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April 4 -  Holy Week . . .                               (back)

Why was this week so important that three of the gospel writers (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) devote a full third of their contents to reporting this week, and The Fourth (John) dedicates its entire last half? Jerusalem, which had a normal population of about 50,000 at this time, had at least tripled in size because of the influx of pilgrims celebrating the Jewish holiday Passover. Early Sunday morning Jesus rides into Jerusalem as a king and a few days later he walks to a humiliating death. The last week of Jesus' life was crammed with events, as we follow him from his glorious entry into Jerusalem on Sunday until his death on Friday. In the days in between, he preached, taught, presided over the Passover supper, stood trial, and was condemned to death. This week we call Holy Week. Its chief days are named Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday.

Palm Sunday was the end of all privacy and safety, and the beginning of what would be an inevitable collision course with the religious and political authorities. Crowds began to gather to see the rabbi from Galilee. The procession began accompanied by shouting and singing from the throngs as they threw down their garments on the pathway to cushion his ride – an Oriental custom still observed on occasions – as well as palm fronds, the symbol of triumph. The Old Testament prophet Zechariah had foretold the arrival of the Messianic king in Jerusalem via the humble conveyance of a colt. Here the crowd hailed Jesus as “the son of David”, a loaded name used at a loaded time. The priestly establishment was understandably disturbed, as the palm was the national emblem of an independent Palestine. These were Jewish flags. What if Jesus should claim to be the heir of King David? (Recent archeological excavations have turned up Roman coins, which have the head of Tiberias (idolatrous to the Jewish subjects) but overstamped with a palm.)  See http://www.billpetro.com/HolidayHistory/hol/easter/palm.html for more information on Palm Sunday.

Palm Sunday

Christ is the central figure depicted seated upon a donkey.

The Disciples are the group of figures on the extreme left.

The Jewish people are the group of figures on the extreme right who came out to see Christ

after hearing that He had raised Lazarus from the dead.

The Children are depicted in front of the donkey carrying palm boughs.

The City of Jerusalem is depicted on the right in the background.

The Triumphal Entry

As the time approached for him

to be taken up to heaven,

Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.

As He went along,

people spread their cloaks on the road.

The whole crowd of disciples

began joyfully to praise God in loud voices

for all the miracles they had seen.

“Hosanna to the Son of David?

Blessed is he who comes

in the name of the Lord!”

“Blessed is the coming kingdom

of our father David!”

“Hosanna in the highest!”

When Jesus entered Jerusalem,

The whole city was stirred and asked,

“Who is this?”

The crowds answered,

“This is Jesus,

the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Lift up your heads, O you gates;

Be lifted up, you ancient doors,

that the King of glory may come in.

Who is the King of glory?

The Lord strong and mighty,

the Lord mighty in battle.

Who is He, this King of glory?

The Lord Almighty—

He is the King of glory.

Luke 9:51; 19:36; Matthew 21:8b; Luke 19:37b;

Matthew 21:9b: Mark 11:10; Matthew 21:10-11;

Psalm 24:7-8,10

Gethsamane

Before the dawn of Easter

There came Gethsemane...

Before the Resurrection

There were hours of agony...

For there can be no crown of stars

Without a cross to bear,

And there is no salvation

Without Faith and Love and Prayer,

And when we take our needs to God

Let up pray as did 

That dark night in Gethsemane-

"Thy Will, Not Mine, Be Done."

Helen Steiner Rice

Good Friday?

This is the day they call Good Friday.

This is the day when they nailed Jesus to the Cross.

This is the day when all hope was supposed to die.

This is the day when love was supposed to come to an end.

This is the day when the world was supposed to be lost... for ever.

This is the day when Satan was supposed to dance with joy.

This is the day when Man was doing his worst ... BUT

This is the day when God was doing His best.

