No one does Easter like GCB
10 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
in American Decency Association Tags: ABC, American Broadcasting Company, Christ, Christian, Christianity, Easter, God, Order of the Bath
That was ABC’s own promotional claim as they advertised last night’s double dose of Christian-bashing with two episodes of “GCB.” I’m sure it was no coincidence that ABC chose Easter – the most meaningful, sacred day to Christians – to especially thumb its nose at the transforming power of Christ with back-to-back episodes of a show that ridicules the Christian faith and mocks God’s Word and His followers.
However, corporate America is not so glib about ridiculing potential customers. They are hearing from thousands of you!
As a result, numerous advertisers have pulled their ads and most “A-list” advertisers are staying clear of sponsoring “GCB.” For example, Frito-Lay/Pepsico recently wrote: “…we have no other commercials scheduled to run during the program… We have standards against advertising on shows that may offend our consumers, and we make every effort to adhere to this process. …”
This shows the importance of continuing to let advertisers know that their sponsorship of “GCB” is empowering a show that mocks the faith and offends millions of their potential customers.
Unfortunately, JC Penney is slow in getting the message. After being off last week, JC Penney was back last night as a sponsor of “GCB” – continuing the company’s trend of sponsoring many of the trashiest shows on network television.
Click here to contact the sponsors of the two Easter episodes of “GCB” and please encourage your family and friends to do the same.
On a day when millions of Christians celebrate the new life we have in Christ, ABC takes every stereotypical depiction of Christians and twists it into a mocking caricature.
For example, we all know that Christians are proponents of sexual abstinence outside of marriage. Why? Because it’s spelled out quite clearly in God’s Word that our sexuality in intended for within the bounds of marriage and there are damaging physical, emotional, and spiritual consequences when one instead lives a promiscuous life. Yet on “GCB,” Christian parents promoting chastity are portrayed as extremist whackos. In last night’s episode, a Christian parent starts an abstinence teen group which tries to scare kids into abstinence with a bizarre horror show depicting the harmful consequences of illicit sexual activity. The abstinence club is described by non-Christian Amanda, the only “normal” character on the show, as a “creepy, chastity club” which “demonizes sex.”
So, according to “GCB,” a Christian view on sexuality is portrayed as “demonizing sex.”
Then we see the church pastor as a customer at the Hooter’s-like bar, “Boobylicious” which, he claims, is research for his next sermon entitled “Sex is Divine.” In the sermon he instructs all “committed couples” who, as he states, are either “married or otherwise entwined” to have sex every day for the next week to improve communication. This of course leads to numerous on-screen depictions of sex between the characters – in cars, on the kitchen table, etc, etc.
One of the couples is in a marriage of convenience. The husband is secretly gay and involved in varied sexual relationships with men. His wife is aware and condones his homosexual lifestyle. She, too, has affairs with men. They stay together for the sake of their business. In last night’s episode they, too, decide to have sex in order to have a baby together. That scenario includes numerous references to homosexual sex acts as the wife tries to “turn on” her gay husband.
Other examples of the scornful depiction of faith include: A bridal shower given with the theme “his rod and staff they comfort me” where a sex toy is a prominent gift. One of the women flashes her breasts to a county clerk to get his assistance which is justified because, as another women tells her, she was “using (her) boobies for good and not for evil.”
Throughout the show scripture is quoted in ways that mock the holiness of God’s Word. Bible quotations are twisted and used as punch lines. One woman quotes scripture for a diet plan she created entitled “Losin’ It with Jesus.” Another woman dressed in sexy camouflage pulls out her “Hunter’s Bible” to defend what must be every Christian’s favorite pass time – at least according to ABC/Disney – hunting, or as the Hollywood writers on “GCB” describe as, “killing innocent animals.”
ABC Entertainment President Paul Lee has said about GCB: “We would love to have people go, you know, there’s something here edgy and interesting that we’d like to be part of.”
While the show may be “edgy,” it’s not drawing huge numbers of viewers and ratings have been mediocre. Even more telling is that the pressure we, and a few other groups, are putting upon the sponsors is having an impact!
