This is what is historically known and recorded by multiple historians and writers of the day: There was a Jew named Jesus who claimed to be the Son of God (and by the claim being God Himself) and had a following of people. Eventually He was executed because of this claim of being God (blasphemy by Jewish law) and for being a trouble maker by Roman law. He died, confirmed by the strict procedures of Roman crucifixion. He was placed in a tomb guarded by both Roman and Jewish guards, three days later His tomb was empty, causing a widespread commotion in Jerusalem over his disappearance.

These facts are easily confirmed. What is also confirmed is that everyone who had a deeply vested interest in finding His body used every means necessary to find the body, including questioning and torturing those who followed Jesus. Few recanted their belief He was God, especially the many who physically saw and spoke to the resurrected Christ.

In 24 hours, I’ve read dozens of Twitter tweets, Facebook updates and blog posts about the celebration Easter is in the lives of individuals. Rightfully so, although every day is in fact Easter for the believer because nothing will ever change the historical fact that Jesus received the wrath of a Holy God – punishment intended for the sinner – and was raised from the dead, confirming God’s satisfaction with the substitutionary sacrifice. What’s left is for the individual to believe by faith that Jesus came to this world to accomplish this stated purpose.

Unfortunately Easter is also a day of lamentation because more than 2/3 of the world’s population – 4 billion-plus people – do not call Jesus Lord or know that His death and resurrection are the only sufficient means to reconcile them to God. Sadly, many of that four billion have never even heard the name of Jesus Christ. They are trapped in the endless spiritual search to generate some kind of righteousness to make them acceptable to whatever their idea of god is. This reveals the difference between religion and Christianity. Religion is a way for man to create a means for reaching God. Christianity is based solely on God reaching down to man.

It may seem subtle but there is a massive difference  between the two. Religion is easily manipulated to justify the ends of man. In religion there is no objective measure of righteousness, man becomes the center of establishing the standard and ultimately it is often left to the one who most vehemently asserts his beliefs as to whose perspective is “correct” (see long history of holy wars as evidence). Which religion, then, is right? Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Catholicism, Protestantism? Answer: none.

Christianity, however, is uniquely and exclusively set over and against these in that God sets the objective measure, indicates that every human is in the same boat (“all have sinned“), and that there are “none righteous” and “none seek after God.” Therefore every human stands on equally poor footing. Into this desperate situation God sent Jesus to bear His justified wrath. Jesus was a willing and perfect object upon which God’s punishment could be poured. The resurrection is evidence that His sacrifice was acceptable. Crying out in faith to Him for salvation is recognizing our need for something beyond ourselves to save us. This is Good News!

But it is only Good News if people hear it. Right now there are more than 5,000 unengaged people groups around the world, most of them in a swath of land extending across north Africa, the Middle East, central and eastern Asia and India. This means there are a significant number of Muslims, Hindus, atheists and Buddhists who either have no understanding of Jesus or a very skewed understanding of who He is, what He’s done and what He offers in terms of spiritual forgiveness and freedom.

We who have been granted forgiveness and salvation must remember every day the extraordinary grace extended to us through Christ, but we can’t linger in our celebration lest it become self-centered. We must remember the billions of people who have not yet enjoyed His grace, lament the staggering numbers who still stand squarely in the cross-hairs of God’s judgment and GO to them with the Good News of what the resurrection means for them.

Was it staged? Was it genuine? Did he do enough? Did he do too much? Is he sorry or is he scrambling for his professional life? One thing’s for sure, people and the press will pick apart every word Tiger Woods said today as he stood before the world to give an accounting of his adulterous lifestyle.

