Wonderfalls Bible Study Week 5

Episode 5- Crime Dog

Exodus 23:9
9 You shall not oppress a resident alien; you know the heart of an alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.

Leviticus 19:33
33 When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien.

Leviticus 23:22
22 When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and for the alien: I am the Lord your God.

Leviticus 24:22
22 You shall have one law for the alien and for the citizen: for I am the Lord your God.

Numbers 15:16
 16 You and the alien who resides with you shall have the same law and the same ordinance.

Deuteronomy 1:16
16 I charged your judges at that time: “Give the members of your community a fair hearing, and judge rightly between one person and another, whether citizen or resident alien.

Romans 13:1-7
¹ Let every person be subordinate to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been established by God. ² Therefore, whoever resists authority opposes what God has appointed, and those who oppose it will bring judgment upon themselves. ³ For rulers are not a cause of fear to good conduct, but to evil. Do you wish to have no fear of authority? Then do what is good and you will receive approval from it, ⁴ for it is a servant of God for your good. But if you do evil, be afraid, for it does not bear the sword without purpose; it is the servant of God to inflict wrath on the evildoer. ⁵ Therefore, it is necessary to be subject not only because of the wrath but also because of conscience. ⁶ This is why you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. ⁷ Pay to all their dues, taxes to whom taxes are due, toll to whom toll is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.

James 2:5-13
Listen, my beloved brothers. Did not God choose those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him? ⁶ But you dishonored the poor person. Are not the rich oppressing you? And do they themselves not haul you off to court? ⁷ Is it not they who blaspheme the noble name that was invoked over you? ⁸ However, if you fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. ⁹ But if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. ¹⁰ For whoever keeps the whole law, but falls short in one particular, has become guilty in respect to all of it. ¹¹ For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not kill.” Even if you do not commit adultery but kill, you have become a transgressor of the law. ¹² So speak and so act as people who will be judged by the law of freedom. ¹³ For the judgment is merciless to one who has not shown mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.

1 John 5:13-17

I write these things to you so that you may know that you have eternal life, you who believe in the name of the Son of God. ¹⁴ And we have this confidence in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that he hears us in regard to whatever we ask, we know that what we have asked him for is ours. ¹⁶ If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly, he should pray to God and he will give him life. This is only for those whose sin is not deadly. There is such a thing as deadly sin, about which I do not say that you should pray. ¹⁷ All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not deadly.

Reflect on the Bible passages in light of the film.

What do you think of Jaye’s criminal record?

Are there such things as ‘small sins’?

Where do we see different views on this issue in the Bible passages?

How does Jaye deal with conflict? What do you think of this?

What does the interrogator say about communication?

What do you think of her attitude and actions?

What is a ‘work ethic’?

How does the Biblical attitude towards resident aliens also show an underlying respect for a work 

ethic?

What do you think of Jaye’s dad checking up on her?

What do you think of Jaye’s family employing an illegal immigrant?

Is this a ‘small sin’? Why or why not?

Why is Jaye’s brother Aaron fascinated with the cow?

Why does Jaye’s indifference towards Yvette bother Aaron?

Is it Sharon’s fault Yvette got deported?

Is it Jaye’s?

Is it Jaye’s mother?

What issues do we face with illegal immigration? What values come into conflict over this issue?

Where do we see these value conflicts in the Bible passages?

What do you think of this ‘conversation’?

Reflect on this quote: “Do you think what this devolved into was a personal attack upon you?”

Reflect upon Jaye’s mother’s lies.

How do we see ‘little sins’ leading to big problems? What bearing does this have on the Biblical 

conversation over whether or not all sins are to be treated the same?

What does it mean for a sin to ‘lead to’ death?

What do they want Jaye’s father to do and why do they want him to do this?

What is his response? Reflect upon this.

What is Aaron and Jaye’s relationship like? How does it differ from Jaye’s relationship with the rest of the family?

What does Aaron say about Jaye and her attitude towards their parents?

What does Jaye say about their parents?

Reflect on this quote: “do you think you are above the law, Jaye?”

Reflect on this quote: “she has a good heart, that maybe beats too fast.”

How do we see a disregard for civil authorities causing problems throughout the episode?

How do these particular problems illuminate the Romans passage and the way it bears down on 

the whole of the illegal immigrant debate?

What is the effect of Jaye driving to Yvette’s real home? What is the effect on Jaye? On Yvette? On 

Aaron?

Reflect on this quote: “bring her home.”

What are ‘Yvettes’ parents like?

What is the source of Yvette’s conflict with her parents?

Reflect on this quote: “If I was good at leaving its because you held the door.”

What is Jaye’s conversation with the cow all about?

