I'm in Dallas today at the Dallas Museum of Art. My main reason for being in Dallas is so that my family can see and experience the King Tut exhibit. If you haven't seen this, it's really a "must see" event. An added bonus is just being able to see the rest of the museum's exhibits when you've been through the King Tut portion.Choung starts out with a simple goal - to describe a new way to communicate the gospel of Jesus Christ. What makes his book so good is that he recognizes the complex questions people have about the gospel. He retains the central truths that we are separated by sin from the God we were created to be in perfect fellowship with and that the finished work of Christ is the only way to restore that fellowship. He adds on to those truths some others that were previously seen as "Christian history" (what was God like before Creation was created? how did sin enter the world?) and some others that were seen as "Christian Living" (if I'm saved by grace, why should I go to the trouble of doing good? what should I/the church do about Sudan, the environment, or human trafficking?). He sees that individual sin leads to corrupted relationships and communities, and he communicates a gospel of salvation for individuals and healing for relationships and communities. Other writers in this genre (McLaren and Claiborne come to mind) go too far promoting the corporate aspects of sin and salvation to the detriment of the individual responsibility for sin and need for salvation. As I read Choung's book, I didn't feel like the gospel I love was being changed, diminished, or diluted - I felt like it was being strengthened by showing the big picture of why the gospel is truly good news for individual humans and the whole world.
Christmas is a wonderful time here at FBC Wimberley. Make plans to attend our Christmas musical events happening the first two weekends of December.
After a 13 hour bus ride, including a few stops, we arrived at Eureka Springs, AK at 7 pm last Monday night. There are 45 people on this trip, including the bus driver. After arriving, it was off to the pool and hot tub, where we watched the late 20th century movie What About Bob? We watched Evan Almighty on the way to Eureka Springs. Our bus is equipped with a DVD player. Yes, this great movie, starring Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss, was being shown on a screen in front of the pool. Sounds like fun, huh? And by the way, we got to see the more recent movie
But enough about the movies. Tuesday morning, after a filling breakfast at the hotel, I enjoyed a 30 minute walk. Then our group convened to go into town, where we got on a tram. The tram took us on a tour of Eureka Springs. It was very informative, as well as entertaining. I find this area of the country similar to Wimberley, except for the presence of tall pine trees, and thicker forests.
Our first stop on the tram tour was the Thorncrown Chapel. This chapel, completed in the 1980s, is an architectural wonder built in the tradition of Frank Lloyd Wright. As a matter of fact, the architect that designed the chapel was a student of Wright. The chapel’s music minister was there. She and I sang two verses of “Amazing Grace” together, which will be one of my best memories of the trip.
Another stop on the tour was the Crescent Hotel, built in 1886. Look it up on the internet. It’s supposedly one of the top 10 haunted places in
After the town tour Tuesday morning, we went to the Passion Play grounds. This is a huge production! You can spend a whole day here, visiting the New Holy Land, where Biblical actors interact with the visitors. Also there’s the very tall Christ of the Ozarks statue. It looks as large as the one in
The Bible museum has over 10,000 Bibles, including a page from a Gutenberg bible, several English bibles, and German bibles translated by Martin Luther. In this museum, I was reminded of those who translated the Bible into English hundreds of years ago. John Wycliffe did so in the 1300s. He wasn’t martyred, but his bones were dug up later and burned publicly to discourage others fr
om following in his footsteps. Then there was a translation by William Tyndale. This great man of the faith was burned at the stake as a result of his translating work. The Word of God is powerful indeed.
The Passion Play was as wonderful as I remembered it a few years ago. It seems like the whole community gets behind this thing to insure its continued success. There's a huge set, a very large cast of characters, and plenty of lighting with a few special effects. Definitely worth the effort to come and see this show. But I would recommend the summer time, as it was pretty chilly last night when we saw it!
Today is a free day where people can take the tram to town and shop until they drop. We’ll all get together again for dinner at the “haunted” Crescent hotel, followed by a music program at night – some kind of hoe down comedy show. Everyone is having a great time. We’re blessed that no one has gotten sick on this trip. Our bus driver, Thomas Martinez, has taken good care of us, as well as Harvey Reed, who organized this trip. I enjoy going on these trips because it gives me a great opportunity to fellowship with our church folks. It also gets me out of my usual routine, which is a good thing. That’s all for now.
