Jesus

The Resurrection of Jesus is, for the Christian, the essential key for understanding just about everything, not only specifically "religious" matters. The Easter event announces that death and all the ways of death have been defeated. Jesus took death into the tomb. He was raised to life, and so death's grip on the world has been broken. Backing up, we must ask what it is that went so wretchedly wrong that the crowds who joyously welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, laying before him branches and their cloaks, would several days later cry out, "crucify Him. " Why do we call that day "Good" Friday?

I confess I am moved by the "Occupy Wall Street" phenomenon. Not only is it occurring in the Mecca of our national financial district, it is occurring across the United States. While some would dismiss it as a bunch of anarchists or young kids that don't know anything about hard work, I believe it is indicative of something deeper stirring in the hearts of Americans throughout the country. There is a dissatisfaction with the status quo, a refusal to go on blindly acquiescing to an America where the few have it all. Assertions of "We are the 99% " declare that this is not simply an America that belongs to only those with the money to buy it. A tired and frustrated people are rising and refusing to take it anymore, rejuvenated at last by a unity of spirit that is catching on in cities all over the nation.

The Costa Mesa Senior Center’s Good Friday services will include a lecture by Aramaic Bible scholar Rocco Errico, whom organizers hope will provide a unique perspective on the life of Jesus. “He’s such a tremendous scholar and has such an important message about Jesus and who he really was,” said Senior Pastor James Turrell of the Costa Mesa Center for Spiritual Discovery, which is hosting the event. “The tendency is to make Jesus into a Western figure, when he was really a Jew and a Semite … it’s caused a lot of confusion among traditional Christian churches in terms of how they see and understand Christ.

Young Chang The water tank on Donna Brown's toilet cracked this week and drenched the bathroom carpet. Instead of panicking, Brown, 66, and her 40-year-old daughter, Cindy, calmly turned off the water and figured out the problem. Then they called a repairman. The Costa Mesa residents believe they were divinely guided to the solution. They didn't get mad, and they didn't wonder why it had to happen. They also trust that good will somehow come from the experience.

Q: I'm sure you've been following the story about a papyrus claiming that Jesus had a wife. What's your opinion about this? - M., Long Island. N.Y. A: In the midst of my intense Jewish immersion in the High Holidays of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur (and again, let me wish a happy 5773 to all my Jewish readers!), it is spiritually balancing to me this week to address the question of whether or not Jesus had a wife. This high-profile story has surfaced in the normally theologically indifferent general secular press because professor Karen King of Harvard Divinity School recently revealed the existence of a papyrus fragment that supposedly quotes Jesus directly as referring to his wife, whom he identifies as "Mary.

Holiday humbugs struck two Newport Beach homes Friday night, stealing baby Jesus figures from yard displays in the 400 block of Santa Ana Avenue. Newport Beach police aren't sure who is responsible for the thefts or whether any similar crimes have occurred in the city this winter, Sgt. Evan Sailor said. The figures were each worth about $40, he said. In 2004, a Costa Mesa church was the victim of a nativity theft when someone stole a plywood baby Jesus painted by Sunday school children.

“God is holding onto you. He will not let you go! You are secure in His love. Nothing — absolutely nothing — can separate you from the love of God.”   “Centerpieces are so central and make such a difference,” the woman said. “The right one makes it easy to set everything around.” I chuckled when I heard the woman’s comment in the market. Yes, centerpieces are indeed central. I thought of her words a few days later when I found myself singing a song called, “Jesus be the Center.

Is Jesus missing from your life? The parishioners from Mesa Verde United Methodist Church in Costa Mesa might say so -- tongue-in-cheek, of course. A hand-painted, life-sized plywood baby Jesus (and a sheep) were stolen from the church's nativity scene last week, the Rev. Stephanie Toon said. It's clearly time to clear up a little misconception: You can't steal Jesus. Those signs and bumper stickers that say "Got Jesus" are not suggesting you go out and physically get a Jesus.

Q: Does God ever tell us to do something, or to believe something, that contradicts the Bible? A friend of mine says the Bible is out of date and we need to let the Spirit guide us in new directions, but I'm not so sure about that. — S.Y. * A: You're right to be skeptical of your friend's views — because God never tells us to do anything that He has clearly forbidden in His Word, the Bible. God does not change, and neither does His Word. After all, one reason God has given us His Word is so we can know what is true and right — and also what isn't true and right.

