Podcast appearances and mentions of Chip Jacobs

Today I welcome back author Chip Jacobs to the show. We talk about his 2016 book Strange As It Seems. Incredible book, check it out! Thanks for listening! Kyler --- Synopsis: "The life of Gordon Zahler was simply so miraculous that it might as well have been science fiction.  Born into an entertainment family in suburban Los Angeles in the mid-1920s, Zahler was a lovable prankster and class clown, exasperating his parents with his endless teenage feats of derring-do. But Gordon Zahler's promising career as a public miscreant went pear-shaped one day in 1940 when he and his buddies where fooling around in their high school gym with a spring board.  An unsteady jump no the board vaulted Gordon on a deadly trajectory landing him squarely on his neck, severing his spine. He was 14-years old. That's when the miracles began." Episode Info: PURCHASE Strange As It Seems ChipJacobs.com --- SLD Podcast Info: www.saltlakedirt.com Listen on APPLE Podcasts Listen on SPOTIFY Instagram: @saltlakedirt TikTok: @saltlakedirt

This episode of the Crime Cafe podcast features my interview with crime writer Chip Jacobs. Check out our discussion of his true crime story, The Darkest Glare, as well as his debut novel, Arroyo. Before I bring on my guest, I'll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy links for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You'll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I'm a Blubrry affiliate, but that's not the only reason I'm telling you this. I've been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it's one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you're in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it's a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn't require a long-term contract, and it's just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn't that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I've included an affiliate link on this blog. Download a copy of the PDF transcript of this episode here. Debbi (00:55): Hi, everyone. Today I'm pleased to have with me as my guest, a bestselling author and journalist. I love journalists, by the way, since I was a journalism major. Yes, I was . Chip (01:08): Me, too, Debbi (01:09): All right. All right. His latest book is a true crime story. It is the latest, right? It's called The Darkest Glare: A True Story of Murder, Blackmail, and Real Estate Greed in 1979 Los Angeles. I've read it and it is quite the bizarre story. He has written several other books, including Strange as It Seems: The Impossible Life of Gordon Zahlar, The People's Republic of Chemicals, the international bestseller, Smogtown: The Lung-Burning History of Pollution in Los Angeles. I love these titles. Anyway, more recently he released his debut novel Arroyo, a work of serialized, I'm sorry, a work of historical fiction set around the construction of Pasadena's mysterious Colorado Street Bridge, which really intrigued me. I had to look that up. He's also worked as a reporter and written opinion pieces for a variety of major newspapers, including the LA Times, the New York Times, CNN, and several others. It's my pleasure to introduce Chip Jacobs. Hey Chip, how are you doing today? Chip (02:27): Hey. Hey, Debbi. Honored to be here. Thank you so much for having me on. Debbi (02:31): Oh, well It's my pleasure, believe me. Very happy to have you on. And so tell me, talk about how you ended up writing The Darkest Glare which was written a bit like a thriller with this absolutely psychotic villain in there. How did you learn about the story and what interested you in writing it as a book? Chip (02:58): Yeah, I mean, I will never be called a true crime author cuz I'm not a true crime author. When I went into journalism I always tried to avoid getting assigned a crime story or active murder case or whatever, because that just wasn't in my DNA. And nonetheless, stories will find you. And in the mid nineties I was working at a newspaper competitor to the LA Times, having a blast getting under people's skin. And I developed a relationship with a source who just gave me tip after tip after tip, and he just had the highest batting average and he was always getting me above the fold on front page stories...

During this episode, Chip Jacobs turns the microphone on his longtime friend, Novelist Spotlight producer and host Mike Consol, seeking some deeper truths from Consol's newly published book, “Family Recipes: A Novel About Italian Culture, Catholic Guilt and the Culinary Crime of the Century.” Along the way, culprits ranging from caricatured family members to Olive Garden restaurants are victimized. Learn more about Chip Jacobs (bestselling author of “Arroyo,” “The Darkest Glare” and “Strange as It Seems,” among other titles) here: https://chipjacobs.com Write to Mike Consol at novelistspotlight@gmail.com. We hope you will subscribe and share the link with any family, friends or colleagues who might benefit from this program.

Bestselling author/acclaimed journalist Chip Jacobs joins us to explore his magical and powerful craftmanship. His debut novel, "Arroyo," a historical fiction masterpiece set in 1913 around the construction of Pasadena's Colorado Street Bridge, was a "Los Angeles Times" bestseller, "CrimeReads" most anticipated book, and Independent Book Publisher Award winner.  Other books include "The Darkest Glare: A True Story of Murder, Blackmail, and Real Estate Greed in 1979 Los Angeles" and "Strange As It Seems: The Impossible Life of Gordon Zahler," which was an Indies Book of the Year finalist and optioned for a streaming series. With William J. Kelly, he wrote the "The People's Republic of Chemicals" and the international bestselling "Smogtown: The Lung-Burning History of Pollution in Los Angeles." Jacobs also contributed pieces to anthologies like the bestselling “Los Angeles in the 1970s: Weird Scenes Inside the Goldmine" and "Go Further: Literary Appreciation of Power Pop." As a journalist, his work been published and aired in some of the biggest outlets in the world, including "The New York Times," the “Los Angeles Times," "Los Angeles Daily News," "LA Weekly," the Southern California News Group and CNN. Special thanks: Marilee Albert, author of "The Tutor."

In the spotlight this episode is Chip Jacobs, author of the novel Arroyo and several other books, including:>> The Darkest Glare: A True Story of Murder, Blackmail, and Real Estate Greed in 1979 Los Angeles>> Strange As It Seems: The Impossible Life of Gordon Zahler>> Smogtown: The Lung-Burning History of Pollution in Los Angeles >> The People's Republic of Chemicals>> The Vicodin Thieves: Biopsying L.A.'s Grifting, Gloryhounds, and Goliaths Now at work on his next Pasadena-based novel, Jacobs discusses its premise and protagonist. Learn more about the author at his website: https://chipjacobs.com/We encourage you to subscribe to this podcast and share a link with friends, colleagues and family members who are avid readers or aspiring writers.Your host is Mike Consol, author of “Hardwood: A Novel About College Basketball and Other Games Young Men Play.” Write him at novelistspotlight@gmail.com

Chip Jacobs joins the show to discuss his true crime novel called, The Darkest Glare, which takes place in one of the deadliest eras in American history. ​Chip Jacobs is an award-winning author and journalist. He is well know for his novel titled, Arroyo, which is about a mysterious bridge in Pasadena, California. As a journalist, Jacobs has covered a wide variety of topics including everything from secret military aircraft to deadly pollution left behind by defense contractors. https://chipjacobs.com/Please Subscribe and Share This Show! Show your support for Truth Be Told by shopping our website for official merchandise! www.truthbetoldworldwide.com

Featuring his first fictional book Arroyo, A story mixed with historical facts and intriguing characters around the construction of the Colorado Street Bridge ( also known as the suicide bridge). The story is based on the character Nick Chance and his dog Royyo, Do the decisions and actions we take in our life actually carry on to the next...? Simply a must read! We also discuss his other books briefly you can find him at www.chipjacobs.com You can see all his books there and please watch this as you can see the videos, the trailer for one of his books, and of course us, on YouTube.https://youtu.be/jLusQZrQBr8 --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/gina-bengtson/support

Introduction for Chip Jacobs --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/gina-bengtson/support

On this episode of the Salt Lake Dirt Podcast we welcome back author Chip Jacobs. He recently released an incredible true crime book called The Darkest Glare. Pick up a copy at Chip's hometown bookstore VROMON'S in Pasadena. Thanks for listening! ---- "Late-seventies  Los Angeles was rampant with shady characters, but all the go-getters at Space Matters saw was possibility. Richard Kasparov was handsome and charismatic; his younger associate, Jerry Schneiderman, brilliant and nerdy. When the pair hired a veteran contractor to oversee construction, the space planning firm they operated out of a hip mansion in LA's Miracle Mile district appeared poised to transform the boundless skyline  into their jackpot. Then the promising team imploded, spilling treachery on the blueprints. Assassins, working in a murder-for-hire corporation, required a comical number of attempts to execute their target. Once they did, the surviving founder of Space Matters was thrown into a pressure cooker existence out of a Coen Brothers movie. Threatened for money he didn't have, he donned a disguise, trying to outfox a glowering murderer, while asking if you can ever really know anyone in a town where blood soaks the land." (Source: ChipJacobs.com)

