Name That Tune - "My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me..."

So, here we are... Jesus has been nailed to a cross after having been unmercifully scourged. He's weak, bloodied, tired and dying. His life and, more importantly, his Passion has been an example of selflessness, of miracles, of redemption. And then Jesus says this...

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me..."

Most people don't get that sentence. I recently listened to a "Christian scholar" on television talk about it being a comment of fear and loneliness.

WRONG!

Jesus' weakest moment during the Passion happened in the Garden, not on the Cross. Once Jesus asked that God's will be done over his own, he stayed the course.

Here's the deal. Jews sang songs. We call them Psalms. Songs written by David. Like any other song you sing a lot, it sticks in your head. Take "I Ran" by A Flock of Seagulls, for example. If you know that song you're humming it right now.

God designed us to remember songs. They stick with us for the rest of our lives.

Psalm 22 is one such song. Really catchy. All about the sufferings of the Messiah. You know what the first line of the song is???

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me..."

On the Cross, Jesus wasn't lamenting his suffering. He wasn't lost. He wasn't suddenly abandoned. He didn't speak that line, he sang that line... a song about himself.

As one article I read so wonderfully stated... think of all of the Sanhedrin standing there, mocking Jesus while the Roman guards threw dice to see who gets Jesus' fancy-shmancy cloak. Then, Jesus sings the first line of the song. And what happens?

Those members of the Sanhedrin, who had probably sung Psalm 22 hundreds of times, suddenly find themselves singing along with him. In their minds, the song continues...

But I am a worm, hardly human, scorned by everyone, despised by the people.

All who see me mock me; they curl their lips and jeer; they shake their heads at me

"You relied on the LORD--let him deliver you; if he loves you, let him rescue you."

And it continues...

They stare at me and gloat; they divide my garments among them; for my clothing they cast lots.

Think of what must have been running through the minds of the Jewish leaders. Singing this Psalm in their heads and realizing it was happening right before their eyes. A song about the sufferings of the Messiah.

But the song doesn't end there, in despair. It continues...

For God has not spurned or disdained the misery of this poor wretch,

Did not turn away from me, but heard me when I cried out.

I will offer praise in the great assembly; my vows I will fulfill before those who fear him.

The poor will eat their fill; those who seek the LORD will offer praise. May your hearts enjoy life forever!"

All the ends of the earth will worship and turn to the LORD; All the families of nations will bow low before you.

For kingship belongs to the LORD, the ruler over the nations.

All who sleep in the earth will bow low before God; All who have gone down into the dust will kneel in homage.

And so on...

So, fellow Christians and ignorant "scholars" remember what a Psalm is... understand the difference between an original thought and quoting from a song.

And lastly, finally recognize that on the Cross, singing that Psalm, Jesus was in his ultimate glory, paying our price for our sins, building a bridge back to God that was broken by Adam... Jesus was suffering, yes, but willingly, not alone, not afraid.

He was offering the greatest sacrifice ever recorded.

Does God Kiss Us On The Cheek When We're Sleeping?

Just a thought... I was going to bed one night and went in to check on my kids. They were both asleep and I kissed them on their cheek, full of love for them.

I wondered, as I walked back to my bedroom, if God does that with us... like the loving parent He is... to kiss us on the cheek when we're sleeping. To tuck us in. To whisper "I love you" in our ears.

I sure hope so.

Faceless Book

If you remember, last year I figured with the advent of Facebook and other social networking sites, that the traffic to this blog would trickle to a stop. I was willing, therefore, to dispense with this blog and stick to family connections via Facebook. However, there was a large hue and cry from my small, but loyal, family fan base to keep this blog alive.

So I did.

But, I continued to visit Facebook quite a bit. Kept track of people and friends I had not communicated with in quite some time. It was fun. I'd look at their posted family pictures, their videos recorded on their phones, their small updates about liking mashed potatoes... important stuff.

Then I gave up Facebook for Lent and an interesting thing happened... I didn't miss it. At all.

Sure, for the first day or so I did, but after a week I felt a certain sense of relief. For, previously, I had found myself having to live up to some sort of self-imposed Facebook etiquette... if I respond to one person's reply to my status and not another person's reply... am I offending the second person? When I looked at family pictures from friends and relatives, I felt obligated to leave a note somewhere so they'd know I stopped by. If someone doesn't reply to my postings, do I have to reply to theirs?

And the volume... the amount of people on Facebook was becoming unwieldy.

First, people don't edit themselves. People uploaded every picture they took, even the duplicate out of focus ones. Why? I don't know. They don't have to. But, there they are!

Second, the reality is that I don't have the time to check out everyone's picture of every event in their lives. I don't have time to update and comment and send pokes and flair and surveys and notes and God knows whatever else I could virtually send to my fellow Facebookians.

Prior to Lent Facebook had become some sort of weird family obligation. So, giving it up for Lent forced a break and a re-evaluation.

By the end of Lent I hadn't missed Facebook at all. Sure, I missed chatting with some of my family and friends, but the evolving invasive entity known as Facebook had lost its priority in my life.

Instead, I read the Bible. Yeah, go figure! Me... reading... the Bible! We, as a family, spent more time actually conversing with each other instead of spending time on various computers within the same household virtually connecting with other people in cyberspace. I know, so retro!

During Lent we were even without the internet for a week! Yup, bad router or what have you. If it weren't for online banking, I found that not having the option of surfing the internet made life much easier, simpler and less busy. Instead, we watched Christian movies, played baseball and started the P90X exercise program.

So, now that Lent is over, sure, I'll login to Facebook on occasion. But, it will be far less often. Instead, I'll stay here in the blogosphere, chatting to myself and the diminishing number of family/fans who come to visit... happily Faceless.

The Second Chance (2006)

The Second Chance follows the spiritual journeys of two pastors, Ethan Jenkins (Michael W. Smith) and Jake Sanders (Jeff Obafemi Carr) who are from opposite ends of the social and political spectrum. These two pastors find themselves learning about true acts of Christianity while growing to understand their own flaws as Christian leaders.

The story encompasses the relationship between sister churches... one in the affluent suburbs and the other in the inner-city. We follow Pastor Jenkins from the affluent suburban who initially directs his Christianity via his checkbook instead of his heart.

As he spends a number of weeks in the depths of the challenges at the inner-city church with Pastor Sanders, Jenkins comes to learn that a hands off approach to Christianity doesn't work in the rougher parts of town. You have to get involved with the people on a personal level, to make a commitment to them and to helping them overcome their problems.

Michael W. Smith, known for his numerous Christian singles, makes his acting debut in this film. Overall, his performance is good, but there were a few moments where his presence was lacking a bit.

Carr, however, as the fiery and unapologetic inner-city Pastor Sanders, is a solid performer as his character struggles between indignant self-righteousness and trying to love one's enemies. These polar opposites, both in personalities and in obvious visual differences, makes for an enjoyable, albeit, harmless film experience.

The Second Chance is pleasantly un-preachy and is a nice Christian film that neither covers new ground nor seems stale. It would fit into a movie-of-the-week style category. It has a few thoughtful and touching moments, but is lacking a freshness of story.

A good quality Christian flick.