April 11 - John 3:16 & One Guy Did Not . . .             (back)   

One Guy Did Not

3 guys were arrested as criminals
2 guys had committed crimes
1 guy did not

3 guys were given trials
2 guys had fair trials
1 guy did not

3 guys were whipped and beaten
2 guys deserved it
1 guy did not

3 guys were laughed at, spit at, cursed at
2 guys cursed and spit back
1 guy did not

3 guys were nailed to 3 crosses
2 guys deserved it
1 guy did not

3 guys agonized because they felt abandoned
2 guys had reason to feel abandoned
1 guy did not

3 guys talked on their crosses
2 guys argued
1 guy did not

3 guys knew death was coming
2 guys resisted
1 guy did not

1, 2, 3 guys died on those 3 crosses
2 guys died for their sins

1 guy died for their sins, my sins and your sins

3 days later
2 guys remained in the grave
1 guy did not

That 1 guy loved us enough to die for us
Thank Him today

His name is Jesus!

I'm leaving previous Easter items on the web site so you may continue to enjoy them and let your friends know about them.

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April 20 - The First Easter . . .                       (back)

Easter is THE central event in the life of the Church. There is nothing more important to a Christian then the sacrificial death and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God! Without these historical events, the Christian faith is worthless. As Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:14, ". . .if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith." 

But, such is not the case! The events that happened that first Easter continue to be the power, hope, and peace of the Christian's life, and foolishness to everyone else. It is my hope that you will celebrate the victory that is the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

STILL HE WALKED 

He could hear the crowds screaming "crucify," "crucify". . .

He could hear the hatred in their voices,

These were His chosen people. He loved them,

And they were going to crucify Him.

 He was beaten, bleeding and weakened . . . His heart was broken,

But still He walked.

He could see the crowd as He came from the palace.

He knew each of the faces so well. 

He had created them.

He knew every smile, laugh, and shed tear,

But now they were contorted with rage and anger . . . His heart broke,

But still He walked.

Was he scared?
You and I would have been
So his humanness would have mandated that he was. He felt alone.
His disciples had left, denied, and even betrayed him.
He searched the crowd for a loving face and he saw very few.
Then he turned his eyes to the only one that mattered
And he knew that he would never be alone.
He looked back at the crowd, at the people who were spitting at him,
Throwing rocks at him and mocking him and he knew
That because of him, they would never be alone.
So for them, He walked.

The sounds of the hammer striking the spikes echoed through the crowd.
The sounds of His cries echoed even louder,
The cheers of the crowd, as His hands and feet
Were nailed to the cross, intensified with each blow.

 Loudest of all was the still small voice
Inside His heart that whispered "I am with You, My Son",
And God's heart broke.
He had let His Son walk.

Jesus could have asked God to end his suffering,
But instead he asked God to forgive.
Not to forgive him, but to forgive the ones who were persecuting him.
As he hung on that cross, dying an unimaginable death,
He looked out and saw, not only the faces in the crowd,
But also, the face of every person yet to be,
And his heart filled with love.
As his body was dying, his heart was alive.
Alive with the limitless, unconditional love he feels for each of us.
That is why He walked.

 When I forget how much my God loves me,
I remember His walk.
When I wonder if I can be forgiven,
I remember His walk.

When I need a reminder of how to live like Christ, I think of His walk.
And to show Him how much I love Him,
I wake up each morning, turn my eyes to Him,
And I walk.

-- Author Unknown

OUR MISSION

Eyes brimming with tears,

They saw Him die.

Eyes blurred with confusion,

They saw the empty tomb.

Eyes wide with wonder,

They touched His pierced side and hands.

Eyes filled with awe,

They watched Him ascend into the heavens.

With single-eyed passion,
one purpose consumed them:
To tell every human being
what their eyes had seen
and their hands had touched.

Now it's our turn to continue their

rendition of God's love song.

~Dwight Whitsett~
from Urgent Revolution
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April 27 - He is Risen! . . .                        (back)      

He is Risen! 

"Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee."  Luke 24:5-6

The journey is complete! We have tenaciously marched from the manger and have found ourselves at the foot of the Cross. There can be no doubt that the journey has been long and sometimes torturous. We have watch the babe grow to a little boy who was rushed off to Egypt to preserve His life. We have observed as He went about His Father's business in the Temple - only to return to the carpenter's shop in Nazareth for further preparation. We went with Him up the mount of temptation - and saw Him victorious over the sins we so easily succumb to. We rejoiced in the miracle of the wine at the wedding feast. We marveled at the healings, and the teachings, and the promises made and kept of power and authority yet to come. All of this has led us to the hill of crucifixion. And we have heard our Master cry as the Father turned His back on His only begotten Son.