Chip Jacobs - Arroyo, Pasadena's Mysterious Colorado St. Bridge - Chip Jacobs is a LA-area author and journalist who has written multiple books of non-fiction, including the social histories Smogtown: The Lung-Burning History of Pollution in Los Angeles (2008) and its follow-up, The People’s Republic of Chemicals (2014). His debut novel, Arroyo (2019), was a Los Angeles Times bestseller. For more on Chip Jacobs and his books go to We talk about his most recent book, Arroyo, historical fiction set around the construction of Pasadena’s mysterious Colorado Street Bridge during America’s Progressive Age. A Los Angeles Times and Southern California Independent Bookseller Association bestseller, as well as a Goodreads and CrimeReads most anticipated book. Eric Hoglund is with us as well. Please support the Break It Down Show by doing a monthly subscription to the show  All of the money you invest goes directly to supporting the show! ​Haiku History is fun Don't take the fun out of it The context is key   Similar episodes:  -   -   -  Join us in supporting Save the Brave as we battle PTSD.  Executive Producer/Host: Pete A Turner  Producer: Damjan Gjorgjiev  The Break It Down Show is your favorite best, new podcast, featuring 5 episodes a week with great interviews highlighting world-class guests from a wide array of shows.

Chip Jacobs is known for his award winning journalism and non-fiction (Smogtown; The People's Republic of Chemicals). Arroyo is his first novel and it lives up to the quality of his previous work.  The novel tackles the rich history of Pasadena, California and is  primarily set in the year 1913. The work of historical fiction was  released last year. Chips latest book The Darkest Glare: A True Story of Murder, Blackmail, and Real Estate Greed in 1979 Los Angeles will be released in March 2021 on Rare Bird. Thanks for listening! Kyler www.saltlakedirt.com

Two guys named Nick Chance, both with clairvoyant dogs named Royo, both inventors living in Pasadena, California – in 1913 and 1993. The original Nick, who starts out working on an ostrich farm, is drawn to the Colorado Street Bridge and manages to meet some of the great personalities of the period: Teddy Roosevelt, Upton Sinclair and Adolphus Busch all meet Nick. He parlays an idea for lighting into a job on the bridge and survives the lethal collapse of one of its arches during construction. Eighty years later, on the anniversary of the bridge’s inauguration, the second Nick Chance is pulled into rectifying the mistakes of the past. Pasadena, which had a millionaire’s row even back then, is nothing like the original, romanticized version of the town. There’s some magical realism, lots of fascinating historical detail about Pasadena and southern California, and lots of eating. Today I talked to Chip Jacobs about his new book Arroyo (Rare Birds Books, 2019) Jacobs is a Los Angeles Times bestselling author and journalist. If you enjoyed today’s podcast and would like to discuss it further with me and other New Books network listeners, please join us on Shuffle. Shuffle is an ad-free, invite-only network focused on the creativity community. As NBN listeners, you can get special access to conversations with a dynamic community of writers and literary enthusiasts. Sign up byau going to www.shuffle.do/NBN/join G.P. Gottlieb is the author of the Whipped and Sipped Mystery Series and a prolific baker of healthful breads and pastries. Please contact her through her website (GPGottlieb.com) if you wish to recommend an author (of a beautifully-written new novel) to interview, to listen to her previous podcast interviews, to read her mystery book reviews, or to check out some of her awesome recipes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two guys named Nick Chance, both with clairvoyant dogs named Royo, both inventors living in Pasadena, California – in 1913 and 1993. The original Nick, who starts out working on an ostrich farm, is drawn to the Colorado Street Bridge and manages to meet some of the great personalities of the period: Teddy Roosevelt, Upton Sinclair and Adolphus Busch all meet Nick. He parlays an idea for lighting into a job on the bridge and survives the lethal collapse of one of its arches during construction. Eighty years later, on the anniversary of the bridge’s inauguration, the second Nick Chance is pulled into rectifying the mistakes of the past. Pasadena, which had a millionaire’s row even back then, is nothing like the original, romanticized version of the town. There’s some magical realism, lots of fascinating historical detail about Pasadena and southern California, and lots of eating. Today I talked to Chip Jacobs about his new book Arroyo (Rare Birds Books, 2019) Jacobs is a Los Angeles Times bestselling author and journalist. If you enjoyed today’s podcast and would like to discuss it further with me and other New Books network listeners, please join us on Shuffle. Shuffle is an ad-free, invite-only network focused on the creativity community. As NBN listeners, you can get special access to conversations with a dynamic community of writers and literary enthusiasts. Sign up byau going to www.shuffle.do/NBN/join G.P. Gottlieb is the author of the Whipped and Sipped Mystery Series and a prolific baker of healthful breads and pastries. Please contact her through her website (GPGottlieb.com) if you wish to recommend an author (of a beautifully-written new novel) to interview, to listen to her previous podcast interviews, to read her mystery book reviews, or to check out some of her awesome recipes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two guys named Nick Chance, both with clairvoyant dogs named Royo, both inventors living in Pasadena, California – in 1913 and 1993. The original Nick, who starts out working on an ostrich farm, is drawn to the Colorado Street Bridge and manages to meet some of the great personalities of the period: Teddy Roosevelt, Upton Sinclair and Adolphus Busch all meet Nick. He parlays an idea for lighting into a job on the bridge and survives the lethal collapse of one of its arches during construction. Eighty years later, on the anniversary of the bridge’s inauguration, the second Nick Chance is pulled into rectifying the mistakes of the past. Pasadena, which had a millionaire’s row even back then, is nothing like the original, romanticized version of the town. There’s some magical realism, lots of fascinating historical detail about Pasadena and southern California, and lots of eating. Today I talked to Chip Jacobs about his new book Arroyo (Rare Birds Books, 2019) Jacobs is a Los Angeles Times bestselling author and journalist. If you enjoyed today’s podcast and would like to discuss it further with me and other New Books network listeners, please join us on Shuffle. Shuffle is an ad-free, invite-only network focused on the creativity community. As NBN listeners, you can get special access to conversations with a dynamic community of writers and literary enthusiasts. Sign up byau going to www.shuffle.do/NBN/join G.P. Gottlieb is the author of the Whipped and Sipped Mystery Series and a prolific baker of healthful breads and pastries. Please contact her through her website (GPGottlieb.com) if you wish to recommend an author (of a beautifully-written new novel) to interview, to listen to her previous podcast interviews, to read her mystery book reviews, or to check out some of her awesome recipes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chip Jacobs is the author of Arroyo, out now on Rare Bird Books. His other books include Smogtown, Strange As It Seems, and The People’s Republic of Chemicals. I teach […]

Bestselling author and journalist Chip Jacobs

Hosted by long time radio reporter, anchor, editor, producer, director, and host, Larry Matthews, "Matthews and Friends" brings you the best interviews with guests from whom you want to hear! Join Larry today to hear his work with Los Angeles journalist, Chip Jacobs, on his new novel "Arroyo," about an iconic bridge, a young inventor and a clairvoyant dog; author Susan Strecker about her book "Drive," an insider's look at NASCAR racing; and Abbott and Costello's radio show from the 1940s. "Matthews and Friends" can be heard at 8:00 am, ET, seven days a week on Impact Radio USA!

