Happy Friday…Here we go…Your weekly dose of law, gospel, and everyday life. Here’s where the law-in-life and gospel implications abounded for me this week. Enjoy…and as always, drop a comment, like, follow, and all that good stuff!

In Memoriam…

Last week, we failed to pay apt tributes to two recently deceased legends. In memoriam, we acknowledge Carl Weathers, best known to 80’s kids as Apollo Creed…not to be confused with the Apostles’ Creed… And while we mused on the antithesis to Dad Bods, we forgot to memorialize ‘Dad Rod‘ who went to be with Christ on February 2nd. Several worthwhile tributes have appeared online since last week. We have included a few below for your consideration…

Rob Schneider Finds Jesus

My entry point into Rob Schneider was via his inimitable schtick as the ‘Rob Meister’ making copies in a series of skits on SNL for which he was a cast member during the 90’s. Since that time, he went to fulfill several movie roles including one of the worst movies ever conceived, Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (my older brother and I were the only patrons in the theater…go figure). Recently, Schneider has filled headlines for holding what many deem to be controversial views on a number of topics, yet within the last several weeks, news of his conversion to Catholicism has become more prevalent. The Christian Post reported on Schneider’s return to a faith he had previously held in his younger years prior to joining SNL and launching his consequent comedy career. In a pertinent interview, Schneider noted,

“If I am going to lead my life and be an example, as Christ compels us to do, then I have to do it,” Schneider said. “Even if it hurts, even if it stretches how I used to feel … and, once you forgive, the beautiful thing about forgiveness is it isn’t the person, it’s you. You end up feeling better.“

Nikki, SNL, and Self Effacement…

Continuing with the SNL sentiment, last week’s cold open featured a cameo from presidential candidate Nikki Haley who appeared in a mock town hall meeting…incidentally mocking herself. While the internet remained abuzz with criticism of her approach, I honestly found the rare display of self effacement from a political candidate refreshing…especially considering the highly charged atmosphere that has characterized the last several years of climate within the American civic and political arena. I am referring of course to her humble admission of having made the unpardonable faux pas recently of omitting ‘S-LAVERY’ as the root cause of the Civil War. In the skit, Haley debates James Austin Johnson’s caricature of Trump in a display that brought to mind the old cliche, ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’. While SNL’s brand of comedy of course typically leans more left than it does right, Haley’s appearance in the opening episode reinforced my contention that we have moved beyond the mere dichotomy of Democrats vs. Republicans in our political divides…That a fairly conservative candidate would show up on a liberal-leaning program and unite therewith to oppose Trump (and the ideology for which he stands) signifies an us/them dynamic that assumes to pit ‘democracy’ against ‘autocracy’. But of course, both sides in that dynamic see the other side as the big bad boogey man who must be stopped if we are to preserve an orderly society. If only there was a way forward that could heal us from the natural inclination to demonize the objectified alien ‘other’ in those who don’t ‘see it’ our way…hmmm…maybe the gospel? Who knows?…

Law In Life Feature

Is the Law dead? Well, yes and no. The believer is indeed ‘dead to the law’, yet we still face its pressure in the midst of daily life and experience. A woman in Bogota, Colombia decided she wasn’t going to pay her transit fare…yet she found out there are no ‘free rides’ in life. Sorry, but lex semper accusat. The pertinent video below demonstrates that our best attempts at bypassing the law’s inflexible demands are always in vain, haha…

Kirk Franklin, Katt Williams, & Western Christianity

Kirk Franklin had gracious words for Katt Williams in light of the Club Shay Shay controversy. The renowned gospel artist validated everyone’s right to share ‘their truth’ and to have a viable platform whereby to do so. Yet, he reserved critical words for what he called the Weaponization of Christianity in the west and the tension he sees between the Jesus of the Bible and the oft characterized Jesus who in Franklin’s words, “resembles one of the Bee Gees”. The brief clip is included below…and even contains a ‘bar’...it’s not that fire in my humble opinion though, lol…

A Forgotten Saint…

An overlooked 12th Century English archbishop is finally getting his flowers (note the Valentine’s Day pun). Honestly, I had never heard of St. Thurstan, who according to the article was “an internationally important medieval figure who played a key role in the foundation of many of northern England’s greatest monasteries…”. According to historian, Dr. Michael Carter,

“Thurstan is well known amongst medieval historians and scholars as a figure of immense political and social significance during the early half of the 12th century, but all have denied that he ever achieved sainthood.

