Archives For jesus

JESUS HAD A SIX PACK

(Edited from posted in April 2015)

Since I was a little boy and as far back as I can remember, I’ve always had a strong belief in God and something “bigger than me and this world”.  This was so much so that in High School I began to question everything I was being taught in the Catholic church, and set out on my own journey to “find God”.  That search for “truth” continues to this day, but one very practical thing that never really made sense was how the world has portrayed Jesus, which has been a very frail, skinny, white, pale sickly looking man who anyone could take down with one punch to the face.

I believe in a very different image of Jesus Christ, one that I feel should have been adopted a long long time ago, and it’s based on very practical observations.  I believe that Jesus was not frail or sickly, but rather a very strong and fit man with dark skin, strong forearms and biceps, resembling a very fit and toned MMA fighter of today.  He probably didnt’ have the physique of a bodybuilder, and may have been more lean, but by all means had more muscle and endurance than most of us.  How have I come to this conclusion?

JESUS WAS A FISHERMAN

The fisherman of today have it pretty easy compared to the days of Jesus.  There were no motorized boats or machinery that lifted nets and brought fish into your boat.  Lots of rowing by hand, pulling up nets by hand all day, every day.  Unloading the boat of fish, packaging the fish, pulling the boats in, etc.  A complete work out like this every single day would have to keep these guys fit and toned.  The exaggerated depiction of Popeye’s forearms was not just the creation of a cartoonist, as I’m sure that fisherman developed huge forearms from all of this work.  In addition to all of the manual labor that kept them fit, take into account their constant exposure to the sun which probably kept them nice a tanned all year round.

 JESUS WAS A CARPENTER

Carpentry today can’t compare to the work involved in the days of Jesus either.  Because of my circular saws, miter saws, jig saw, and my dewalt cordless drill, I can build in minutes what it probably took hours or days for them to build back in the day.  And the energy exerted would be minimal.

If Jesus needed to build a table for someone, he had to manually cut each piece of wood, shave each piece by hand, and perform tasks that required strength and arm pressure.  Wood work back then was not easy work and I’m sorry, but if you do your research on the many different facets of wood work back then one would have to come to the conclusion that these craftsman were building muscle while working.

JESUS ENDURED HIS EXECUTION BECAUSE HE WAS PHYSICALLY ABLE

Without going into detail about every task involved with being a fisherman or carpenter back in that day, I would hope that you can see how easy it would be to come to the conclusion that Jesus was not what the world has described to us for so long.  I feel that one of the major reasons that Jesus was able to endure what he did during his crucifixion was due to his physique and fitness.  The “frail” Jesus wouldn’t have made it past lashing #4 or #5, and yet Jesus withstood 40 FREAKIN LASHES with a weapon that was designed to rip his skin off!

Add to this the beat down that he received from the soldiers, the fact that he had to carry his own heavy cross to his own execution, and then having huge railroad type spikes driven through his arms and feet.  The strength needed to continuously try to pull him self up and position himself to breath easier required a strength that the little white sickly Jesus simply wouldn’t have been able to handle.  Many of us would have been dead before even making it to carrying our own cross.

JESUS WAS A BAD ASS

As you sip on your coffee this morning, prepare for lunch, or even as you make plans for this coming Easter Sunday, remember that the man behind the Easter holiday was plain and simply a Bad Ass.  Whether you believe that he rose from the dead or not, Jesus was a real man who walked this earth, and history supports the fact that he was executed in one of the most gruesome ways possible.

His message was just as real, which in a nut shell was one of LOVE and FORGIVENESS.  If you take anything away from the story of Jesus at least take that.  Learn from his selfless life of Love and walk in it everyday.  He gave us so many great lessons and tools to use to live this life and his story has stood the test of time and will continue for centuries to come.

Have a Great Easter everyone and eat lots of BBQ this Sunday.  *smiley face here.

@hectorgarciahtx

 Photo artwork from Tjokorda Bagus Wiratmaja

Posted on March 20, 2016 In Blog, Life, Minstry Tools, Personal Growth, Religion , , , , , ,
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A Lesson in Love:  Part 2

Christmas Day has come and gone but because Christmas is more of a season rather than one day, we still have a full week of celebration to take advantage of.  No one knows the exact day that Jesus was born but as I stated in Part 1 of this series, history outside of the Bible supports that Jesus was a real man, with a real message that walked this earth and changed the world.  His impact is so much so that the entire world celebrates a season that exists only because of his birth and not to mention that his birth and existence also affected our entire dating system i.e. BC (before Christ) and AD (after his death).  One cannot celebrate this season / holiday without acknowledging this man and his message and though many try, kicking and screaming, it’s almost impossible to do unless you take a plane trip to the desert and hide for a couple of months.