Several advertisers have pulled their ads and most “A-list” advertisers are staying clear of sponsoring “GCB.” For example, Frito-Lay/Pepsico recently wrote: “…we have no other commercials scheduled to run during the program…” We have standards against advertising on shows that may offend our consumers, and we make every effort to adhere to this process. …”
This shows the importance of continuing to let advertisers know that their sponsorship of “GCB” is empowering a show that mocks the faith and offends millions of their potential customers. Please continue to forward this information to others by way of email, Facebook, etc. and urge family and friends to stand with us.
Click here to contact the sponsors of the two Easter episodes of “GCB.”
http://www.americandecency.org/archives/no-one-does-easter-like-gcb/#more-6541
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Faith Still Matters in America
09 Apr 2012 1 Comment
in TownHall.com Tags: Christian, Christianity, Easter, Ethics in religion, God, Government, Jesus, United States
Whether looking at the founding or the future of our country, faith matters. As millions of Americans rose on Easter Sunday to attend services on the most holy day in the Christian calendar, the Good News of God‘s love and the triumph we share in the resurrection of Jesus stands regardless of the challenges that we face every morning in our news. As believers, we believe that God has a plan, and, by His grace, God has included us in that plan.
For many of our founding fathers, America was part of God’s plan–a country based on God-given rights, founded in liberty, and sustained by a free people using their gifts and resolve to live out and sustain a dream. Kirk Cameron’s newest film, “Monumental,” documents the price paid and the inspiring journey of faith that the Pilgrims took to find and secure religious freedom in the new world.
Certainly, some of our Founding Fathers were deists, some may not have believed at all, and not all Christian patriots would have agreed on the principles of their faith, but faith still mattered. It was clearly a force for liberty and strength for the people who fought for and shaped our republic. Our founders also knew that good government requires good, ethical people. “We the people” were not just any people; most were people grounded by their Christian faith.
John Adams claimed: “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion… Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
Washington’s Farewell Address affirmed the importance of faith: “Of all the dispositions and habits, which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars…. And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds…reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”
Benjamin Franklin proposed that the Constitutional Convention begin each day with prayer. He said to the Continental Congress in 1778: “Whereas true religion and good morals are the only solid foundations of public liberty and happiness . . . it is hereby earnestly recommended to the several States to take the most effectual measures for the encouragement thereof.”
In 1835, Alexis de Tocqueville observed in Democracy in America: “I do not know whether all Americans have a sincere faith in their religion, for who can read the human heart? But I am certain that they hold it to be indispensable to the maintenance of republican institutions.”
The Christian faith still matters in America. The number of professing believers may have declined, but it remains the dominant religious faith. Unfortunately, though there are Biblical calls for unity, we have over 2,000 different Christian denominations that often don’t agree on theology or politics.
Of course, Jesus never called for unity in politics. Deciding what Jesus would think or do with government or for whom he would vote for remains a divisive subject. Jesus didn’t come to change governments in Rome, Jerusalem, or Washington. He came to change people’s lives. C.S. Lewis wrote, “He who converts his neighbor has performed the most practical Christian-political act of all.” Why? Faith changes people’s hearts, minds and actions.
The church through the centuries may have had a spotted history, but Christian believers have put their personal faith into action over and over again. On this Easter, as we came together as one to worship and proclaim a risen Lord, we might now want to rally around the two commandments Jesus called the most important–Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul…and your neighbor as yourself.
As we look to the future of America, may we never forget that good people make good government. Faith matters in providing a moral compass and in motivating citizens to support justice and sustain their commitment to the common good, to service, to duty and to charity.
Let me close with George Washington’s benediction that he asked governors to share with their states: “I now make it my earnest prayer, that God would have you, and the State over which you preside, in his holy protection, that he would incline the hearts of the Citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to Government, to entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another, for their fellow Citizens of the United States at large, and particularly for their brethren who have served in the Field, and finally, that he would most graciously be pleased to dispose us all, to do Justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that Charity, humility and pacific temper of mind, which were the Characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed Religion, and without an humble imitation of whose example in these things, we can never hope to be a happy Nation.”
No matter what your faith, I pray that you each find strength, moral guidance, and the support of a caring faith community. May together, we help keep our nation strong, compassionate, free and prosperous.
Terry Paulson
Terry Paulson, PhD is a psychologist, award-winning professional speaker, author of The Optimism Advantage: 50 Simple Truths to Transform Your Attitudes and Actions into Results, and long-time columnist for the Ventura County Star.