Regarding the issue of gay-straight alliance clubs, especially in light of the Dec. 9 letter from Elizabeth Richards of Concerned Women for America, Corona del Mar ("Gay-straight clubs are wrong," Dec. 9): How embarrassing to the majority of Christians who desire to spread the accepting love of Jesus that the most vocal opposition to gay-straight alliance clubs comes from self-identified Christian voices? These often are the ones who worked to get campuses open to religious clubs; now they want to prevent the free-exercise rights of other good citizens.

This week a young man, having read our website and perhaps the article I wrote for the Pilot two weeks ago, engaged me in conversation.   He was very polite, though he tried to question me about my faith, entrap me in the Bible's condemnation and ultimately warned me of being a false prophet. It was obvious we see our Christian paths differently. We have a fundamental disagreement about the nature of God.    He initially asked me what I believed about God in a nutshell. My answer was this: "God is the nut, and God is the shell.

Most people remember the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in January for his birthday. We certainly do at Fairview Community Church. We always hold a special service in honor of his legacy. But remembering his birth and remembering his death are two different things, just as remembering Jesus' birth and death, at Christmas and Easter, are two different things. We celebrate birthdays - and we love to celebrate Christmas - but most people feel uncomfortable facing Good Friday and the crucifixion of Jesus.

Q: If Jesus is going to return some day and make the world a better place, why doesn't he go ahead and do it? The world is so messed up that I can't understand why he doesn't return now. — F.R.H. A: One of the Bible's greatest promises is that one day Jesus Christ will return — and when he does, all the evil we see around us will be destroyed and he will rule the world in perfect justice and peace. The Bible says, "In keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness" (2 Peter 3:13)

I spent the first two weeks of Lent in Antigua, Guatemala, where during the "Cuaresma" (Lent) everything changes. Purple banners hang on the outside of churches, shops and even homes. On Fridays, the people flock from all over to fill the churches eager to see the venerations, the beautiful "alfombras" (carpets) made of flowers, fruits and colored sawdust - artistic creations whose impermanence remind us of our own. This Lenten journey is a microcosm of life - for Jesus it ends on a cross in Jerusalem, but we know that we too cannot escape death.

Q: Does God ever tell us to do something, or to believe something, that contradicts the Bible? A friend of mine says the Bible is out of date and we need to let the Spirit guide us in new directions, but I'm not so sure about that. — S.Y. * A: You're right to be skeptical of your friend's views — because God never tells us to do anything that He has clearly forbidden in His Word, the Bible. God does not change, and neither does His Word. After all, one reason God has given us His Word is so we can know what is true and right — and also what isn't true and right.

Q: I suppose you'd call me a "Christmas and Easter" kind of Christian, because those are about the only days I go to church (except for weddings or funerals). Why should I bother doing any more? — L.W. A: Although I hope that someday you'll attend church more regularly, I'm thankful you haven't dropped out completely, and that you still make the effort to attend services on Christmas and Easter. After all, Christmas and Easter commemorate two of the most important events in human history, and as you attend Easter services next week, I hope you'll pause to think more deeply about the meaning of these two days.

Q: I've gotten involved in a ministry that our church has started to prisoners in our local jail, but I honestly wonder if we're doing any good. Just holding a chapel service once a week doesn't seem like much. Am I wrong? — F.N. A: Over the years, I've received countless letters from prisoners, and I want to assure you that what your church is doing is important. God may open up additional opportunities as time goes on, but thank Him for giving you this opportunity, and ask Him to help you use it wisely.

Q: I know the angels were very much a part of Jesus' birth (for example, in making the announcements to Mary and the shepherds), but do they still do anything? Or are angels no longer active? — Mrs. J. McL. A: The Bible makes it clear that God's angels are still very much at work, although their ministry is largely unseen by us. Even when they take human form (as they can do on occasion), they may not be recognized as angels. The author of the book of Hebrews wrote: "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it" (Hebrews 13:2)

Q: My wife insists on bringing our two children to church, but I'm not sure I agree. They don't get anything out of it, and sometimes they're just a distraction to the people around us. Why bother? — R.C.J. A: You don't say how old your children are; many churches, of course, provide nursery facilities for very young children. Some pastors, I've noticed, include a brief children's sermon in the service, after which the younger children are dismissed to a special class. In other words, you and your wife may want to see what alternatives are available for your children.

Prosecutors charged a Laguna Hills man accused of plotting to have his underage teenage relative kidnapped and taken to Mexico, authorities announced Friday. Jesus Acosta-Inchaorrondo, 58, is charged with soliciting to commit kidnapping, attempted kidnapping, dissuading a witness by force or threat and violating a protective order, according to a joint announcement from the Costa Mesa Police Department and the Orange County district attorney's office. He also faces a crime-bail-crime sentencing enhancement.