The Weekend Watch-up

a bunch of different people [and by ‘a bunch’ i mean Don Miller, Rachel Heard Evans and iafrica.com] do a kind of best things we watched/saw/read on the internetweb this week kind of thing on their blogs… so here is one more… and i would love to know which one you enjoyed the most, so leave an A, B, or C in the comments section below if you will:

[A] There are no words that can suitably describe this video – somewhere between fun and creepy and random and weird and hilarious, but see for yourself – Teddy has an operation [Ze Frank]

 

[B] They didn’t show documentaries like this when i was at school. Ze Frank who made the Teddy Operation above has a whole series of ‘True Facts about…’ videos which i think due to his voice have become a new favourite thing for me – here is ‘True facts about the dung beetle’

 

[C] This one was acomplete gem that i somehow found and you have to appreciate Monty Python to get it – Margaret Thatcher does the Dead Parrot sketch

 

So which one was your favourite: Vote with A, B or C…

Mark, my words: Jesus tackles divorce head on.

Let’s be honest – this is a passage i would rather skip over, and most people do. I can’t remember ever hearing someone preach on this. I don’t particularly want any of my friends who have been divorced to read or watch this.

But at the same time, can we afford to avoid it. And what makes this one really difficult is that it doesn’t seem like a lost-in-translation or easy-to-misinterpret passage. It is Jesus talking. And what He is saying seems pretty clear to me.

Let’s take a nervous look at Mark 10 from 1-12:

[For the next passage on becoming like a little child, click here]

50 word blog post: Following Jesus means forgiving people.

When following Jesus, forgiveness of others is not optional

Some of Jesus’ last words [when hanging on a cross] were ‘Father, forgive them’

Unless we forgive everyone, He can’t forgive us

Forgiveness doesn’t make what they did “Okay”

It just prevents it from continuing to take us down.

[For an under 50 word blog post on Being Loving, click here]

Goth bless America [with the most surprising of ways]

i watched this clip today – it was titled ‘Goth Andrew De Leon something something something’ and was obviously going to be one of those singing talent shows [the one without Simon Cowell] and clearly the big twist was going to be this goth suddenly singing like the offspring of Susan Boyle and Michael Jackson or something to that effect…

so i watched it and it deeply moved me [as they always do – pretend to be a rock but if you can watch this and not at least have the smallest hints of inner cry, you should get yourself checked out]

so watch the clip and be moved… but for me it was more about the person who thought they were nothing and turned out to be someone [which contains its own needing-to-be-looked-at issues of calling someone a someone just because they possess an amazing talent] receiving the affirmation they were looking for in life and before even going on stage declaring the hope that life was going to be completely different from now.

take a moment before watching though, and many moments afterwards, to think of the role of this guy’s family and friends and classmates and the responsibility and opportunities we have every day to give affirmation to and love those around us, so that they know it… and especially the ones who may not hear it from many people all that often [don’t waste your time tweeting Brad Pitt that you think he’s hot – i imagine he ‘gets’ that!]

which reminded me of a post i wrote for my old ‘Mash and Peace’ blog titled ‘Blessed are the Geeks’ that was about the labelling we tend to do so easily and the potential destructiveness of it…

so really who is your Andrew de Leon? [whether they can sing at all or not!] and what are you going to do today to let them know you care about them a lot?

[For a similiar themed article titled ‘Her life as a plus size model’ click here]

 

50 word blog post: Following Jesus means being Loving.

Yes, Christianity can be confusing.

Yes, a lot of bad things have been done and called Christianity that were not.

But at the heart of it all, when Jesus was asked, He summed the whole thing up as ‘Loving God, Loving people.’

If you’re not that, you’re not following Jesus.

[For the next 50 word blog post on Forgiveness, click here]

Brad Fish counselling service for those of you who have pain or sorrow.

Turns out Brad Fish is not only about the laughs…

 

 

Mark, my words: Rather cut things off?

This is one of those passages that we like to speed our way through and assure ourselves how understood it is that Jesus is speaking completely in metaphor.

The cost would simply be too high if He wasn’t. Gouge out your eye? Really? Well obviously Jesus doesn’t mean that… or does He? Not in terms of actually wanting anyone to literally take a spoon [or whatever you use for eye-gouging, to me a spoon feels right] and go at their eye… but in terms of really hearing the seriousness with which He makes the suggestion that THIS THING is just THAT IMPORTANT…

This reminds me of the passage where Jesus says it is better for a man to lose the whole world rather than forfeit His own soul… Let’s take a look at Mark 9: 42-50:

[To read the next passage where Jesus deals with Divorce, click here]