Episode 72 of the show was not brought to you by Boston Warehouse Lobster Shaped Kitchen Mitts! Imagine yourself rocking these babies, standing outside by the grill and belting out the Disney song Under the Sea! What would possibly inspire someone to buy these? Joy! 

Romans 14:17 says, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” We may experience something like an out-of-body experience while eating a particularly amazing steak, but really, food doesn’t have anything to do with God’s kingdom. Righteousness, peace and joy, however, have everything to do with it! The steak must thaw properly, be seasoned and cooked just right. The things of God’s Kingdom are gifts that come as a result of spending time with the King of the kingdom. Jesus offers forgiveness through the cross, peace that is beyond our understanding and joy that seems to bubble out from the foundation of our soul. 

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My family and I just watched Raya and the Last Dragon. When the credits rolled, I was trying to hide the fact the finale made me tear up. My kids, on the other hand, were bouncing off the walls and trying to imitate Raya's amazing fighting. The movie was a martial arts extravaganza! In the climactic fight scene, Raya and her arch rival Namaari engage in an epic sword battle. How did it end? You'll have to watch the movie to find out! Keep this in mind though, it's a tear jerker!

Everybody loves watching a good sword fight! Maybe watching isn't good enough though? Maybe you want to feel the thrill of battle for yourself. Well, it's your lucky day! The Telescope is totally not sponsored by E-BOGU Shinai Samuri practice swords! Click the ad on the left to check them out. They are wooden, so your limbs and pets are safe. Remember, anything you buy during your trip to Amazon will give the Telescope Show a small commission. Maybe you'll buy the swords, and maybe you'll buy some new swimming goggles or high-end organic deodorant. As a member of the Affiliate Program, Amazon rewards us for driving traffic their way. This helps us to help others discover God through Geek Culture. 

But really. Swords are amazing! Here's a little nugget of sword history from Britannica.com, "The sword became differentiated from the dagger during the Bronze Age (c. 3000 BCE)" The sword has a long and glorious history!

The New Testament describes something called the Sword of the Spirit. This definitely sounds like a blade given to a Disney hero on the eve of some great quest. The Sword of the Spirit is a term that Paul the Apostle uses in the book of Ephesians to describe the Bible. Specifically, the Bible is like a sword when it is used in prayer. Praying from the heart is nice and genuine, but prayer buttressed by scripture exudes authority. Faith that is passive is ok. Faith energized, motivated and directed by scripture moves mountains!

Sources
https://www.britannica.com/technology/sword

Have you ever read a book that seemed to go on and on and on? In the ancient world, every book was that way. No one ever said, “that was a real page turner!”. Why? There were no pages! Everything was written on scrolls. (and clay tablets before that) Scrolls have been around a for a very long time. The ancient Egyptians were writing their best sellers out on papyrus, which was a nice, vegan friendly material. The art of scroll making was developed and tweaked by many cultures around the world. The Romans developed something called Codex, which was a good option for meat lovers. The Roman proto-bookmakers held animal-skin pages together with pieces of wood. Early Christians used this form to transport Biblical Texts on their missionary expeditions. 

Why did these early Christians love this new form? Christian pioneers like Paul the Apostle placed a huge emphasis on Jesus fulfilling prophecies from the Jewish prophets. Acts 17:3 says, “explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” Paul would have used many passages from Jewish scriptures to show that Jesus was the promised messiah and that God’s plan was to offer forgiveness of sins to those who embraced Jesus’ sacrificial death. 

It was precision work that Paul and other early Christian teachers were performing. People from all over the world have been left breathless by the litany of ways Jesus Christ fits the profile of the messiah predicted many hundreds of years before. 

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