busblog

Luke 24
Revised Standard Version (RSV)

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices which they had prepared. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in they did not find the body. 4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel; 5 and as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise.” 8 And they remembered his words, 9 and returning from the tomb they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 Now it was Mary Mag′dalene and Jo-an′na and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told this to the apostles; 11 but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.

13 That very day two of them were going to a village named Emma′us, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. 16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 And he said to them, “What is this conversation which you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. 18 Then one of them, named Cle′opas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 19 And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since this happened. 22 Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning 23 and did not find his body; and they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb, and found it just as the women had said; but him they did not see.” 25 And he said to them, “O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

28 So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He appeared to be going further, 29 but they constrained him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 And their eyes were opened and they recognized him; and he vanished out of their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?” 33 And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven gathered together and those who were with them, 34 who said, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

36 As they were saying this, Jesus himself stood among them. 37 But they were startled and frightened, and supposed that they saw a spirit. 38 And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do questionings rise in your hearts? 39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me, and see; for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 41 And while they still disbelieved for joy, and wondered, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate before them.

44 Then he said to them, “These are my words which I spoke to you, while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high.”

50 Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. 51 While he blessed them, he parted from them, and was carried up into heaven. 52 And they returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple blessing God.

my outward appearance is everything to me.

because clothes make the man

and a healthy diet and clean living lead to a more vibrant aura

and flawless skin

ive done my best to loyally wear exclusively what

my mom gives me at christmas

and i dine daily at mcdonalds jack n the box or burger king.

sure i hike a few times a month

and eat sushi with karisa after bible study on sundays

but i immediately sneak in a donut or three

and a bottle of whole milk, for the long drive home.

so yes jessica, this beauty process is ongoing.

Tucsonan asks, “god has tasked you to add 3 commandments that relates to all today’s technology. whatcha got?”

fascinating question, Tucsonan because if i answer this wrong i could be sent to eternal damnation as per the very last sentence of the bible, which of course being in the Revelation of John (22:18) which reads, “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy in this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will strike him with the plagues that are written in this book.”

so lets slide into this delicately.

if there would be 13 commandments, an unusual number in regards to the good book, for sure, the 11th commandment would probably be Jesus’s “final commandment” from John 13 where he tells his disciples about the importance of love.

“Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you. A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

so id make the 11th commandment:  When in doubt, love like a hippie.

our relationship with plants and animals has been confusing, religiously, for a long time. and yet in the early part of Genesis (1:29-30), God laid out how he felt we should relate to them. Despite the fact that it’s basically on page 2 of many bibles, most people overlook it. therefore maybe it should be a commandment.

And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.

therfore the 12th commandment could be: All the plants and animals are here for your use. Duh.

the 13th commandment  isn’t biblical but it should be: Thou shalt not allow the designated hitter to poison baseball.

Now go in peace.

it’s weird, but i think being the first black pope – and especially the first american pope

would be a much more historic, and powerful position than simply the second black president.

and even though i’m sure id be shot at a lot for actually preaching what’s in the bible

(due to the parts that go against the Catholic doctrine)

im sure people would like a pope who not only knows who 2Pac was

but would be open to accept visits from Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, and MC Ren

since i remember when he drove a B-210.

id do a lot of bible study from the poorest parts of the world.

for some reason i didnt see the retiring pope do that.

id go to war zones and preach peace, you know, things Jesus taught us.

and i’d show up at places like the State of the Union and i’d cough “bullshit” every now and then

from the balcony.

sitting between the First Lady and Beyonce.

that might get me shot too, but speaking truth to power isnt always the safest route to enlightenment

but its part of the definition of courage.

which are things we should be living by example – for the kids.

so for the next 4 1/2 days im still the social media dude for the Take Two show,

thus i will ask you to participate in something we’re doing today which is:

tell us what you think President Obama will say in his State of the Union speech.

go to our Facebook page and tell us and we may read it on the air.

if enough people do it, they’ll probably make me pope.

it’s how you handle it.

when i was younger i would fight.

so much energy back then. and idealism.

i was foolish enough to believe that if you fought, they’d understand you at some point: and change.

then everything would change.

and then lalala flowers and fruit punch.

in the good book, even God’s like that.

he’d get so emotional in the first few books.

he’d ban people forever. he’d make everyone halfta speak different languages.

hardening peoples hearts and such.

then when he got super emotional he flooded everyone

and later felt really bad about it.

once when the chosen people were complaining about being thirsty,

not long after the red sea miracle.

god was all, imma…

but moses was all, come on, is that what you want people to think about you?

dude freed his people only to smite them in the desert?

so then god decided he was gonna be the hands off, laiz-e faire god.

it all built up to being just the opposite of that when he sent his only son to pay off the debts of the world

but even then he chilled so much that Jesus yelled out on the cross on good friday

“ηλι ηλι λαμα σαβαχθανι”

why hast thou forsaken me.

a cute pout in retrospect, but at the time the most human moment in Jesus’s short (un)happy life.

i thought we had a deal.

ow ow ow

wtf

ive always appreciated the people who were cool when things were going cray.

which is why, to me, the coolest story of grace under pressure

is of the three bad brothers you know so well

shadrach, meshach, and abednego

who taught us to stay calm

and when in doubt, dance.

i’d be a terrible Pope.

for one I think the Pope is sorta unbiblical.

