Daniel Gilman spent a year and a half working for Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM) in Canada. As more and more allegations against Ravi came to light, Gilman became more outspoken about the need to respond to the scandal and for the ministry to take care of Ravi’s victims. In this episode, we walk through Daniel’s time with RZIM, a path the ministry could have taken forward.
Category: Commentary
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Jesus: cross-examined
We see symbols everyday. Symbols of peace, strength, royalty, and victory.
Within Christianity, there is no greater symbol than the cross, something so obvious that we take it for granted. Something so pervasive, so associated with Christianity that we might not even question it.
But why is the cross the symbol?
Doubtless there could have been other symbols used.
Jesus was born in a manger, miraculously. We call him the good shepherd. He’s called the lamb of God. He said that he was the door, whoever entered through him would be saved. Jesus talks of being the bread of life.
As John Stott summarizes in his book the Cross of Christ, the early Christians “wished to commemorate as central to their understanding of Jesus neither his birth nor his youth, neither his teaching nor his service, neither his resurrection nor his reign, nor his gift of the Spirit, but his death and crucifixion.”
And ultimately the cross became the symbol. I’ve heard people dismiss the idea of the cross as a symbol. It’s where Jesus died. That would be like wearing an electric chair around your neck.
But really, I believe that the cross is even more radical. In the Roman world, crucifixion wasn’t even legal for Roman citizens. It was meant for non-citizens and slaves. Those looked down upon by society. Those who had committed murder and led rebellion. It was a means of execution specifically designed to maximize the torture and agony. A person being crucified could take days to die.
Obviously the cross doesn’t save us. It’s what Jesus did on the cross that matters. It’s what Jesus accomplished at the cross that matters.
It’s interesting that Jesus predicts his death.
In Jesus’ day, many people expected the messiah to be a great military or political leader. And what do great military and political leaders do? They win! They conquer. They take territory. They overthrow governments. They win!
They don’t die.
When Jesus makes his first prediction of his death, Peter actually rebukes Jesus. He criticizes the Lord who died for our sins for saying he was going to die for our sins! When he predicted his death, some might not have even believed him or thought he was exaggerating.
But he wasn’t. Everything in the gospels points to his death. Jesus is constantly making reference to his death throughout his life.
Aside from the multiple explicit references from Jesus about his death and resurrection, it’s constantly alluded to in the gospels. His entire life was in the shadow of the cross.
In Luke 2, as a baby, his parents take him to the temple for a dedication ceremony. A man named Simeon who’s a prophet who’s been waiting for the Messiah beholds the baby Jesus, and says: “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:34-35).
He tells Mary “a sword will pierce through your own soul.”
He’s referring to what Mary will experience when she stands at the foot of that cross, and watches her son die.
Throughout the gospel of John, Jesus talks about his “hour,” referring to the time of his death.
In the gospels, about 40 percent of the books are dedicated to the final week of the life of Christ.
John Hay and John Nicolay wrote a biography of Abraham Lincoln that is over 5,000 pages in length. In those 5,000 pages, the assassination of our 16th president is talked about in just 20 pages.
Why is it that 40 percent of the gospels revolves around his final week, his death, and his resurrection?
Because it is the only way to God!
The great leaders of other faiths: Gautama Budha, Muhammad, they died. And are still dead today.
It is on the cross that Jesus bears the sins of humanity. It is on the cross that Jesus endures the wrath of God for sin. It is on the cross where we see him supremely betrayed and forsaken. It is on the cross where we see our sins nailed down, and where we see the magnitude of our sins, the weight of our sins, holding God to the cross. He shows the love he has on the cross. He shows the justice of God on the cross.
Because Jesus died and rose again, there is hope. This life is not all that there is.
That the hope of eternity with Jesus is not some pie in the sky hope, it’s not some fairytale, or some bedtime story that we tell to children.
Jesus rose from the dead and that means everything. There is no stronger validator to who Jesus is.
It means that there is life after death, which is our hope. It validates who Jesus said he was, which is our God and savior. It proves what should be most precious to us, which is the love of God. It shows us where we came from, the God of the Judeo-Christian tradition. It affirms that Christ’s teachings had authority. It shows that the life and ministry of Jesus are infinitely important.
