I know it's been around for awhile but I just happened to stumble upon it by reading Jason Boyett's blog. He finds all kinds of cool stuff. What am I talking about? I'm talking about the Brick Testament. It is a retelling of the Bible through the use of Legos®. It was created by Rev. Brendan Powell Smith. What Rev. Brendan has created is a funny, awesome, stupendous, five-star, two thumbs up, way of sharing the Bible. I think it's a great tool, not just for kids but for people of any age to enjoy and learn from.
It even has a content notice section on the bottom of the page:
N=Nudity S=Sexual Content V=Violence C=Cursing
Who ever thought the Bible would require a rating system? Seriously though, there are some stories in the Bible that aren't for the kiddies. Rev. Brendan has taken a few liberties as well, but purely for comic effect. This wasn't meant to be a legit version of the Bible like some of the other translations.
I think this site proves that you are never too young to play with Legos®. I still play with Legos®, except it's in the form of Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Batman on the Playstation®. My girlfriend's little boy has some of those over-sized Legos® and I can't wait until he graduates up to using the smaller Legos® so I can build things with him. In fact, the other day, he and his mom went to McDonalds®. He got a Happy Meal® which was supposed to come with a Lego® racer, but instead they put a girls' toy in his Happy Meal®. How dare they! I took that girly toy back to Micky D's® and demanded that they exchange it for a boys' toy. Actually, I asked nicely and they were very cooperative. Thank you Micky D's® in Williamsport®, Pennsylvania®. Okay, I know, I'm going overboard with the ®'s.
Seems like a pretty interesting guy overall. I'll have to check out some of the other things he's done. I'll finish this post with a few pictures from the Brick Testament. Enjoy!
God instructs Noah to build the Ark. I love the reaction of the horses in the background.
Noah, naked and drunk in his tent.
Baby Moses
Jesus teaches about hypocrisy "Take the plank out of your own eye."
Stephen preaches just before being stoned. It says in the Bible that Jesus's diciples performed many signs and wonders, maybe Stephen was able to remove his head at will, who knows?
Last week I talked about how the Bible is a collection of books, story books, poetry books, history books, etc. I also talked about how I believe the entire Bible shouldn't be taken literally. Even Jesus told fictional stories that pointed to the truth. He used cultural references so the stories would stick with the people who heard them so they wouldn't forget. It would be interesting to hear the cultural references he would use today. Even Paul alluded to Greek mythology in some of his writings so the people these writings were intended for could understand it and relate to it.
I believe the entire Bible is the inspired word of God, but I do not believe it is the entire word of God. What do I mean by that? I feel that if we believe every word God said is in the Bible then we are limiting him and sticking him in a box. I'm not trying to downplay the Bible, but God does not belong to the Bible, the Bible belongs to him. He is not a part of the Bible, the Bible is a part of him. Do you understand what I'm saying? There is so much more to God than a small library of 66 books. If everything about God were to be written down on paper, there would not be enough room in the entire universe to hold all those pages.
Just on a side note, I've been referring to God as a "him". But God has no gender, so the reason why we tend to give him one is because it's better than referring to God as "it". I don't think it matters if you refer to God as him or her, take your pick, I just say him probably because I'm a guy. But that's another way we kind of box God in by slapping a gender label on him. I think he was mostly referred to as male in the Bible because of the male dominated society that existed during the different times the different books of the Bible were written. But in Genesis 1:27 it says: "God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." There are some some verses in the Bible that give God feminine attributes. In Matthew 23:37 it says "...how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings..." Isaiah 66:13 says "As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you..." So God uses these words to describe what he is like, not what he is because God is neither male nor female. He is neither, but takes on the attributes of both.
Sorry, that was a long side note but I think it somewhat relates to what I'm talking about. I can't claim to have ever heard the audible voice of God, but I have heard him speak through other people, through their words and their actions. And when I hear God speak through other people it's not like that person all of a sudden starts to levitate off the ground and glow and speak in some language with a bunch of "thee's" and "thou's", it's usually through simple conversation. Sometimes people say things, the simplest things, and I just somehow know it's God speaking through them. Sometimes I'll be thinking and thoughts will just *pop* into my head, things that I know I would never have thought of on my own, and I think God speaks to us in that way as well.
