Category: Faith

Commentary by the Josh Benner Blog

The American Gospel and the meaning of Easter

Photo Courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons

Originally posted April 6, 2012
Statistically, we know that the vast majority of Americans believe in some form of a higher power. There are relatively few who are atheists. Since people do believe that there is something, and since it’s so easy to think of the majority of Americans as Christians, many simply attach themselves to Christianity.

But what does it mean? Christianity?

For so many, we call ourselves Christians but then never pray, or read the Bible, or go to church, or experience fellowship with other believers, or show any actual desire to have a relationship with Jesus. Without these, how can a person be Christian?

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Commentary by the Josh Benner Blog

Risen: the hunt for Jesus

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Risen is the story of a Roman soldier named Clavius (played by Joseph Fiennes) who has been given the task of tracking down the body of Jesus after it disappears from the tomb where it was placed after his crucifixion. I appreciate the symbolism of the search for Jesus.

The film takes you into the Roman world. The pressure is high in Jerusalem as there is the threat of insurrection against the empire. People believing in a resurrected Messiah could bring that to a tipping point. As Clavius searches for the apostles and interviews people in the hope of finding Jesus’ body, it felt somewhat like an episode of Law and Order.

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Faith by the Josh Benner Blog

The only resolution that matters for 2015

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At the beginning of each year, millions of Americans make new year’s resolutions. Common resolutions include eating healthier, saving more money, quitting smoking, or learning a new skill. All of those are great things.

But the reason why we create new year’s resolutions is because there are areas in our life where we know we should be doing something and where we aren’t. Maybe it’s something we’ve tried and failed at before, but new year’s gives a sense of optimism. I think before we focus on anything else in 2015, our resolution should be to start (or continue) living each day for God.

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