Fully Alive in God

M. Campbell-Langdell All Saints, Oxnard ( Isaiah 65:17–25; Ps. 118:1–2, 14–24; Acts 10:34–43; Luke 24:1–12) Towards the end of the movie, “The Big Short,” a man named Mark Baum, an investor, speaks. He says:  “We live in an era of fraud in America. Not just in banking, but in government, education, religion, food, even baseball... What bothers me isn’t that fraud is not nice. Or that fraud is mean. For fifteen thousand years, fraud and short sighted thinking have never, ever worked. Not once. Eventually you get caught, things go south. When … did we forget all that? I thought we were better than this, I really did.” [1] Fraud is a common problem in our world, and it is very real in the case of this movie, which talks about the housing market and how a small group of folks perceived fraud in the mortgage bond sales and bet against them, winning big but also feeling very depressed as a result. They could not believe that our society had allowed such fraudulent behavior on...

M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard ( Isaías 65:17–25; Salmo 118:1–2, 14–24; Hechos 10:34–43; San Lucas 24:1–12) Hacia el final de la película “The Big Short,” o “La gran apuesta,” un hombre llamado Mark Baum, un hombre que hacia inversiones, habla de lo decepcionado que esta con nuestra cultura estadounidense. Él dice: “Vivimos en una era de fraude en América. No solo en los bancos, pero en el gobierno, la educación, la religión, la comida, aun en béisbol… y lo que me molesta no es que el fraude no es congenial. O que es malo. Porque por quince mil años, el fraude y el pensamiento miope nunca han funcionado. Ni una vez. Eventualmente estas pillado, y las cosas se van al diablo. ¿Cuándo… olvidamos todo esto? Pensé que fuimos mejor que esto, realmente lo pensé.” He says “I thought we were better than this, I really did.” [1] El fraude es algo bien común en nuestro mundo, y en esta película es algo bien verdadera. Habla del mercado de vivienda y como un pequeño grupo de pe...

M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard (Isaiah 52:13--53:12; Psalm 22; Hebrews 10:16-25; John 18:1--19:42) The mother, she was drawn to him, as we all are. La Madre estaba atraída a él, como todos nosotros, casi hasta sus propios brazos. Drawn almost to his very arms. But they could not reach her now. In trying to reach the whole world, they had been pinned down, nailed to the wood. Él no la podía acercar ahora, atado a la cruz. Él hablaba al mundo, pero el mundo no entendió. The world could not divine his meaning. Oh, those beautiful arms. Nailed they were, but it was absurd. None can bind God. De hecho , fue algo absurdo . Nadie puede atar a Dios-nuestras mentes no lo pueden contener. Our hands, our minds, cannot contain him. They could nail him down in the flesh, but his spirit would break out. It was only a matter of time ‘til he would be free, and so would we. En un tiempo corto, su Espíritu vencerá, y estará libre, y nosotros también. But not yet. Now was not the ...

There were people acting crazy-throwing their clothes on the ground, palms and craziness—as he rode on that silly little mule. And something strange was happening—the people could feel it welling up inside them. It almost felt like the trees and the rocks might scream if the people didn’t burst out in praise. They had known him for a while now, but now they really knew him. They had seen him, but now not just the inner group, but all the followers, all the hangers-on that had been gathering around since he started this wild bit of pageantry which was not really in fact fake but was actually really real—all were now drawn to him. Were eclipsed by his light. The brightening sunlight of the day flashed in their eyes, blinding them for a moment as they caught whacks of luminosity between palm branches, and at the same time, their hearts were struck too. Something in their hearts said YES. It was like the most joyous moment of their lives, on steroids. And then they bowed down, and the...

¡La gente estaba actuando como LOCOS! Estaban tirando su ropa en la calle, y había ramos y locuras. Y el montaba ese burrito casi ridículo. Y algo raro ocurría. Something strange was happening to the people there, amidst the palms and craziness. Lo sintieron por adentro. Casi pareció que hasta los árboles y las piedras gritarían si la gente no lo alabara de gran voz. Lo habían conocido por un tiempo ya, pero ahora lo conocían de verdad. Lo habían visto, pero ahora no solo el grupo central pero también todos los seguidores que habían acompañado a esta pompa que era más verdadera de lo que pareciera—ahora todos estaban atraídos a Él. Estaban eclipsados por su luz. El brillante sol del día lucia en sus ojos, en destellos entre los ramos, pero de hecho sus corazones estaban chocados también. Algo en sus corazones dijo que SI. Era como el momento más gozoso de sus vidas, en esteroides. Y ellos le hicieron reverencia, y ellos lo proclamaban su Mesías. Estaba montado a burro, justo com...