Black and White TV? Emma's Hmmm Moment
This past Sunday just before our noon meal, our granddaughter, Emma, was watching TV. The small TV is in the kitchen near the table. As I came into the room her question caught me, “Grandpa, why is the TV Black and White, there is no colour?”
I explained that the TV movie that was on the television(Bob Hope and Bing Crosby) was so old that it was made before there was such a thing as colour TV or colour Movies. The look on her face was puzzlement. Could there ever have been such a time? That led us to talk about the old days of Black and White TV. I told her that grandpa never even saw a TV until he was 12 years old – about the same age as her older brother. Her big brown eyes took it all in. There was that “Emma Hmmm Moment” Hmmm comes as she ponders her thoughts. I have had a few of these “hmmm-s” lately too. I guess it comes with age.
Our Pastor Tim Taylor, presented a powerful study on Sunday PM. As he did he asked us to consider a book title that we are studying together – “The Jesus I Never Knew”. The premise so far is that many of us have known something about Jesus – from our childhood days or from what the community’s perception is – and yet we may not really know who he is. At the end of this Blog you will be able to read the Description of the book.
Together with Emma’s question, my Hmmm-s and Tim’s questions of Sunday PM – I have been trying to sort through my thoughts about Jesus too. After all I am a professional Jesus Person. I get paid because of what I am supposed to be able to tell people about Jesus. I AM A MINISTER – Ordained on top of that with a Big REV. in front of my name.
The fact is that I am trying to understand who he is now. I am constantly trying to get a clear picture of who he is and how he works in this world today.
The events of 9/11 (in 2001) and all the television presentations of yesterday certainly have made me think too. We live in one very sick world today. My image of Jesus as a Saviour is real – but how will he work all of this “Saviour” stuff out in the world that we live in today?
In the New Testament of the Bible, Paul makes a statement in 2 Corinthians 5:16 when he says…16So we have stopped evaluating others by what the world thinks about them. Once I mistakenly thought of Christ that way, as though he were merely a human being. How differently I think about him now!
Paul’s confession that once he thought of Jesus in a different way than he does now has produced more Hmmm-s in me. Could it be with all that I know so far – is not really what I need to know now?
That is kind of an Emma moment as she considered a Black and White TV world – long before she was born or even thought of….
Today I want to know who Jesus is. I would like to know who he is and how he can help in my family, my community and my world. He said that he would do whatever I ask in his name. Jesus said in John 14:12"The truth is, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. 13You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, because the work of the Son brings glory to the Father. 14Yes, ask anything in my name, and I will do it!
That is another “Emma’s Hmmm Moment” for sure. Wow!
Pastor Murray
Description of the Book – “The Jesus I Never Knew” by Philip Yancey: What happens when a respected Christian journalist decides to put his preconceptions aside and take a long look at the Jesus described in the Gospels? How does the Jesus of the New Testament compare to the ''new, rediscovered" Jesus -- or even the Jesus we think we know so well? Best-selling author Phillip Yancey says, "The Jesus I got to know in writing this book is very different from the Jesus I learned about in Sunday school. In some ways he is more comforting; in some ways more terrifying." Yancey offers a new and different perspective on the life of Christ and his work -- his teaching, his miracles, his death and resurrection -- and ultimately, who he was and why he came. Relating the gospel events to the world we live in today, The Jesus I Never Knew gives a moving and refreshing portrait of the central figure of history. With a willingness to tackle difficult questions, Yancey looks at the radical words of this itinerant Jewish carpenter and asks whether we are taking him seriously enough in our own day and age. From the manger in Bethlehem to the cross in Jerusalem, Yancey presents a complex character who generates questions as well as answers; a disturbing and exhilarating Jesus who wants to radically transform your life and stretch your faith. The Jesus I Never Knew uncovers a Jesus who is brilliant, creative, challenging, fearless, compassionate, unpredictable, and ultimately satisfying. This honest book will help you discover a different Jesus from the flannelgraph Sunday school figure, the sweetly smiling Victorian Savior, and all the cultural clichés that have tamed Jesus and kept him in comfortable religious boxes. According to Yancey, "No one who meets Jesus ever stays the same. In the end I found the process of writing this book to be a great act of faith-strengthening. Jesus has rocked my own preconceptions and has made me ask hard questions about why those of us who bear his name don't do a better job of following him."
