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The Centre for Public Christianity website was launched on Good Friday. CPX is “a research and media organisation promoting the public understanding of the Christian faith.” John Dickson and Greg Clarke are the big daddies of the venture and it looks like they’ve got some good gear happening.
In the video below, Greg Clarke reviews the latest Nick Cave album: Dig Lazarus, Dig. Check out the text version.
1Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
3So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. 8Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9(They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)
We went to Saturday EV tonight. Very refreshing. Best sermon I’ve heard for two months! Keep an eye out on their brilliant webpage for the podcast on Sunday or Monday. In other Easter Saturday news, John Piper has a very good post attempting to answer the question: Did Jesus spend Saturday in hell? It’s worth reading.
16Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.
So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. 17Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). 18Here they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.
19Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read:|sc JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. 20Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. 21The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”
“The Day of Atonement was a solemn day to sacrifice 15 animals and reflect on personal sin. This day was a foreshadowing of the coming of Jesus, and His final sacrifice for our sin on Good Friday and His triumphant resurrection on Easter.”
WARNING: The following video is graphic
(h/t mhc)
Daybreak played at Church on Sunday night. The young band consists of drums, guitar, bass + vox. They were good. They seemed a bit uncomfortable playing at church, but I think that had more to do with congregational song selection than it did talent. Their lead singer looked a little bit uncomfortable up front, but again that may have simply been the context in which they were playing.
They list the following musical influences: U2, dcTalk, Bon Jovi, Van Halen, Delirious?, Radiohead, Switchfoot, Powderfinger, Jeff Buckley, Midnight Oil, Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree and Crowded House. Listen to some of their originals on their MySpace page, including tracks from their new ep: Reaching for the Surface – good stuff. I don’t know of many evangelical bands playing good tunes in and around Sydney. Could Daybreak be the next Revive??
If you’re looking for a band for a youth event, Daybreak might be your answer! Got any other recommendations?
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Are you struggling with learning Greek? Michael Jensen wrote a post that might help you to justify quitting!