Month: March 2024

After the Sabbath, as the first light of the new week dawned, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to keep vigil at the tomb. Suddenly the earth reeled and rocked under their feet as God’s angel came straight down from heaven, and came straight up to where they were standing. He rolled back the stone and then sat on it. They were so frightened, they couldn’t move. The angel spoke to the women, “There is nothing to fear here. I know you are looking for Jesus, the One they nailed to the cross. He is not here. He was raised from the dead just like He said. Now get on your way quickly and tell His disciples. “He is risen from the dead, He is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see Him there. Matthew 28:1-7 selected verses

Easter comes to give us a fresh revelation of God’s love for us so that, as Paul says, “we will be able to take in the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love.” The word extravagant is defined as “going above all that’s expected or deserved.” On the cross, Jesus went to extravagant measures to show His love for us, and this love comes with no strings attached and costs us nothing.

What does His extravagant love look like? Picture the cross. If we were the only person who ever lived, Jesus would have still died just for us. The following story illustrates it perfectly.

In medieval times, a priest in a European village invited his morning congregation to “Come back tonight for a special sermon about Jesus.” Curious, many came back that night to find the sanctuary in darkness and the priest nowhere to be found. As they groped their way to the pews and sat down, they heard the priest walking down the aisle to the front. When he reached the cross that hung on the wall, he lit a single candle.

Without saying a word, he lifted the candle to illuminate the pierced feet of Jesus, then His side, then one nail pierced hand, then the other. Raising the candle, he shed light on the bloodied face and the crown of thorns. With a puff, he extinguished the light and dismissed the congregation. Nothing more needed to be said. The words, “Christ crucified” and “for me” were evidence of His extravagant love for us.

The Easter message is that the crucifixtion wasn’t the end. Christ rose and lives to love us with His extravagant love. In Easter Earthquake, James A. Harnish explores the earthshaking promise of Jesus’ resurrection. “Easter Sunday shatters the power of fear,” he writes, “because Christ is risen, we no longer allow fear to dominate, control or manipulate us. We don’t remain imprisoned in the tombs of our past failures or buried under the weight of present anxiety. In the risen Christ, old things pass away and everything becomes new.”

“Easter is the proof that God hasn’t forsaken us and is present among us. The Resurrection contradicts the assumption that Christ resides on an etherea cloud in a distant heaven. Rather, we find him on the dusty road that leads to the real stuff of our ordinary world.”

“Jesus’ followers can find him everywhere. The risen Christ will meet us along the confused, chaotic, fearful paths of our lives and speak the same words the women hear at the tomb. Do not be afraid.”

This Easter let’s celebrate the extravagant love of Christ for each of us! Ponder the words from the hymn When I Survey The Wondrous Cross by Isaac Watts as we prepare this week for the betrayal, the crucifixion, and happily, the resurrection.

When I survey the wondrous cross, On which the Prince of Glory died. My richest gain, I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride. Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were a present far too small, Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Happy Easter!

When they reached Jerusalem, Jesus sent two disciples with these instructions: “Go over to the village across from you. You will find a donkey tethered there with her colt. Untie her and bring them to me. If anyone asks what you are doing, say, ‘The Master needs them.’ He will send them with you.” Matthew 21:1-3

During my young years, I grew up around many different animals such as cows, horses, pigs, chickens, plus the usual dogs and cats, but I only had one experience with a donkey. The donkey was walking along a fence and I was on the other side, something spooked him, and he let out an screeching “Hee Haw” while kicking both of his back legs straight out behind him. Since that day, I have had no interest in getting to know a donkey.

After that experience, it’s pretty interesting to me that in the first public acknowledgement of Jesus as the Messiah, He chose to enter Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. It seems that a stallion, a camel, or even an old gray mare would be much more appropriate than a big earred, loud mouthed donkey.

However, in researching this strange animal, there are many things about donkeys that I had not bothered to learn. Donkeys have been around for over six thousand years being domesticated in North Africa and Egypt. In Greece, they were used to work the vineyards, and the Roman army used them in agriculture and as pack animals.