So there is more to God's word than what is written in the Bible, but I also think there is enough information in the Bible to help us live our lives as God intended. It should never be looked at as a rule book or even a guide book because we only look at those kind of books when we need guidance. I think it's a good idea to read the Bible everyday. People do this in different ways. Some people may read an entire book of the Bible in one sitting, and some people may only read a verse or two and spend the day reflecting on it and absorbing it. I think each of us need to find a way that best suits us so we can remember and understand what it says.
Even though I believe the Bible is the inspired word of God, not all of it inspires me and I don't think it was meant to. Different sections of the Bible affect different people in different ways. I think that is one reason why there are four different accounts of Jesus's life in there, the four gospels. Each one was written in a different way by different authors to reach different people.
So look for God in other places besides the Bible. Look for him in other people, in music, movies, art, in cities, in the country, in the air, the water. He exists in everything because he created everything. Whatever is beautiful reflects the beauty of God, wherever you find truth, it's God's truth. If we confine him to only a small collection of books, then he just becomes a character in those books.
Today I would like to talk about a book. This particular book is probably the most controversial, misinterpreted, and misunderstood book in the world. In fact, it's not even a book at all, it's a library of books, but it takes the form of a single book. It's full of stories, both fictional and non-fictional, poetry, songs, genealogies, parables, prophecies, letters written to entire cities, wise sayings, teachings, forthcoming events, and even a book about sex. It's called the Bible, and the word Bible even translates to the word library. So perhaps we should call it "The good library" rather than "The good book". I went to a restaurant in Baltimore's inner harbor called UNO's. They had a book in the center of the table called "The good book". I picked it up and it was full of desserts. It was indeed a good book.
Anyway, there is so much I could talk about concerning the Bible, but I want to focus on the fact that some people take the entire Bible literally, and I don't think it was intended to be taken that way. Of course much of it is to be taken literally; Love God, love all people; do not murder; they're not drunk, it's only 9 in the morning; yadda, yadda, yadda. That kind of stuff is pretty straightforward. But there is a lot of poetry, stories, and analogies in the Bible as well that may not be literal, but they do point to the truth.
Take a look at what it says in Mark 9:43-47:
If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell.
Let's go back to some earlier verses in Mark 9, verses 38-41:
"Teacher," said John, "we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us." "Do not stop him," Jesus said. "No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us. I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.
Even though this man was doing things in Jesus name, he may have done them a little differently than Jesus and his disciples were doing them, but Jesus said it was okay because he was doing it in Jesus's name. This happens too many times in the church. Let's say the people who go to church A do things a little different than the people who go to church B. This makes church B upset because church B thinks that they've got it all figured out, that they are the ones who are absolutely right and that anything different, even slightly different from they way they do things is the wrong way. The people who go to church B need to be a little more open-minded. That's how it is in some churches though. The people think that they have it all figured out, a few hundred or a few thousand people of a congregation think their way is the right way and the rest of the world's population is absolutely wrong because they don't go to the same exact church building they go to. It's ridiculous.
Rob Bell said "If we become too dogmatic or too absolutly sure that our particular view is the only one, then something dangerous happens to the mystery of the divine." You see, it's not about our way, it's about Jesus's way. The problem is that too many people have formed Jesus into what they want him to be. I think we all do that to some degree. Let's get to know the Jesus of the Bible, not the Jesus that Bob or Linda or Fred made up to suit their own selfish needs. (No offense to anyone named Bob, Linda, or Fred, I was just randomly picking names.)
So, I think that's all I'm going to say for now, there's more, but I want to go in a different direction next week. Have a great day, and I literally mean that.
Noah, naked and drunk in his tent.
Baby Moses
Jesus teaches about hypocrisy "Take the plank out of your own eye."
Stephen preaches just before being stoned. It says in the Bible that Jesus's diciples performed many signs and wonders, maybe Stephen was able to remove his head at will, who knows?
The Last Supper
