Maxie wrapped up the Tension series with his talk “Elephants and Resurrection” last night. Great stuff about following the model of Jesus in facing our elephant. I feel very privileged to get to watch my friend wrestle through this stuff in his own life and see him apply the message he is sharing, even as he is sharing it and allowing God to use it to transform others. Check out the podcast at www.rhinocrash.org/currentconversation or subscribe to the podcast
via the iTunes store by searching for “Crash at North Phoenix”.

Some good nuggets from last night:
-Jesus’ disciples had no idea how to deal with their elephant – the fact that Jesus was going to die.
-Jesus faced the elephant in his life.
-We don’t do well dealing with Jesus’ humanity. But make no mistake – this was not just a “non-issue” for Jesus. This was a struggle.
-Scholars don’t know what to do with the phrase “sorrow to the point of death” in Matthew 26.
-My favorite movie is the Wizard of Oz.
-I connect with the Lion. He is like the worst character. But I see myself in him.
-Jesus wasn’t saying the spirit is good and the flesh is bad. This isn’t more Gnosticism.
-He didn’t “frou frou it” or “God-it” away. (“God-it” is a new one for me).
-Denying your humanity and sucking it up because that’s what Christians do is NOT the answer.
-The only way out is through.
-If you can’t get over it, you’re gonna have to get into it.
-Elephants are a part of life. It’s not the elephant’s presence that defines you; it’s what you decide to do with the elephant that will define you.

New series at Crash this Sunday, August 30th. Short one – 2 weeks. Title is Sabbath. See you there (or on the podcast).