Chip Jacobs is an award-winning author and journalist. His books include the biography Strange As It Seems: the Impossible Life of Gordon Zahler; the environmental social histories The People's Republic of Chemicals and the international bestselling Smogtown: the Lung-Burning History of Pollution in Los Angeles; the dark-humor true crime caper The Ascension of Jerry; and the stories collection The Vicodin Thieves. He also has contributed pieces to anthologies, most recently for Los Angeles in the 1970s: "Weird Scenes Inside the Goldmine" about the attack on an idealist lawyer by a depraved cult. His reporting has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, L.A. Daily News, CNN, The New York Times, Bloomberg, and LA Weekly, among others. Born and raised in New Jersey, Gary Lippman received a law degree from Northwestern University and has worked with New York's Innocence Project. Lippman's play Paradox Lost ran off Broadway for a month in 2001 and his writing has been published in The New York Times, The Paris Review, VICE, Fodors, and more. Having lived in Illinois, Florida, California, and France, Lippman can now be found in what used to be called "Fun City" with his imaginary French bulldog, his very real Hungarian wife, and a whenever-he's-inclined-to-visit adult son.

Chip Jacobs is an award-winning author and journalist. His books include the biography Strange As It Seems: the Impossible Life of Gordon Zahler; the environmental social histories The People's Republic of Chemicals and the international bestselling Smogtown: the Lung-Burning History of Pollution in Los Angeles; the dark-humor true crime caper The Ascension of Jerry; and the stories collection The Vicodin Thieves. He also has contributed pieces to anthologies, most recently for Los Angeles in the 1970s: "Weird Scenes Inside the Goldmine" about the attack on an idealist lawyer by a depraved cult. His reporting has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, L.A. Daily News, CNN, The New York Times, Bloomberg, and LA Weekly, among others. Colleen Dunn Bates is the publisher of Prospect Park Books, one of the leading book publishers in Southern California. A sixth-generation Southern Californian, Bates studied journalism at USC and has lived in Pasadena for 28 years. She is the editor and co-author of Hometown Pasadena, the definitive book about the culture, history, people, and noteworthy places in the greater Pasadena area. She also serves as the president of the PubWest board and is a board trustee of Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles.

Hosted by long time radio reporter, anchor, editor, producer, director, and host, Larry Matthews, "Matthews and Friends" brings you the best interviews with guests from whom you want to hear! Join Larry today to hear his work with Los Angeles journalist, Chip Jacobs, on his new novel "Arroyo," about an iconic bridge, a young inventor and a clairvoyant dog; author Susan Strecker about her book "Drive," an insider's look at NASCAR racing; and Abbott and Costello's radio show from the 1940s. "Matthews and Friends" can be heard at 8:00 am, ET, seven days a week on Impact Radio USA!

Chip Jacobs is an award-winning author and journalist. His books include the biography Strange As It Seems: the Impossible Life of Gordon Zahler; the environmental social histories The People's Republic of Chemicals and the international bestselling Smogtown: the Lung-Burning History of Pollution in Los Angeles; the dark-humor true crime caper The Ascension of Jerry; and the stories collection The Vicodin Thieves. He also has contributed pieces to anthologies, most recently for Los Angeles in the 1970s: "Weird Scenes Inside the Goldmine" about the attack on an idealist lawyer by a depraved cult. His reporting has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, L.A. Daily News, CNN, The New York Times, Bloomberg, and LA Weekly, among others. Doug Cooper is the author of the award-winning novels 'Outside In' and 'The Investment Club'. Always searching, he has traveled to over twenty-five countries on five continents, exploring the contradictions between what we believe and how we act in the pursuit of truth, beauty, and love. Originally from Port Clinton, Ohio, he has also called Cleveland, St. Louis, Detroit, New York, Las Vegas, and Oslo, Norway home. 'Focus Lost' is his third novel.

Patt Morrison talks with Ed Avol Professor of Clinical Preventive Medicine at USC Keck Medical School, about the LA smog and how the future air could look like the past. She also talks with Chip Jacobs an Los Angeles based author and journalist. Chip Jacobs author of the book "Smogtown", gives you seven LA smog facts that you may not have known.

Chip Jacobs is an award-winning author and journalist. His books include the biography Strange As It Seems: the Impossible Life of Gordon Zahler; the environmental social histories The People's Republic of Chemicals and the international bestselling Smogtown: the Lung-Burning History of Pollution in Los Angeles; the dark-humor true crime caper The Ascension of Jerry; and the stories collection The Vicodin Thieves. He also has contributed pieces to anthologies, most recently for Los Angeles in the 1970s: "Weird Scenes Inside the Goldmine" about the attack on an idealist lawyer by a depraved cult. His reporting has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, L.A. Daily News, CNN, The New York Times, Bloomberg, and LA Weekly, among others. Writer. Teacher. Mother. As a writer, Carla hopes to help readers feel less alone and more resilient. As a teacher, she strives to help others tell their stories and hone their craft while experimenting with new forms. The journey of motherhood informs much of her writing. Carla’s memoir, 'One Day on the Gold Line', is available now.

Chip Jacobs, author of Strange As it Seems, in conversation with Steve Hodel, author of Most Evil. Chip Jacobs and Steve Hodel are both contributors to the collection of essays Los Angeles in the 1970s, coming out from Rare Bird Books on November 15 2016.

Today's Guest: Chip Jacobs, author, "Strange As It Seems: The Impossible Life of Gordon Zahler," "Smogtown"CHIP JACOBS podcast excerpt: "Some people scoff or give me a funny eyebrow scrunched look when them my uncle did these things that he did. He looked at his injury like some people look at a skin rash and said to himself, 'Deal with it. I want to go on my boat, take flying lessons, or... What about a safari?'"Key interview moments:• 3:00 Chip Jacobs gave him biography the subtitle "The Impossible Life of Gordon Zahler" because he knew his uncle's life sounded unbelievable;• 19:20 Muriel Zahler, Chip's mother and Gordon's sister, recognized that her life was forever changed by Gordon's accident and the financial too it took on their family; she never forgave him but never abandoned him, either;• 19:20 Gordon's outsized life intersected with many celebrities thanks to his music business, creating relationships with everyone from sitcom queen Lucille Ball ("I Love Lucy") and animator Walter Lantz (creator of "Woody Woodpecker") to "B" movie director Ed Wood Jr. (Plan 9 From Outer Space).Subscribe to Mr. Media for FREE on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=MrMediaRadioFor more interviews like this one: http://www.MrMedia.com What is Mr. Media® Interviews? The calm of Charlie Rose, the curiosity of Terry Gross and the unpredictability of Howard Stern! Since February 2007, more than 1,000 exclusive Hollywood, celebrity, pop culture video and audio comedy podcast interviews by Mr. Media®, a.k.a., Bob Andelman, with newsmakers in TV, radio, movies, music, magazines, newspapers, books, websites, social media, politics, sports, graphic novels, and comics! Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/andelmanFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/MrMediaRadio

Chip Jacobs, author of Strange as it Seems, discusses Operation Paperclip, the program that allowed Nazi doctors into the US legally, with Stephen Robert Stein, author of The Oath.

