Easter
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Thursday, April 1st, 2021
I was on my way to the office this morning (Thursday) and was listening to Kutless. I have been listening to them lately and I’m sure I heard this song but never paid much attention.
Until this morning.
I realized how pertinent it was given the meaning of this whole week. The day we honor tomorrow (Good Friday). The day we celebrate on Sunday (Resurrection).
And the ache we have in our hearts for those we know and/or love who have continued to push Jesus away. I know I do. I offer this to you to be encouraged to not stop praying and hoping. It is never too late until that last breath is breathed. Until then…
Here is the song.
Posted in Christian living, Compassion, Death, Doctrine, Easter, Family, Forgiveness, Friendship, Grace, Opinion, Pick me Up, Resurrection, Story, The Cross | 2 Responses »
Monday, March 29th, 2021
Perhaps you have heard this story before. Maybe not. Since I have never read Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities I can’t say I have except in a passing glance. But I used the following story in my sermon yesterday and since it is the week leading up to the crucifixion and resurrection, I thought I would start your week off with a thought-provoking story.
A man named Charles Darnay is condemned to die by the guillotine. In our vernacular, all means of appeal had been made. The verdict kept coming back “Guilty.” “Condemned.”
As he sat in his cell and thought about his wife and child, he heard the shuffling of feet in the stone passage, a turning of a key, and a quick open and shut door. With a finger to his lips, Sidney Carton stood face-to-face before Darnay with a slight smile on his face. This man had come to trade places with Darney. Carton, an innocent man, is willing to go to the guillotine so that Darnay can be free to live and rejoin his family.
After the exchange has been made, and prisoners are gathered to be taken to their execution, a little seamstress approaches him. “Are you dying for him?” she whispered. “And his wife and child,” he replied.
Sidney Carton died so that another might live. But as great as his act was, it still does compare with what Christ has done for us. You see, Carton died for 3 people. Jesus died not for just three, not for a hundred, but millions upon millions of people. Jesus died mercifully for a humanity caught in rebellion against God. By His death Jesus reconciled us (made us friends) with God.
Romans 5:8 says, “God demonstrates his love for us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Think on that truth as we begin this final week leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus.
Posted in Death, Doctrine, Easter, Jesus, Opinion, Pick me Up, Scripture look, The Cross | 6 Responses »
Friday, March 26th, 2021
Hey! Thanks for dropping by my blog. I had planned on posting one more time before this weekend but a quick and last minute trip to Ohio to visit with our daughter and grandson took precedence and me out of the loop. So I’m playing a little bit of catch up and this is one of those places. I have to forego the post I was going to do and post this one instead.
The old hymn used the refrain, “So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross/’Til my trophies at last I’ll lay down.” The question which begs to be asked is, “How can someone cherish the cross? What we know of it and the horrors and torture which surrounded it says anything but “cherish.” It was an ugly instrument of death.
The past two weeks I have been looking at the cross and will do the same this week. This Sunday is commonly called Palm Sunday because it showcases the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem surrounded by followers laying palm branches on the ground. It introduces what is called Holy Week, so-called because it is the last week of Jesus’ earthly life/ministry before His crucifixion and resurrection. Some have called this week and crucifixion as being the week where we get to see a perfect example of cosmic child abuse. Progressive “Christianity” is whacked and the purveyors of it are complicit in its and their “whackness.”
The cross was absolutely essential to the story of salvation. Take away the cross and you take away the heart of the whole story. The Bible tells us this is the way it had to be! JESUS DIED WILLINGLY, laying down His life on His own accord. He wasn’t forced or tricked or blackmailed or threatened with the extinction of His people. He did all of this willingly. In fact, Hebrews 12 says, “For the joy set before Him.”
My purpose this Sunday is to show the heart of the cross. I want to show how Jesus defied common wisdom and practice and instead of whining and crying and fighting, He willingly laid down His life for me, for you.” I even have a great story which Charles Dickens included in The Tale of Two Cities which I will be using in the sermon. (If you are unable to watch or attend and are good, I will include it in a post this coming week). 🙂
Please join me in person or online on the church’s FB page or YouTube channel. You can check out the church’s website for those links. And as always, if you are unable to do either, please pray for me, for us. Thanks.
