Earlier this week I read an article on CNN's belief blog that threw me into a stewing pot of thoughts. At the core is one simple word that seems so complex to live out, even in the shallowest of circumstances.

Forgiveness.

Celebrity Portrait Photographer Jeremy Cowart set out on a mission with filmmaker Laura Waters Hinson (As We Forgive) to produce a photo series project called "Voices of Reconciliation." Cowart and Hinson went to Rwanda. They wanted to give Rwandans the opportunity to make their own statements to the world about the 1994 mass killings and uprooting that took place in their backyards.

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For a while I wondered why Jesus went to the cross.  Seemed a little extreme. I was a decent person, relatively speaking, and quite liked the idea of being judged based on my rule following.  A gifted Pharisee seems to have no fear of morality.  What she fears, rather, are things like love and forgiveness and living by faith alone. 

Someday maybe I’ll write a book about the characters that line our street.  Today I’ll simply mention two, and how they’ve been gnawing away at my Pharisee-prone compulsions.  

We live in a transitional community, so it’s constantly lending lessons and paradigm-shifts to concepts like “family,” “wealth,” or “the Gospel.”  A neighbor and close friend of ours, whose name I’ll leave concealed, knocked yesterday at 8am.

I recently had the chance to hear a lecture by renowned Christian philosopher J.P. Moreland. In this evening talk, Dr Morland chose to discuss “The Spiritual Life,” and in the course of his lecture, talked about the impact of the Fall on our lives. 

Dr Moreland explained that because of the Fall, we are in a state of separation (from God, from others, and from ourselves) and thus we experience a fundamental loneliness. We look for ways to overcome this loneliness, often with strategies that are sinful. Our corresponding fundamental need is attachment, and God’s deepest way of relating to us is through attachment. Dr Moreland then posed a question: “What are our attachment strategies that are not healthy, that don’t help us become more like Jesus?”

Ouch.

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http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GRSLJXV

If you need to change your first name for privacy, please use your middle name. I look forward to seeing your name in print! Thanks for helping out.

The Twitterverse exploded Wednesday night when what should have been a perfect game thrown by the virtually unknown pitcher, Armando Galarraga, was inexplicably denied by a blown call from umpire Jim Joyce.

With only one out to go in his quest for a perfect game (that’s when you retire all 27 batters you face in a row), Galarraga induced a difficult grounder to his first baseman, Miguel Cabrera, who played the groundball nicely and threw it to Galarraga who was scrambling to cover first base. Although the play appeared to be close, it was obvious (even to the naked eye), that the throw had beaten the runner to the bag and Galarraga got his foot on the bag before the runner. However, umpire Joyce called the baserunner safe, taking away the perfect game, the no-hitter, and quickly stamping his identity as the umpire who stole a historic night from Galarraga, the Detroit Tigers and Major League Baseball.

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“Did you see the movie on Lifetime about that woman?” – Zach Galifinakis

“Amish Grace” is a by the numbers made for TV movie based on the true story of a small Amish town that goes through an incomprehensibly painful experience.  The film centers on one couple within the Amish community who lose a family member and how they process their loss.  They spend the majority of the film asking themselves questions about God, forgiveness, and love through a conservative faith lens.

The film does not concern itself with the psychology of the killer or the actual act of violence he commits (nothing is actually shown, just talked about after it happens).  Instead, it is interested in how the people respond to the tragedy.  There are several methods of grieving that come into play – grief within the community, family, and the individual.  In each case, the film mainly focuses on an Amish wife (played well by Kimberly Williams Paisley – aka Steve Martin’s daughter in “Father of the Bride”) who loses her daughter, while also giving attention to the killer’s grieving wife.

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I won’t venture to guess how many people have really been waiting for this day, but this morning’s papers bring news of yesterday’s announcement from Tiger Woods: he’s coming back for the Masters. Far too much opinion has been offered on this matter already. I won’t go there.

Meanwhile, the experts are high again on one Kobe Bean Bryant, the oft-titled “best player in the game,” whose nearly 28 points per game have again powered the Lakers to the top of the Western Conference and have the professional guessers speculating as to the possibility of an eleventh title for coach Phil Jackson.

Ah, Tiger and Kobe.

Linked by greatness. And by sexual calamity.

Two men needing forgiveness. As you and I do, of course--in the salvific sense of having not one breath of a chance without Jesus.

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For your first week of reading, Why Trust Jesus? Here's several questions that I want you to ask yourself but also ask your friends in your community group/ book study group.  After you have read Norman Geisler's foreword and my introduction, consider these questions.  

1. What characteristics do you look for in someone else, before you can trust them?

2. What are the greatest barriers to trusting Christ daily in your own life? Is it intellectual, emotional, or self-sufficiency? Talk it out. 

 3. We have all probably been let down by Christians. Maybe a pastor or priest,  a father or mother, an ex-lover. In the midst of  disappointments or failures, why do you believe the Christian faith is most trustworthy? Or more specifically, why Jesus? 

4. What steps will you take this week to grow in trust?

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Ever wonder how to start a conversation about God with someone who, you know, doesn't believe? It used to be known as "witnessing" or "sharing your faith." These activities seem so 20th century, so Campus Crusade-ish. Nowadays most Christians prefer to talk about God in a way that is more about water cool conversation than door-to-door proselytizing.

We're fine with that. In fact, we think it's a much better way to go. Sure worked for Jesus. When people like Nicodemus, the woman at the well, and the rich young ruler asked him questions, Jesus didn't twist any arms. He conversed, asked questions, left them wanting more.

The thing with this preferred method is to find those cultural touch points that most people can identify with or at least know about, and then develop the art of asking really good questions with the intention of engaging in conversations about the bigger spiritual issues at stake.

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