This is the fourth video in this training series.  You can find the previous videos in the links below.

• Intro
• Part 1: Defining Penal
• Part 2: Defining Substitutionary

To recap, penal substitutionary atonement is a fancy theological term that answers the question, "What did Jesus do by dying on the cross?"  The word penal tells us that His death on the cross was the just penalty for the crime of sin.  The word substitutionary tells us that His death was actually paying the penalty for our crimes and sins. Jesus traded places with us sinners.  Today's video will focus on the word atonement.

This is the third video I've put up to discuss the theological concept of Penal Substitutionary Atonement.  If you're just joining in, you can find the INTRO HERE and PART 1: DEFINING PENAL HERE. 

As a recap, we have learned that phrases like "Jesus died for your sins" are often misunderstood by non-Christians and not necessarily fully understood by Christians either.  Penal Substitutionary Atonement is a theological term used to address the issue of what exactly Jesus' death did.  The word Penal is used to convey that His death on the cross was related to the crime of sin and the just penalty for sin which is death.  Today's video will hopefully explain the second word: Substitutionary.

Thanksgiving is coming up pretty quickly.  We all have a lot of things to be thankful for.  Our family, friends, jobs, homes, full refrigerators, cars, church, toys, and so much more.  A lot of times, we say we are thankful for these things because it is the right thing to say, even when we don't necessarily feel very thankful.  But think about some times that you really, truly have felt thankful.  Maybe it was when you were younger and your parents bought you a video game system for Christmas that you had been dying to get all year.  Maybe it was when your spouse surprised you with an incredible day all about you.  Maybe it was when someone stood up for you or defended you in front of others.  Can you remember a time you were truly thankful?

** Last week I covered the topic of homosexuality.  Username Richard the Atheist commented on my article to argue against me.  If you'd like to see my response to him, which is long (I warned you!), then CLICK HERE.**

Is swearing a sin?  The D word, the S word, the F word.  Do we offend God when we use this kind of language?  Should Christians use them?  My opinion may not be the clear cut answer you were looking for.  As a youth and children pastor, believe me, I wish I could say definitively that all swearing is bad.  That would keep the parents at church happy with me.  But, at the risk of drawing their wrath, let me share my honest thoughts on this issue with you.  Let me caution you, this article will get a bit explicit.

Even if you haven't been watching America's Got Talent, you've probably at least seen a youtube clip or heard talk about the Frank Sinatra singer with dreadlocks.  Just a few weeks ago, Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. went from being a full time car washer with a failing music career to nationally famous with a hot new gig in Vegas. I'll be honest, he wasn't my first choice on the show this season.  I was rooting for the Silhouettes at the end there.  But I still find his victory heart warming.  Don't you?

Have you heard about the new Spiderman movie scheduled to come out in 2012?  Don't believe me?  You can watch the trailer HERE.

You may have noticed something strange.  Its not part four in the Spiderman series.  Its a total reboot.  Tobey Maguire will not be playing Spiderman, there is a totally new Peter Parker.  In fact, all of the actors are new.  It's not even called Spiderman anymore.  Now, its "The Amazing Spider-man" (which you'll recognize as the original comic title if you're a nerd like me).  Marvel is completely starting over and taking everything back to the drawing board.  Its a fresh start.

I think it takes a lot of guts for Marvel to do this.  In order to start over, they have to toss all of the other Spiderman movies out the window.  And starting over so soon kind of gives the impression that Marvel is almost saying they did a bad job on the previous Spiderman movies so they need to take another crack at it.  Now, of course, they probably would never actually admit this, but they are kind of saying it by starting over.

Its kind of like calling a mulligan.  In most games, you're only allowed to call a mulligan (a do-over) if your first try was so obviously bad that its needed.  When somebody whiffs on the first swing in golf, they might call a mulligan.  I think it takes a lot of guts for Marvel to call a mulligan after three whole movies.

But its not the first time.  Marvel called a mulligan with Hulk remember?