Posted in Church, Doctrine, Easter, Forgiveness, God, Opinion, Preaching, Sermon Series/Topic, Story, The Cross | 2 Responses »
Sunday, March 14th, 2021
Yesterday I preached on the Shadow of the Cross. In my last post, I mentioned there were 6 lessons from a book I planned to use during the sermon and then I was going to post here. I’d like to share three here and then three in the next post.
#1- The shadow of the cross teaches us who we are. The cross should and must humble us. Very few of us look at ourselves with humility. Instead, we compare and tell ourselves we aren’t really too bad. We need to rekindle the thoughts we had when we initially were saved-a sinner in need of and saved by grace.
#2- The shadow of the cross teaches us what we need. The cross teaches me I need inward change. I don’t need to change my circumstances, my lot in life, my place of living, or even a physical change. I need an inward, heart change. And here is the kicker: I am incapable of making this change happen on my own.
#3- The shadow of the cross teaches us who God is. Bluntly put: He is God and I am not. But it goes much deeper than that. The cross teaches me that God is unrelentingly merciful. The cross teaches me God is full of grace. The cross teaches me that He is the One who wants to be in charge and I am incapable of managing and running my own life. When God takes over ownership of my life, He wants to be the One in charge. He does not need a backseat driver telling Him what to do with my life.
The main ideas are from the book by Paul David Tripp entitled Journey to the Cross. The commentary is mine. As you think about the upcoming season of the cross and Resurrection Sunday I hope this helps put things in perspective. I will post the next three on Wednesday.
Posted in Doctrine, Easter, God, Jesus, Lent, Opinion, The Cross | 4 Responses »
Friday, March 12th, 2021
I missed Ash Wednesday. Well, not really. I was aware of it. I knew when it came (and went). But since I am not from a tradition that typically observed/observes it, I often consider it just another day on the calendar. However, I do try to be more aware of its significance. I do know that Ash Wednesday is the start of what we call the “Easter season.” It is the start of the 40 day journey to Resurrection Sunday.
I may sound somewhat cynical here but please don’t take it as being any less sincere: I don’t need a reminder of how sinful I am. I see that every day-whether as I read my Bible, journal, interact with people, or just live my life. I feel like the Apostle Paul in Romans 7:15- “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” Busted!
But thank God for the cross!! A most unusual psalm fits in right here: Psalm 130. That psalm is the basis for my sermon Sunday on the shadow of the cross. I’m borrowing from Paul David Tripp’s new book, Journey to the Cross for this message. He gives 6 lessons the shadow of the cross teaches us. They will be the first part of my message followed by a look at Psalm 130. I also plan to share those 6 lessons in two posts next week. I’d love to have you join me and the church I pastor either in person or online. And as always, if you are unable to do so, then prayer is always appreciated.
I’ll close this post with words from a Petra song: “Never perfect, but perfectly forgiven…This is life as we know it forgiven and free, life as we know it more abundantly.” (Life As We Know It)
Posted in Doctrine, Easter, Forgiveness, Lent, Opinion, Preaching, Salvation, Sermon Series/Topic, The Cross | 4 Responses »
Wednesday, February 17th, 2021
Today is an important day for several reasons: one personal and one spiritual.
The spiritual first. Today, February 17th, is the beginning of Lent, or Ash Wednesday. Lent is the 40 days before the day we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus. This year that will be April 4th. I must confess to you that growing up in the church tradition I belonged to we did not observe Lent. I was so naive about it that I almost went up to a teacher who had a dark spot in the middle of his forehead and told him he had dirt there. 🙂 I had no clue! I also know some of my friends would talk about giving up something for Lent. Again, I had no clue. My teacher was Catholic, as were my friends, and I now know that was a significant aspect of their belief system. It had to be only 15 or so years ago that I really gave any notice to Lent. I heard some folks talking and decided it would behoove me to know more. For several years I decided to give it a go so one year I gave up caffeine pop. Another year I gave up beef (which wasn’t really hard since I didn’t eat it much anyway). One year I gave up all pop and drank only water. Then I finally figured out it really wasn’t about giving up something; it was really about surrender.
