Lindell's Gospel

Good News Because We All Need A Resurrection!

The first part of the good news is that Jesus is no longer on a cross  or in some tomb.

He is risen. He is resurrected from the dead.

The religious trial and civil trial that Jesus was subjected to was illegal by the existing laws of the land. Jesus’ trial was a conspiracy hatched at the highest levels of the  society. It was not the common people who wanted Jesus dead, it was the leaders of that time.

In the short span of 18 hours Jesus of Nazareth was captured in the garden by a security force, tried, convicted and executed--the  religious leaders were convinced they had rid themselves of a growing irritation.

But after the third day, something happened that sent their plans spinning out of control.
The man whom they tried and convicted without just cause.
The man who was impaled on a tree,  and spent six hours there.
The man who was laid in the tomb and a HUGE rock placed at the entrance of this tomb is now....ALIVE.

Christian churches spend  a lot of time focusing on the Cross. Yes, the crucifixion event was important. I believe, however, it is more important to understand what happened at the cross and look beyond that event to what happened next: The Resurrection from the dead of the man known as Jesus of Nazareth.

There was a conspiracy against Jesus.
A lot of people who wanted him dead --and, they wanted him to stay dead.
But somehow, that didn’t happen.
I have never understood  the degradation of this Easter season into being about cartoon characters and bunnies and egg hunts.
Clearly, there is  NOTHING AT ALL wrong with any of those extra-curricular experiences as long as you are reinforcing to children that the main event to be discussed is the most important event in the history of mankind
The Resurrection from the dead of Jesus of Nazareth.

I hope that Christians should not allow the extra curricular events of this time to cause the reality of the message to descend into fairy tale land
WHY?
Because without this event,  none of us have any hope for eternity with God.
If there is no resurrection from the dead of the man, JESUS of NAZARETH,  we are, my friends, without hope.

The death bell has been struck for you, me,  our children and our friends. We’re done. Period.
It is only through the shedding of blood and the resurrection that we have a path back to God.
And that is no fairy tale.

The man, Jesus of Nazareth’s resurrection from the dead is not something to be chatted about once a year and placed on a shelf until the following year when we get our our bonnets and our lilies.

It is an event of deep significance that we would do well to consider every day of our lives.
Without this singular event, our lives would be sad indeed. Why?

Because every moment of every day we would be perishing--sinking further and further into an eternity with no light, no hope and no heavenly Father to embrace us with love and tenderness.

God, the Rescuer! A Palm Sunday Message!

Many guys are  interested in having a relationship with God but it's been my observation that some people feel that because of the choices they've made in their life, God isn't interested in having a relationship with them.

Many guys believe that because they have chosen a path of selfishness or self-centeredness, or a path of greed and love of money, or a path of being disobedient to parents reflected in their own relationship with fathers  -- that God, because of this, isn't interested in having a relationship with them.

Some people honestly believe their lack of relationship with God is because they feel God is just…DONE with them.

Men often say:  "I have lived my life in such a way that God just isn't interested in someone like me?" If you're in the position…I mean, genuinely in a position where you think you lack of relationship with God is God's view of you, here is  some good news.

There is a way to fix that and the CHANGE begins with you.

Abraham, in the Bible, holds a significant place.

1.) He is considered the FATHER of faith.
2.) Through his lineage, all three MONO-THESITIC belief systems were spawned.
Jesus came through from Abraham.

Now, let's examine Abraham a little closer:

• His father was an idol worshipper
• God gave him specific instructions and he didn't act on it for years.
• He failed to trust God and created a situation that the world in still in turmoil about today.
• He showed how courageous he was by telling his wife to say she was sister because  he was worried the King might kill him to get at her.

That is a lot of failing, isn't it?

Yet, God continued to be interested in Abraham--continued his commitment to Abraham even when Abraham was demonstrating some behaviors and actions that were somewhat questionable.

In fact, God called Abraham his friend. How many of us would like for God to say that about us, "That Lindell, he is my friend." Abraham did something that was remarkable.

He loved the LORD GOD with ALL that was inside of him.

There are (3) definitive actions that God will take when you love him with ALL that you have.

• We must grasp: CONDITION PRECEDENT!
• You  and I have to do something FIRST.
• After we MAKE the CHOICE to love the LORD GOD with ALL, we  can COUNT on GOD to do this:

1. God will HEAR us
2. God will KNOW where we are.
3. God will deliver us.

Let's take a look at each of these in a bit more DETAIL.

First, God Hears.

Isn't it cool that God has ears. In Psalms 34:17 the Scriptures say the righteous CRY out that LORD hears

NOTICE the condition PRECEDENT-- FIRST, the RIGHTEOUS cry out, then the LORD hears.