Today's Guest: Chip Jacobs, author, Strange As It Seems: The Impossible Life of Gordon Zahler, Smogtown   Watch this exclusive Mr. Media interview with Chip Jacobs by clicking on the video player above!  Mr. Media is recorded live before a studio audience full of musical geniuses who had no idea how good their lives were until reading Strange As It Seems… in the NEW new media capital of the world… St. Petersburg, Florida! If you are determined to title your book Strange As It Seems, you damn well better deliver. Chip Jacobs does that and more in a loving, funny and well-written biography of his late uncle, Hollywood musical legend Gordon Zahler. What makes it so strange? Well, in 1940, when Gordon Zahler was a 14-year-old daredevil who believed more than most teen-aged boys that he could do anything, a misadventure with a high school gymnastics springboard landed him on his neck and severed his spine. CHIP JACOBS podcast excerpt: "Some people scoff or give me a funny eyebrow scrunched look when them my uncle did these things that he did. He looked at his injury like some people look at a skin rash and said to himself, 'Deal with it. I want to go on my boat, take flying lessons, or... What about a safari?'" You can LISTEN to this interview with writer CHIP JACOBS, author of STRANGE AS IT SEEMS: The Impossible Life of Gordon Zahler, by clicking the audio player above! Most everyone – classmates, doctors and family – presumed he would be dead in a matter of days. For inexplicable reasons, Zahler survived. Scratch that: the quadriplegic thrived. He refused to roll over and die; instead, taking charge of his Hollywood composer father’s music catalogue to create the go-to music library for early low-budget TV and film producers. All of the time and money his family devoted to him early on paid off; Zahler created a successful business with nothing more than a charismatic sales pitch. Eventually, he became friends and a business associate of “I Love Lucy” star and producer Lucille Ball, Woody Woodpecker creator Walter Lanz, and animal-oriented TV show producer Ivan Tors. CHIP JACOBS podcast excerpt: "Some of the TV shows to which Gordon provided music were filmed at Desilu Studios. For some reason, Lucille Ball thought my uncle was that cat's pajamas. It must have been Gordon's non-pitying attitude. Lucille Ball would see him and yell, 'Gordon!' and come running up to him. She would hug him, chat him up, and bring over other stars." Right about now you’re probably thinking this sounds like the plot to a Hollywood movie – Zelig starring Woody Allen, perhaps, or Forrest Gump with Tom Hanks. But it’s a true story, one that Zahler’s nephew, Chip Jacobs, lived first hand at the end of his uncle’s life and later researched and reported in Strange As It Seems: The Impossible Life of Gordon Zahler. Key interview moments: • 3:00 Chip Jacobs gave him biography the subtitle "The Impossible Life of Gordon Zahler" because he knew his uncle's life sounded unbelievable; • 19:20 Muriel Zahler, Chip's mother and Gordon's sister, recognized that her life was forever changed by Gordon's accident and the financial too it took on their family; she never forgave him but never abandoned him, either; • 19:20 Gordon's outsized life intersected with many celebrities thanks to his music business, creating relationships with everyone from sitcom queen Lucille Ball ("I Love Lucy") and animator Walter Lantz (creator of "Woody Woodpecker") to "B" movie director Ed Wood Jr. (Plan 9 From Outer Space). Chip Jacobs Website • Facebook • Twitter • LinkedIn • Goodreads   The Party Authority in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland! The post A Strange As It Seems intersection of film and music!

Chip Jacobs, author of Strange As It Seems, talks with Jeremy Rosenberg, coauthor of No Man Is An Island.