Donkeys differ physically, mentally, and emotionally from horses. They are highly intelligent creatures, sociable and calm, and they are capable of independent thinking and decision making. They are strong and won’t do something they consider unsafe which gives them the reputation of being stubborn. They are great, trusted companions, and are altogether quite amazing!

This humble animal was chosen by God to showcase His son riding through the streets of Jerusalem while cheering crowds lined the street chanting Hosannah in the Highest and waving palm branches because of his characteristics. A horse might have been spooked, a camel might have lain down, and an old grey mare might have run with fear, but the donkey stayed steadfast and walked our Savior through the streets not taking a misstep.

Corrie Ten Boom, a devout Christian who helped shelter hundreds of Jewish people from Nazis during World War II, was asked how she stayed humble despite her fame. She said, “When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the back of a doneky and everyone was waving palm branches and throwing garments into the road and singing praises, do you think that for one moment it ever entered the head of that donkey that any of that was for him? If I can be the donkey on which Jesus Christ rides in his glory, I give him all the praise and all the honor.”

In short, if God can use a donkey in His service, surely He can use all of us as well. The question is, “How can we be ready to serve Him when he needs us?” First, just like a donkey, we should be surefooted. When trials come our way we need to maintain our present course and keep on the path of the straight and narrow. Christ wants individuals who will do what is right and stay the course.

Next, we must be dependable. Just like donkeys, we have our flaws, but with Christ as our example, we can become dependable and faithful to His calling. Just like the donkey, we must be true to our cause and to our duty!

Finally, we have to be workers. Sometimes we complain about not having enough time to work for the good of the kingdom, but Christ was the ultimate example of working tirelessly for others. If we could be more like the donkey, we would never complain about carrying the burden because Christ bore all of ours.

This PalmSunday, instead of focusing on the Hosannas and waving the palm branches, remember that Jesus told his followers that in order to follow Him, they’d need to carry or take up their cross. This year, be a donkey and lift Jesus up to a world that desperately needs to hear the good news of the resurrection. How well do we carry our Savior?

Martha, dear Martha, you are fussing far too much, and getting yourself worked up over nothing. One thing only is essential, and Mary has chosen it – it’s the main course, and won’t be taken from her. Luke 10:41-42

Apparently, the month of March has been set aside by Congress to recognize and celebrate the contributions of women throughout history and today. My understanding is that it is a time to honor women and organizations who work for basic equality and fairness. Although, it seems that I am totally out of the loop on these things, it couldn’t have come at a better time for me to use this platform to raise a little awareness of women and their role in the lives of their families and friends.

Women are everywhere throughout the Bible, but there is a special story in the Book of Luke. In Chapter 10, Jesus and His disciples enter a village where we find the story of two sisters, Mary and Martha, who opened their home to the weary travelers. The two sisters are very different, as not only sisters, but also women tend to be. Martha is the hostess who hurries around making sure that the house is clean, the table is set, the food is prepared, the chairs are comfortable, the decorations perfect, and the guests feel welcome and comfortable. She is the one who prepares and takes care of everything. Mary, on the other hand, simply positions herself at the feet of Jesus and listens.

Both of these women are valuable, and Jesus never condemned either one, but He did remind Martha that she was “fussing far too much”, and she could possibly be finding herself “distracted, worried and upset by things that aren’t that important”. Mary took the time to put aside the distractions and listen to the important things Jesus had to say.

We women have had and will continue to have great opportunites, responsibilities, and duties in this world. We are strong in our committments to our families, our friends, our church, our community, and our God, but sometimes we forget to remember that we are also human. There are times when we are so busy caring for and doing for others that we forget to listen to our own bodies and minds when something “just doesn’t feel right.”

With this in mind, listen to this synopsis of my recent experience with “listening”. On December 9 of this year while attending a choir performance, I stood to sing and realized, I couldn’t catch my breath. Women don’t let this affect them, and I pushed through and went on. Fortunately, the impact was so frightening that I made an appointment with my primary care doctor who referred me to my cardiologist. After several tests, which revealed a problem, I had a heart cartherization that resulted in two stents being placed in a main artery which had two different blockages of seventy five per cent each.

During recovery, the cardiac care ambassador came to sit down and talk with me. As it turns out, Mary (note the name) was a former member of our church and Randy had baptized both of her children. We caught up, and she showed me diagrams of my heart while we discussed the God given gift I had just been given to live another day and share the importance of “listening” when He gives us warning signs.