Reflect on this quote: “you don’t screw with my family.”

Reflect on this quote: “[Your father] compromised his principles.”

How do the various Bible passages come to bear on the issue of ‘compromising principles’?

Being Called

Whenever I think about being called to the ministry, I think about this scene from TALES FROM THE CRYPT: DEMON KNIGHT.

The main character is about to give the key filled with Jesus' blood to the new Demon Knight. She says, "I'm not the right kind of person for this sh*t". But this dying man, who is obviously existing at that point in the film in the form of Jesus, tells her 'you're exactly the right kind of person'. It is a strange feeling, when God tells you something about yourself you cannot help but think is untrue. I'm not the right kind of person for this. But God tells me I am. I will do what God says. But not without confusion.

Bono On Jesus- I Approve

Songs For Easter

"When The Man Comes Around" by Johnny Cash

"Beer With Jesus" By Thoma Rhett

"This Is Not The End" By The Bravery

"Bittersweet Symphony" by The Verve

"Drops of Jupiter" by Train

"Everyday" by Dave Matthews Band

"Fare Thee Well" by Various (Because of the first verse)

"Spiritus Domini" Gregorian Chant

"Soul of a Man"- Blind Willie Johnson

"Alive" by P.O.D.

Re-Post For Holy Saturday, WHY JESUS MATTERS

Why Jesus Matters (A Post On Atonement)

Jesus matters because He gives us a new understanding of the nature of God. Or, more accurately, he takes a particular understanding found in the Old Testament and expands on it. The Old Testament contains the image of a Suffering God, and the idea is important where it crops up. But Jesus takes that image and makes it central to our understanding of God. The Gospels place the Cross at the center of all we know and can claim to understand about God. Jesus is God revealed, and so Jesus matters.

Jesus matters because He combats a particular disease of our collective cultural psyche. This disease is one of idolatry, in particular the tendency to worship coercive forms of power, in particular political and military power. Jesus is God's response to the ascendency of Emperor worship and the worship of worldly glory. As He reveals what God IS, He also reveals what God is not. Thus he undercuts the cultural contagion of political worship.

Jesus matters because that cultural disease was an incarnation of a greater problem, which is the fact of a satanic presence in the world. Something stood before God and man, and erected walls between all facets of mankind. The wall between man and God is broken down, because Christ's coming removes the impediment to proper worship of God, established in the general worship of political and coercive forms of power. Satan is thrown down from Heaven by Christ, and so the way to Heaven is completely clear.

Jesus matters because the evils of the world made belief in God difficult. This block to faith was one of the walls erected by Satan. Because Jesus has shown us a God we can believe in despite the suffering and evil in the world, because we can know truly that God is love, albeit Suffering Love, we are saved for faithlessness and one of Satan's main tools is robbed of its main power.

Jesus matters because He shows us a God who is in no way indifferent to the evils of the world. He says of sin that it is the suffering of God, and so God's mercy does not make us bitter. We know God cares in spite of His choice to forgive. Mercy and justice are reconciled on the Cross, and so another impediment to faith, and thus another tool of the devil, is removed.

Jesus matters because His choice to suffer gains Him the moral right to forgive and so it is a forgiveness we can receive and accept. A person who has not suffered as a result of a crime cannot forgive, but the victim of a crime can forgive. As Jesus suffers with us, as a consequence of our sin, so He gains the moral position from which forgiveness is possible.

Jesus matters because He extends God's act of adoptive reconciliation to all people. God created an outpost of His self-revelation with Israel. Israel was the first to reveal God, collectively. Because Christ the individual invites opens a way for individuals and not just collectives to reflect God's being, so all people are given the opportunity to be One with God. 

Denominational Divides

One great thing about Christianity in England is that there are no strict doctrinal fights among Christians. Being on the outs with the culture has pushed the various Christian denominations and sects together. They all have the same basic goals. If you ask someone here what religion they are, they may say 'Episcopal' or 'Catholic' or 'Methodist' or 'Baptist' or 'Pentecostal'. But if you ask someone their what religion they are, they simply say 'Christian'. You have to ask 'what church do you go to?' to find out their denomination or sect. It is refreshing. And we could learn a lot from it hear. The quicker Christians in this country focus on the basics: love of Christ, God and neighbor, the quicker we will form a movement that can respond to the new challenges of the 21st century. If Christianity truly declines in the United States, it will be because the various groups put their sub-group and secondary doctrines above the Two Great Commandments.

Re-Posts: Stations of the Cross

In honor of Holy Wednesday:


http://ljtsg.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-stations-of-cross.html

Pop Music Stations of the Cross:
http://ljtsg.blogspot.com/2013/03/stations-of-cross-pop-music-style.html