Second God knows where you are.

My grandmother's name is Celia and my grandfather was Cozy. On my first trip to Mississippi to visit them, I learned more about life in that two weeks than I had learned in the previous five years. I also learned that the nights in Mississippi are really, really dark. Mississippi darkness is palpable and real--you can cut it with a knife and eat it with a fork.

But even in the depth of Mississippi darkness, God know where you are and He is waiting for you call out to Him.

The last one of the three actions is God DELIVERS.

Psalms 34 which reminds us that God hears--- the remainder of the that verse tells us that He delivers. It' His nature to DELIVER. It is his nature to help you when you call on Him, but you have to do the calling.


Here is a reality of life:

THERE IS NO DEPTH OF DEPRESSION OR ANXIETY--NO PLACE OF ALONENESS OR ABANDONMENT THAT I CAN DESCEND INTO THAT HE ISN'T AVAILABLE TO HEAR AND DELIVER ME.

BUT,

the CHOICE IS UP to US. WE have to ASK OURSELVES--do we trust?

BUT, it's all up to you.

This life is preparation for ETERNITY. It is about getting ready. And, the getting ready comes down to a couple of things:

Do you want to know God

Well, if you do, you have to listen to what He said and He said. I am only speaking through my Son.

And what did the Son say?

LOVE the LORD GOD with All YOUR HEART.

Children's Medical Center - Dallas

I got the opportunity to work on four of these shows as a director. "Children's Med Dallas' ran for two seasons. It was a very rewarding experience!

 

Flying on Southwest Reminded Me of a Trip from Tulsa....

Odd things routinely happen to me when I fly. This doesn’t mean that odd things don’t happen to me otherwise, because they do.. It’s just that I am struck by the erstwhile coincidences and fully serendipitous that craziness that happens during the process of getting through security, checking ad actually flying...

And, as I”ve gotten older the more I like trains.. Sunday morning I was at the airport at the crack of dawn to board my flight home. Seated next top me was Randall. He was connecting at DFW then traveling on to San Diego. His final destination, however, was somewhere down in Mexicali. Randall explained to me that he riveted and welded for a living and a company was going to pay him to do that in Mexico for the next six weeks. He and his wife-- married for nearly 24 years-- were coming accelerating toward the end of their relationship and it was crushing him. Getting away, he explained, was the best thing for him because he didn’t know what else to do. My theory centers around 10, and 20 year signposts -- If marriage breaks up in ten years or less, it’s always about someone else. One partner finds another that they believe more fully meets their needs and they initiate the break-up. If the break-up occurs after twenty years, it’s less about someone else and more about uncovering that you absolutely,. without question, despise the future you see with the person you’re with. It’s about the loss of hope, and it being perceived with abundant clarity.

Randall asked me if there was a lot to see on the flight from DFW to San Diego. I told him there wasn’t a lot to see at 37,000 feet except for crossing over the Sierra Nevada was striking, although it came fairly late in the flight plan. Sitting across from me was Jimmy. He was a from a small town about 45 miles South of Tulsa. Jimmy explained was on the way to Odessa because that is where he left his truck. His final destination was Hobbs, NM and he was a welder in the oil fields. Jimmy made $16,000 last month and was on schedule to earn ever more during March. He told me that there was more oil in Hobbs than in Iraq-- not that heaving kind, but the light, sweet crude.that everyone wants. I thought that Hobbs was only famous for high school basketball. Little did I know it was a haven for oilmen.

Seating across from me was Terrance. He was the assistant coach on a collegiate basketball team that just won it’s conference tournament. He had the trophy with him and it sadly proudly in the empty seat between himself and another player...who slept for the entire 54 minute flight. Terrance had played for three seasons, but since he wanted to graduate in four years, he decided not to play this year. Although he, at 26, was a bit older than most, he felt he connected with the players. One of the reasons Terrance didn't’;t play this year was because he felt the calling the become a pastor and wanted to complete his Theology degree and be about Gods work forthright.

On the long descent from 27,000 feet--- as Randall, Terrance and Jimmy were in different stages of sleep-- I thought about, of all things, how things get murky and all jacked-us for us guys.

And what does it come to for every man: Women, Money and Dreams. Men are such simple creatures-- each of the three aspects of life mentioned above will either be either a source of torture or pleasure for for 9 to 10 every ten men alive today. North American males are trapped in a spider-wed trifecta fiending for sex, money and lamenting the loss of dreams.