Its hard to believe, but we are on Week 11 of this series on apologetics. Apologetics means defending your faith. We have spent two weeks on the Nature of Truth; three weeks on the Existence of God; two weeks on the Problem of Evil; one week on Science; one week on the Credibility of the New Testament; a week on the Deity of Christ; and this week on the Resurrection. If you missed any of those weeks, remember we have a tape ministry that is available. All you do is you go out to the patio. On the counter there is a form. You just fill it out and leave it on the table. There is a little box for a freewill donation if you want to make one of those. Chip Jacobs will make sure its there for you the next week-a tape or a CD. Of course, theyre always available online. Then you should have received a Faith News. Did you receive that, a little slip of paper? If you are not on faith news or youve changed your email, this is an update we send out a couple times a month to let you know whats going on at Faith. Maybe its to move your clocks ahead, or maybe its some event thats transpiring like the Good Friday service this past Friday. Thats our way of communicating-one of the ways we do, so just fill this out and drop it in the offering box on the way out this morning. Would you turn with me please to the Gospel of Luke 23 (page 1046 of pew Bibles)? Since were going to be eating today quite a bit, lets work some of that off; lets stand up. You are going to play the part of the angels this morning since you all look like a bunch of angels to me. Im buttering you up, so youll like the sermon, see? Were going to read together 24:1-12, and you will read the part of the angels. We are talking about the Resurrection since it is Easter. On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightening stood beside them. In their fright, the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, Why do you look for living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you, while He was still with you in Galilee. The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again Then they remembered His words. When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the Apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened. Please be seated. We talked in our series several times about a naturalist point of view. In the naturalists point of view, the universe is a closed system. There is nothing that comes in and nothing that goes out. Everything that we see is all there is. There is no spiritual; there is only the physical. Life as we know it came as a result of random chance and evolution, survival of the fittest; so you and I, when we die, thats the end of our existence. We return to the dust from which we came, and everyone that has gone before us, our loved ones, they exist only in our memories. Those who will go after us when they pass away, that is the end of them as well. Thats a naturalists point of view. Thats difficult, so you have to find some sort of meaning in your existence because this is all that there is. Ultimately, if we are the product of random chance, there is no real meaning to our lives. We are accidents. We know that there has to be something more than just this natural stuff that we look at. We know there is something more to us than the face that we look at in the mirror. The Bible teaches that there is a spiritual reality to this life as well, so we have to make a decision about Christianity. Is Christianity just wishful thinking? Is it just a superstitious relic of the past that we try to hold on to or is there sufficient evidence to believe that Christ is who He said He was and that He did in fact rise from the dead? One thing we must keep in mind as we ponder this question is these events at this point in time in history; Jesus of Nazareth walked this earth; He walked the streets of Palestine; that we read about kings and governors; we read about places that we can go to and visit today. The Bible tells in detail, so these things are not described in mythical manner. These are events that happened in history. Twenty-five thousand surviving manuscripts of the New Testament testify to the accuracy of this account. Now here is some common ground. Those who lived at the time Christ was crucified all had agreement on several major things, truths. Number one, that Jesus of Nazareth was crucified under Pontius Pilate by Rome. Thats historical fact thats agreed upon, number one. Number two, He was buried in a tomb after He died. Number three, somehow the tomb became empty. The enemies of Christ-the Jewish leadership, the Romans, the Christians-all agree on those three facts. Thats very important for us to understand. There was no debate that Christ had died on the cross, that He was buried and that the tomb was empty. The debate is how did the tomb come to be empty? Thats the debate. That's what all the bru-haha is about. Im going to read to you quickly an account from Josephus. Im going to read this entire book this morning-no (congregation laughing). Im just going to read a quote. Josephus is very important because much of the history that we have about what happened in Palestine and about what happened in the history of the Jewish nation comes from Josephus. He was an historian extraordinaire. He was born in 37 A.D., just four years after Christ was crucified. He began life as a Jew, and then he fought the Romans in 66. He was captured, survived the war and eventually became a Roman citizen. He was commissioned by the Vespasian to write histories; so for the next two, almost three, decades, he recorded the histories of the Jews. There is an excerpt I want you to read. I think its important to understand this: Josephus is not a Christian. In fact, when he lived in Jerusalem, he was a Pharisee. Hes recording about Christ, but he himself is not a Christian. Heres what he says in Chapter 3:3, Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call Him a man; for He was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He dew over to Him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of principal men amongst us, had condemned Him to the cross, those that loved Him at the first did not forsake him; for He appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine Prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning Him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from Him, are not extinct at this day. So he calls us a tribe. Josephus there verifies that He died under Pilate on the cross, was buried, and that the account was that He was alive again-that was the rumor that was circulating; so what are the theories? Lets take a look quickly at some of the theories that are out there. The first one is really far-fetched. Since everyone in Biblical times was in agreement that Christ died on the cross, this theory didnt come into play until centuries later. Its whats called the swoon theory, and that is that Jesus didnt really die on the cross. Somehow He survived the cross and later in the coolness of the tomb revived. So heres what were supposed to believe in the swoon theory. First of all, the Romans had every interest in killing Jesus because that was their job. Just as if somebody is commissioned to carry out capital punishment, you better believe that theyre going to make sure whether its through the gas chamber, the electric chair or a chemical injection, their job is to make sure that prisoner is dead. The Romans job was to make sure that their prisoner was dead. Thats why they thrust the spear into His side, and out flew the blood and the plasma, indicating that He had already died. I guarantee you the enemies of Christ were going to make sure Jesus was dead. They wanted to rid their region of this scourge, this man who had taken so many of their flock; this man who had contradicted their teachings. He had been under their skin; He had been a thorn in their sides, and they were so tired of Him, so sick of Him. He had embarrassed them; He had outthought them. He had acted in a blasphemous way as a heretic claiming to be the Son of God. They wanted Him dead, and I guarantee you they were going to make sure that He didnt come down from that cross alive. Lets say for the sake of the swoon theorists that their theory is correct-that Christ survived. Heres what I am led to believe then: Christ is going to take 39 lashes with a cat of nine tails; and glass, bone, metal are going to come against His back, rip His flesh. Many people did not survive that part of the torture, but then lets say He does, and He goes to the cross. Hes going to be crucified on the cross. Hes going to hang on the cross for hours. Most people would die quickly from affixation because they couldnt breathe. Somehow, He survives that. He is then stuck in the side with a spear, and somehow He survives that too. He is then wrapped up like a mummy by Joseph and Nicodemus, wrapped up with linen; and then this sticky, gooey substance with perfumes and spices is wrapped around that so He is like sealed in this cocoon. He survives that. He is then put in a tomb and sealed without air for three days, without food, without water, and without medical attention. He revives Himself, undoes the bandages, moves a one-ton stone and presents Himself alive to His Disciples as the conqueror of death. To me, that takes more faith to believe than Him being raised from the dead and Hes Lord. There is another theory. The theory is that the women went to the wrong tomb. You know men thought of that one; lets blame it on the ladies to go to the wrong tomb. First of all, thats hard to do because its the only tomb with guards around it. Secondly, in Luke 23:55 (page 1047), it says, The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how His body was laid in it. So they followed them. They saw where the tomb was. They went home and rested on the Sabbath and came back the next morning. There was no mistaking where the tomb was. Besides that, the tomb belongs to Joseph of Arimathea. He is rich, and he is a member of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was the elite. That was the top of the food chain. These guys-there were 71 of them. They were like our Congress and our Supreme Court combined into one. Do you think it would make the news today if one of the Supreme Court justices gave their cemetery plot to a convicted criminal who was executed by the state? Would that make the news? If they said, You know, I really love this criminal. I think this criminal has been unjustly sentenced to execution, and to show my love, Im going to give them my family burial plot. Would that make CNN? Yeah. This was no secret tomb. This was a prominent tomb in a garden, so everyone knew where the tomb of Jesus was. It was no secret place. That theory does not hold a lot of water. The third theory is that the Jews took the body of Jesus-the enemies of Christ took the body of Jesus. Well, listen friends, thats the last thing they wanted to do. They wanted to end this rumor once and for all. In the Book of Matthew 27:62 (page 989 of pew Bibles), it says, The next day after Christ had died… The Jews are going to just make sure Hes dead, number one; but number two, were going to make sure that we never have to hear anything more about this Jesus and that this movement comes to an end. …the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. Sir, they said, we remember that while He was still alive that deceiver said, After three days I will rise again. So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, His Disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that He has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first. The first deception is that He was the Son of God. The second deception, that He is risen from the dead, is much worse. Then Pilate agrees. Take a guard, Pilate answered. Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how. Thats their job. Theyre guards; theyre professionals. So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard. So the Roman guards post, and the seal of Rome is put over the tomb. That is something you dont want to break. That is something you dont want to tamper with because you do so at the risk of your very life. The Jews made every effort they could to prevent this rumor from happening. Its the last thing that they wanted. Theres a fourth theory, and this is probably the most prominent: that is the Disciples stole the body. The followers of Christ came into the tomb and stole the body of Jesus. Matthew 28:11, after Christ has risen from the dead, the soldiers now fearing for their very lives leave their post and go and report what had happened. Verse 11, While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. These guys are panicking. Theyre like white as ghosts. Theyre like, There was an angel, a stone and an earthquake, and they rolled back the stone. Theyre just trying to cover their tracks as best as they can. When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, You are to say, His Disciples came during the night and stole Him away while we were asleep. If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble. So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day. Well, lets talk about that. Lets begin to pick apart that argument because this one has the most teeth, and its the most believed or the most prevalent argument-the alternate alternative to the fact that He rose from the dead. So, its a conspiracy. These guys fabricated this story about Christ being risen from the dead when they knew in fact He was not because they are the ones who started it. They perpetrated this lie that they stole the body. Number one-lets begin to look at some of these things. What happens to a group, especially a group thats dependent upon a very charismatic individual-that individual when he dies, what usually happens to that group? It disbands, doesnt it? It goes away. Well, were going to find that this particular following is going to increase in its influence; increase in its power; increase in its numbers after its very charismatic leader is executed. Its an unheard of thing to happen. The second reason: Are we to believe that these men were going to be transformed by a lie? Are these men who have been cowards, who have been hiding in secret, are going to be so transformed by this hoax, theyre going to go out in the streets and preach the Gospel to thousands of people while risking their very lives. The Sanhedrin-the most powerful group of men-was going to call them and say, Were going to imprison you. Were going to beat you. Were going to torture you. Were going to even kill you if you continue to talk about the Resurrection. Knowing its a lie, they say, Beat us! Imprison us! Kill us if you have to! We cannot stop talking about what we have seen and heard. Do you know how hard it is to keep a conspiracy or a cover-up? You dont have to go back very far in history. Think of the Watergate cover-up. It didnt last very long. Those men started to crack under pressure, and everyone gives the other one up as soon as they start talking about jail. Yeah, Ill talk. Ill talk. These men went to their deaths refusing to change their story. You know people will die for something they think is true thats not. Terrorists blow themselves up because they think its an instant ticket to paradise. How many people will die for something they know is a lie? These men would have known the truth. Yet, one after another… Peter will be crucified upside down. Paul will lay his head on a chopping block. None of them will change their story, and their stories are all the same. He was crucified. Hes alive, and weve seen Him. Kill us if you have to. We must obey God more than men. Lies are things that make us ashamed. Lies make us hang our heads. Lies arent things that make us bolder, stronger and more courageous; but they will be punished and die for it. Lets go ahead and look to the next point I want to make. These are cowards for a time being until the Holy Spirit comes on them. Theyre going to break a Roman seal. It would take some nerve for you if while youre in Washington D.C., you see something that says Top Secret, Property of the United States Government, and you go ahead and violate that. For these men to risk their lives for this lie is quite extraordinary. What is the reason to do that? Think about this. When Jesus was alive and He was doing these great miracles and teaching, it was still difficult for people to believe He was the Messiah. Why? Because He was not acting as a Messiah should act. He was not defeating the Roman Government. He was not gathering up a following or an army to rebel. He was not doing that at all. Hes reaching out to people like lepers and Samaritans. He was healing the sick; He was preaching love, forgiveness and grace. Thats not how a Messiah is supposed to be. It was really a tough sell when Jesus Himself was proclaiming who He was and doing wonderful miracles. Now, youre going to try to market a dead Messiah to the people? Now youre going to try to tell them this Man who was a criminal, was crucified on the cross and died this humiliating death is really, truly the Son of God? You need to come up with a different marketing strategy because that one is not going to work! It was one thing when Jesus was alive to believe He was the Messiah, and they struggled with that. Now that Hes dead and considering the manner in which He died, youre going to now convince these people that He is the divine Son of God? That's not going to work unless that plan really is from God, unless it is the truth. Lets play along with their story here. Lets imagine for a moment that theyre going to overpower the guards. Theyre going to steal it [with them there] because thats the alternative. Either the guards are sleeping or the guards are awake. Lets say the guards are awake. Can you imagine this group of unarmed men overpowering Roman guards with their spears, their swords and their knives? These are non-violent Disciples of Christ, and were expected to believe theyre going to overpower Roman soldiers? Highly unlikely. What about the fact that theyre sleeping? Would you fall asleep if your life depended on it? If this was your job and if you fell asleep, it meant you died, would you fall asleep? I dont think you would. Now you might sleep, but youd trade off, right? Youd take a session and youd sleep, then Ill sleep and so forth; but if your life depends on it, youre not going to fall asleep. In the Book of Acts 12, Herod Agrippa has Peter in prison. He has already killed James, the brother of John; and the Jews liked it. He wants to be popular, and he likes the response; so he decides hes going to kill Peter too. He imprisons Peter, and Peter is in jail and the church is praying. An angel comes and releases Peter from his bonds, and Peter walks out free. When the soldiers wake up in the morning, they find that Peter is no longer in the prison. They know their lives are at stake. We find the story in Acts 12:18 (page 1091), In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed. That was the punishment. Earlier in the Book of Acts in that chapter, we know that there are 16 of those guards from the Greek-16 men are killed at Herods hands. Herod can do anything he wants. He is the close friend of Emperor Caligula-childhood friends. So he has carblanche-do whatever you want. Hes like a little mini-dictator there. King Herod has those men killed. Why? Because they usurped their responsibility, and they let the prisoner go free. These men are not going to fall asleep. Lets say they did. Lets play along. You know, how hard would it be to move a one-ton plus stone in the middle of the night and not wake up the guards? Think about the ridiculousness of their story. My wife goes to bed early. Shes an early riser; Im a night owl, so invariably when I go to bed, shes sleeping. Shes also a light sleeper, so I try not to wake her up; but we have a board that when I step on it, it squeaks all the time. Ill come in the room and be really quiet and creak. Then shell start to stir. Ill go to the restroom real quick, and Ill try to shut the door. Shell wake up. Im trying to be as quiet as I possibly can. Its just me walking in the bedroom to go to bed, not saying a word and trying to tiptoe. Am I really supposed to believe that the Apostles are going to come, find the guards sleeping and theyre going to ever so quietly move a one-ton stone? You try that. Get a one-ton stone and try to quietly move it. Its so easy. Those one-ton stones just roll so smoothly and quietly. Come on! Lets be real! You know what the best explanation is? Its not that the ladies went to the wrong tomb. Its not that Jesus didnt really die from the sufferings and torture. Its not that the Jews took Him. Its not that the Disciples took Him. The explanation that makes by far the most sense-the only one thats rational-is that He rose from the dead, that He was who He said He was. With that promise, we have the hope of the Resurrection because if Christ did in fact rise from the dead, then the world and human beings are more than just physical; we are also spiritual. There is a part of us that will survive death. Paul talks about this in the Book of 1 Corinthians. He talks about the fact that the Resurrection of Jesus was not just the resuscitation of a corpse. Jesus resurrected body was different. He was still Jesus; He was still recognizable as Jesus, but He had changed. His body was now a body that could inhabit eternity. Paul writes and says that you and I one day will have a body like Jesus. Verse 12 of 1 Corinthians 15 (page 1139), Paul says, But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then now even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that He raised Christ from the dead. But He did not raise Him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. Thats it; its done. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. A new and improved you. My computer went on the fritz, and I depend a lot on my computer. It started to make a funny movement. It started to fade in and out; it took longer to boot up every time, and it would go off quickly. Over the period of days, it would boot up and go off real fast, and then it wouldnt even boot up at all. I said, My computer is sick. Then I finally said, My computer is dead. I took it to Apple to see the computer doctor. He took it in the back room. He came out after a few minutes, and he said, Your computer is dead. You need a new logic board. He said, Thats pretty expensive. Youre better off just getting a brand new laptop. My concern was this: I said, Listen, I understand that, but I just feel so bad. I started venting. I started pouring out my heart to this guy. I was like, I had my files on there. I had all the sites that I liked bookmarked. I had sermons on there. I had papers that Ive written on there. I had everything the way I wanted it, emails and everything. Im just sick about it. He said, Oh, we got all of those. We got all of those. He says, No problem. In this new computer, this desktop is going to look the same. All your bookmarks will still be there. All your scans will be there. All your files will be there; all your papers will be there. All your emails will be there. Itll just be a better computer. I was like, Slick. I took it home, I had sharper graphics. I had faster speed; I had a newer version, but I had the same old stuff that made it feel like it was my computer. No analogy is perfect, but the Bible says were going to get a new body, A new and improved you. A body that can inhabit eternity, but it will still be you. Jesus was still Jesus. You will still be you-your personality; your memories; the things that make you will still be you, but you will have a body like Christ that can inhabit eternity and live in the presence of God; a body without sin; a body that will not know pain or death. Its because of Christ; because of His obedience; His suffering; and His Resurrection. Were going to sing about that right now as we prepare to close out our service, Our God is Mighty to Save. (Here is a link to the lyrics: http://www.keepandshare.com/htm/music_lyrics/christian/mighty_to_save.php). Im going to ask if our team would come forward and lead us. Im going to ask if you would stand and prepare to sing to the Lord. As soon as were done, Ill come back and dismiss us in prayer and give a couple of announcements before we go home. Lord, were so thankful for Your Truth. It was no debate that the tomb was empty. The debate was why it was empty. When we lay out the facts, the only one that makes sense is that He is risen, that He is Lord. Because we have put our hope and trust in You, we have hope beyond the grave. The firstfruits have come, and we will live with You for all eternity through Jesus Christ our Lord. In the name of the risen Savior, we pray. All Gods people said, Amen.