At the core of Jesus’ message to the world is LOVE and if you read and filter everything that he taught through that love, it would all make a lot more sense and provides a lot more meaning.  When Jesus came onto the scene the area that he lived in was looking for a new leader and king and Jesus appeared to be the perfect candidate.  He had the opportunity to take on a political position of power and strength but that’s not what he was here for.  His purpose was to “love” a world that was hurting, a world that was not in need of more politicians but one that was in need of healing and direction.  He was hear to give the world what they needed, not what they wanted and that message of hope and love is something that we all need.

There’s a scripture in the book of Mark that says:  “Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:43-45).  Again, if you filter just this one verse through “love”, then you would see that the message here is to put others first and serve others more than ourselves.  This is not just advice for different instances, but it should be a lifestyle.  Could you imagine everyone living a life of humility focused on putting others first?  What kind of world would this be if we walked like this?

This is why Christmas is so special, it’s a time of the year that makes people want to give and do “good things”.  There are so many organizations that exist simply for the purpose of giving to the world this time of year.  For example, one organization gives away hundreds of brand new bicycles to children of low income families, which is awesome, but why can’t we do something like this year round?  Why do we only serve huge Thanksgiving meals to the needy and hungry in November?  Why do we only buy gifts for our family and friends because a once a year holiday dictates that we do?  When was the last time that you gave a gift to someone for the hell of it, simply because?

“Walking in love” and “serving” one another is a lifestyle, and the idea of Christmas should be year round.  Let the new year involve lots of serving and laying your life down for your friends, your family, co-workers, and even people you don’t know.  Let the next time you buy someone a gift be for absolutely no other reason than simply cause you were thinking of that person or wanted to show your appreciation for them in your life.  I personally feel that if I always walked in love with the goal of putting others first, I would have been spared many mistakes I’ve made in life over the years.  I can only learn from those experiences and do better today and tomorrow.  I will choose to follow my own advice and walk in love and live like it’s Christmas everyday.  Trust me, serving others in not just for those receiving, but ultimately it will benefit you more than you know.

Merry Christmas.

@hectorgarcia

 

 

 

Posted on December 26, 2015 In Blog, Life, Personal Growth, Religion , , , , ,
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Lent – A Ritual Worth “Giving Up”

Note:  This a re-post of something I wrote a few years ago

For those of the “christian” faith, and i use that term “christian” loosely (you’ll find out why in a couple paragraphs), you’re familiar with the terms “Lent” and “Ash Wednesday“.  For those who need some history, Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent and occurs forty days before Easter (excluding Sundays).  Ash Wednesday gets its name from the practice of placing ashes on the foreheads of the faithful as a sign of repentance. The ashes used are gathered after the Palm Crosses from the previous year’s Palm Sunday are burned.  (more info about AW here)

I understand the significance of lent and ash wednesday, but from an early age as a child of Catholic parents, I’ve always had a problem with these observances (at face value).  And as I aged, matured, and developed a greater understanding of God and my relationship with Him, my view of these practices and this time of year has only been reinforced.

Continue Reading…

Posted on February 11, 2013 In Blog, Religion , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Misinterpreted – A “Fat Tuesday” Post

February 24, 2009 — Leave a comment

fattuesday

Last week I posted my thoughts about the religious observance we all know of as “Lent” and “Ash Wednesday”. “Fat Tuesday” can be grouped with these other two, which we all know of as “Mardi Gras”.  By definition, mardi gras actually means “fat tuesday”.  In essence and in layman’s terms, Fat Tuesday is the day that a person get’s as much “sin” out of their system before Ash Wednesday, which is when they say, “Ok, sorry for all the sin i did yesterday God, but here I am to make up for it and promise to be ‘good'”.  That is, of course, until Easter comes, which is when observers forget their “promise” and start all over again.

Well, my view on this “season” or these “observances” can be misinterpreted as me “hating” on the church or more specifically, hating on Catholicism.  I “hate” neither, but I will admit that I don’t care much for religious observances or rituals for the sake of the ritual.  My love for God runs deep, and my passion for speaking against rediculous “rituals” runs just as deep.

Because I was raised within the Catholic church, all of my thoughts on this subject are based on true & honest experience.  And believe me, the Catholic church is full of rituals and observances that I’ll always question and speak out on.   For example, I remember one Christmas Eve service when I was 10 or 11, where the priest stood at the altar with a plastic baby doll (was supposed to by symbolic of baby Jesus), and members lined up to kiss the doll.  What is that all about?   For one, it’s not biblical, and two, it’s rediculous.

With that said, I’ll always call things as I see them, and I’ll be 100% honest in doing so.  I’ll concentrate on the essentials, and the non-essentials will be put to the test.  God wants our hearts, and isn’t interested in rituals that we think keep us in right standing with Him.  Those days were destroyed with the arrival and sacrifice of Jesus.  By continuing with religion and rituals, we’re pretty much saying to God, “Um, I know that Jesus was the bridge to you God, but because I don’t want to give myself to you 100%, let me comfort myself with these rituals so that I can at least “feel” better.  Ok God?”.

Any thoughts?  Would love to hear them.  Thanks for stopping by.

In Blog, Religion , , , , , , , , ,
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