Originally published September 21, 2016
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MLB makes knee jerk reaction of moving All Star Game
I don’t like bullies.
Last week, Georgia governor Brian Kemp signed a new voting bill into law in his state. President Biden was critical and called of the law. As CNBC summarizes the new law, it would “dd new ID requirements to absentee voting, limit ballot drop boxes and prohibit offering food or water to voters in line, among other provisions.”
President Biden called this “Jim Crow for the 21st century.”
In response, several companies such as Coca Cola, Delta, and Apple opposed the law.
But it was Major League Baseball who really cracked down. The MLB All Star game was set to be played in Atlanta later this summer. In response to the bill, the MLB pulled the game.
Baseball’s commissioner Rob Manfred issued a statement in response where he said:
“I have decided that the best way to demonstrate our values as a sport is by relocating this year’s All-Star Game and MLB Draft. Major League Baseball fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box.”How is this voting law restricting anyone’s vote? Sincere question.
Last month, Vox (a liberal news outlet) ran a story with the headline “A major study finding that voter ID laws hurt minorities isn’t standing up well under scrutiny.”
From the Vox article: “It was supposed to be the study that proved voter ID laws are not just discriminatory but can also have a big impact on elections. And it was picked up widely, with outlets including ThinkProgress and the Washington Post reporting that the study found voter ID laws hurt Hispanic voters in particular and skewed elections to the right. “
To be fair to the article, it also says that debunked studies don’t prove that there’s no impact of voter ID on elections. But people like the president, these corporations, and many others on the far left act like it’s inherently racist to want people to validate who they are so they can vote.
I’m not saying last year’s election was stolen. But states do have a right to take reasonable steps to ensure fair elections. There’s nothing restrictive about Georgia’s voting laws. There’s nothing unprecedented about Georgia’s new law.
Voter ID has become a sort of catch-all in the public discourse of these laws. Here are a few important facts. Most states require some form of identification to vote. Georgia already required voter identification to vote in person. Georgia (as well as many other states) will provide a government issued ID to someone at no cost if someone can’t afford one. And while we’re on the subject of ID, you need an ID to do a host of other things in our society. You need an ID to drive, to work, to fly, to buy certain over the counter cold medicines, and a host of other activities. Many in the political arena and the media want every American to be forced to have a Covid vaccine, but expecting someone to prove who they are in order to vote is unacceptable?
Georgia did move up their date to request an absentee ballot. They’re now one of 11 states which requires a person to request an absentee ballot more than a week prior to the election. Oh, the humanity!
On absentee ballots, Georgia will be one of four states which asks a person to list their ID number. Two other states require a person to submit a form of ID, and three states require absentee ballots to be notarized (which would presumably also require an ID).
President Biden mentioned Georgia disallowing a person receiving water while in line to vote. That’s not entirely true. The spirit of that law is aimed at campaigning within the polling location.
The Georgia law does allow for “self-service” water in polling places.
All of this was unacceptable to Major League Baseball.
The city is estimating a $100 million loss from missing out on the All Star game. This isn’t the first time that a professional sports league as punished a city over politics. In 2016, the NBA moved the 2017 all star game from Charlotte due to a North Carolina law which, among other things, restricted transgender people from using bathrooms which went against their biological sex.
Part of why a lot of people like sports is because it gives us a break from politics.
As I said in the beginning, I don’t like bullies. And I don’t like billion dollar corporations ganging up on states to punish them for their legally passed legislation.
Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think, and don’t forget to subscribe!
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Easter Sermon: The turning point of history – Matthew 28:1-20
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most important event in human history. Bar none. In Matthew’s gospel, we see the risen Christ and try to answer the questions of why we can believe in the resurrection and how we can respond.
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Sermon: The Triumphal Entry – John 12:9-19
A week before the first Easter, Jesus enters Jerusalem with the crowds chanting and declaring him a king. But on Friday, crowds would be changing “crucify.” Jesus comes into Jerusalem for a final time and for one ultimate purpose: to die.
