My project is coming along rather nicely. I have volunteered at a relief center to help out the people of New Orleans/Louisiana residents. Anyone who needs supplies such as water, food, clothing or counseling could come and get the things they need. They are currently only serving Louisiana residents affected by the storm. The relief center offers all the things that people would need on a daily basis. You could go there two times a week to pick up the supplies you need. You would need to bring your Louisiana ID picture or drivers license for them to identify that you are a Louisiana resident. There is also a place there that would give you free haircuts if you need. Being a volunteer, there are many things that needs to be done. You could work in the front, such as helping distribute food to the people, help people bring the supplies to their car, sort clothes, supplies out to get it in order. This relief center is very close to Xavier. It is on Airline Dr. So, if anyone needs supplies, they should come there and get what they need. I believe that the relief center helps so many people. The people who are cleaning their house and do not have a house, food or clothing can come her to get the support they need. There are many relief centers throughout the city and this place is just one of the places that help the people of New Orleans.
The word apostle means one sent out. It is meant that the apostle is the people that are there to deliver the message. In the early church, it was a tough time for Jesus’ followers. There were many things that were going on at the time. There were apostles and disciples that followed Jesus. Usually, apostles are one of the twelve. The disciples are broader and open to people. Apostles are harder to be apart of. In the acts, it was Luke who wrote them. He was a friend of Paul. Thomas was also one of the apostles. He doubted if Jesus was really Jesus when he rose from the dead on the third day. In the acts, Luke also wrote about John the Baptist. He got his head cut off and served on a platter. The reason was because he condemns a marriage that was going on. The story goes of how a girl named Salome was dancing at Herod Antipas’s birthday. Salome is the daughter of Phillip Herod. Herod Antipas is her uncle. Her mother, who is Herodias is upset because John the Baptist condemns the marriage to Herod Antipas. Herod Antipas is the half brother of her husband Phillip Herod. The law states that you cannot marry your brother’s wife, not unless you are dead. Herodias is mad at John the Baptist and tells her daughter to get the head of John the Baptist on a platter for her, which she does. That is why the story of John the Baptist is so famous. Peter was one of the apostles. Peter was given the keys to the kingdom. The first pope is supposed to be Peter. He is the rock that built the foundation for the catholic community. The themes of the acts have two reasons. The first reason is to downplay the church disagreements. It was hard to be apart of the church because people was selective to who could be apart of it or not. The second reason is to support Paul. In acts one, it was dedicated to Theophilus. Jesus appears forty days after the passion. He promises the disciples that they would receive the power of the Holy Spirit. He then goes up into a cloud and two men in white robes asked, “What are you looking at?” He’ll come back the same way he left. The followers gathered in Jerusalem, which consists of disciples. The disciples were men, women and family members. It was after that when Judas dies. In the death of Judas, there are two different versions to how Judas dies. In Matthew 27:5, he writes that Judas hangs himself. In acts 1:18-19, Judas buys land, trips and his guts explode. Potter’s field is where Judas’s guts explode. In the apostles, there are twelve apostles, and with Judas gone, they need another person to fill his spot. It is then that they choose Matthias. In acts two, it talks about the Holy Spirit coming into the disciples. The Holy Spirit came about the time of the Pentecost. The Pentecost is a holiday. It is fifty days after the Passover. They get together and speak weird, crazy gibberish. They are speaking in tongues, which mean that they are speaking in Glossolalia. In acts three, it talks about who killed Christ. Peter and John go to the temple to pray. The Romans and Pontius Pilate are ruthless and they are the ones that killed Jesus Christ. In acts five, it talks about Ananias and Saphira. Jesus told them to sell everything they have to follow Jesus and they sold their property. They sold their property, but they kept some money. When Peter finds out, he yells at them and they die. Three hours later, their wife shows up and claims the same story. Peter then yells at her and she dies also. It also talks about how the apostles got arrested by the High Priest. The High Priest wants to kill the apostles. The angels free them. They go to the temple and preach as the sun