Tag Archives: Christianity

The Morning After

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(Let me start out by apologizing for this post being a day late in some parts of the world, but I was away.)

No, I’m not writing about a hangover. At least not the kind from consuming too much alcohol.

It’s the morning after the resurrection of Jesus and as in days of old, a feeling of jubilation continues to pervade the hearts of believers; a hangover of sorts.

On Thursday we attended the Last Supper. On Friday we witnessed the Crucifixion. Saturday we contemplated what was to come, and Sunday we celebrated the Resurrection.

Today, Easter Monday, we move on with the knowledge that something spectacular has taken place and there is no need for a cure for the morning after because Jesus, himself, is the cure for everything.

What To Do With Jesus

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In Christianity the week leading up to Easter Sunday is Holy Week, beginning with Palm Sunday which was last Sunday.

On that day, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey to shouts of acclamation from adoring crowds. However, there was also a crowd who hated Jesus and whose leader had him arrested to stand before Pontius Pilate, a Roman governor under the emperor of Tiberius in the 1st century.

Pilate could find no wrong in the man sent to him to be crucified, and didn’t know what to do with him. But to save his own position, he caved in to the demands of the angry mob and ordered his crucifixion, a horrible death, the capital punishment of the day.

In his sermon on Palm Sunday, our Pastor made a profound statement…”you and I need to decide what we are going to do with Jesus.”

It’s a decision we all have to make sooner or later…no escaping it. I know what I have done with Him. How about you?

 

Blessing or Curse?

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Jesus Christ!

To those of us who know about him, or better still, know him, just seeing these two words is a blessing. They fill us with hope, faith, peace, happiness, awe, expectation…

But to others, these two words are used as a curse. Why? Because they don’t know any better. They don’t realize that he was an actual man who walked the face of this earth over two thousand years ago; who was a born leader, a teacher, a philosopher, a son, a brother, a friend, miracle worker…

I prefer to believe this rather than think that people know of him and still use his name as a curse. That would not only be disrespectful, cruel, cutting, but blasphemous.

So why not use anyone’s name as a curse? There are plenty of historical names that could be used, names of people who were known as destroyers of humanity by their evil deeds. Or why not just any ordinary person’s name. Why not yours or mine?

The fact is Jesus Christ did once inhabit a place on this planet as do we today. The fact is that he does not deserve to have his name “dragged through the mud”.  The fact is that he obviously has a place in our consciousness or we would not be using his name in any way.

Whether or not we believe that this man was also the Son of God, it is incumbent upon us to rethink how we utter his name.

Jesus Christ!

Blessing or curse?

Now that you know…choose…

 

 

 

 

 

Such Good Company

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Here’s a list of people you may know who all have more than one thing in common:

Nicholas Copernicus                   1473-1543

Sir Francis Bacon                        1561-1627

Johannes Kepler                         1571-1630

Galileo                                           1564-1642

Rene Descartes                            1596-1650

Isaac Newton                                1642-1727

Robert Boyle                                1627-1691

Michael Faraday                          1791-1867

Gregor Mendez                            1822-1884

Wm. Thomson Kelvin                 1824-1907

Max Planck                                  1858-1947

Albert Einstein                            1879-1955

Not only were these people well known scientists, they all believed in God, as in the case of Sir Isaac Newton, the father of modern physics. He was a committed Christian who claimed the universe’s orderliness came from its creator.

Not being of scientific or academic mind, as a believer I am delighted to be in such good company.

 

Palm Sunday

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For those who do not know the Easter story here is a brief synopsis of Palm Sunday taken from the internet. Be blessed and enjoy this holy week.

Palm Sunday is the start of Holy Week, which is the week before Easter, commemorating events in the last days of Jesus Christ’s life. According to Christian belief, Jesus rode into Jerusalem where people gave him a hero’s welcome during the Jewish Passover celebration. They heard about his miracles and regarded him as the leader who would deliver them from the Roman Empire’s domination. They carried palm branches, which is a traditional symbol of victory, and spread them throughout the streets before him.

Many western churches have observed palm blessings and distributions to the congregation on Palm Sunday since the middle ages. Early references to Palm Sunday observations, including a procession and blessing of palms, go as far back as the fourth and eighth centuries. Many modern Christian churches, including the Catholic and eastern churches, as well as the Lutheran, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches celebrate Palm Sunday as part of Holy Week.

Tropical green palm leaf isolated on white with clipping path : Stock PhotoTropical green palm leaf isolated on white with clipping path : Stock Photo

 

Giving Up

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Many people, as a form of penance, either fast or give up something meaningful during the Lenten season. Others take on a new ritual such as daily prayer, devotions, Bible reading…whatever…to develop a closer relationship with God. Either way, it is a forty day exercise and can be very satisfying or disappointing; like keeping or breaking a New Year’s resolution. In any case, it is meant to be a disciplinary and meaningful experience.

So what if we were to give up…let’s say… holding grudges, withholding our love, disrespect for friends or family, or people in general, and other things that are detrimental to good relationships and good living; give up these things instead of coffee, wine, or our favorite dessert.

What if we don’t believe in Lent, have a Spiritual background, or just can’t be bothered?

Sometimes giving up something can be a very positive experience despite the above criteria. Sometimes giving up something can add a whole new meaning to life…not just at Lent but forever.

Sometimes giving up “giving up” is also something to think about. Hmmm.

 

 

Blessed Indeed

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Here is what I learned from MatthewRuttan.com/Up yesterday, and I quote:

Today’s Thought
Horatio Spafford lived in Chicago. And when the great fire of 1871 ripped through the city, not only did it destroy his home, but it destroyed much of his livelihood. (He was in real estate.)

Did I mention he had no insurance?

This was a huge blow at an already difficult time. The previous year he and his wife had lost their son to scarlet fever.

So now, having no home, he put his wife and four daughters on a ship back to England as he stayed behind to try and get things started again.

Shortly thereafter he got a telegram from his wife that said, “Saved alone. What shall I do?”

There had been a shipwreck at sea. All four of their daughters drowned.

Horatio got on a ship to go and meet his wife. As he passed over the very same waters where his daughters had lost their lives, he wrote some lyrics to a song. Some of you will know them very well:

“When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.”

These are the now-famous words to the hymn “It is well.”

How many of us can say, “It is well with my soul” even without going through the tragedies that Horatio did. There lived a man with great faith. When we get to that place in our lives, we will be blessed indeed.

What’s So Good about Good Friday?

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My claim to Christianity suffers much in my day to day life of trying to live up to the ideals of this religion. However, when it comes to the life and death and resurrection of Jesus, I am in awe.

Did Jesus die on a Friday? Does anyone really know? The scholars do, I’m sure, but I am not among the scholarly, and so, because I believe my early teachings, I accept that Friday it was. But what is so good about Good Friday if that was the day Jesus died his atoning death…because it was a brutal death…not good by any stretch of the imagination?

The good comes in looking forward to Easter Sunday, the day of Resurrection, that promised third day when life is restored to Jesus, the one who restored so many lives in bygone days, and died to restore so many more. What Joseph said to his brothers in Genesis 50:20: “You intended to harm me but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” comes to my mind when I think of that dreadful day of crucifixion. God intended it for good. Hence…Good Friday, the precursor to Easter Sunday.

God Bless and Happy Easter.