I am amazed at the hypocrisy of the people who stand in judgment of Tiger – which is everyone who has felt superior to him based on some sense of personal moral righteousness. (I touched on this in my previous post about Tiger Woods and Christmas). I do not condone Tiger’s actions; what he did is inexcusable. But I wonder how the rest of us would have handled the skill, money, power, and access to so many willing accomplices. In one regard the rest of  us have the great luxery of never knowing the same pressures because there is only one person in the world in such a unique position: Tiger. The irony is that the rest of us fail in so many other ways, falling just as far short of the expectations God has for us and nobody bats and eye lash. We say, “Well I have my warts, but at least I’m not as bad as Tiger.” Actually, you are a lot worse than you think. Romans 3:23 says “all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.” Even a single “little” sin makes us a gigantic spiritual failure in the eyes of God.

With so many people picking up stones it is worth a reminder that Jesus said “He who is without sin can cast the first stone.” Tiger has to live with himself and the consequences of what he’s done and doubtful anyone will be as hard on Tiger as he will be on himself. Unfortunately, all the therapy in the world isn’t going to remove his fundamental problem. Only repentance found in Jesus, believing He is the perfect substitute to receive punishment due us will free Tiger – and anyone else – from the bondage of sinful hearts.

(Note: posted an update located here on Feb 19 after Tiger’s press conference.)

I’m a Tiger Woods groupie (well, not in the most recently reported sense). I guess I should say I have been a groupie in the golf sense since he won his last U.S. Amateur titled and blew onto the PGA tour in the mid 90s. I’ll never forget the putt on the first hole of a three hole playoff with Bob May at the 2000 PGA Championships. He charged after the putt pointing it – willing it – into the hole. Amazing.

Of course Tiger is now totally disgraced, the butt of  jokes and today sits on a boat floating somewhere near the Bahamas. His sexcapades are the talk of tabloids and mainstream media. Whereas many people couldn’t touch him on a golf course, they now liberally fire condescending criticism at him with the accuracy Tiger fires at difficult pin placements on Sundays at majors. I find it all to be pious and self-righteous.

I can’t seem to get Tiger off my mind, probably because we bought a Wii and Tiger Woods 2010 the day before news broke of his “traffic accident.” Every time I play I think about what the guy accomplished and about what has been flushed down the toilet. It reminds me how close I am to flushing my life down the toilet because of the carnal nature that battles for prominence in my life. Wish I could say I was an exception, but there really is nothing exceptional about the evil inclinations in the human heart. Whether we admit it or not there is a bit of Tiger in us all. In fact, we don’t know – and if we did are totally unwilling to admit – what we are capable of. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). Paul spends the first three chapters of Romans talking about the sickness of the human heart and spends a good part of Chapter 5 explaining to us the spring from which our sin flows. Our hearts have been wicked nearly from the beginning, which makes us enemies with a holy God. He cannot allow it, has to punish it, and spiritually filthy people can’t do anything about it. What are we to do?

Absolutely nothing, except repent and believe.

God did something on our behalf and this is why I can’t think of Tiger without thinking of Christmas. An angel appears to some shepherds and speaks the most significant words ever spoken – words Tiger needs to hear: “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11). If God is to save Tiger – or you, or me – there had to be Christmas. He didn’t have to send Jesus to this world as a baby to grow to a man to die for the sins of the world, but in extravagant love he chose to. Literally, Immanuel, God with us. The good news of Christmas is that a Savior was born. The good news of Christmas is that regardless of what Tiger has done he can be set free from his sin. So can you.

Yes, it is easy to fire heat seeking missiles at Tiger, but what we each need is to – in great humility – admit we are spiritual failures – like Tiger – and this Christmas embrace the good news of a born Savior.

Scan the world’s headlines this week and you’ll find news coming from the International Conference on Climate Change discussing melting ice caps, decaying ozones and rising global temperatures that will evaporate water and leave billions of people starving by 2025. Al Gore tried to warn us of the Inconvenient Truth three years ago, winning Oscars, Grammys and Nobel Prizes along the way. Al and friends have twisted information to convince us of what we should already know: Global warming is my fault. And its your fault.