“The entry in this manuscript is unambiguous proof that Thurstan was indeed a saint and that his name should be seen alongside other religious contemporaries in northern England, including St William and St Aelred of Rievaulx, St Waldef of Kirkham and Melrose and St Godric of Finchale.”

It’s a bad feeling to be overlooked for your saintly merits…even worse is getting your proper due when you’re too dead to notice or enjoy it. Furthermore, the article indicates that after his death, Thurman’s tomb was opened in which no signs of decay were present in his body or his clothing. Sounds eerily similar to Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster…You can read the full article here.

You’re Doing It Wrong

What if you had spent over a decade constructing a scaled model of a world famous monument, only to be denied accolades because you used the ‘wrong’ materials? Richard Plaud invested nearly a decade meticulously assembling matchsticks to resemble the famed Eiffel Tower, only to be informed by Guinness Book judges that his use of matchsticks that were not commercially available. Fortunately, grace prevails in this unfortunate law-in-life anecdote as the judges are in fact willing to reconsider their standards. NBC News reports,

Plaud’s dream of breaking a world record is, in fact, still alive after Guinness told NBC News that it may have been “heavy-handed” in judging this record attempt and would review it.

Mark McKinley, director of Guinness’ central records services, told NBC News on Wednesday: “It’s the job of our records management team to be thorough and fastidious in reviewing evidence to make sure the playing field is level for everyone attempting a Guinness World Records title, however it does appear we might have been a little heavy-handed with this application.”

“We will make contact with the record holder again as well as review rules for similar records as a priority, to see what can be done,” McKinley said.

Redeeming Black History Month

I’m ready for Black History Month having received my Amazon order of Jerome Gay’s African Heroes and Athanasius On the Incarnation. Though, Gay’s book is a children’s book, it was both rewarding and humbling to read through the brief profiles of African church fathers…most of whom I am ashamed to admit I didn’t know. Of course, I recognized the major names like Tertullian, Augustine, and Athanasius. But, who are Pachomious, Cyril of Alexandria, or Shenoute? It was like the strange phenomenon of growing up being limited to the same heroes in Black History Month, as Chris Rock once joked, “all we ever learned about was Martin Luther King…” This denial of knowledge even within the sphere of religious learning speaks to the history of white supremacy that has pervaded (at least in my view) the realms of entertainment and education as well. White artists predominately win ‘album of the year’ year after year (yes, I went there)…we mostly learn about white historical figures in school…and when it comes to church history, we are more apt to champion the likes of Luther, Calvin, Spurgeon, etc. Reading Gay’s book is somewhat of a redemptive experience for me as I feel a slight sense of recovering dignity as an image bearer. Which is always important to distinguish from a sense of superiority, which as Christians we should of course eschew. The gospel reminds us our our God given value despite our tribe, nation, tongue, skin tone, hair texture, etc.

Extra! Extra!

Here’s the list of headlines on which I did not have time to expound this week. Read at your own leisure and infer your own law/gospel implications and conclusion. Have a great weekend, everyone!

A Wisconsin coyote is rescued from a statue of St. Assisi…
The New York Times reports on how ‘A Psychedelic Mushroom Trip’ Lead to a ‘Cosmic and Divine’ Celebration of Love
“A Russian mother-of-four slept with the mummified corpse of her husband for nearly four years – and performed occult rituals inspired by an ancient Egyptian god” – i.e. What happens when you take the Paul’s illustrations in Romans 7 too literally, lol…
Killer Mike finds God in Jail…