We could stay here and weep for the losses of things yet unseen. We could mourn the death of the last hope we had. We could spend an eternity weeping over the sins, our sins, that hung Him there.

But the cross is not the end. It is just a way station on the path to eternity. It is on the cross that our sins are nailed. It is at the foot of the cross that our burdens are lifted. It is here that our life ends - and begins. It is here that we must die to our own desires, our own selfish motivations, and live for the glory of One far greater than ourselves.

No, the cross is not the end. It is the means to the empty tomb. And the empty tomb is the symbol that makes Christianity different from all other religions. It is the empty tomb that gives us hope. It is the empty tomb that gives us life - life eternal. It would be travesty if we were to forget the empty tomb. It would be a slap in the face of the loving Father if we were to stay at the cross. He, the Father, provided the release from sin at the cross. But He did not limit that blessing. He brought forth a greater blessing in the empty tomb. He brought joy and happiness and peace through that gaping hole in the ground.

Let us move from the foot of the cross to the empty tomb and on to the joyous life of service to the King of Kings - the one who laughed at death so we could laugh at death - the one who scorned sin so that we could scorn sin - the one who claimed His rightful inheritance from Satan so that we might share in it. Yes, we must take up our crosses daily, but they have been changed from a burden of debt to a gift of great joy.

No, it is not wrong that the cross has been gilded and hung around our necks. The empty cross is simply a reminder that the tomb is also empty and that our lives are now full of the grace and glory and peace and love and joy that rightfully belongs to the sons and daughters of the King! Hallelujah!

March 24 - Only Borrowed . . .              (back)

Only Borrowed

 When Christ was born in Bethlehem, the Lord of all the earth, 

There was no room in house or inn for such a noble birth. 

In vain they sought through city streets, and Mary greatly sorrowed, 

At last they found a manger bed, but it was only borrowed. 

The Baby Jesus grew and grew, waxed strong with God and man, 

And when at Thirty years of age His public life began, 

He had no place to lay His head, for that He never sorrowed, 

For when His strength with cares was rent, a place to rest He borrowed. 

When to Jerusalem He rode through shouts of loud acclaim, 

They hailed Him King, and sounded forth Hosanna to His name, 

He did not ride a royal coach, for that He never sorrowed; 

He meekly rode an Ass’s colt and it was only borrowed. 

When in the shadow of the cross He with His friends did dine, 

In memory of His sacrifice He blessed the bread and wine; 

He had no room to be a host to His close friends who sorrowed, 

He took them to the upper room and it was only borrowed. 

This world had naught to offer Christ that He could call His own, 

Except a crown of thorns, and cross where He could die, alone. 

While bearing it up Calvary’s hill, beneath its load He sorrowed. 

The cross He bore, the crown He wore were His; they were not borrowed. 

They took His body from the cross, mid mockery and scorn, 

And laid it in a new-hewn tomb awaiting Easter morn. 

He broke the hush of death, came forth, and greeted those who sorrowed; 

Death could not hold the Son of God, the tomb was only borrowed.

And now we share the Easter joy of heralding the story

That Christ is not in Joseph’s tomb, But reigning up in glory.

God only loaned Him to this world Because in sin it sorrowed;

He bore the load of sin for all; Yes, Christ was only borrowed!

March 31 - What is Crucifixion?  . . .                   (back)

Excerpts from an article by C. Truman Davis, M.D., M.S. located at 

http://www.webedelic.com/church/allart.htm provides the following physical description:  

The cross is placed on the ground and the exhausted man is quickly thrown backwards with his shoulders against the wood. The legionnaire feels for the depression at the front of the wrist. He drives a heavy, square wrought iron nail through the wrist deep into the wood. Quickly he moves to the other side and repeats the action, being careful not to pull the arms too tightly, but to allow some flex and movement. The cross is then lifted into place. The left foot is pressed backward against the right foot, and with both feet extended, toes down, a nail is driven through the arch of each, leaving the knees flexed. The victim is now crucified.