I explained that the TV movie that was on the television(Bob Hope and Bing Crosby) was so old that it was made before there was such a thing as colour TV or colour Movies. The look on her face was puzzlement. Could there ever have been such a time? That led us to talk about the old days of Black and White TV. I told her that grandpa never even saw a TV until he was 12 years old – about the same age as her older brother. Her big brown eyes took it all in. There was that “Emma Hmmm Moment” Hmmm comes as she ponders her thoughts. I have had a few of these “hmmm-s” lately too. I guess it comes with age.
Our Pastor Tim Taylor, presented a powerful study on Sunday PM. As he did he asked us to consider a book title that we are studying together – “The Jesus I Never Knew”. The premise so far is that many of us have known something about Jesus – from our childhood days or from what the community’s perception is – and yet we may not really know who he is. At the end of this Blog you will be able to read the Description of the book.
Together with Emma’s question, my Hmmm-s and Tim’s questions of Sunday PM – I have been trying to sort through my thoughts about Jesus too. After all I am a professional Jesus Person. I get paid because of what I am supposed to be able to tell people about Jesus. I AM A MINISTER – Ordained on top of that with a Big REV. in front of my name.
The fact is that I am trying to understand who he is now. I am constantly trying to get a clear picture of who he is and how he works in this world today.
The events of 9/11 (in 2001) and all the television presentations of yesterday certainly have made me think too. We live in one very sick world today. My image of Jesus as a Saviour is real – but how will he work all of this “Saviour” stuff out in the world that we live in today?
In the New Testament of the Bible, Paul makes a statement in 2 Corinthians 5:16 when he says…16So we have stopped evaluating others by what the world thinks about them. Once I mistakenly thought of Christ that way, as though he were merely a human being. How differently I think about him now!
Paul’s confession that once he thought of Jesus in a different way than he does now has produced more Hmmm-s in me. Could it be with all that I know so far – is not really what I need to know now?
That is kind of an Emma moment as she considered a Black and White TV world – long before she was born or even thought of….
Today I want to know who Jesus is. I would like to know who he is and how he can help in my family, my community and my world. He said that he would do whatever I ask in his name. Jesus said in John 14:12"The truth is, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. 13You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, because the work of the Son brings glory to the Father. 14Yes, ask anything in my name, and I will do it!
That is another “Emma’s Hmmm Moment” for sure. Wow!
Pastor Murray
Description of the Book – “The Jesus I Never Knew” by Philip Yancey: What happens when a respected Christian journalist decides to put his preconceptions aside and take a long look at the Jesus described in the Gospels? How does the Jesus of the New Testament compare to the ''new, rediscovered" Jesus -- or even the Jesus we think we know so well? Best-selling author Phillip Yancey says, "The Jesus I got to know in writing this book is very different from the Jesus I learned about in Sunday school. In some ways he is more comforting; in some ways more terrifying." Yancey offers a new and different perspective on the life of Christ and his work -- his teaching, his miracles, his death and resurrection -- and ultimately, who he was and why he came. Relating the gospel events to the world we live in today, The Jesus I Never Knew gives a moving and refreshing portrait of the central figure of history. With a willingness to tackle difficult questions, Yancey looks at the radical words of this itinerant Jewish carpenter and asks whether we are taking him seriously enough in our own day and age. From the manger in Bethlehem to the cross in Jerusalem, Yancey presents a complex character who generates questions as well as answers; a disturbing and exhilarating Jesus who wants to radically transform your life and stretch your faith. The Jesus I Never Knew uncovers a Jesus who is brilliant, creative, challenging, fearless, compassionate, unpredictable, and ultimately satisfying. This honest book will help you discover a different Jesus from the flannelgraph Sunday school figure, the sweetly smiling Victorian Savior, and all the cultural clichés that have tamed Jesus and kept him in comfortable religious boxes. According to Yancey, "No one who meets Jesus ever stays the same. In the end I found the process of writing this book to be a great act of faith-strengthening. Jesus has rocked my own preconceptions and has made me ask hard questions about why those of us who bear his name don't do a better job of following him."
posted by Murray Lincoln at
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home