Jesus said stuff like “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

so how could i accept that badass palace (city, actually), sweetass clothes, riches, etc., if my job is supposed to be the middleman between God and humans

IF THAT ROLE IS ALREADY TAKEN BY THE SON OF MAN?

while i am supposed to be Jesus’s biggest cheerleader?

so if i was Pope i’d have to be the first pope to say “im not as powerful as we’ve been pretending that i’m supposed to be”.

the second thing is i think condoms are one of man’s finest inventions.

sadly the Catholic church is super into telling people what to do with their private parts.

so id have to be the first pope to say “nothing in the bible says you cant have abortions or Trojans”

imagine the irony of me saying that right outside Rome.

and finally i think priests who molest little kids should be jailed for a very long time

and i also think that priests should be allowed to be married and have sex.

you know, like the original priests, the Sons of Levi, who never did any molestationing

probs cuz they were hitched to their wives.

so basically if i were to really keep it biblical, aka, kept it real

id have to be the anti-pope

which means id get killed in my sleep.

which is fine with me because im pretty sure thats exactly how the Good Lord would want the pope to live.

so id be the best and worst pope of all times.

thanks for asking.

I pretty much love everyone.
All the time.
Can’t help it.
One reason I enjoy journalism is I like hearing people’s stories and writing down what they say.
And then taking photos of them and their surroundings.
But air traveling is different.
Driving too.
I want them to go away.
I don’t want them in “my space”.
All their communications are wrong and I correct them in my head.
To me they’re using their time wrong.
They have the wrong devices.
They’ve overpopulated.
I even judge their luggage.
Good book says bro don’t judge or you don’t get to go to the after party.
(Open bar at the after party)
Good book changes everything.
For me.
Suddenly I see angels in the outfield.
I see alive people.
No one irritates me.
They’re all just mischievous cherubs peeing into clouds.
Little kids who are about to scream on the flight tonight
will tomorrow use those lungs and energy
to be the new guardians of grunge.
And to them I say rock little babies
fucking rock.

i never finish any book.

cant believe finished that one now 2x.

kept falling asleep

like the devil was sitting on my head.

he doesnt want us to accomplish nothing

that way we dont move on to the next thing

whats my next thing now?

Revelation went fast.

not as freaky as i remembered it being.

freaky, sure, but not supra freaky.

but maybe its like

when you see the end of 2001

a second time,

you know kubrick

and sorta know what youre getting into.

some people knew how to beat the devil

in revelation.

thats the one thing i learned tonight.

and they have a song.

maybe the next thing is

to memorize the song.

who doesnt wanna be part of the chorus

who knows the f u devil song

without needing

a cheat sheet.

I’m almost done reading the bible for the second time

the book of revelation is the grand finale with all the fireworks

it’s sorta weird to me that a country that swears its God fearing and based in the bible hardly ever talks about revelations

and pretty much no one other than metal bands talk about the number of the beast and its significance

I mean if you’re seriously Christian isn’t the end of your book just as important as the beginning?

especially I the main reason people are attracted to religion is about what happens in the end

as opposed to celebrating how it all started?

stop the presses if I ever get to question alleged Christian presidential candidates because I’d omg ask them about the good book

During all this skepticism about Obama allegedly being a Muslim why didn’t Fox just sit him down for a half hour and talk about Moses and David and Jesus and Paul

the question I’d have for him tonight would be “why does Michael lead the charge against Satan in the War of Heaven in Revelation? Why wasn’t it Peter or Samson or Abraham?”

Detail I don’t remember from reading Revelations the first time: all the mentions of “the bottomless pit”.

it’s also way easier to follow than I remember.

from the first letter of John, chapter 4, verses 7-12

My dear friends, we must love each other.
Love comes from God, and when we love each other, it shows that we have been given new life.
We are now God’s children, and we know him.
God is love, and anyone who doesn’t love others has never known him.
God showed his love for us when he sent his only Son into the world to give us life.
Real love isn’t our love for God, but his love for us.
God sent his Son to be the sacrifice by which our sins are forgiven.
Dear friends, since God loved us this much, we must love each other.
No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us,
and his love is truly in our hearts.

+ + +

theres not a lot of lovey dovey hippy Jesus stuff in the bible,
so you have to really embrace it when you come across it.
ironically this comes just a few pages before John’s Revelation
(aka the scary sci fi end of the world)
so in a way its the warm kiss and tender hug before the ish goes down
something to remember when the lights go out
and the monsters dive, screaming through the clouds.

the thing about Love though, is John’s not talking about loving your dog
or your girlfriend or your mom
he’s talking about everyone because we are all reflections of God
thus if you do not like God in disguise, how are you gonna love God IRL?
it’s all practice. it’s all training your heart.
when you see someone walking down the street
or better: driving down the road
are you loving or hating them?

i for one know i have some work to do here,
which is why this passage spoke to me today.

Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good;
love one another with brotherly affection;
outdo one another in showing honor.
Never flag in zeal, be aglow with the Spirit, serve the Lord.
Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
Contribute to the needs of the saints, practice hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.
Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; never be conceited.
Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all.
If possible, so far as it depends upon you, live peaceably with all.
Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God; for it is written,
“Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
No, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink;
for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.”
Do not be overcome by evil,
but overcome evil with good.

- Romans 12:9-21