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Bob Dylan And Jesus

The pop/folk legend, Bob Dylan, spoke of a time when he crashed his 500cc Triumph motorcycle in 1966.   He said that the accident caused him to withdraw from public life for a while… and during this time, he recorded a song called “Sign on the Cross” (which was released in 1971).   It would seem that something spiritual was starting to stir in Bob… and he was not at all sure his life was currently on the right track. He sang:

‘Yes, but I know in my head, that we’re all so misled, And it’s that ol’ sign on the cross, that worries me.’

Now, the sign on top of the cross Jesus was crucified on said: Jesus Christ, king of the Jews.

Is Jesus really king?   Is the possibility that he might be something that has ever worried you?

Whether or not Jesus really is king is a question each of us needs to get right.   Either Jesus is God, i.e. Lord of all, or he is not.   There is not much room to manoeuvre; so you need to make a choice.  If Jesus is Lord and King of all, then he deserves all your loyalty; if he is not, he deserves nothing.

It is ironic that shortly before his murder, John Lennon recorded the song Serve Yourselfin response to the 1979 song Bob Dylan wrote in his Christian years called Gotta Serve Somebody.   The song won Dylan a Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance.

Lennon’s answer to the sign on the cross was to ignore it and “serve yourself”.

But was he right?

What do you think?

Many rock music commentators wrote dismissively about Bob Dylan’s encounter with Jesus.

Evidently, he went back to his hotel after a gig feeling pretty jaded with his celebrity world of booze, drugs, sex and endless performances.   As he contemplated this, he had a vision of Jesus Christ, clearly portrayed as King of kings.   This caused him to embrace Christianity and to begin a period of his career which people have dubbed the “gospel years.”   This was generally reckoned to have occurred between 1979 and 1981.

The first public expression of Dylan’s newfound faith in God came with the album, Slow Train Coming.   He gathered together a group of studio musicians including guitarist Mark Knopfler, and produced a batch of songs including Gotta Serve Somebody, When He Returnsand Man Gave Names to All the Animals, that left no one in doubt about his faith.

His conversion infuriated many of his fans.   According to music writer Michael Simmons, the reason for this was, quote:

‘Dylan represented free thinking, anti-establishment values, you know, “don’t follow leaders.”   And here he was following the ultimate leader.’

Evidently, the self-appointed custodians of rock culture would prefer that we “do what we want” and not follow any ultimate leader.

Autonomy from God; throwing God’s love and purpose in his face and living for self, is one of the best descriptions of sin I’ve heard.

In reality: the desire to be our own god, to have nothing bigger than ourselves to believe in – is a pretty shallow, sterile, unfulfilling form of freedom.  It offers no ultimate good to hope for, no final resolution of evil, no forgiveness of sins, no purpose for existence, no hope of eternity, no godly transformation of character.   It just offers the loneliness of being meaningless, temporary and self-obsessed.   It may be “oh so trendy”… but spurning the love of the Ultimate Leader comes at a terrible cost.   It comes at the cost of truth, meaning and hope.   So please don’t get sucked in by it.   Instead, rebel against the convention of being anti-God — and find your true meaning.

The Historically Credibility Of Jesus

Christianity is not a culturally derived religious philosophy that gradually evolved over the years.   Christianity is based on concrete historical events.   It is based on the historical reality of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.

This claim is hugely significant … for if it can be shown that the New Testament accounts of Jesus are nothing but myths and exaggerations formed incrementally over the years by overzealous adherents, Christianity disappears in a puff of smoke leaving nothing behind but moralistic platitudes.

So let us take a look at the historical integrity of Christianity. John, the disciple who was closest to Jesus begins his epistles with these words:

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have see with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of Life.   The life appeared, we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.  We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us (1 John 1:1-3).

John is making it quite clear that he is writing from his first-hand experiences of Jesus.   He is not at all interested in promoting myths that developed about him many years later.

Peter and the other apostles said similar things.  Luke records them in Acts saying: We are witnessesto these things(Acts 5:32).

Christopher Hitchens who, when he was alive, was one of the most vociferous “New Atheists,” made the claim that there is, ‘no firm evidence whatever that Jesus was a “character in history”’.

He went on to say that, ‘The case for biblical consistency or authenticity or “inspiration” has been in tatters for some time, and the rents and tears only become more obvious with better research.’

Richard Dawkings, another leading “New Atheist,” made the extraordinary claim that the gospels accounts of Jesus are as much works of fiction as Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code.

In order for the New Atheists to say such things, they need to ignore scholarly research and embrace selective rhetoric… then pass it off as informed comment.   Hitchens’ and Dawkins’ assertions have less to do with scholasticism and more to do with Goebbels’ craft of propaganda, obfuscation and deception.   Their claims are mind-bogglingly inaccurate and shocking in their untruth.   They are comments driven by thier atheistic agenda, not by academic research.

