Superman v. Superman

The fight scenes in the new Superman movie could have used more creativity. There were basically only two fight moves: (a) ramming the other guy into a building, and (b) throwing the other guy into a building. Don’t get me wrong, the effects in Man of Steel were spectacular, but the older Superman movies had an epic quality that is hard to top. Remember in Superman 2 when Zod makes Superman kneel down to him and take his hand, then Superman crushes it? Brilliant.

Superman 3 was my favorite, but that was because I was 8. I thought the movie was hilarious, but again, that was because I was 8. Thirty years later… not so much. However, even today there is one part of that movie that remains truly epic. More than that, this scene moves me as a Christian. I am not kidding.

What happens is that Superman gets exposed to some synthetic kryptonite, but because the formula is wrong it doesn’t kill him. Instead, it makes Superman turn evil. He turns into a jerk who punches holes in oil tankers, messes up the Leaning Tower of Pisa, gets drunk and hits on sleazy women. Finally, evil Superman lands in a junkyard. He goes through an internal crisis and splits into two halves.

Now, there is Clark Kent, in a suit and tie, who represents his good side and there is five-o’clock-shadow Superman who embodies his evil side. The epic fight begins. Superman fights himself. At first, evil Superman pummels Clark Kent who barely puts up a fight. Finally, Clark Kent starts fighting back, but evil Superman fights dirty. The fight drags on and eventually evil Superman puts unconscious Clark Kent into a metal crusher. We hear him scream, but then he rips through the side of the machine in a rage, grabs evil Superman by the throat and chokes the living daylights out of him until he is dead.

This is what the Christian life is like. There is a battle inside every believer between good and evil. The Bible refers to these two sides as the Spirit and the flesh. For example, Galatians 5:17 states:

For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

These two sides are sometimes spoken of as the “old man” and the “new man” (Eph. 4:22-24). In Romans 7:13-25 the Apostle Paul describes this battle in his own heart. You see, when a sinner trusts Christ as his Savior, he becomes something new. God’s Spirit comes inside him and starts to change him from the inside out. The new man is our new true identity, but there is always the old sinful part of us that remains and tries to stay in control. The old man fights dirty. This is a grueling fight that will rage on and on until our dying day.

The problem is that we often don’t put up the fight that we should. We play defense and let the old self take cheap shot after cheap shot. We don’t get aggressive in our fight against sin. We need to remember that the Bible actually calls us to murder the old man. For example, Romans 8:13 and Colossians 3:5 tell us to “put to death” or “mortify” (KJV) the old sinful self. These are violent images.

That’s why I like Superman 3. It is a picture of what I feel going on in my heart. It is a fight. This movie reminds us that there comes a time to stop being kicked around by the old man. There comes a time to get angry, and with God’s help and power, to use all our strength to strangle the daylights out of the old man. 

Powerman and Mosquitoboy: Deceptor's Revenge

This is the complete series of videos for Powerman and Mosquitoboy: Deceptor's Revenge. I wrote, directed, and edited these videos for a custom VBS program that we created for our church. This is the third  "season" of Powerman videos that we made, but if you are new to the series this is a good place to start. Enjoy!

This series was originally done as five episodes but I had to split them online because of YouTube's former time limits.  Each episode was used to illustrate a different teaching theme during the VBS week.

• Episode 1 (1 & 2 here): God is Eternal; God has No Origin - Isaiah 40:28
• Episode 2 (3 & 4 here): God is Unchanging - Hebrews 13:8
• Episode 3 (5 & 6 here): God is Holy - Isaiah 6:3
• Episode 4 (7 & 8 here): God is Love - Romans 5:8
• Episodes 5 (9 &10 here): God is Not Silent; God Has Spoken Through His Word - Hebrews 4:12

To see the previous series, Powerman and Mosquitoboy: in Space! click here. I hope to have the next series, Powerman and Mosquitoboy: Robot Invasion online in the near future. You can also visit the PMMB youtube and facebook pages.

A Vision for a Healthy Church

Both church health and church growth are important, but church health is the more vital of the two. A church can grow, but not be healthy. On the other hand, if a church is faithful and healthy, it will have a heart for reaching others with the life-changing message of salvation.

At least five things will be true of a healthy church:

(1)   A healthy is focused on the glory of God. A healthy church does not exist for its own glory but for the fame of His Name. A healthy church longs to see Jesus Christ glorified in the hearts of people everywhere. God is glorified in our hearts when we find our joy in Him. This is what God deserves and this is the greatest good that human beings can have. Therefore, we want to help each other and others to make Christ the highest treasure of our hearts. Therefore a healthy church will keep its focus on Christ and continuously kindle their devotion to Him as our first love (Rev. 2:4).

