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4.01.07
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Thanks for stopping by
'heavy topics with a light touch'
I hope you'll come back regularly for constantly updated commentary on sex, society, the
supernatural and such. (Tag it as a bookmark or favorite.) And thanks for telling a friend about jameswatkins.com!
• Over 300 articles,
columns, .mp3 songs, reviews, "top ten" lists and more
• Top ten sites from March
• Tell a friend
Easter Sunday, April 8, 2007
'He is risen! He is not here!'
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"HE IS RISEN! HE IS NOT HERE!" proclaimed the sign outside the large stone church.
It had once been alive and active in preaching the message of the risen Lord.
Now stale, still, sterile ritual filled the building where the Spirit once
breathed . . .
• The rest of the story
• The rest of our Easter articles and humor
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Holy Saturday, April 6, 2007
sunday's comin' just isn't enough
Author Tony Campolo's most famous message declares, "It's Friday, but Sunday's Comin'." But what happens when
it's Sunday and we're still facing death and despair?
• Click here
Good Friday, April 6, 2007
'it is finished' was announced before Christ's resurrection
I have to admit my childhood memories of Good Friday are not that "good". As a seven-year-old I sat through seven
pastors preaching seven sermons on the seven sayings of Christ on the cross. My favorite was always the seventh,
"It is finished." It still is, but now for very different reasons.
• Click here
Early this morning
the last temptation of Christ
While reading the gospel accounts of Christ's crucifixion, it struck me that the last temptation of Christ
(not the silly Scorsese movie) was identical to His first. At the
beginning of His ministry:
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"If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."
"If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written:
"'He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone’” (Matthew 4:3, 6).
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And at the crucifixion, the mobs taunted:
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“If you are the Son God, come down from the cross” (Matthew 27:40 NASV)
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He could have easily turned stones into bread to relieve the hunger of a forty-day fast. He could have easily
come down from the cross to escape the agony of crucifixion. But what incredible self-restraint!
What incredible self-sacrifice! What incredible, selfless love! "Truly, this was the Son of God!"
Later in the day
blogger exposes author/speaker's past life
Maundy Thursday, April 5, 2007
they just don't make crosses like they used to
Solid, rough wood has been replaced by polished veneer in walnut, oak or cherry—coordinated of course, to match the padded pews.
• More
• Spanish translation: Ya no hacen las cruces como antes
Last year at this time
dying to live again
On this Maundy Thursday our thoughts turn to remembering the Last Supper and what would follow. As Jesus sat down
for the Passover meal,
he began with, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer." He knew what was ahead!
• My wife's Thursday Thoughts column: "Dying to Live Again" (2006)
• My wife's Thursday Thoughts column: "Maundy Thursday Thoughts" (2007)
This just in . . .
having the 'write' priorities
I just received this email from a desperate housewife:
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My husband aspires to be a writer like yourself—it’s his life long dream. I know he is talented and I, too,
want for him to succeed at making his dreams come true. However,
I also want him to be a loving husband to me in the meantime. He has told me on several occasions now that he
can never put me before his writing that it would always be his first priority. And that I should be willing to
sarifice to help him work toward his dream.
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I wanted to reply to her, "Get the latest edition of Writer's Market (make sure it's the thousand-page hard-cover edition),
and then smack the selfish jerk up side the head."
I was a bit more diplomatic:
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I'm so sorry that you're coming in second to your husband's writing. That seems a direct violation of God's
command that we love Him supremely and our neighbors as ourselves. "The great commandment" relegates writing to at least number
three in life's priorities.
I'm sure there are authors who put writing as their number one priority, but to me it's an unfulfilling—and dangerous—position since
there are always ups and downs and long dry periods in publishing—and plenty of rejection!
I need God and my family to be much more important than my writing or I'll end up like many who have put writing first:
selfish, self-destructive—and alone!
