Christ is Risen from the Dead! Come Awake!

Broken for Me, Broken for You...

Hear the Bells Ringing, They're Singing!!!!

Christ is Risen From the Dead!!!

WE REMEMBER!

The Victor!!!!

He's bursting through the walls with laughter...

the gates of death are crumbling from the inside out!!!

It is finished...

He has done it....

Life conquers death...

Jesus Christ Has Won It!

You Can't Keep A Good Man Down!

(No, you can't...)

Christos anesti! Alithos anesti! Christus resurrexit!

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!





There aren't enough words to describe our JOY today, but here's one way to try

HE IS RISEN! HE IS RISEN, INDEED!

Lent Day 40: DARK

We can only imagine the abject terror that filled the hearts of

Jesus' followers on this day some 2000 years ago...

It was surely an unimaginable dark nightmare for them.

At times, God puts us through the

discipline of darkness

to teach us to heed Him.

Song birds are taught to sing in the dark, and

we are put into the shadow of God’s hand until we learn to hear Him…

Are you in the dark just now in your circumstances,

or in your life with God?

…When you are in the dark,

listen, and God will give you

a very precious message for someone

when you get in the light.


~Oswald Chambers,

My Utmost for His Highest, reading for February 14

Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.
Psalm 63:7

Lent Day 40: WAIT

Black Saturday- The Silence of the Tomb

Today is the day we call “Holy Saturday,” or more appropriately “Black Saturday.” Today, after the pain and suffering of Good Friday, everything, more than ever, is silent as we WAIT for God. On Black Saturday, the Lord Jesus lies dead in His tomb, a shroud over Him. Take a moment to think about that and what it means. His tomb is wrapped in stony silence- the silence of death. As he had predicted, his frightened disciples are scattered and in hiding.

If we take time to recall, we are reminded that silence is a method God uses to speak to us. Silence such as this is not at all lack of communication; it refers not so much to the absence of sound and activity, but to a deeper awareness of things. The essence of the silence of Holy Saturday provides us with an understanding of the deep, essentialness of God in our lives. For, when we taste even the slightest withdrawal of Him from our presence, it is then that we understand fully that it is only in Him that we live and move and breathe.

In Hebrew the word ‘Shema’ means ‘listen to this’ or ‘hear this.’ In fact, a more accurate translation of the word ‘Shema’implies that you listen or hear and then act upon it. The title comes from Deut 6:3 which says, “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God! The LORD is One!”

In the quiet of Holy Saturday, God bids you to take action and listen for His voice...


.

Today, on Black Saturday, take some time in thinking about your life for a while. Perhaps recently, there is an area or aspect in your life where you are having difficulty finding God: it may be in prayer, a relationship, at work, at home, or some personal issues you may be facing. In other words, there may be an “empty tomb” in your life...

Maybe God is inviting you this Holy Week to "roll away the stone" and to look for Him in the very emptiness and silence of that place.




If this is what you are feeling, God may be inviting you to Embrace his silence, which is the Silence of the Empty tomb…the Silence of His Hidden Presence in your life.

In order to sense God’s presence in the ordinary and to recognize his action, even in our suffering and wounds, we need the silence of the empty tomb.




This Holy Saturday, may you find a sense of peace in the quiet anticipation of this day. May the commemoration of this day remind you that, like Jesus' tomb, even in the stillness and silence and in the areas of your life that seem dead and irredeemable, God is present and actively working out His plan of redemption and reconciliation.

Good Friday, LENT DAY 39: MOCK

On Good Friday, as Jesus was hanging upon the cross, the mockers milling around at the base of the cross yelled up at him, “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross and we will believe you.”

Where have we heard these words before? Who was speaking through those who mocked Jesus on Good Friday? The words of those who were mocking Jesus on Good Friday sound eerily similar to the words that Satan used in the desert ("If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down...").

No doubt, Satan and his banished band laughed at the the foot of the cross. Their glee can be heard, even now 2000+ years later through the voices of the people who they animated with their vitriole.

The mocking must have been unbearable to hear, both for Our Lord and for the small band of onlookers that were His friends and family. They did not have the advantage that we have- the advantage of hindsight.

Neither those who were spouting vitriole, nor Jesus' faithful handful, knew how the story was going to unfold...But Jesus knew...

Darkness enveloped the world that day. I do not believe we can fully grasp the despair that must have been felt...

Perhaps a Still Small Voice spoke to the hearts of those faithful onlookers in order to steel their faith and said:

It’s Friday- But Sunday’s Coming!

Perhaps they began to understand at a core level Jesus' teaching about the "Sign of Jonah"...We do not know for sure.

On this Good Friday, let us remember the mocking that Jesus bore...
Let it be a reminder to us when we are assaulted and mocked by our Enemy and his minions... although we may not know the outcome, Jesus knows...