Mary challenged me to make others aware by saying, “If you can make one woman aware of her heart and the warning signs that might save her life, then your experience will have made a difference.” If you read this and think, “Sometimes I just don’t feel right” and puruse answers, then I’ve done my job!

The end of my story is a good one. During my post cardio visit, I asked the doctor, “So, where do I go from here?” She said, “Go and live your best life!” The heart of a woman is full of so much love, compassion, strength, caring, service, and fortitude! Just like Mary, we just need to take the time to listen to our heart and go and live our best life!

Jesus would remind us not to fuss about things that aren’t important, but rather to be still and listen.

My sincere gratitude to my doctors, the amazing cardiac nursing team of incredible women, and all those who helped us through this journey!

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Hebrews 12:1

During this forty days of Lent, it has become clearer than ever to me that just like these days to Easter are a journey, our every day life is also a journey. The nation’s problems and unrest, the international state of wars and human suffering, even the weather seems to have added twists and turns to the journey our lives take every day.

Sometimes we feel as though we are attacked on all sides by a new situation, daily inconveniences, unexpected problems, people who seek to deter us from our mission, illnesses among friends, and even the loss of someone. Sometimes it seems that the constant setbacks cause us to stumble and fall. Wouldn’t it be great if there were a way to go back and fix the things that have happened along our journey so that things would turn out the way we had it planned?

I have always enjoyed the movie, Back to the Future with Michael J Fox. In the movie, Marty McFly (Fox) is accidently sent back from 1985 to 1955 in a plutonium powered DeLorean when an experiment by his eccentric scientific friend goes horribly awry. Marty is charged with a journey where he must make sure his parents meet, fall in love, and marry, or he will cease to exist. In the process of the journey, he manages to change a few things from the past which end up making his life and his parent’s life a good bit better when he comes back to the present. It’s an enjoyable work of fiction, but things like that just don’t happen.

If there was ever anyone who could have changed the journey of his life, God could have done that for Jesus. He could have spared Him the rejection, the emotional trauma, the endless days of walking and healing, the spiritual agony, the betrayal, the temptaion, and the crucifixion, but He would have missed the miracles, the healings, the love, and the resurrection.

God was in control of the journey that His son would make for our salvation. Jesus knew He had a hard journey ahead of Him, and God had prepared Him to expect that.

Just like Jesus knew some things to expect on His journey, it would probably help us to be mindful of some things on this journey that I think we should all expect. First, we will experience opportunities and opposition. When God opportunites present themselves, sometimes opposition will present itself as well. Sometimes others will attack us on our journey to achieve these opportunities, but we can be sure that their attack should be considered a form of respect. It means that they consider us a high value target, and they can use the attack as a way to upset the plans that we have been given by God.

Next, people will hurt us. These people are usually needy (self centered), negative, distracting, draining, or doubting. They want to pull us down instead of lifting us up. The Christian thing to do is to encourage them, love them, help them, but never be influenced by them. When the journey with them becomes impossible for us to give them a hand up without pulling ourselves down, the only answer is disconnecting graciously and turning them over to God.

Finally, people will help us. When God has a job that needs to be done, He calls someone to do it, but He seldom calls us alone. Through our ministry, God has put many new ministries in our path, but fortunately, He always helped us to recognize that there are many things we can’t do alone. Not everything is our gift, so we should always ask others who are more qualified to stand with us and help. Paul spent an entire chapter in Philippians acknowledging the people who had helped him fullfil God’s vision when he said, Everytime I think of you, I give thanks.

A journey is defined as a process of experiences, challenges, and discoveries along the way to our life’s destination. As travelers we are constantly encountering new people, places, and experiences that shape who we are and what we become. copied

Our journey is now and ongoing. We have a chance this year to contemplate our journey up to this point and add expectations. Unlike Marty McFly, we can’t change the past, but we can improve the present!

Prayer: Dear Father as we continue our journey today, strengthen our mind, body, and soul to be aware of your tasks that are set before us. Thank you for others who surround us on this journey! In Christ’s name. Amen.