Al laid the blame for global warming in the right place – on us – but got the cause all wrong. The real Inconvenient Truth is that the Apostle Paul outed us nearly 2,000 years ago. God created global warming because of our sin. Read it: “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it” (Romans 8:20; italics mine). God subjected creation to decay nearly from the beginning when He doled out punishment to Adam and Eve in the garden in Genesis 3. God created global warming right there in verse 17,: “…cursed is the ground because of you.”

Now I don’t fault Al for missing the truth. The irony here is that humanism actually gets it right for a change. Humans are the problem, although one would be hard pressed to get Al and his liberal friends to agree to the reality communicated in Scripture. As easy as it would be I am not going to pontificate too harshly against people whose greatest need is to embrace the truth of the gospel.

Instead, I’ll lay verbal wood to those who ought to know better: Supposed Christians who are on “save the earth” missions. Let me say from the outset the fact that God has subjected the earth to a curse does not excuse us from our need to be better stewards. On the contrary. As Christians we ought to be exemplary stewards of God’s creation (I violated all kinds of cultural protocols last year while in Uganda by lecturing some Ugandan believers for consistently tossing their trash to the sides of roads). That said, the UK is dangerously close to being brought into subjection by environmentalists and they have heavy support from all kinds of churches, not just the Church of England (although I will say I’ve been in three C of E churches and it appears their prominent agenda is colored green).

For example, here are three prayer requests from the C of E church I was in this morning listed, for a special-called prayer meeting exclusively for this week’s conference:

• Pray for a new treaty in Copenhagen that protects God’s creation from climate change
• Give praise for positive changes in the US. Pray for Obama’s team as they try to influence public opinion
• Pray that richer countries will agree to deep cuts in emissions and financial support to developing countries.

What do these three have in common? Answer: They seek human solutions to a spiritual problem. It matters not a single measure of particulate matter how much human institutions change laws designed to protect God’s creation from climate change, or how influential a human leader is in swaying public opinion, or how much money wealthy countries throw at developing countries. Man CANNOT undo the curse.

Increasingly churches in the US are as guilty of misplaced priorities as churches in the UK. “Christians” who ought to know their Bibles better are partnering with the world, seeking to solve the world’s problems with the wisdom of man. Instead, Christians ought to pray for the changed hearts of men from a state of pure rebellion against their Creator (Romans 1:18-32) to one of repentance and humility before God. Upon praying, they should then invest their energy in sharing the Good News that through faith in Christ alone God forgives sin, lifts the curse and adopts us as sons and daughters.

The truth is the world is in rapid decay and its only hope is found in the One who created all things. That hope is not found in the wisdom of man but in the folly of the cross.

What is the point of Christmas? Honestly it is a question every Christian should ask themselves during this time of the year with the hope that if they profess Christ they’ll get the answer right. I want to write more on that topic in the coming week because the question is one I want to reflect upon in the context of the UK, a Christmas-crazy nation with little emphasis on even the religious, let alone Christ.

But in the midst of that there was today. Our daughter’s school choir sang at the local Church of England Church, Holy Trinity. Part of the emphasis during this Advent season here in the UK is the Christingle. She leaned over and asked, “Dad, what’s a Christingle?” I confess that after receiving her orange with the candle stuck in it and gumdrops skewered with cocktail toothpicks poked in the sides that my answer to her question was a profound, “I have no idea.”

But Google knows so that is what I did. One of the cool things about living in the UK and Europe is the religious tradition surrounding various days, such as All Souls’ Day and Christmas.The Christingle is one of those traditions – along with All Souls’ Day that we in America seen fall to the side. I won’t repeat here what Wikipedia states about Christingle, but do think it is worth saying that the symbolism of the world, Christ as the light of it, the red ribbon for his blood, etc., is a picture of the gospel held in the hand. When the angels said that they brought good news that would be for all the world, they were proclaiming the gospel. Christ – the Saviour of the world – had come. Holding an orange and lighting a candle should be cause to reflect on the “point” of Christmas.