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This Holy Season
08 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
in Holy Land Moments Tags: Easter, God, Israelite, Jesus, Jews, Judaism, Korban Pesach, Passover
“The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”—Psalm 18:2
During this holy season for both faiths, I wish my Jewish friends a blessed Passover, and to my Christian friends, a blessed Easter. In the week ahead, I will share some reflections on the Passover celebration and the lessons that can be gleaned from it for Jews and Christians alike. In fact, many of the sacred aspects of Christian worship trace their spiritual roots directly to the Jewish faith and the early history of the nation of Israel.
Such is the case with the term “Paschal Lamb,” or “Lamb of God,” which in the Christian tradition refers to Jesus. From the Jewish perspective, the term is Korban Pesach, or “sacrifice of Passover,” which dates back to the first Exodus. The blood of a sacrificed lamb, which was smeared on the doorframes of each Jewish household, served as sign of deliverance from death striking their firstborn sons. The lamb’s blood would be the only path to salvation — without it, their firstborn would die, along with those of the Egyptians.
Additionally, the lamb represented the idols, or false gods, that the Egyptians worshiped. By killing a lamb, the Israelites were, in essence, defying their Egyptian masters as well as demonstrating once again the power of the God of Israel over the Egyptian gods.
In the times of the Jewish temple worship, Jews obeyed God’s command to remember the first Passover by sacrificing a lamb on that day. This lamb had to be male, one year old, and most importantly, without blemish. Only then would it suffice to be the perfect Passover sacrifice. (See Exodus 12:5.)
This Passover observance is what Christians reference when speaking of “a lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Peter 1:19).
It is also true that Jesus, as an observant Jew, and his disciples were celebrating the Passover on the very night that he foretold his coming death. Jesus followed the same divine instructions that were given to Moses as he broke bread with his disciples. And later, the apostle Paul wrote in his first letter to the Corinthians to “keep the Festival” (Passover/Lord’s Supper) with unleavened bread.
Indeed, the Christian observance of Easter resonates back to the story of the Jews’ escape and deliverance from Egyptian bondage three thousand years ago. Understanding the story of Passover and rich symbolism of the Seder meal gives a new richness to many of the worship traditions at churches around the world.
This year, as my Christian friends celebrate Easter, it is good to remember the Jews’ miraculous deliverance on that first Passover and of God’s divine leading from bondage to freedom. Let us celebrate and praise along with David, in the words of Psalm 18, our rock, our fortress, and the horn of our salvation.
http://www.holylandmoments.org/devotionals/this-holy-season-2
The Stations of the Cross: An Easter Postscript by Mark D. Roberts
08 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
in The High Calling Tags: Alleluia, Charles Wesley, Christ, Easter, Jesus, Pontius Pilate, Resurrection of Jesus, Stations of the Cross
But the angel said, “Don’t be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Look, this is where they laid his body.” (NLT)
Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed!
So Christians have proclaimed for centuries on Easter morning and throughout the season of Easter, as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.
During the fourteen days prior to Easter, I was reflecting on the Stations of the Cross in preparation for a deeper experience of the reality of Jesus’ death, and therefore a greater celebration of his resurrection. Today, on Easter Sunday, I want to add an Easter postscript. Without the resurrection, the cross of Jesus really wouldn’t matter much.
Without the resurrection, we’d never have known about Jesus’ prayer on the Mount of Olives, where he submitted to the will of his Heavenly Father.
Without the resurrection, Judas’ betrayal of Jesus would have been long forgotten.
Without the resurrection, the Sanhedrin who condemned Jesus would have been seen as largely correct in their estimation of him as a blasphemer who needed to be silenced.
Without the resurrection, Peter’s denial of Jesus might seem like a judicious way to preserve his own life.
Without the resurrection, we’d probably never have heard the name of Pontius Pilate, unless we happened to take a class in Jewish history in the Roman Period.
Without the resurrection, the fact that Jesus was scourged and crowned with thorns would seem to be a sad but fitting end to one who pretended to usher in the kingdom of God.
Without the resurrection, Jesus would have been one more nameless individual who took up his cross on the way to dying a cruel death.
Without the resurrection, Simon of Cyrene would have disappeared into the dust of history.