In his book, Journey to the Cross, a 40 day devotional to be used during Lent, Paul David Tripp writes: “It is right and beneficial to take a season of the year to reevaluate, recalibrate, and have the values of our hearts clarified once again. Lent is such a season. As we approach Holy Week, where we remember the sacrifice, suffering, and resurrection of our Savior, it’s good to give ourselves to humble and thankful mourning. Lent is about remembering the suffering and sacrifice of the Savior. Lent is about confessing our ongoing battle with sin…And Lent is about giving ourselves in a more focused way to prayer, crying out for help that we desperately need from the only One who is able to give it.” (Pages 8-9)
I no longer use Lent to give up something physical. I try to use it to do just what Tripp says: “to reevaluate, recalibrate, and have the values of my heart clarified once again.” May I challenge you to do the same? I have been reading his book in preparation for my sermons on the cross and the resurrection. I’m actually on Day 17…and no I didn’t plan it that way. Perhaps you might even consider getting a copy of his book to help guide you.
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On a more personal note: this day has some significance. Many of you know of my struggles physically since testing positive for Covid on December 21. I will spare you the ugly details. Let’s just suffice it to say I lost between 40-50 pounds in less than a month. After multiple tests they have narrowed it down to gall stones which lodged in my bile duct which caused my physical issues. After having them removed, it was highly recommended that I have my gall bladder removed. My words: I have a gravel pit in there. Oddly enough, I NEVER had a moment of pain. However much I hated getting Covid, it actually alerted my doctors (and me) to the potential for a great amount of pain and the possibility of infection which could have caused serious issues down the road. So I am having my gall bladder removed today. I guess that gives new meaning to Lent being a time of giving up something? 🙂 By the time many (most) of you read this my surgery will probably be over. I am hoping for the laparoscopy so I can come home today. All I ask is that whenever you read this you do say a prayer. I would like to recover as quickly as possible. On the bright side: we were “blessed” with 8-9 inches of snow Monday and Tuesday morning so I can’t be outside riding my bike anyway. But I have been riding inside and am praying for a good answer to my question: when can I start riding inside again? I’ll keep you posted on how things went. Meanwhile, I do ask for your prayers. For more on this whole process and how I am “seeing” it, please check out my other blog here.
Posted in Church, Cycling, Doctrine, Easter, Exercise, Faith, Family, Health, Jesus, Lent, Opinion, Prayer, Story | 8 Responses »
Sunday, April 12th, 2020
Today we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. It is not quite the Resurrection Sunday celebration we were anticipating that’s for sure. The past few years we have had one service at a local venue (Abram Farm) that allowed us to be all together as one church family. This year was already going to be different due to the company that normally did our sound having to beg off this year. So, in spite of the graciousness of Bill & Suzie Abram, the owners of the venue, we were going to have two services at our building.
Then COVID-19 happened. Suddenly, we went from Abram Farm to our church building to a virtual celebration. But there is a great lesson here! The grave could not contain Him. What in the world would make us think a virus could? So we celebrate anyway. Virtually.
More could be said. But I’m not going to belabor the point. So I say, “Celebrate! Jesus is alive in our hearts. He is alive in our worship. He is alive seated at the right hand of His Father. Celebrate!” I’d like ask you to listen to an old song. In my mind, one of the best Easter songs you don’t even know by my favorite Christian group of all time.
Posted in Doctrine, Easter, Jesus, Music video, Truth | 10 Responses »
Saturday, April 11th, 2020
Sunday, Resurrection Day, is the official end to Lent. A sad time ends in a time of rejoicing.
