Thanks for checking that out. As for “tangential,” that also could be up for debate. If, in a post-Christian culture, we have to set up the context more because people don’t know the Bible as well, then you could argue that the center seems to take up less time. But if it’s actually the climax of the plot, even though it doesn’t take up much time, it’s still the center. As my colleague Rick Richardson says, the cross and resurrection is the historical center within a narrative frame — and that narrative frame is often missed in current ways to share the Gospel. As the presentation says, the cross and resurrection makes a “new world possible” — and a new life possible within that narrative frame.

But I hear you. Three minutes isn’t a long time, and I’m cramming lots of stuff in to keep it short. It usually takes me 10-15 minutes to share this in person.

Actually, maybe I missed it because it seemed so tangential to the whole presentation.

Thanks for taking the time to write. I’m a little confused, however. The resurrection is definitely in the first video. Are you sure you saw Part 1?

http://www.jameschoung.net/2007/09/17/the-big-story/

This is an old post, I hope you get this comment.

I’ve watched both parts of this video. My first thought was – ‘The resurrection is completely missing’. My second thought was: ‘The concept of judgement is completely missing’.

In the book of Acts, the resurrection is central to the gospel that the apostles proclaim. The resurrection is never missed out, in both Jewish and Gentile contexts. If this video is attempting to summarise Christianity, why does it omit what was so central to the apostles in their proclamation to a world which was completely unfamiliar with Christianity?

Unfortunately, this resulted in an Error 404 :(
Could you re-post the link for us?

If you’re choosing between Jesus and something “immoral” but loads of excitement and fun, I encourage you to choose Jesus. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. You will find a deeper, more life-filled life when you choose Jesus’ way.

Seriously, Jesus is the smartest guy who’s ever been on the planet. And if you read his stuff, he really knew how people ticked. And if he’s calling us to “holiness” in some capacity, then it’s not so that we would just get in line, it’s because he loves us too deeply to let us settle for something less than the best.

His vision of life for us is actually far more life-giving than even what we tend to dream for ourselves. We tend to dream too small, looking for what we want, instead of having vision for being the kind of people who can love deeply and sacrificially. The kind of people who actually become the kind of good they want to see in the world.

Here I go quoting Lewis again: “Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

How do you feel about that?