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I like Greg Dutcher’s definition of idolatry:

“An idol is a lousy substitute for God.” (from You are the Treasure That I Seek (but there’s a lot of cool stuff out there, Lord, p. 31)

Related post: No Idols (sermon on the Second Commandment)

No, this post is not about President Obama or politics. Rather, it is about the hope and change made available to us through Christ’s resurrection. You can read all about it in the Bible in 1 Corinthians 15. As Christians we have hope because Christ rose from the dead. As Paul writes:

“If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” (1 Corinthians 15:19-20)

Because Christ has been raised from the dead, we too will be raised. And so we have hope in Christ, both for this life and the life to come. Not only do we have hope, we will also be changed:

“Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed — in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)

In an instant, when Christ returns, we who have hoped in Christ will be changed. We will trade in these earthly bodies for our new spiritual bodies.

“For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’ ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:53-57)

Now that’s hope and change you can believe in!

Christianbook.com has some great prices on some great books in their Spring Academic Book Sale. Here is a sampling:

• The Cross of Christ, by John R.W. Stott; Price: $9.99 (retail $17.99) – One of the most important Christian books ever written. (How’s that for a recommendation?)
• Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds NT Commentary, 4 Volumes; Price: $39.99 (retail $129.99) – Excellent new resource from Zondervan.
• The Minor Prophets: An Exegetical and Expository Commentary, edited by Thomas Edward McComiskey; Price: $34.99 (reatil $69.99) – One of the best commentary sets available on the Minor Prophets.
• Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, edited by G.K. Beale, D.A. Carson; Price: $39.99 (retail $59.99) – Comprehensive commentary on every quotation, allusion, and echo of the Old Testament that appears from Matthew through Revelation
• The Letter to the Hebrews, The Pillar New Testament Commentary, by Peter T. O’Brien; Price: $29.99 (retail $50.00) – Latest volume in the Pillar New Testament Commentary series. Looks to be an excellent contribution to the study of Hebrews.

Why we celebrate Good Friday: Today Christians around the world celebrate Good Friday, the day Jesus died on the cross. To many observers it seems a misnamed holiday. That first Good Friday seemed anything but good. Jesus was betrayed by one of his own disciples; he was forcibly arrested, falsely accused, grossly mistreated, illegally tried, and unjustly sentenced to death. His followers deserted him and fled. Peter denied knowing him.

Furthermore Jesus was innocent. He had done no wrong to deserve such punishment. Even Pilate, the Roman Governor, testified: “I find no basis for a charge against this man.” (Luke 23:4) And so on Good Friday we celebrate the execution of an innocent man who was abandoned by his friends and sent to his death on trumped-up charges. What’s so good about that?

To answer the question we need to go back to Jesus’ birth when the angel announced to the shepherds: “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11) Good Friday is good because it is the culmination of the good news that the angels brought to the shepherds that first Christmas morning. We have all sinned and broken God’s law. And therefore we are all in need of a Savior. Jesus came into our world to be that Savior, and he accomplished the work of salvation by dying on the cross for us.

The New Testament refers to Jesus as the “Passover lamb who was sacrificed for us.” (1 Corinthians 5:7) The Passover lamb was an animal without blemish or defect. In the same way Jesus is the perfect Son of God. When Jesus died on the cross, he was not dying for his own sins, because he had no sin. He was dying for our sins; he was dying in our place.

The good news announced by the angels at Christmas was fulfilled in Christ’s death for us on Good Friday. What’s so good about Friday? Jesus, who was born to be the Savior, completed his work of salvation on the cross. It was a good work, and God made a way of salvation for all who believe. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

Of course three days later, the story gets even better. But that would be peeking ahead to Easter!

Click here for more Easter related posts.

“Spiritual discipline means simply this: Do what you don’t want to do, and you will become what you want to be.”

    – Patrick Morley (Seven Seasons of the Man in the Mirror, p. 234)

      (Note: For ebook and audiobook conversions, visit Fowler Digital Services.)

As much as I still love good old-fashioned print books, there are new benefits that come with ebooks and ebook readers like the Amazon Kindle. Here are the top ten things I like about the Kindle, including my absolute favorite (and little known) Kindle feature listed below.

Order the all New Kindle Fire here!

1. Portability: The Kindle is lightweight, and easy to carry around. And it almost feels like a regular book when you put it in its book cover.
2. Readability: The E-Ink screen is amazing. It is just like reading paper. I can adjust the font size up or down as needed. I also like that I can hold the Kindle “open” and “turn the pages” with just one hand (leaving the other hand free for coffee or tea).
3. Accessibility: I have access to all my Kindle books and magazine subscriptions at all times. Plus, I can browse new books, read samples, and download directly to my device. As a result, I find I am reading more with my Kindle, which is a good thing.
4. Flexibility: I am not limited to the Kindle reader but can read my Kindle books on a variety of devices, including my desktop computer, laptop, or netbook. When I switch devices, each book opens up exactly where I left off reading on the former device. Multiple devices also means more than one family member can be reading Kindle books at the same time. Amazon offers reader apps for PC, Mac, iPhone/iPod Touch, BlackBerry, Android, and now Tablet Computers (including the iPad). .
5. Searchability: I can search for specific words or phrases in individual books or across my whole library.
6. Free samples: Who doesn’t like free samples? I can download free samples from books or magazine subscriptions and preview before purchasing.
7. Cost savings: This one is simple. Books are cheaper on the Kindle. Most books I have purchased are $9.99 or less. Many of them you can get for free (including over 30,000 classic titles from Project Gutenberg).
8. Space savings: We ran out of bookshelf space a long time ago. Many of our books are currently in boxes. With the Kindle I can purchase new books without worrying about where to put them.
9. Note-taking: It is easy to highlight text and make notes on the Kindle while I read, and I never need to look around for a highlighter or pen.