Pastor and author John MacArthur once said:
Neutrality is not an option. Either Jesus rose and rightly demands your attention, repentance, trust and obedience, or he stayed dead. If He only became a rotting corpse why should you follow Him?” {Quoted by Andrew Warnock in Risen With Christ}
Although I don’t always agree with his views on some things, Biblical scholar N. T. Wright made this statement:
The only possible reason why early Christianity began and took the shape that it did is that the tomb really was empty and that people really did meet Jesus, alive again.
Hard to argue with either one. Resurrection Sunday is the crowning event of our belief system. Take away the resurrection and WE. HAVE. NOTHING. Peter knew it. Paul most certainly knew it (he devoted a whole chapter to it. See I Corinthians 15).
Rise up followers of Christ! Do not despair! If the grave could not contain Him, how in the world and why in the world do we get this crazy notion some virus will? So the church is not meeting in a building. Good! Meet in homes. Meet with friends. Meet with loved ones. Invite others to join in the party. Celebrate the RESURRECTION OF JESUS with me!!
Bet you can’t guess what my sermon will be about tomorrow!! 🙂 See you on the church FB page at 10:00.
Posted in Church, Doctrine, Easter, Lent, Preaching, Sermon Series/Topic, Truth | Comments Off on #LentEnding#33
Friday, April 10th, 2020
Today, April 10,2020 is Good Friday. A day of sickness and death for many, but for people all over the globe it is a day with a different meaning,
From Darkness to Light.
From Pitch Black to Blinding Luminescence.
From Dark Rumbling Clouds to Glorious Sunshine.
From Hatred to Love.
From Loss to Gain
From Loser to Winner.
From Death to Life.
It’s Friday…but Sunday’s Coming!
Posted in Death, Doctrine, Easter, Lent, Resurrection, Story, The Cross, Truth | 3 Responses »
Thursday, April 9th, 2020
Not growing up in a religious tradition that observed the traditional trappings of a holiday like Easter is a learning experience. No, I did not grow up as part of the Jehovah Witness cult. I grew up in an independent Christian Church that had two pastors from Moody. So you might as well say I grew up Baptist. However, I went away to a college from the independent group after getting a new pastor who favored that tradition (denomination), but claim no allegiance to anymore. While I had heard of Good Friday and we often went to Good Friday services our church observed with other churches in the community, there were still some phrases and “special days” I was ignorant of.
I had never heard of or observed Lent. To me, lent was something you did for someone else. They wanted to borrow something so you “loaned” it to them. You lent it to them. So when I got deeper into church work, I heard of Lent but still never made a big deal about it.
Speaking of Lent, how about Ash Wednesday? That was a new one to me as well. I do remember being in high school and one of my teachers, Mr. Bano, had this smudge mark in the middle of his forehead. I can remember sitting there wondering, “Does he know? Should I tell him?” The wiser Bill said to keep my business to myself. I reckon that was a good thing. He was Catholic and that was part of his tradition…but I didn’t know.
Today is a day called Maundy Thursday. What in the world is that? I found out it was the day Jesus washed the disciples’ feet during what is known as the Last Supper the night He was betrayed. Maundy is from the Latin word which means “command” and finds its meaning in when Jesus told His disciples “A new command I give you; Love one another.” Okay, sounds plausible although I still am lost as to why that has been made into a holy day.
Then there is Good Friday. As if the crucifixion can be seen as “good.” But you and I know it can and will continue to be for all those who know Jesus. While some skeptics call it cosmic child abuse, I call it “essential.” Without that cross, I have nothing. No forgiveness of sins. No answer to my shame. And then there is…
Resurrection Sunday!! Now THAT I know! Without it I have no hope, no purpose, no reason to live. So no matter what tradition you belong to-one that observes all the holy days of the last week of Jesus or one that doesn’t (like me then and now), the resurrection is the game-changer. We are drawing closer to that celebration. Keep your eyes looking ahead. In fact, maybe you might want to keep one eye on the sky as well.
Posted in Church, Easter, Lent, Opinion, Story, The Cross, Truth | 3 Responses »
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