(2)   A healthy church has members who are continuously growing in their knowledge, love, and obedience to God’s Word. (Col. 1:9-14) Discipleship is a life-long process based on God’s grace. When people encounter God’s saving grace their lives begin to be changed from the inside out. Motivated by love and gratitude, Christians desire to follow Jesus and to bow before Him as our King. We want to listen to His Word in order to know Him more and to learn what pleases and displeases Him (Eph. 5:17). Thus, a healthy church will have a high view of the Bible and will be diligent to let it renew our minds and transform us more and more into the image of Christ. (Rm. 12:2; 8:29)

(3)   A healthy church is made up of members who love and care for each other as they would themselves. The church is the body of Christ and we are all members of it (1 Cor. 12:27). We need to remember that God did not create Christians to live as spiritual Lone Rangers. We need to live in unity with each other, caring for one another’s well-being as if it were our very own. The members of a healthy church will forgive one another, bear each other’s burdens, encourage one another, and spur each other on to love and good deeds. Further, we will work together for the mission that God has called us to on this earth.

(4)   A healthy church has an evangelistic heart for the lost and an outward focus. A healthy church is not content to keep the blessings of the Gospel to itself. Instead, a healthy church desires to obey Christ’s Great Commission to go and make disciples of all nations (Mt. 28:19-28). A healthy church will have a heart like Jesus had—a heart of compassion for the lost (Luke 15:1-32). A healthy church will care about evangelism both individually, and as a church; both locally, and globally. A healthy church will be a lighthouse, not a clubhouse.

(5)    A healthy church will have members who are equipped and active in using their spiritual gifts, abilities, time, and resources to glorify God by building up the body of Christ. (1 Cor. 12; Eph. 4:1:16) The core mission of the church is to glorify God by bringing people into a living relationship with Christ and helping each other grow as devoted followers of Him. In other words, we are called to build up the body of Christ through evangelism and discipleship. God has equipped believers with the gifts needed to do this work. In a healthy church, each member embraces the fact that he or she is an essential part of fulfilling this mission. Our goal is not merely to make disciples, but to make disciples who make disciples.

These things are essential, but they are not the only things characterize a healthy church. To become a healthy church requires passionate and dependent prayer, biblical leadership, and a healthy diet of expository preaching. Yet the goal of all of this is for the people of God to become the body of Christ as Jesus intended it to be, for His glory.    

Sparrows, Boring Sparrows

In Jesus' time sparrows were sold as an inexpensive finger food for the poor. Sparrows were the Burger King value menu for the ancient world. There is nothing very special about sparrows. They aren't colorful like a cardinal. They aren't unique like a woodpecker. They aren't majestic like an owl. They aren't mighty hunters like a hawk. Sparrows are just plain, generic birds. Yet, Jesus said,

"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are numbered. So don't be afraid, you are worth more than many sparrows." -Matthew 10:29-31

Let's face it. Sparrows are boring. I have nothing against sparrows; it is just that they are plain and common. That was Jesus' point. That is why I am glad that Jesus did not say that God's eye is on the bald eagle. We would expect that! But if God cares even for the generic sparrow, then we can know for certain that His eye is on His children.

The Longest Descent

This was a big drop. On October 14, 2012 Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner set a record by jumping from an altitude of approximately 128,100 feet. To give you an idea of how high that is, consider that a commercial airliner typically flies at about 30,000 feet. That's only 5.68 miles high. Baumgartner's Red Bull Stratos jump was from over 24 miles. He was so high that he had to wear a pressurized space suit. You can clearly see the curvature of the earth in the video of the jump.

I like to think that because of all the Red Bull I've consumed I was part of making this happen.

There are some edited versions of the jump, but I think you should watch the full version to get the feel for how long this guy fell. (He actually jumps 3:30 minutes into this video.) He was in free fall for close to four and a half minutes and even broke the speed of sound on his descent.

That jump may seem impressive to you, but it is not the greatest descent ever recorded. Long ago, someone else descended from a much, much higher position. Consider this from Philippians 2:

⁵ Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

⁶ Who, being in very nature God,

    did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
⁷ but made himself nothing,
    taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.

⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,

    he humbled himself

    and became obedient to death—

        even death on a cross!

No one has ever came down as far as the Son of God came down in humility. He existed eternally as God, but was willing to let go of those privileges and to put on genuine humanity. Jesus left the glory and comforts of heaven to live as human being. Not only that, but He, the Creator and Lord of the universe, became a servant. He came not to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many (Mt. 20:28.) He served even to the point of death, and the most painful and humiliating death of all--crucifixion. 

When you celebrate Christmas, remember that Christmas is about the biggest descent of all time. Christmas is about the voluntary descent of the Son of God so that He could become fully human (and yet fully God). But Christmas was only the start. On Good Friday, Jesus completed His descent by dying on the cross as a substitute for everyone who would put their trust in Him as their Sin-bearer. That is why the Son of God came to earth. Remember that this Christmas.

However, there is one more thing to remember. For man, what goes up must come down. But for the Son of God, the route was reversed. Philippians 2 continues:

⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place

    and gave him the name that is above every name,
¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,

    to the glory of God the Father.