Lots of people are talking about #JESUS right now… which is GREAT! I love Jesus! I have devoted my entire life to this person! But please, for your own life’s sake: read about this Jesus fellow for yourself and make up your own mind. Here’s some places to start if you want to do this for yourself:
If you are really coming at this from a blank start and you want a brilliant – yet quick 5 minute overview of how Jesus the Christ is presented in the Bible – here is video called “How to Read the Bible: The Gospel”
Before you begin reading or listening through the Biblical accounts of Jesus i have one weird request of you: Sincerely say out loud to the Creator God of the universe: “Hello Creator God of All, if this Jesus Christ person is from YOU and if Jesus is what i need, if He is the answer to all of my questions, please show me. Thanks.” Go on! Do it! What have you got to loose?
Done that? Good. Now…. we have four different intertwined books about Jesus in the Bible that we call the four “Gospels” – here is how I would read and consume them if I was you: {but there is no right or wrong way!}
The Gospel of MARK – this is the shortest and most action packed telling of Jesus’ life – it presents Jesus as the bold Son of God who offers up himself for us. If it was a movie it would be a fast paced blockbuster adventure from Steven Spielberg & George Lucas
You can LISTEN to the entire book of Mark in an hour and half here on Spotify and on Apple Music
You can READ along with the entire book of Mark here online.
The Gospel of JOHN – this is the deepest and most philosophical story of Jesus’ life – right from the start it states that Jesus is God and from God, it’s my personal favourite. If it was film it would be a deep arthouse masterpiece from Terrence Malick with the otherworldly coldness of Christopher Nolan.
You can LISTEN to the entire book of John in 1 hour and 45 minutes here on Spotify or on Apple Music.
You can READ along with the entire book of John here online.
Archbishop’s Chapel in Ravenna, Italy.
The Gospel of MATTHEW – this account of Jesus’s life is EPIC, it clearly presents Jesus as the Jewish Messiah, it is so linked to the Old Testament and the books of Moses it is actually pretty incredible. If this was on the big screen it would be a huge saga from Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese. {funny how i picked two sons of Italian immigrants to tell the most Jewish gospel story – 🤔}
You can LISTEN to the entire book of Matthew in 2 and half hours here on Spotify or on Apple Music.
You can READ along with the entire book of Matthew here online.
Saint Catherine’s Monastery on Mount Sinai.
The Gospel of LUKE – the longest and most “human” story about Jesus – Doctor Luke’s Jesus is God but yet very much a person like you and me – this is the Saviour of All Mankind! The cinematic version would be something beautiful yet very plain spoken, like something from the Coen Brothers. {Once again i find it interesting i’ve picked two very Jewish movie makers to film the account from Dr Luke a very non-jewish account of Jesus for gentiles}
You can LISTEN to the entire book of Luke in just under 3 hours here on Spotify or on Apple Music.
You can READ along with the entire book of Luke here online.
I mentioned a video right at the start by an independent team called The Bible Project. I believe that these guys and girls are doing some of the best work on spreading the message of the Bible in a creative and understandable way. I highly recommend ALL of their videos but right now this one is really helpful:
But what does it mean in the original languages of the Bible?
So…. there you go. As celebrities turn to Jesus, as media organisations censor Jesus and tele-evangelists misrepresent Jesus – YOU have to make up your own mind about Him. I leave you with one of my all time favourite authors CS Lewis’s quote on Jesus:
“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronising nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
a big thank you to the pastors and fellow Weird Baptist gentlemen: Wyatt Miles, Nathan Kitchens and Caleb Stallings. 🌊
DJ Paine 
This is really good DJ. Proof read it again. The content is excellent and contains so many smart extras. Love it and will point people to it.
thumbs up.