Its hard to believe, but we are on Week 11 of this series on apologetics. Apologetics means defending your faith. We have spent two weeks on the Nature of Truth; three weeks on the Existence of God; two weeks on the Problem of Evil; one week on Science; one week on the Credibility of the New Testament; a week on the Deity of Christ; and this week on the Resurrection. If you missed any of those weeks, remember we have a tape ministry that is available. All you do is you go out to the patio. On the counter there is a form. You just fill it out and leave it on the table. There is a little box for a freewill donation if you want to make one of those. Chip Jacobs will make sure its there for you the next week-a tape or a CD. Of course, theyre always available online. Then you should have received a Faith News. Did you receive that, a little slip of paper? If you are not on faith news or youve changed your email, this is an update we send out a couple times a month to let you know whats going on at Faith. Maybe its to move your clocks ahead, or maybe its some event thats transpiring like the Good Friday service this past Friday. Thats our way of communicating-one of the ways we do, so just fill this out and drop it in the offering box on the way out this morning. Would you turn with me please to the Gospel of Luke 23 (page 1046 of pew Bibles)? Since were going to be eating today quite a bit, lets work some of that off; lets stand up. You are going to play the part of the angels this morning since you all look like a bunch of angels to me. Im buttering you up, so youll like the sermon, see? Were going to read together 24:1-12, and you will read the part of the angels. We are talking about the Resurrection since it is Easter. On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightening stood beside them. In their fright, the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, Why do you look for living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you, while He was still with you in Galilee. The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again Then they remembered His words. When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the Apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened. Please be seated. We talked in our series several times about a naturalist point of view. In the naturalists point of view, the universe is a closed system. There is nothing that comes in and nothing that goes out. Everything that we see is all there is. There is no spiritual; there is only the physical. Life as we know it came as a result of random chance and evolution, survival of the fittest; so you and I, when we die, thats the end of our existence. We return to the dust from which we came, and everyone that has gone before us, our loved ones, they exist only in our memories. Those who will go after us when they pass away, that is the end of them as well. Thats a naturalists point of view. Thats difficult, so you have to find some sort of meaning in your existence because this is all that there is. Ultimately, if we are the product of random chance, there is no real meaning to our lives. We are accidents. We know that there has to be something more than just this natural stuff that we look at. We know there is something more to us than the face that we look at in the mirror. The Bible teaches that there is a spiritual reality to this life as well, so we have to make a decision about Christianity. Is Christianity just wishful thinking? Is it just a superstitious relic of the past that we try to hold on to or is there sufficient evidence to believe that Christ is who He said He was and that He did in fact rise from the dead? One thing we must keep in mind as we ponder this question is these events at this point in time in history; Jesus of Nazareth walked this earth; He walked the streets of Palestine; that we read about kings and governors; we read about places that we can go to and visit today. The Bible tells in detail, so these things are not described in mythical manner. These are events that happened in history. Twenty-five thousand surviving manuscripts of the New Testament testify to the accuracy of this account. Now here is some common ground. Those who lived at the time Christ was crucified all had agreement on several major things, truths. Number one, that Jesus of Nazareth was crucified under Pontius Pilate by Rome. Thats historical fact thats agreed upon, number one. Number two, He was buried in a tomb after He died. Number three, somehow the tomb became empty. The enemies of Christ-the Jewish leadership, the Romans, the Christians-all agree on those three facts. Thats very important for us to understand. There was no debate that Christ had died on the cross, that He was buried and that the tomb was empty. The debate is how did the tomb come to be empty? Thats the debate. That's what all the bru-haha is about. Im going to read to you quickly an account from Josephus. Im going to read this entire book this morning-no (congregation laughing). Im just going to read a quote. Josephus is very important because much of the history that we have about what happened in Palestine and about what happened in the history of the Jewish nation comes from Josephus. He was an historian extraordinaire. He was born in 37 A.D., just four years after Christ was crucified. He began life as a Jew, and then he fought the Romans in 66. He was captured, survived the war and eventually became a Roman citizen. He was commissioned by the Vespasian to write histories; so for the next two, almost three, decades, he recorded the histories of the Jews. There is an excerpt I want you to read. I think its important to understand this: Josephus is not a Christian. In fact, when he lived in Jerusalem, he was a Pharisee. Hes recording about Christ, but he himself is not a Christian. Heres what he says in Chapter 3:3, Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call Him a man; for He was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He dew over to Him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of principal men amongst us, had condemned Him to the cross, those that loved Him at the first did not forsake him; for He appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine Prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning Him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from Him, are not extinct at this day. So he calls us a tribe. Josephus there verifies that He died under Pilate on the cross, was buried, and that the account was that He was alive again-that was the rumor that was circulating; so what are the theories? Lets take a look quickly at some of the theories that are out there. The first one is really far-fetched. Since everyone in Biblical times was in agreement that Christ died on the cross, this theory didnt come into play until centuries later. Its whats called the swoon theory, and that is that Jesus didnt really die on the cross. Somehow He survived the cross and later in the coolness of the tomb revived. So heres what were supposed to believe in the swoon theory. First of all, the Romans had every interest in killing Jesus because that was their job. Just as if somebody is commissioned to carry out capital punishment, you better believe that theyre going to make sure whether its through the gas chamber, the electric chair or a chemical injection, their job is to make sure that prisoner is dead. The Romans job was to make sure that their prisoner was dead. Thats why they thrust the spear into His side, and out flew the blood and the plasma, indicating that He had already died. I guarantee you the enemies of Christ were going to make sure Jesus was dead. They wanted to rid their region of this scourge, this man who had taken so many of their flock; this man who had contradicted their teachings. He had been under their skin; He had been a thorn in their sides, and they were so tired of Him, so sick of Him. He had embarrassed them; He had outthought them. He had acted in a blasphemous way as a heretic claiming to be the Son of God. They wanted Him dead, and I guarantee you they were going to make sure that He didnt come down from that cross alive. Lets say for the sake of the swoon theorists that their theory is correct-that Christ survived. Heres what I am led to believe then: Christ is going to take 39 lashes with a cat of nine tails; and glass, bone, metal are going to come against His back, rip His flesh. Many people did not survive that part of the torture, but then lets say He does, and He goes to the cross. Hes going to be crucified on the cross. Hes going to hang on the cross for hours. Most people would die quickly from affixation because they couldnt breathe. Somehow, He survives that. He is then stuck in the side with a spear, and somehow He survives that too. He is then wrapped up like a mummy by Joseph and Nicodemus, wrapped up with linen; and then this sticky, gooey substance with perfumes and spices is wrapped around that so He is like sealed in this cocoon. He survives that. He is then put in a tomb and sealed without air for three days, without food, without water, and without medical attention. He revives Himself, undoes the bandages, moves a one-ton stone and presents Himself alive to His Disciples as the conqueror of death. To me, that takes more faith to believe than Him being raised from the dead and Hes Lord. There is another theory. The theory is that the women went to the wrong tomb. You know men thought of that one; lets blame it on the ladies to go to the wrong tomb. First of all, thats hard to do because its the only tomb with guards around it. Secondly, in Luke 23:55 (page 1047), it says, The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how His body was laid in it. So they followed them. They saw where the tomb was. They went home and rested on the Sabbath and came back the next morning. There was no mistaking where the tomb was. Besides that, the tomb belongs to Joseph of Arimathea. He is rich, and he is a member of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was the elite. That was the top of the food chain. These guys-there were 71 of them. They were like our Congress and our Supreme Court combined into one. Do you think it would make the news today if one of the Supreme Court justices gave their cemetery plot to a convicted criminal who was executed by the state? Would that make the news? If they said, You know, I really love this criminal. I think this criminal has been unjustly sentenced to execution, and to show my love, Im going to give them my family burial plot. Would that make CNN? Yeah. This was no secret tomb. This was a prominent tomb in a garden, so everyone knew where the tomb of Jesus was. It was no secret place. That theory does not hold a lot of water. The third theory is that the Jews took the body of Jesus-the enemies of Christ took the body of Jesus. Well, listen friends, thats the last thing they wanted to do. They wanted to end this rumor once and for all. In the Book of Matthew 27:62 (page 989 of pew Bibles), it says, The next day after Christ had died… The Jews are going to just make sure Hes dead, number one; but number two, were going to make sure that we never have to hear anything more about this Jesus and that this movement comes to an end. …the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. Sir, they said, we remember that while He was still alive that deceiver said, After three days I will rise again. So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, His Disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that He has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first. The first deception is that He was the Son of God. The second deception, that He is risen from the dead, is much worse. Then Pilate agrees. Take a guard, Pilate answered. Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how. Thats their job. Theyre guards; theyre professionals. So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard. So the Roman guards post, and the seal of Rome is put over the tomb. That is something you dont want to break. That is something you dont want to tamper with because you do so at the risk of your very life. The Jews made every effort they could to prevent this rumor from happening. Its the last thing that they wanted. Theres a fourth theory, and this is probably the most prominent: that is the Disciples stole the body. The followers of Christ came into the tomb and stole the body of Jesus. Matthew 28:11, after Christ has risen from the dead, the soldiers now fearing for their very lives leave their post and go and report what had happened. Verse 11, While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. These guys are panicking. Theyre like white as ghosts. Theyre like, There was an angel, a stone and an earthquake, and they rolled back the stone. Theyre just trying to cover their tracks as best as they can. When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, You are to say, His Disciples came during the night and stole Him away while we were asleep. If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble. So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day. Well, lets talk about that. Lets begin to pick apart that argument because this one has the most teeth, and its the most believed or the most prevalent argument-the alternate alternative to the fact that He rose from the dead. So, its a conspiracy. These guys fabricated this story about Christ being risen from the dead when they knew in fact He was not because they are the ones who started it. They perpetrated this lie that they stole the body. Number one-lets begin to look at some of these things. What happens to a group, especially a group thats dependent upon a very charismatic individual-that individual when he dies, what usually happens to that group? It disbands, doesnt it? It goes away. Well, were going to find that this particular following is going to increase in its influence; increase in its power; increase in its numbers after its very charismatic leader is executed. Its an unheard of thing to happen. The second reason: Are we to believe that these men were going to be transformed by a lie? Are these men who have been cowards, who have been hiding in secret, are going to be so transformed by this hoax, theyre going to go out in the streets and preach the Gospel to thousands of people while risking their very lives. The Sanhedrin-the most powerful group of men-was going to call them and say, Were going to imprison you. Were going to beat you. Were going to torture you. Were going to even kill you if you continue to talk about the Resurrection. Knowing its a lie, they say, Beat us! Imprison us! Kill us if you have to! We cannot stop talking about what we have seen and heard. Do you know how hard it is to keep a conspiracy or a cover-up? You dont have to go back very far in history. Think of the Watergate cover-up. It didnt last very long. Those men started to crack under pressure, and everyone gives the other one up as soon as they start talking about jail. Yeah, Ill talk. Ill talk. These men went to their deaths refusing to change their story. You know people will die for something they think is true thats not. Terrorists blow themselves up because they think its an instant ticket to paradise. How many people will die for something they know is a lie? These men would have known the truth. Yet, one after another… Peter will be crucified upside down. Paul will lay his head on a chopping block. None of them will change their story, and their stories are all the same. He was crucified. Hes alive, and weve seen Him. Kill us if you have to. We must obey God more than men. Lies are things that make us ashamed. Lies make us hang our heads. Lies arent things that make us bolder, stronger and more courageous; but they will be punished and die for it. Lets go ahead and look to the next point I want to make. These are cowards for a time being until the Holy Spirit comes on them. Theyre going to break a Roman seal. It would take some nerve for you if while youre in Washington D.C., you see something that says Top Secret, Property of the United States Government, and you go ahead and violate that. For these men to risk their lives for this lie is quite extraordinary. What is the reason to do that? Think about this. When Jesus was alive and He was doing these great miracles and teaching, it was still difficult for people to believe He was the Messiah. Why? Because He was not acting as a Messiah should act. He was not defeating the Roman Government. He was not gathering up a following or an army to rebel. He was not doing that at all. Hes reaching out to people like lepers and Samaritans. He was healing the sick; He was preaching love, forgiveness and grace. Thats not how a Messiah is supposed to be. It was really a tough sell when Jesus Himself was proclaiming who He was and doing wonderful miracles. Now, youre going to try to market a dead Messiah to the people? Now youre going to try to tell them this Man who was a criminal, was crucified on the cross and died this humiliating death is really, truly the Son of God? You need to come up with a different marketing strategy because that one is not going to work! It was one thing when Jesus was alive to believe He was the Messiah, and they struggled with that. Now that Hes dead and considering the manner in which He died, youre going to now convince these people that He is the divine Son of God? That's not going to work unless that plan really is from God, unless it is the truth. Lets play along with their story here. Lets imagine for a moment that theyre going to overpower the guards. Theyre going to steal it [with them there] because thats the alternative. Either the guards are sleeping or the guards are awake. Lets say the guards are awake. Can you imagine this group of unarmed men overpowering Roman guards with their spears, their swords and their knives? These are non-violent Disciples of Christ, and were expected to believe theyre going to overpower Roman soldiers? Highly unlikely. What about the fact that theyre sleeping? Would you fall asleep if your life depended on it? If this was your job and if you fell asleep, it meant you died, would you fall asleep? I dont think you would. Now you might sleep, but youd trade off, right? Youd take a session and youd sleep, then Ill sleep and so forth; but if your life depends on it, youre not going to fall asleep. In the Book of Acts 12, Herod Agrippa has Peter in prison. He has already killed James, the brother of John; and the Jews liked it. He wants to be popular, and he likes the response; so he decides hes going to kill Peter too. He imprisons Peter, and Peter is in jail and the church is praying. An angel comes and releases Peter from his bonds, and Peter walks out free. When the soldiers wake up in the morning, they find that Peter is no longer in the prison. They know their lives are at stake. We find the story in Acts 12:18 (page 1091), In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed. That was the punishment. Earlier in the Book of Acts in that chapter, we know that there are 16 of those guards from the Greek-16 men are killed at Herods hands. Herod can do anything he wants. He is the close friend of Emperor Caligula-childhood friends. So he has carblanche-do whatever you want. Hes like a little mini-dictator there. King Herod has those men killed. Why? Because they usurped their responsibility, and they let the prisoner go free. These men are not going to fall asleep. Lets say they did. Lets play along. You know, how hard would it be to move a one-ton plus stone in the middle of the night and not wake up the guards? Think about the ridiculousness of their story. My wife goes to bed early. Shes an early riser; Im a night owl, so invariably when I go to bed, shes sleeping. Shes also a light sleeper, so I try not to wake her up; but we have a board that when I step on it, it squeaks all the time. Ill come in the room and be really quiet and creak. Then shell start to stir. Ill go to the restroom real quick, and Ill try to shut the door. Shell wake up. Im trying to be as quiet as I possibly can. Its just me walking in the bedroom to go to bed, not saying a word and trying to tiptoe. Am I really supposed to believe that the Apostles are going to come, find the guards sleeping and theyre going to ever so quietly move a one-ton stone? You try that. Get a one-ton stone and try to quietly move it. Its so easy. Those one-ton stones just roll so smoothly and quietly. Come on! Lets be real! You know what the best explanation is? Its not that the ladies went to the wrong tomb. Its not that Jesus didnt really die from the sufferings and torture. Its not that the Jews took Him. Its not that the Disciples took Him. The explanation that makes by far the most sense-the only one thats rational-is that He rose from the dead, that He was who He said He was. With that promise, we have the hope of the Resurrection because if Christ did in fact rise from the dead, then the world and human beings are more than just physical; we are also spiritual. There is a part of us that will survive death. Paul talks about this in the Book of 1 Corinthians. He talks about the fact that the Resurrection of Jesus was not just the resuscitation of a corpse. Jesus resurrected body was different. He was still Jesus; He was still recognizable as Jesus, but He had changed. His body was now a body that could inhabit eternity. Paul writes and says that you and I one day will have a body like Jesus. Verse 12 of 1 Corinthians 15 (page 1139), Paul says, But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then now even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that He raised Christ from the dead. But He did not raise Him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. Thats it; its done. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. A new and improved you. My computer went on the fritz, and I depend a lot on my computer. It started to make a funny movement. It started to fade in and out; it took longer to boot up every time, and it would go off quickly. Over the period of days, it would boot up and go off real fast, and then it wouldnt even boot up at all. I said, My computer is sick. Then I finally said, My computer is dead. I took it to Apple to see the computer doctor. He took it in the back room. He came out after a few minutes, and he said, Your computer is dead. You need a new logic board. He said, Thats pretty expensive. Youre better off just getting a brand new laptop. My concern was this: I said, Listen, I understand that, but I just feel so bad. I started venting. I started pouring out my heart to this guy. I was like, I had my files on there. I had all the sites that I liked bookmarked. I had sermons on there. I had papers that Ive written on there. I had everything the way I wanted it, emails and everything. Im just sick about it. He said, Oh, we got all of those. We got all of those. He says, No problem. In this new computer, this desktop is going to look the same. All your bookmarks will still be there. All your scans will be there. All your files will be there; all your papers will be there. All your emails will be there. Itll just be a better computer. I was like, Slick. I took it home, I had sharper graphics. I had faster speed; I had a newer version, but I had the same old stuff that made it feel like it was my computer. No analogy is perfect, but the Bible says were going to get a new body, A new and improved you. A body that can inhabit eternity, but it will still be you. Jesus was still Jesus. You will still be you-your personality; your memories; the things that make you will still be you, but you will have a body like Christ that can inhabit eternity and live in the presence of God; a body without sin; a body that will not know pain or death. Its because of Christ; because of His obedience; His suffering; and His Resurrection. Were going to sing about that right now as we prepare to close out our service, Our God is Mighty to Save. (Here is a link to the lyrics: http://www.keepandshare.com/htm/music_lyrics/christian/mighty_to_save.php). Im going to ask if our team would come forward and lead us. Im going to ask if you would stand and prepare to sing to the Lord. As soon as were done, Ill come back and dismiss us in prayer and give a couple of announcements before we go home. Lord, were so thankful for Your Truth. It was no debate that the tomb was empty. The debate was why it was empty. When we lay out the facts, the only one that makes sense is that He is risen, that He is Lord. Because we have put our hope and trust in You, we have hope beyond the grave. The firstfruits have come, and we will live with You for all eternity through Jesus Christ our Lord. In the name of the risen Savior, we pray. All Gods people said, Amen.

An Interview with Chip Jacobs and William Kelly co-authors of Smogtown: The Lung-Burning History of Pollution in Los Angeles. The smog beast wafted into downtown Los Angeles on July 26, 1943. Nobody knew what it was. Secretaries rubbed their eyes. Traffic cops seemed to disappear in the mysterious haze. Were Japanese saboteurs responsible? A reckless factory? The truth was much worse--it came from within, from Southern California's burgeoning car-addicted, suburban lifestyle. Smogtown is the story of pollution, progress, and how an optimistic people confronted the epic struggle against airborne poisons barraging their hometowns. With wit, verve, and a fresh look at history, California based journalists Chip Jacobs and William J. Kelly highlight the bold personalities involved, the corporate- tainted science, the terrifying health costs, the attempts at cleanup, and how the smog battle helped mold the modern-day culture of Los Angeles. There are scofflaws aplenty and dirty deals, plus murders, suicides, spiritual despair, and an ever-present paranoia about mass disaster. Brimming with historic photographs, forgotten anecdotes, and new revelations about our environmentally precarious present, Smogtown is a journalistic classic for the modern age.