This month on the New Bus . . .

A look at the fires of Notre Dame, the crown of a dead star, the future of missions, and resurrecting the extinct . . .

Notre Dame & the Crown of Thorns

This past Holy Week, the world witnessed a devastating crisis as Notre Dame burned for hours and sustained significant damages. The iconic church in Paris is nearly a millennia old and is home to the famous “Crown of Thorns.” This relic is believed to contain pieces of the actual thorny crown that was placed on Jesus’s head during His crucifixion. As the fire blazed, it was the one of the main items people believed would be lost forever. But thankfully, news broke out that a brave fire chaplain rescued the crown of thorns, preserving it for future generations.

For those who are new to the New Bus, you will find that we believe there are events happening in the world that are “signs” of something deeper happening on God’s ultimate timetable. (Not that God necessarily causes the events, but that there’s a redemptive plan unfolding in the midst of them.) One example is the destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70 AD. At the time, this was an absolutely tragic pieces of news that marked the end of an era. But from a hopeful and prophetic perspective, it was also a sign that old structures of religion were fading and a new movement of the Spirit was coming upon the world.

In the same way, we believe this is a sign of further cleansing come to the global church. But the main thing that will be preserved is the revelation of Christ and Him crucified. There will be brave people throughout the body of Christ who will rescue and recover the message of the cross, even as a great cleansing and change continues to occur.

The Image of the Invisible

Here is another crown adorning a different kind of death. Long ago, the death of a massive star created an unimaginably strong pull of gravity, forming what is known as a black hole. The light around it, as seen in this picture, is just beyond the “event horizon.” This is the barrier around a black hole from which nothing, not even light, can escape. This blurry image is the first time the human race is seeing such an object. Through the work of an international team of scientists and groundbreaking new technology, this revolutionary image was finally captured and then released to the public this past month.

According to Psalm 19, the heavens declare the glory of the Lord. Regarding the “heavens,” this is one of the most amazing discoveries in human history. Thus, we can expect many revelations of God’s glory hidden in this discovery. There are so many things, in fact, that we will be releasing full articles about it in the coming months. Stay tuned...

Church-Planting in the Cloud

Google gave an unexpected boost to a church-planting organization named Stadia after giving their new cloud-based video game system the same name. Relevant Magazine covered this story, explaining how tons of people are now searching for the new online gaming platform, but are instead coming across the website of the church-planting group Stadia.

Ironically, there are some important implications to this seeming mix-up…

Cloud-based gaming is a major “reformation” in the video game industry. Video games were always connected to a physical machine. Whether it was Atari, Super Nintendo, or Playstation, there was always a “box” of some kind that served as the hub for the video-gaming experience. But now, gaming is leaving the four walls of the console.

In the same way, a reformation of church-planting is occurring. People are leaving the four walls of traditional church structures like never before. This goes back to the Notre Dame blurb about a spiritual fire burning through the global church. (And interestingly, upon researching Notre Dame, we just found out a major video game company, Ubisoft, has pledged hundreds of thousands of dollars to repair the church).

Despite this burning change, the “Game” of the Gospel (which Christ has already beaten) lives on! In the days ahead, the Gospel will continue to reach people in more creative ways, many of which will be outside the bounds of the traditional church system. A lot of this will involve an increase in online ministry. While some may be tempted to demonize the internet, it is a space where God’s kids are connecting, and it is therefore destined to be filled with the glory of Christ.

Kanye’s “Sunday Service”

Every Sunday for the past few months, award-winning rapper Kanye West has been hosting a “Sunday Service” in the green hills of Calabasas, California (outside the four walls of a traditional church). This service includes a full gospel choir and features many worship songs and other soulful and uplifting forms of music. Celebrities such as Katy Perry and Tyler the Creator have come out to it, and many have testified to being touched on a deep level through these services. There have been many special moments, such as last month, when DMX showed up and opened up the service in a powerful prayer. The prayer was filled with scripture and acknowledged the power and victory of Jesus’s blood. 

On Easter morning, Kanye and his Sunday Service will be performing at the Coachella music festival, an event that has been attended by hundreds of thousands of people over the last 20 years. Many who are “unchurched” will find themselves in the presence of the Lord as Jesus’s name is lifted high. We expect that God’s Spirit will touch many people through this time. 

Resurrecting the Extinct  

This year, some movies from the 1990s are being resurrected into live-action films (Aladdin & The Lion King). But there’s another movie from that era that’s getting a whole other level of resurrection. Jurassic Park is coming out into real live action.

For the first time ever, scientists are getting ready to clone and resurrect extinct creatures. A multinational commission of scientists are confident that we are about to see species that have been extinct for thousands of years re-emerge.

While there’s a much needed debate about the wisdom of cloning, there is a spiritual “sign” of a greater reality here. It is a sign of resurrection. Things that have been long lost and forgotten are coming back. The DNA of God’s original design for humanity (including His original design for the church) is being resurrected through the ashes of human history.

But of course, every sign always points us to the cross. Whether in a crowns of thorns, black holes, or Jurassic Park, God is releasing a fresh revelation of the death and resurrection of Christ. As a result, we’re going to see amazing manifestations of His finished work like never before!