As he slowly sags down with more weight on the nails in the wrists, excruciating fiery pain shoots along the fingers and up the arms to explode in the brain--the nails in the wrists are putting pressure on the median nerves. As he pushes himself upward to avoid this stretching torment, he places the full weight on the nail through his feet. Again he feels the searing agony of the nail tearing through the nerves between the bones of his feet. As the arms fatigue, cramps sweep through his muscles, knotting them, deep relentless throbbing pain. With these cramps comes the inability to push himself upward to breathe. Air can be drawn into the lungs but not exhaled. He fights to raise himself in order to get even one small breath. Finally, carbon dioxide builds up in the lungs and in the blood stream, and the cramps partially subsided. Spasmodically, he is able to push himself upward to exhale and bring in life-giving oxygen. Hours of limitless pain, cycles of twisting, joint renting cramps, intermittent partial asphyxiation, searing pain as tissue is torn from his lacerated back as he moves up and down against rough timber. Then another agony begins: a deep, crushing pain deep in the chest as the pericardium slowly fills with serum and begins to compress the heart. It is now almost over--the loss of tissue fluids has reached a critical level and the compressed heart is struggling to pump heavy, thick, sluggish blood into the tissues while the tortured lungs are making frantic effort to gasp in small gulps of air. He can feel the chill of death creeping through his tissues... Finally, he can allow his body to die...All this the Bible records with the simple words, "and they crucified Him" (Mark 15:24). 

What wondrous love is this? Many people don't know the pain and suffering our Lord, Jesus Christ went through for us. Because of the brutality, crucifixion was given as a sentence to only its worst offenders of the law. Thieves, murderers, and rapists would be the types of creeps who got crucified. Yet, here Jesus is being crucified between two hardened criminals... What did Jesus do? Did he murder anyone? Did he steal anything? The answer, as we all know, is NO!! Jesus did nothing to deserve this type of death, yet he went willing to die, in between two thieves, so that we might be saved. And there, in between the sinners, was our savior slain for our sins. 

Romans 10:9 "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and BELIEVE IN YOUR HEART that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Saying this with sincerity is all you have to do, and it's amazing that there are so many people out there that can't do it. Even more amazing is that someone will read this about what he went through and still won't do it.  

Please confess that Jesus is Lord 

and ask Him into YOUR heart 

so that you may receive eternal life!  

 March 31 - Easter Heavenly Top Ten . . .          (back)                

Excuses! Have you ever made one? Have you ever heard one? If you're out of diapers and able to walk and talk, I bet the answer is "yes" on both accounts! We live in a world that transfers blame and rationalizes wrongdoing. We fudge on legalities and hide behind lawyers, bureaucracies, or contemporaries. Well, just so that you know such developments are "nothing new under the sun," let's have a look at the Easter 1999 Edition of the Heavenly Top Ten which is:  

  10.  "I thought he was the pizza delivery guy leaving. No wondered he smiled when I tried to give him a tip!"

  9.  "I was putting another denarius in the chariot meter!"

  8.  "With the earth shakin' and all the bright lights, we figured we were abducted by aliens!"

  7.  "Since the tomb was already empty when the stone was rolled away, I'm afraid you're speaking to the wrong department. Let me give you a BR#245-A-Res form and direct you to Burial Services."

  6.  "As we've already stated several times before, according to the legal definition of "escape", we emphatically deny any wrongdoing in this matter!"

  5.  "We was HYPNO-TIZED! Centurion Bobicus is still clucking like a chicken!"

  4.  "You told us to secure the tomb as best as we know how (Mat. 27:65). We did! May I suggest an assessment of our current training program?

  3.  "All I know is, this better not mess up my early retirement package!

  2.   "Hey! What'd you expect? Did you tell us we were guarding the Son of God?--NOOOOOOOOO!"

And the number one excuse given by the guards at the empty tomb is:

  1.  "What's the big deal? He said He'd be back!"