Without the resurrection, the women who mourned for Jesus would have continued to mourn for a long, long time…not for only two days.
Without the resurrection, most of us would know very little about crucifixion, unless we had seen the movie Spartacus. (Of course, there would be no Passion of the Christ film.)
Without the resurrection, the promise of Jesus to the thief, that he would join Jesus in Paradise, would seem like a bad, sad joke.
Without the resurrection, the presence of Jesus’ mother at the cross would be painful in the extreme, without a hint of meaning or hope.
Without the resurrection, the cross would be largely forgotten, and it would not appear on millions of buildings or around millions of necks.
Without the resurrection, the tomb would have been the final resting place of Jesus, until his body was exhumed so his bones could be placed in a ossuary (box for bones).
Without the resurrection, there would be no Stations of the Cross.
Without the resurrection, there would be no Christian church.
Without the resurrection, there would be no assurance of salvation.
Without the resurrection, there would be no reason to hope.
Without the resurrection, there would be only death.
Because of the resurrection, we reverence the cross.
Because of the resurrection, the cross is one of the best known symbols in the world.
Because of the resurrection, what was once the sign of horrific death is now a sign of life and hope.
Because of the resurrection, the death of Jesus is remembered, cherished, even celebrated.
Because of the resurrection, the Stations of the Cross lead, not to death, but to life.
Because of the resurrection, we are reborn into a living hope.
Because of the resurrection, we know that we too will live anew.
Because of the resurrection, everything is different.
Because of the resurrection, new life has begun.
Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed!
QUESTION FOR FURTHER REFLECTION: How does the resurrection of Jesus make a difference in your life?
PRAYER: Christ, the Lord, is risen today, Alleluia! Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia! Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia! Sing, ye heavens, and earth, reply, Alleluia!
Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia! Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia! Lo! the Sun’s eclipse is over, Alleluia! Lo! He sets in blood no more, Alleluia!
Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia! Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia! Once He died our souls to save, Alleluia! Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!
Soar we now where Christ hath led, Alleluia! Following our exalted Head, Alleluia! Made like Him, like Him we rise, Alleluia! Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!
Hymn lyrics by Charles Wesley, 1739.
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Easter Interview: The Woman Who Was There
08 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
in TownHall.com Tags: Easter, Editorial, Gardens, Good Friday, Judaea, Mary, Pulitzer Prize, United States
Call me Mary — not the one who bore Him, but she who was borne up by him, little did I know it at the time. And you? You say you’re some sort of scribe. Lord knows there is always something to write about in Judaea.
I do not mean to be inhospitable, young man. Blessed be he who comes, as they say. Recline. Rest yourself. Have you had something to eat, a glass of wine for your stomach’s sake? You must wash your feet, change your sandals. For I know it is a long, dusty trip up here, and with us it is a commandment to take in the stranger and treat him as one of our own. Some grapes, perhaps? They’re fresh from the vineyard. Eat, eat.
That day you ask about never leaves me, or rather I never leave it. Any more than someone would draw away from the light. There are some days that change one forever, beyond forever.
Seeing is believing, they say. They say a lot of things. My experience is quite the other way around: Believing is seeing. You say you want to know what really happened. That is the way it is with you scribes. Just as it happened, only the facts, ma’am. Ah, the veil of facts. You don’t really want to peer behind them, do you? The sight would be too wondrous to credit.
Forgive me, I do not wish to be unkind. Only later did it make sense even to me, a kind of sense-beyond-sense, the way a joke does when it finally dawns on you, and you have to laugh out loud. With a joy that never leaves you. You have hit upon a story, young man, the greatest story ever told, little though you may recognize it.
I didn’t. Not at first. What a solemn little fool I was, don’t you know? I was expecting the worst, of course. As we all were, I suppose. Oh, we of little faith! Or else we wouldn’t have believed the worst when actually the best was at hand. The worst, we are always prepared to believe. Like you in your business. But never the best.
That’s the way it was with me that bleak early morning. The sadness, the awfulness of it, I understood what I would find, or rather not find. I’d been prepared for it by the kind of life I’d led. I knew what men are like, what life is like, and that neither ends well.
I was perfectly prepared for how bad Good Friday would be. But Easter Sunday? That was quite beyond me. How could I have understood? You might as well have tried to describe sight to the blind, music to the deaf, a joke to the hopelessly solemn. My reality was limited to the evidence of things seen, the substance of things feared.