Let us know, as truly as we can know any truth...
Even on Our Darkest Day- We Know The Light!

Here is a Campolo Classic for you today…




Lift Up Your Heads, Rejoice!



May Your Day Be Filled With The AWE of It All!

For God DID NOT send His Son into
the world to condemn the world,
but that the world, through Him,
might be saved.
~John 3:17

Lent Day 38: LOVE

Maundy Thursday

Blessed Maundy Thursday! The word "maundy" comes from Middle English and French and means "command". And so today, on the day where Jesus had his Last Supper and commanded his followers to always remember him, may we reflect on the idea that he bore the darkness of the cross so that we could step out into the light and be the adopted Children of Light.

Let us use this day to reflect on the words of the Apostle John:

John 13:34-35 (Contemporary English Version)
But I am giving you a new command. You must love each other, just as I have loved you. If you love each other, everyone will know that you are my disciples.

In these verses he expounded upon Jesus’ command, and described what it means to be His disciples.

May you love as you are loved...
may others know you are a disciple by your love...

Lent, Day 37, Holy Wednesday: PRAY

Holy Wednesday



On this Wednesday of Holy Week, May you take some quiet time to contemplate THE PRICE that was paid for YOU, and the PRAYERS that were made for you...because you are PRECIOUS IN HIS SIGHT! Thank you Jesus!



As we remember the time Christ spent in Gethsemane, we remember to carve out time to “have prayer” with God. When we stop talking at God…when we sit in the silence and are willing to listen and wait…we WILL hear His voice.

To the One who rode in on a donkey rather than a war horse- We pledge allegiance! ~Shane Claiborne

DID YOU KNOW: The Palm Sunday story is in all four gospels, yet Jesus' birth narrative is in only two?

Be blessed on this VERY important day!

May you each feel the deep solemnity and joy of this Holy Week.

HOSANNA IN THE HIGHEST!

...To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Eph 3:21)

Fourth Suday of Lent- Laetare Sunday: Midpoint of Lent

Today is "Rose Sunday" also called Laetare Sunday, or Refreshment Sunday because, on this Fourth Sunday during Lent we are half way through Lent and take the time today to lighten up a little. Laetare means "REJOICE!" We take a break from focusing on the penitence and austerity of Lent on THIS DAY to focus on JOY DESPITE DIFFICULTY!

You can read more about the significance of this day in the Liturgical Calender here

Today's Scripture Passage:

Isaiah 54 (The Message)

Spread Out! Think Big!


1-6 "Sing, barren woman, who has never had a baby.
Fill the air with song, you who've never experienced childbirth!
You're ending up with far more children
than all those childbearing women." God says so!
"Clear lots of ground for your tents!
Make your tents large. Spread out! Think big!
Use plenty of rope,
drive the tent pegs deep.
You're going to need lots of elbow room
for your growing family.
You're going to take over whole nations;
you're going to resettle abandoned cities.
Don't be afraid—you're not going to be embarrassed.
Don't hold back—you're not going to come up short.You'll forget all about the humiliations of your youth,
and the indignities of being a widow will fade from memory.
For your Maker is your bridegroom,
his name, God-of-the-Angel-Armies!
Your Redeemer is The Holy of Israel,
known as God of the whole earth.
You were like an abandoned wife, devastated with grief,
and God welcomed you back,
Like a woman married young
and then left," says your God.

7-8Your Redeemer God says:
"I left you, but only for a moment.
Now, with enormous compassion, I'm bringing you back.
In an outburst of anger I turned my back on you—
but only for a moment.
It's with lasting love
that I'm tenderly caring for you.

9-10"This exile is just like the days of Noah for me:
I promised then that the waters of Noah
would never again flood the earth.
I'm promising now no more anger,
no more dressing you down.
For even if the mountains walk away
and the hills fall to pieces,
My love won't walk away from you,
my covenant commitment of peace won't fall apart."
The God who has compassion on you says so.

11-17"Afflicted city, storm-battered, unpitied:
I'm about to rebuild you with stones of turquoise,
Lay your foundations with sapphires,
construct your towers with rubies,
Your gates with jewels,
and all your walls with precious stones.
All your children will have God for their teacher—
what a mentor for your children!
You'll be built solid, grounded in righteousness,
far from any trouble—nothing to fear!
far from terror—it won't even come close!
If anyone attacks you,
don't for a moment suppose that I sent them,
And if any should attack,
nothing will come of it.
I create the blacksmith
who fires up his forge
and makes a weapon designed to kill.
I also create the destroyer—
but no weapon that can hurt you has ever been forged.
Any accuser who takes you to court
will be dismissed as a liar.
This is what God's servants can expect.
I'll see to it that everything works out for the best."
God's Decree.