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• Some thoughts on writing
• Some thoughts on dreams
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
eggs-clusive easter eggs-pose
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Long before the egg was associated with the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Egyptians believed that the sun was
hatched from an eggs-tremely large egg. The Romans, Gauls (French), Chinese, Egyptians and Persians all eggs-alted
the egg as a symbol of the universe and the rebirth of the earth each spring.
• More of our eggs-clusive eggs-pose
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Tuesday, April 3, 2007
is easter a 'christian' holiday?
The word Easter comes from “Eostre,” the Teutonic goddess of spring who was thought to bring fertility to the earth.
• More on the history of "Easter"
Monday, April 2, 2007
why is everybody picking on Jesus?
Last week controversial artist, Cosimo Cavallaro, sculptured a naked Jesus out of chocolate and last month, James "Titanic" Cameron,
claimed to have discovered the tomb of Jesus, while arguing He was married to Mary Magadalene and fathered a
son.
• Why is everybody picking on Jesus? (2006)
• Why is Jesus so polarizing? (2004)
• Why is Titanic's director all wet?
Sunday, April 1, 2007
'my sweet lord!' are we championing Jesus' causes?
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A planned exhibition of a nude, anatomically-correct chocolate sculpture of Christ's crucifixion
was condemned last week by Cardinal Edward Egan. The priest called the sculpture "a sickening display . . . one of the
worst
assaults on Christian sensibilities
ever." The midtown Manhattan hotel that houses the gallery received angry phone calls and emails including death threats!
The gallery's
creative director, Matt Semler, said the "My Sweet Lord" sculpture display was cancelled because the hotel and
staff "couldn't continue to be supportive because of a fear for their own safety."
Hmmm? This prompts several questions:
1. What did Egan and those protesting—and threatening death—find most offensive? That the
sculpture was chocolate? (Sculpter Cosimo Cavallaro has also worked in cheese, candy and
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ham.)
Or that it was nude? (Keep in mind, despite all the crucifixion portrayals of Christ with the loin cloth, most
men were crucified naked. And since Jesus was circumcised, we know that He was anatomically correct.)
2. Has Cavallaro intentionally tried to provoke a response from the Christian community? In 1999, his painting
"The Holy Virgin Mary" included elephant dung as a medium—and created a real stink. (If Christians
would have simply ignored both, I doubt the painting and statue
would have ever made the news. Protests equal promotion, people! Cavallaro threw out the bait and Christian bit on
"Chocolate Jesus.")
3. Is this similar to the kind of thinking that prompted the riots and killings over the cartoons of Mohammed?
(Obviously, the degree and distribution of protest was very different, but there was apparently enough hate to elicit a
threat to kill!)
4. Finally, is this the kind of thing Jesus would want us to protest against? Or does His list in Matthew 25 of
the treatment of the poor, hungry, homeless and prisoners provide a better list of causes to champion?
Hmmm . . .
• What do you think?
• Jesus' list of things worthy of protest and action (Matthew 25)
• The story from ABC News
April 1, 2007
last issue's hot topics
Despite my laptop crashing and burning (almost literally), I commented on James Cameron's "titanic" claims about
finding the tomb of Jesus, John Edwards claiming Jesus would be "appalled" at American's selfishness,
"Wicked-pedia" editor falsifying credentials, the Iraq War's fourth anniversary, my trying—once again—the
"peer-pressure" diet, cute polar bears and unborn babies, trying to make a living writing and more.
• Click here to go back in time to March 1, 2007
March 2007
last month's top ten sites
I have in my right hand, direct from my home office, last month's top ten sites . . .
• 1 Home page / blog
• 2 "Adult site" for adults
• 3 "Jim Shorts" on sex
• 4 Quips and quotes of encouragement
• 5 Top ten reasons I'm not divorcing my wife
• 6 Women in ministry issues
• 7 "Jim Shorts" on spirituality
• 8 Is it a life or a choice?
• 9 "Jim Shorts" last column
• 10 I just want to die" (suicide)
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