I could have predicted even before I went to the tomb that I’d be disappointed. That’s what I’d expected and that’s what I found. The stone was rolled away and … nothing. The disciples only confirmed it when they looked inside. He was gone and would never return. It had all been for naught, just as we feared, then expected, and all too quickly accepted. We see what we train ourselves to see.
So when I saw the gardener — for who else could it be? — I wept and wailed and asked for the kind of help I knew neither he nor anyone else could give me: that he return my Friend, my Lord, my Hope, to me.
Not that I really expected anything of the sort. I’d seen what had happened — from a distance. I could not bear to stand close, like the men. And yet I could not tear myself away, either. I could not leave Him like that. You have friends, don’t you, young man? Could you leave them like that? All I asked the gardener was to tell me where they had taken him.
Then I heard my name. How strange, I thought. How could the gardener have known me? That’s when I turned. And I realized who had spoken to me, who The Gardener was, and the whole, fake world was turned upside down, the facade torn away, the night shattered as the sun rose. He had risen.
Funny how all you need is to be called by your right name — and turn. You have to turn, young man. That’s the key. Only then can you can really see Him, as if for the first time. Then everything falls into place. Surely you’ve felt that way when you’ve been in love, wanting only to serve the beloved, asking for nothing else, knowing it to be the purest happiness. This was like that, only forever.
Another sip of wine? I’d join you, but just to say the blessing. I don’t need the wine. I’ve been drunk with life, and love, ever since that moment when it hit me: The gardener! Well, I’ll be! Of course. I’d had no idea.
Paul Greenberg
Pulitzer Prize-winning Paul Greenberg, one of the most respected and honored commentators in America, is the editorial page editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
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An Invitation to Take Up Your Cross by Mark D. Roberts
24 Mar 2012 2 Comments
in Our Daily Bread Tags: Christ, Easter, God, Holy Week, Jesus, Pope John Paul II, Station of the Cross, Via Dolorosa
He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” (NRSV)
In Mark 8, Jesus uses the imagery of crucifixion to call people to follow him sacrificially. If they want to experience the life of the kingdom of God, they must die to themselves as sovereign over their own lives and live each day under the authority of God.
Many Christians throughout the ages have used the Stations of the Cross to deepen their gratitude for Christ‘s sacrifice and to augment their commitment to following him sacrificially. Traditionally, the Stations of the Cross included fourteen representations of the passion of Christ, beginning with this condemnation and ending with his being laid in the tomb. The original Stations of the Cross, also known as the Via Dolorosa (way of grief), are in Jerusalem on the path Jesus walked to his death. But many churches throughout the world include artistic stations that help people reflect on the meaning of Christ’s death.
Half of the traditional Stations are found in Scripture, while the other half come from ancient Christian tradition. In 1991, Pope John Paul II created a new series of fourteen stations, each one based on Scripture alone. These biblical stations have been attractive to those of us who base our piety more on Scripture than on church tradition.
I have found that reflection on the biblical Stations of the Cross has helped me to experience more deeply the love of God in Christ. Moreover, I have been encouraged to take up my cross and follow Christ more faithfully.
Beginning tomorrow and continuing for fourteen days until Holy Saturday, the day before Easter, the Daily Reflections will follow the new Stations of the Cross. My prayer is that, by “walking” the Stations with me, you will come to a deeper understanding of God’s love and grace, as well as a greater desire to serve him with your whole life.
QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION: What has helped you in the past to take up your cross and follow Jesus? Have you ever experienced the Stations of the Cross? How did this affect your relationship with the Lord?
PRAYER: Gracious God, as we come closer to Holy Week, we yearn for a deeper experience of the cross. We seek to know your love and grace in a fresh way. We want to hear again the call of Jesus to take up our cross and follow him.
As we focus on fourteen passages from the Gospels that highlight aspects of Jesus’ passion, may we be drawn into the scene. May our hearts be captured by the horror and the wonder of his sacrifice. May we be encouraged to take up our cross and give our lives in sacrificial service to you. Amen.