 
And my absolute favorite Kindle feature? (Most people don’t know about this one.)

10. Note-retrieval: I used to type up important notes and quotes from a book when I finished reading it, but it was a long, laborious, time-consuming process. Amazon saves all my highlights and notes along with their locations for me at a special password protected website. When I finish a book, I can go to the website and easily access all my underlines and notes for that book in order. Then I copy and paste them into a Word file for permanent reference. This is a huge time saver, and one of the best advantages of digital over printed books for me. Note: This is different from (and far superior to) the Kindle’s clunky My Clippings folder.

Did you find this post helpful? If so, please help support this site by making your Amazon purchases through one of the links below or through the portal in the top left side bar. Thank you! (And check out the new Kindle Fire below!)

Related posts:
    • Ebook Formatting for the Ipad, Kindle and Nook
    • My Kindle Got Run Over by a Car

(Note: For ebook and audiobook conversions, see Fowler Digital Services.)

Here is a great little clip from a Julie Miller song. Remember, not all things are as they appear. “Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.” (2 Corinthians 11:14) “Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22) Be wise; be warned; be well.

(Click to play)
[audio:JulieMiller_TheDevilIsAnAngel.mp3]

Well, you look just like an angel,
You sound so bright and true,
You seem so sweet coming down my street,
But the devil is an angel too,
The devil is an angel too.

From Julie Miller; Blue Pony; “The Devil Is An Angel”

On Friday, March 12, 2010, the four greatest tennis players of the past two decades played a doubles match at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. Roger Federer and Pete Sampras teamed up against Andre Agassi and Rafael Nadal in the Hit For Haiti charity expedition that raised over $1 million dollars for the Red Cross and Haiti.

Although the match was more for entertainment than competition, it is still amazing to see these four tennis greats on the court all at the same time. Between the four of them they have a combined 222 titles (44 Grand Slams), 13 year-end No. 1 rankings, and 706 weeks at No. 1 in the ATP Rankings system. For the last 19 years straight (since 1992), one of the four has earned at least one Grand Slam title each year. Their combined prize earnings total a staggering $157,292,855.

Here is a ten-minute video clip with highlights from the match. For the record, Federer and Sampras came out on top 8-6.

Indian Wells – Federer/Sampras vs. Nadal/Agassi (Video length: 10:56)

Note: Click on the “4-arrow icon” in the bottom right corner of the video to view in full screen.

“Google is not God.”   Well, I’m glad we got that squared away.

      (Note: For ebook and audiobook conversions, see Fowler Digital Services.)

Privacy

Note to self: Do not put Kindle on top of car, then drive away letting Kindle fall into street in front of home. Also, do not leave Kindle in street overnight, exposing it to rain and passing cars. If you do, it will look like this:

Happy ending: Fortunately, when I bought my Kindle I purchased the 2-Year Extended Warranty which provides full coverage for accidental damage. Amazon sent me a brand new Kindle the next day fully loaded with all my books, notes and highlights in place and ready to read. Thanks, Amazon!

Related posts:
    • Ebook Formatting for the Ipad, Kindle and Nook
    • Top 10 Kindle Features

(Note: For ebook and audiobook conversions, see Fowler Digital Services.)

There’s a new film version of A Wrinkle in Time in the works by the same people who brought us the first two installments in the new Chronicles of Narnia series. From The Hollywood Reporter:

Jeff Stockwell has been hired to adapt author Madeleine L’Engle’s classic time-travel head trip, “A Wrinkle in Time,” for Cary Granat and his new Bedrock Studios …

The BBC made a film version of the young-adult novel, and Dimension produced a telefilm for ABC in 2004. Disney carried remake rights from that deal and is developing the new feature iteration with Bedrock, which had negotiated rights to the property from the L’Engle estate. Catherine Hand also is producing, and L’Engle’s granddaughter, Charlotte Voilkis, is exec producing.

Granat has a relationship with Disney from when his Walden Media produced such films for the studio as the “Chronicles of Narnia” series and “Bridge to Terabithia,” co-written by Stockwell. L’Engle wrote a handful of follow-up novels to “Wrinkle,” now called the Time Quintet, and Disney’s Rich Ross is seeking more franchise material in the mold of the female-driven success of Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland.”

A Wrinkle in Time was one of my favorite books as a child, and I enjoyed the other books in the series as well. I don’t know if they can pull a whole film franchise out of the series, but I am excited that at least Wrinkle will get the big screen treatment. Any other Madeleine L’Engle fans out there?

HT: CT Movies Blog

Related post: Madeleine L’Engle Passes Away (1918-2007)

A recent Barna poll indicates that less than half of all churchgoing adults plan to invite a non-churchgoing friend to church for Easter.

The Barna research … examined whether churchgoing adults perceive Easter weekend to be a good time to invite people to attend worship services with them. While most active churchgoers said they would be open to doing this, a minority said they would be likely to do so. Overall, 31% of active churchgoers said they would definitely invite someone they know who does not usually attend a church to accompany them to a church service on Easter weekend this year.

That’s too bad. According to research by the North American Mission Board, most Americans say they would visit a church if invited by a family member, neighbor or a friend. Easter is a great time to invite someone to attend church with you. So what are you waiting for? Easter is only a few weeks away. Who will you invite this year to hear the good news that Jesus rose from the dead?

Related posts:
    • Church Holiday Two-Timers
    • Most Americans Open to Church Invitations