rises. They are arrested again, and most people want to kill them. The liberal Rabbi Gamaliel says: “If God not involved, it will fail, but if He is, we’re in trouble.” So, they beat up the apostles and let them go. The apostles go home “rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.” In acts 8, it talks about Philip and Simon the magician and Philip and the Ethiopian Eunech. In Philip and Simon the magician, Simon sees Christians do miracles. Philip, (not the disciple Philip) but Philip like Stephen, one of the seven disciples recruits to help out. Philip converts Simon. Simon sees the disciples giving the Holy Spirit by laying hands and he wants to buy the trick. Peter then yells at him. In the story of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunech, it talks about how Philip goes on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza. He sees the Ethiopian Eunech. Ethiopia is the kingdom of Meroe, and Eunech cannot be Jewish. They read Isaiah 53, which is the story about the suffering servant. He tells them about the lamb that led to the slaughter of Jesus. He is then baptized and then Philip disappears. It also talks about Paul’s conversion. God, or Jesus asks, “Why are you persecuting me?” And that is when he decides to convert to Christianity. Paul is a person that kills Christians, and he converts. In acts 10, Peter has a vision, and in that vision he saw that Cornelius is famous for the 1st uncircumcised gentile. Acts end with Paul in Rome, preaching freely. Paul is the type of person that if he believes in something, he is going to put 110% into what he is doing. Nothing in acts talks about Paul’s death. Tradition says that Nero cuts off Paul’s head in Rome. The three major problems that I believe were facing the early church after Jesus is that people did not get along with each other as they did before. Maybe it was because Jesus died and they have no one to lead them in the right path, but they seem to be arguing with each other more. It could be the fact that they only recorded the things that they wanted to be read. The second reason is that they lost some of their faith after Jesus died. Many people did not believe that Jesus was going to lead them in the right path that God intended for them. When Jesus died, they were probably wondering who would lead them and help them become a better person. That is where the apostles and disciples of Jesus come into the picture. The third reason is that they did not use the church as how God intended them to use it for. God wanted them to use the church for worship and good doings. The people probably did not do what God wanted them to do until later after Jesus died. In early Christianity, there was a debate between faith vs. works, motive vs. laws and Paul vs. James. There was a debate between Paul and James. It was basically about faith vs. works. Faith is when you worship Jesus, you have faith in him, but you do not do anything about it, which is work. Then there is the debate on motive vs. law. It is basically someone’s intention. For example, if a mule is stuck in a hole and it is Sabbath, do you break the law and get the mule out? It is all about intention. James Hebrew name is Ya’aqou. This James is the brother of Jesus. He is also called James the Lesser. Jesus has brothers and sisters, but the Greek word for brother and sister is relatives, friends and affiliates. Some say that they are Jesus’ relatives, while some say that Joseph has kids with Mary after Jesus. It just depends on what you think. Paul’s message to the Romans is that: Abe does well with faith, believes in God before circumcised, law is standard so we know how bad we are. He says that faith replaces the law. Faith is important to Paul. If I were James, I would be upset because Paul is throwing out all the laws that people have to abide by. James says that: Abe justified when he offered his son Isaac on the altar. So, to Rahab, justified by works. Paul does not believe in circumcision, you only have to have faith. James believes that you need to be circumcised, keep all the dietary laws, etc. Paul and James disagree with one another. Christians do not like Paul because he used to kill Christians. He is a very controversial figure. In Paul’s letters, it is faith based salvation. The letter to the Romans is the longest and most important letter. It is written about 56 CE. Paul collects money in Greece for the Jerusalem church. He then returns to Jerusalem, but was arrested. He was in the Caesarea prison for two years. The theme of the Romans is that all the people have sinned, and the laws are important, but faith is more important. Jews circumcised, but the real circumcision is not physical and external, but is internal.

To view project picture http://mariepicture.homestead.com/picture.html

This entry was posted on Friday, March 31st, 2006 at 10:12 am and is filed under Class Comments, Week 12: Related Readings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.