P.S. from Mark: Several years ago, some folks at Irvine Presbyterian Church, where I served as pastor, decided to offer the Stations of the Cross as a devotional experience for Holy Week. For obviously Protestant reasons, we opted for the Pope’s biblically-based version. My wife, Linda, offered to paint fourteen watercolor pictures that illustrated the passages upon which the revised stations are based. These were displayed in our church sanctuary during Holy Week, and people were invited to come, to read Scripture, to reflect, and to pray. For many members of my church and community, this was a precious time of drawing near to the Lord in anticipation of Good Friday and Easter. (For the past several years, I have offered the use of Linda’s paintings for churches and Christian ministries without charge. Her paintings have appeared in literally thousands of places of worship on six continents. They are permanently installed in a number of churches. If you would like to use her paintings, all I ask is that you contact me and ask permission. You can view Linda’s paintings here.)
http://www.thehighcalling.org/reflection/invitation-take-your-cross
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A Walk in the Garden – CONFESSING OUR SINS
01 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
in Devotional Christian Tags: Christ, Easter, Gethsemane, God, Jesu, Kidron Valley, Mount of Olives, Psalm
Where do you go to seek God’s presence?
I don’t know about you, but I love to walk in a beautifully manicured garden. The sweet smells, the beautiful colors, the wonder of nature makes me feel close to Him. I admit that I do not have a green thumb, but I definitely appreciate the peacefulness amidst nature’s beauty. This past week there was another “garden” in my thoughts … the Garden of Gethsemane. Located east of the Kidron Valley from Jerusalem, on the slopes of the Mount of Olives, I can only imagine that it was a beautiful place too – a peace-filled place, where Jesus went quite often to seek God’s presence.
I hope you’ve been able to find some quiet time this past week … a time for reflection … a time to examine our hearts, and pray about the things that hinder our relationship with God. Now we have to step out of our comfort zone and cry out to God, just as David did in the words of Psalm 51.
Easier said than done!
Most of us are more comfortable with the idea of giving up something for Lent, or just focusing on the upcoming celebration of Easter morning. But the hard fact is that we need to walk through the darkness that comes before the light … the confession that comes before the joy.
As Easter approaches we need to be honest with God. We need to lay our sins and burdens at the foot of the cross. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive and to cleanse us from every wrong.”
Remember … there is nothing that will surprise God – no sin too bad, no secret too dark. God is a God of light and darkness cannot survive in his presence. Nothing can keep us from His mercy and grace when we confess our sins with a sincere heart.
For our God sent His own Son in to the darkness, to die on the cross … for US. He took our place. He was our substitute, so that we may live in the light.
PREPARING OUR HEARTS: Meditate on the words of Romans 5:6-11, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”
This week take time to pray about what it really means to take someone else’s punishment in their place. What are the results of Christ dying for us while we were still sinners?
Counting down to Calvary … God’s Peace, Donna Weaver
http://peace2sparkle.blogspot.com/2012/03/walk-in-garden-confessing-our-sins.html
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Tozer Devotional-Alive in Christ
25 Feb 2012 2 Comments
in A. W. Tozer Tags: Christ, Christian, Christianity, Easter, God, Jesus, Lord, Resurrection
Alive in Christ
We might well spend the rest of the year reverently inquiring into the meanings of the resurrection. And probably the best method to pursue is to search for those meanings that touch us as individual Christians here and now. It is, of course, necessary to preserve the theology of the resurrection and to guard the truth well and carefully; but that is not enough. We must know what it means to us as pilgrims and strangers. That He “rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” is the biblical foundation for our faith in a risen Lord. But love and faith would go further; they would devoutly seek to experience the present riches of His Easter triumph. Jesus is Victor! That is the truth His resurrection proclaims. Now it remains for us to allow Him to be Victor in us, thus multiplying the glory of His triumph in the hearts of His trusting people.
