how they wrapped up all the themes they’d unpacked, the writers deserve some major kudos for this whole season. One of the best and most direct treatments of religion I’ve seen on secular television.
2. Love Wins by Rob Bell Review
No surprise here – this was one of the most controversial books of the decade let alone last year. Dozens of times more ink has been spilt discussing this book than it took to write it. And one (relatively quick) read will show you why: Bell raises questions that need to be taken seriously.
1. 127 Hours Review
I have no idea why my review of 127 Hours was by far my most viewed post. I did think it was the best film of 2010, and if you haven’t seen it yet, you really are missing out.
Interview with Author Matt Mikalatos
I talk to author Matt Mikalatos about why monsters are such a great vehicle for discussing spiritual formation.
Continue readingIs Grandpa in Heaven?
According to our popular imagination, after we die we go to Heaven and become guardian angels. Or something like that. But the Bible is surprisingly unclear about what exactly happens after we die. For Christians, our hope is not in Heaven, but in the Resurrection of Jesus.
Continue readingArmageddon
What do you know about Armageddon? Does it scare you? Maybe it shouldn’t…
Continue readingThe Rapture (Part 2)
Last time, I began to explore the Rapture, a doctrine that says at some point Jesus will come back and take all the Christians to Heaven. I looked first at the most ‘obvious’ Rapture passage, 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17.
I argued that when Christians meet Jesus in the air, we don’t go back to Heaven, but rather back down to Earth.
This Raptured-to-Earth Rapture is very different than the Rapture most of us know. Is it consistent with other Biblical pictures of the End?
Do you want to be Left Behind?
Probably the other most influential ‘Rapture passage’ is Matthew 24:36-42. This is the passage that granted the Left Behind book series its name:
No one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.
When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away.
That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes. Two men will be working together in the field; one will be taken, the other left. Two women will be grinding flour at the mill; one will be taken, the other left. So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming. — Matthew 24:36-42 (NLT)
From the lips of Jesus himself comes what sounds like a clear endorsement of Rapture theology. Two people will be together and one will be taken, while one will be left behind. The imagery is powerful, and has inspired books, art and music. (Notably from my teen years, DC Talk’s remake of “I Wish We’d All Been Ready”) This single passage – and really, just a couple of verses (40-42), has birthed most of the images that make the Rapture so unpalatable and horrifying for many of us.
What does Jesus really say about the Rapture?
To read the passage, it’s hard to deny that the images are justified. Isn’t this an indisputable argument for the Rapture?
Well, no. Not really. Look closely at what Jesus is saying here. First, he’s primarily addressing the timing of the End. The disciples asked (back in v3) how they would know when he was coming back. And Jesus gave them some signs, but then concludes his list with a warning: no one knows when this is going to go down. So be careful.
And his warning draws from a Biblical story: “it will be like it was in Noah’s day.” Consider what happened in the Genesis 6-8 flood story: God warned that judgment was coming, so Noah built an ark while everyone else partied. Noah and his family got into the ark. And – as Jesus points out – the judgment came and swept away all the wicked. Noah and his family – the righteous people – got to stay on the (recreated) earth. Jesus says the same thing will happen at the End. Two people will be standing together, and one will be taken away. That’s not disputed. The question is who gets taken? And who gets left?
If the story of Noah is our guide, then the wicked are those who will be taken away. The righteous get left behind to enjoy a new, restored world. This is an anti-Rapture.
Again, we have this story backwards. 1 Thessalonians isn’t about God taking us away from Earth, but reclaiming the Earth. And here in Matthew, Jesus promises to return, not to abandon the Earth, but finally and ultimately to save it.
So will Christians be ‘raptured’? Technically, yes. Sort of.
To be clear: according to the Scriptures, believers will be caught up into the air to meet Jesus. But we will not return to Heaven. Rather, we will join him in reclaiming the Earth, in finally saying No to injustice and evil. While the unrepentant are finally taken away, we will be left behind with God to enjoy a beautiful, restored creation (cf. Revelation 21-22’s vision of the New Jerusalem).
Does what we believe about the Rapture actually matter?
This is probably the major difference between Rapture theologies and the Biblical picture. Is the Earth something to be used up and discarded? Or is it a place God loves and plans to reclaim?
Do we just abandon non-Christians to an ever-worsening torment as the Earth is destroyed? Or do we work with every last bit of energy in us to share with them the Good News that Jesus is coming back to reclaim his Earth and they can be part of that?
God has not abandoned the Earth. God is not planning to abandon the Earth. God has made this abundantly clear in the Scriptures.
Our theology ought to reflect that, as Peter Rollins’ rapture parable cleverly teaches us. We ought to be working to bring Heaven to Earth. We ought to be living as though the Kingdom of God is already among us. We ought to be telling everyone we know the Good News that Jesus has not abandoned us, that he is in fact coming back for us. And that we have no idea when that will be, so we should be ready at all times.
YOUR TURN: Does our ‘Rapture theology’ really matter that much? Is this an important discussion? Or is it just theological and biblical hair-splitting?
The Rapture (Part 1)
So far in our exploration of what the Bible actually says about the End of the World, we’ve looked at the Antichrist and the Mark of the Beast. For the next couple of weeks, we’ll look at the biggest question mark of all – the Rapture.
What do we think about the Rapture?
The Rapture is the quintessential End Times event. In popular culture, it’s a cataclysmic world changer in which Jesus descends out of the clouds and takes all the Christians to Heaven. Christians disappear in the blink of an eye, vanishing out of their clothes, leaving cars abandoned – even those being driven. Everyone else will be left behind to deal with the ensuing chaos and face the Great Tribulation.*Continue reading
The Mark of the Beast
In the Revelation it’s 666. But what is the Mark of the Beast? A microchip? Nope.
Continue readingA Visit From the Goon Squad – Book Review
A great story with great characters that’ll definitely reward multiple rereads. Do yourself a favor and pick it up. Enjoy the pause Egan offers.
Continue reading