George Eldon Ladd, professor of New Testament exegesis and theology at Fuller Theological Seminary, in California, says this:

Unlike other world religions, modern man has the means of actually verifying Christianity’s truth by historical evidence.

Some of this compelling evidence comes from a chap called Josephus. Josephus was born around 37AD, just 7 years after Jesus’ death.   He was a Jewish military leader who sought to defend Galilee from the invading Romans in 67AD.   Unfortunately, he was captured by General Vespasian (who later became emperor).  Josephus abruptly changed his allegiance and agreed to become an interpreter and advisor to the Romans.  The Romans gave him a villa in Rome and supported him while he wrote a history of the Jewish people called Jewish Antiquitiesin 90AD.

In this work, Josephus writes: (and I’m careful here to exclude any controversial sections that some historians think were added later):

About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man … for he was one who wrought surprising feats and was a teacher of such people who accept the truth gladly.   He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks … When Pilate, upon hearing him accused by men of the highest standing amongst us had condemned him to be crucified, those who had in the first place come to love him did not give up their affection for him.
(Jewish Antiquities, 18,63-64).

So if the atheistic influences around you had led you to believe Jesus was a fictional character, you might like to explore the truth about him… for these truths may lead you to understand your intended eternal destiny.

Kindness more pleasurable than entertainment

  • April 30, 2015
  • Values
  • Comments Off on Kindness more pleasurable than entertainment

The American Psychologist, Martin Seligman, reported on an interesting debate between students at the University of Virginia about what it was that gave people the most pleasure.   One student reported that when he watched a fellow student help an old woman shovel snow away from her driveway, it not only made him feel good, it made everyone watching him feel good.   As a result of this discussion, some students decided to do an experiment and monitor how they felt after doing a number of different activities.

The results were not only surprising but for many, they were life-changing.   They reported that the ‘afterglow’ feeling of doing pleasurable things like hanging out with friends, watching a movie, or eating a hot fudge sundae, paled in comparison with the effects of doing an act of kindness.   The students reported that when they chose to use their abilities to do spontaneous acts of kindness, the pleasurable effects from doing it seemed to affect the whole day.   They said they were able to listen better, empathise better, notice things with more clarity and were better ‘tuned in’ to life.   It resulted in total engagement with life and in the loss of self-consciousness.

The Bible says that you and I are formed in God’s image.   This means that we, to some extent, reflect the heart and passions of God.   It is, therefore, little wonder that when we share with God in doing acts of kindness, we are at our happiest.

Make up your mind

I wish society would make up its mind.   When the church is surrounding itself with Gothic architecture, outdated music and not engaged in mission, the media attacks it for not being relevant.   However, when it engages in mission and reaches into society, schools and the prisons, it is attacked for being too aggressive and for proselytising.   Left wing, journalists have attacked the church’s programs in prisons because they are too effective at bringing people to faith and in changing their lives.   They’ve also attacked the idea of Christian chaplains being in schools.   If Christianity was safely irrelevant and ineffective, the journalists wouldn’t mind.

Jesus experienced the same frustration.   Nothing he did pleased some people.   He once said, “John the Baptist came neither eating nor drinking, and (this generation) said, ‘He has a demon.’   The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ (Mt 11:18-19)

The Christian author, Selwyn Hughes, wrote that:
Society demands conformity.   If you fall beneath its standards it will punish you.   If you rise above its standards, it will persecute you.   It demands a grey, average morality.   For this reason most people look around before they act.   But in reality they don’t act, they react.   They are echoes, not persons with voices.   You have three choices: you can be self-centred, herd-centred or Christ-centred.[1]

I want to invite you break free of conformity and become Christ-centred – and work with him to do his work.

[1]  Selwyn Huges, Every Day With Jesus, 13th January, 2010

Sex Doll!

A manufacturer in Las Vagas has created what he claims is the first talking robot sex doll.   When asked why he had done it, he replied, “I built it so people could have a meaningful relationship with it.”

Riiiiiight.   You build a robotic sex doll so you can have a meaningful relationship.   That’s what sex dolls are for, meaningful relationships!   “Darling, I find your circuitry, diodes and silicon chips so meaningful to my life.”

The inventor of the sex robot claims that she listens to you, speaks to you and feels your touch.   The robot, called “Roxxxy,” has a silicone skin, a mechanical heart, and five personality options ranging from “Wild Wendy” to “Mature Martha.”   It retails for between $7,000 and $9,000 American dollars.

Come on guys!   Don’t debase yourselves so that you can only relate to lumps of plastic and metal.   Don’t let your sexual identity be determined by someone wanting you to pay $9,000 American dollars.   For goodness sake, you’re worth more than that.   God dreamed you into being and purposed you to discover real love, not fake love.   He has purposed you to accept his love and to show it to others.

The commercial world wants you to have a meaningful relationship with a silicon chip so they can take $9,000 dollars from you.   God wants you to discover his authentic love – for free.

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