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Tozer Devotional-Livng By Faith In the Victor
24 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
in A. W. Tozer Tags: Christ, Christianity, David, Easter, Hallelujah, Jesus, Lent, Resurrection of Jesus
Livng By Faith In the Victor
The two major elements present in the Easter story are the fact and the meaning of the fact. That Christ arose after He had been put to death by crucifixion is the fact; the true historicity of the event is too well established to require proof or even comment today. The meaning of that resurrection, however, must be rediscovered by each believing soul and by the church age after age till our Lord returns to earth again. One meaning attached to the resurrection is that Christ has conquered the enemies of mankind and guaranteed the final triumph of all true believers over every power of the devil. For the rescue of the lost race was effected only after a fight. Let us not allow our poetic imagination to run away with us. Easter is more than sunshine and lilies. It signifies the appearance again of our David who went into the field to meet the Goliath of sin and death in mortal combat. Christ came back to assure us that the victory had been won. Death and the devil had been done in by the only One who was capable of such a mighty act, Jesus the Son of God. An old hymn states this for us in ecstatic language: The strife is o’er, the battle done; The victory of life is won; The Song of triumph has begun–Hallelujah! The powers of death have done their worst,But Christ their legions hath dispersed; Let shouts of holy joy outburst–Hallelujah! He brake the age-bound chains of hell; The bars from heaven’s high portals fell; Let hymns of praise His triumph tell: Hallelujah!
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Lenten Reflection: Eat This Scroll! by Mark D. Roberts
23 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
in The High Calling Tags: Bible, Easter, Ezekiel, God, Gospel, Jesus, Lent, Lord
Then he said to me: Human one, eat this thing that you’ve found. Eat this scroll and go, speak to the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and he fed me the scroll. He said to me: Human one, feed your belly and fill your stomach with this scroll that I give you. So I ate it, and in my mouth it became as sweet as honey.
Today is the second day of Lent, a season of preparation for Good Friday and Easter. Lent is a time when Christians throughout the world devote themselves to God in distinct ways. Many fast during Lent, giving up some beloved food or activity so as to make more time and space for God. Others take on a special spiritual discipline, such as a Lenten Bible study or a regular time of feeding the hungry.
The first part of Ezekiel 3 helps us grasp one of the deep purposes of Lent. In this passage, the Lord tells Ezekiel to eat the scroll that the Lord gave to him in chapter 2. So, the prophet opened his mouth and God fed the scroll to him, saying, “Human one, feed your belly and fill your stomach with this scroll that I give you” (1:3). As Ezekiel ate, the scroll tasted good, “sweet as honey” (1:3).
Those who choose to fast during the season of Lent are not simply giving up something because that’s what really spiritual people do. Moreover, they are not doing this in order to earn God’s grace, which cannot be earned and has already been given through Jesus Christ. People fast for a variety of reasons, one of which is to make more room in their lives for God and his Word. By denying themselves something they like, those who fast get in touch with their greater need for God.
Several years ago, I chose to give up television for Lent. I’ve never been one of those people who watch hours and hours each day. But I did have a few shows I liked to watch. For me, the hardest part of this particular fast was not being able to watch March Madness, the NCAA basketball finals. The point of fasting from TV was not just to give something up, however. It was to devote additional time each day to reading Scripture and praying. That year, I decided to read slowly through the biblical Gospels. By lingering over the text, I was, in effect, “eating the book.” I was taking it into my mind and heart. I was digesting it, making it a part of me.
You don’t have to be a prophet or a pastor in order to “eat” God’s Word. Every one of us has the opportunity and, I would add, the responsibility, to know the Bible in a deep way. Whether you give something up for Lent or not, perhaps you might devote extra time each day for prayerful, slow reading of Scripture. If you’re not sure where to start, I’d recommend one of the Gospels.
May the example of Ezekiel encourage you to “devour” the Word of God, making it part of yourself, so that you might live out its truth in every facet of life: at home, at work, at church, among your friends, on the baseball field, in the stands, as you shop, when you drive, and in every other part of life.
QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION: In the past, what has helped you to “eat” the Bible, to take it into your mind and heart, to meditate upon it, to make it part of yourself? Can you think of something you might do during Lent in order to digest the Word of God more completely?
PRAYER: Dear Lord, even as you once spoke to Ezekiel, so I hear you speaking to me today: Eat this book! You are calling me to read your Word, to study it, to meditate upon it, to memorize it, to digest it, so that your truth might fill my life. Help me, Lord, to heed your call.
Increase my hunger for your truth, Lord. May I consume your Word, not just because I should, but because I yearn for the bread of life. Amen.
P.S. from Mark: If you would like to learn more about Lent, you may want to read something I have written for my blog: How Lent Can Make a Difference in Your Relationship with God.
http://www.thehighcalling.org/reflection/lenten-reflection-eat-scroll
