The wise man built his house upon the plastic brick, apparently.  It claims to be the world’s largest, most comprehensive illustrated Bible.  Tons of LEGO inspired recreations of Bible stories.

http://www.thebricktestament.com/

In our Bible study, we’re going through Hebrews, which has its ups and downs for sure (controversy around Melchizedek, God swearing against Himself in 6:13 when it’s against the 3rd commandment, or not to swear at all in Matthew 3:34, the differences between a promise and an oath, etc), but an interesting clarification occurred to me today, and I wanted to get it down on here to preserve it for later research for historical roots or existing thoughts.  I am going to keep to the theory of 2 covenants with God and His people, even though there are arguments for multiple.  The old covenant (AKA Old Testament) and the new covenant (AKA New Testament) being how we obtain salvation and how we are cleansed.

My thoughts were around the transition from the old covenant into the new covenant.   A brief comparison between the 2 covenants can be found here.  In Hebrews 8:13, depending on what translation you are reading, the old covenant is called obsolete and will decay away.  Even in 8:6-7, the new covenant is called better.  This right here would be the building blocks against the Jewish faith.  In some articles I’ve been reading, they take the perspective of uniting the Gentiles with the Jews with the new covenant (see Ephesians 2:15 and Galatians 3:28).  The key part in the Galatians verse is "…for you are all one in Christ Jesus."  He is the catalyst to a new covenant.

In the first covenant, Moses uses the blood of animals to cleanse, but not grant eternal life.  (It’s important to make the clarification that killing animals did not guarantee the Old Testament followers salvation.)  So it was through death that we were cleansed.

Now, there is no plan for salvation explicitly stated in the Old Testament; unless you make a connection to Jesus Christ through symbolism or hidden meaning.  Only in the new testament are we told what we must do for salvation: Acts 4:10-12  "It is by the name of Jesus Christ…Salvation is found through no one else…"

So, we have a covenant requiring death for cleansing, jesus being a catalyst, and a new offering of salvation as a result.  So my idea was that Jesus was born into the old covenant, His blood was shed (as the Lamb of God) by the people, was put to death, and then he defeated death.  If we think of things chronologically, he dies, we would then be cleansed (if we are to allow the assumption of his death being a sacrifice, although inadvertantly) When he is resurrected, what then happens to our guilt?  My answer is that Jesus Christ now owns it, since it was washed away by His blood.  So we have no choice now but to follow Christ since we are not clean without him holding our sin.

Just like in the economy, debts can be bought.  The loophole in the old covenant is that Christ was operating under it, but had no sin, therefore no debt.  So when he is capable of maintaining integrity to the first covenant in that he remains without sin, but now that he has defeated death, he can offer it to us as well under a new covenant.  Basically, he bought us out of our old contract and is able to make his own terms so long as he operates by the original contract.  The only mentions of eternal life in the Old Testament is in the apocolyptic Daniel, where he says the dead will raise, some to eternal life. 

The unique thought here (at least in my opinion), is that Christ is not only the beginning of the new covenant, bringing eternal life to sweeten the deal, but Christ is also necessary to make the transition from Old to New.  It’s not just a "God says it’s over" and bada boom bada bing.  There is still a legalistic flow and logical understanding connection to be drawn, which is important in these days.

Some text is clearly written. We consider this normal and expected.
If I wRiTe In AlTeRnAtInG-cApS oN a ReSuMe, It WiLl MoSt LiKeLy Be ReJeCtEd.
Some text we italicize to whisper quietly, but words never make a sound.
Underlining words makes sure what we’ve written is found.
When Jesus spoke, he apparently spoke in red.
All 2 cmnly, we abbrv. what u said.
I can ^say something without you knowing, by changing the <font color> to white,
Maybe a secret, an "easter egg", or just something to spite.
I’m fascinated at the replacements or tools we have in place,
To relay the intonations, hand gestures, or looks on a face.
Text to symbols of <3, , ,
But love, happy, and sad, aren’t as simple as that.
Just different people using different ways to express differences.
Whether boldly, quietly, OSTENTATIOUSLY, or whatever the variance is.
There’s no point here, or "." as some _say.
I hope I chose the right way(s) on the right day…

So, I’m pulling out of Giant Eagle Market District in Shady Side, making a left onto Centre Avenue.  A black prius is turning into the lot, and stops to let me get out onto the road first.  A guy is loading groceries into his car across the street and there is an asian woman standing next to him.  A mini van down far to the right, so my path is clear.  I accelerate, probably to 5 mph tops, and WHOA that asian chick is right in front of me.  she puts her hand on the front of my truck and moves to her left to the side of my truck.  She’s out of it.  I didn’t see her at all.  I roll down my window and ask her if she’s alright, and she just has a weird look on her face.  The dude loading his groceries starts to panic like a drama queen.  He’s saying things like, "Jesus Christ!, OH MY GOD, etc"  never really seeming to direct the comments to me, my driving, the asian woman, her jay walking, but rather just in awe of the situation in general.  I repeatedly asked the woman if she was alright through the passenger window, and she says, "yes, fine:" and nods and starts to walk towards the grocery store.  The drama queen puts his arm around her for a second.  There’s nothing more I can do.  She’s obviously startled, too foreign to communicate, or both.  I drive off accepting her "yes, fine." as closure.  should I have done more?

"No jesus, no hope.  Know jesus, know hope."

 - KiwiEnvy

crazy week. work is going well, i only got 2 phone calls in the past 2 weeks, and i get $75 a week, so this new arrangement is working out well *rubs hands with evil grin*

working on a new website with a guy named Pete from Pitt. it is for a youthgroup on campus. i bought the domain name wednesday Cornerstone220.org, the 2:20 comes from Ephesians, where it says that we are church and Jesus will be the Cornerstone. (hey, cornerstone.org was taken;))

i am also trying to donate my body to the research of depression:) more on that next week.

saw matrix revolutions in IMAX yesterday with Becky. eh. i can accept it as the final matrix movie ever, it answered all the questions, but it was just so watered down.

Birthday is coming up on the 16th…the big 21. will i drink?? stay tuned….