Despite the appeal of the ‘big-three,’ the real quest is to understand how everything fits together and one has can at least they are moving toward their destiny. And what is destiny, but a destination. What external forces determining your destination? I paraphrase the words of the prolific and prophetic words penned by C.S. Lewis: “Men live lives of quiet desperation, doing neither what the want to do, nor what the ought to do.” You cant stop what’s coming. For guys, desperation manifests itself in anger, self-destructive vices and and the desire to watch SportsCenter 24 hours a day and do nothing else.. All these, perhaps, are a mask to cover the deep wells of sadness lurking just below the surface.

Second Coming

....we're working on a short film about religion in North America  and as part of the research for a section on persecution, I found the following passage written by the Latin Historian Tacitus in  the year 64 A.D.  What's intriguing about this passage is that it is a 'extra-Biblical' source that parallels the writings in the gospel...

 

"Christus, the founder of that name, was put to death as a criminal by Pontius Pilate, procurator in the reign of Tiberius. But the pernicious superstition, repressed for a time, broke out again not only through Judea, where the mischief originated, but through the city of Rome also, whither all things horrible and disgraceful flow from all quarters as to a common sink, and where they are encouraged. Accordingly, first, those were seized who confessed they were Christians; next, on their information, a vast multitude were convicted, not so much on the charge of setting the city on fire, as of hating the human race. And in their deaths they were made the subject of sport, for they were covered with the skins of wild beasts and were worried to death by dogs, or nailed to crosses, or set fire to, and when day declined were burned to serve for nocturnal lights. Nero offered his own gardens for that spectacle, and exhibited circus games, indiscriminately mingling with the common people dressed as a charioteer, or else standing in his chariot. Whence a feeling of compassion arose toward the sufferers, though guilty and deserving to be made examples of by capital punishment, because they seemed not to be cut off for the public good, but to be victims to the ferocity of one man."

I am extraordinarily happy that Steve Nash is headed to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Rollin' in the P.G.

 

Me and the Airmen — Grasping What Matters

I am filming a television pilot entitled. American, GI. So, lately, I've spent a lot of time around Tuskegee Airmen.

Last week, two Airmen (Hogues and Montgomery, members of the 99th) received a Congressional Medal of Honor.  

Just when I was beginning to be hopeful about things, I began this project. One of the gentleman told me that as  he was travelling by train, Pullman Porters had to ensure  the window shades down whenever the train stopped at a siding because angry whites would fire shotguns at the windows if they saw a dark-skinned face in uniform.

Another gentleman-- a pilot who flew the P47 'Thunderbolt ' and P51 "Mustang"  said this: "One year I am  escorting B-17 bombers over Europe to defeat the Nazis and the next I am in a warehouse pushing a broom and I'm told I should be thankful for the broom...all I ever wanted to do in my life was fly. Can you imagine what  this felt like?"

:...thankful for the broom. Wow.'

To be judged by the color of your skin and not by the honor of your actions--the gravitas of your accomplishments. Inestimable heartache. 

This project, in many aspects, is a source of sadness for me because I have become 'at one' with the depth of their disappointment and how, even to this day, sadness casts a long,  nefarious shadow. There aren't many of the Airmen remaining-- but, I'm going to film as many as will sit across from me and tell their story. One of the gentleman said," For years I didn't tell my family because I thought my service  didn't matter." "I risked my life, but no one cared except those alongside me...and when I got back, I felt it didn't matter.

If you think you're lonely now....

Last week we're shooting in a health clinic, in small town Texas. It's a six part series on health care. Very interesting stories....cutting edge stuff. I'm interviewing the RN, who though 60, could pass for Helen Mirren any day.  After shooting her, she looks at me and says, "Here's what gets me. We have old people who come to our clinic not because they are sick, but because they have no one to talk to. They hang in the waiting area, or talk to the Nurses because they are lonely. We ask some people, 'is there a family member you can bring with you to the next visit?' They are embarrsed to say they have no one. And what I"m telling you  isn't isolated, it happens al the time." I was more stuck by that comment than any of the other cool things she said about health care. Weird thing that I noticed when I was in Asia --there, seniors are venerated--here in the U.S.. older people are seen as a burden--a drain on resources-- hmmmm, not sure what that says about our collective humanity. 

Holy Ghost, Holiness and Aspects of the Pentecostal Experience in America.

Randy's Home

Randy's out of the hospital now. Although he no longer lives on the street, his condition is tenuous. Our next step is to secure semi-permanent living space-- and from there, we're going to establish an entity that provides work for he and others who live on the street. Our vision is to create original pieces called, "Rock Art." Each rock be engraved with a uplifting saying or quote-- Randy and a few others will handle the engraving and we'll move  people toward sustainability. No one should be living on the street-- not in America.