Jesus died...so that we would be crucified??

I just finished reading this article entailing Filipinos and a Dane who decided that personal crucifixion was the thing to do on Good Friday.

Don't believe me? You can read the article for yourself. I guess it happens every year, in the Phillipines, on Good Friday. Certain souls take it upon themselves to be nailed to a cross [in remembrance of what Jesus did for them?]

Hold on a minute.

Aren't they missing the whole point? Jesus said he came to bring life and bring it more abundantly. I know He was speaking, in large part, about spiritual life, but I believe he meant life as a whole, as well. He was punished and crucified, as mankind, so that we don't have to suffer! If we have received Him, we will never be accountable for our sins ever again! He paid our price for sin. We don't have to do some sort of penance and walk around feeling bad and ashamed at His death.

He laid down His life willingly, as the true and only Sacrifice that could be made. He was the only sinless Man; His blood the only pure blood that could be shed for the sin of the whole world. Don't ever have the impression that you or I have to add to what Jesus has done. For one thing, we couldn't add a thing. He completed the work and He said, "It is finished." Period.

We wish you a very happy Resurrection Sunday tomorrow. Enjoy the day with friends and family. Go to church.

Filipinos, Dane crucified in Good Friday rites | ABS-CBN News

You Can Help

I apologize for the nature of today's post. It's not my usual style or tone of writing, but I felt this was important enough to sway from the usual. As Christians, there are times we just need to take a stand for what is right and stand against those things that are wrong.

Remember Kermit Gosnell?

He's the abortionist "Dr." who killed hundreds of babies after they were born alive from one of his abortion procedures. He called it 'snipping' when he ended their tiny lives by snipping their spinal cord in order to kill them.

Hollywood and the mainstream media don't want to mention anything about Gosnell and what he did, but there is a couple who are determined to make a movie about Gosnell and tell the story. You can help fund the movie by giving... as little as $1 up to $10,000. You can pay by Paypal, as well.

Just visit the following link to give and help support this movie.

Thank you for caring about these tiny lives that never had a chance at life. God bless you.

Who Am I To God?

Many people struggle with their identity in life. There are those who equate their worth to the 'job' that they hold or the title they carry behind their name. We should never let that be what defines us.

Our identity should only be found in Christ. He is the only One who truly knows who we are..in Him. I am speaking of Christians now. If you are in Christ, you have been made a new creation; the old has passed. Your thoughts and your deeds have changed from the 'old man' you used to be. You need to begin seeing yourself just as God sees you. You are precious to Him.

David's book, Gates:Thanksgiving Papers, would really help you understand who you are in Christ. He talks about the fact that we are the righteousness of God (even when we don't feel like it) and the fact that Jesus will never leave us; He will never abandon us..or even judge us. There is so much truth wrapped up in the pages of this book.

You'll find the link for the book on this blog...do yourself a favor and order it today!

All Judgment

Today, I'm reading John chapter 12; it's six days before the Passover, and Jesus has gone to the home of His friends, Lazarus, Martha and Mary, in the town of Bethany. It says that a great many of the Jews came, not only to see Jesus, but to behold the man that Jesus raised from the dead. Because of Lazarus, many Jews believed on Jesus. This made the chief priests very upset and they plotted to kill Lazarus, as well.

What is it about signs, miracles and wonders that make the enemy very unhappy?
There was no denying that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. Miracles proved that He was doing the Father's will. Even on the Sabbath!

Then Jesus begins to talk about what will happen to Him in a short time. What must happen. He tells them that unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. Jesus goes on to tell the Father, "Now my soul is troubled and what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour? But for this purpose I came to this hour." The Father responds in an audible voice and the people hear it; some say it thundered; others said an angel spoke to Him.

Jesus makes a profound statement next. He says, "Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself." The word 'peoples' in the text is in italics, which means that the translators added the word. It was not in the original writing.
So, Jesus was really saying, "I will draw all [judgment] to Myself. 'Judgment' is the subject of this passage. He took the full judgment and punishment for our sin.
He bore it so that we wouldn't have to. He bore it so that we could go free!

Verse 50 says, "And I know that His command is everlasting life." Amen

Ben Hur

Last night David and I watched a movie, Ben Hur, produced in 1959, starring Charleton Heston. He is a pretty young Charleton Heston at that. I'm sure I must have seen it as a child, but didn't remember seeing it. David said he probably saw it at age 7 or so.

It is set in the year 28 A.D. or so, in Jesus' time. The Romans were ruling over the Jews. It must have been a terrible time for them with so much oppression. Fear was instilled in them to comply to everything the Romans demanded. They had a huge army of soldiers, ready to do their master's bidding.

There is a scene in the movie that is very powerful. Charleton, who plays Judah Ben Hur, is a slave for the Roman government. He has been made a ship's galley slave, who basically was forced to live in the bottom portion of a ship and was put in chains to row the ship; they were whipped at times; he and his fellow slaves.

When these Jews had been rounded up and forced to walk many miles without water, to get to the ship's destination, the master in command had refused to give Judah any water. He had seen that Judah had some fire in him and so had it in for him.

But, Judah fell to the ground and prayed to God to help him. Suddenly, there was a container filled with water presented to him. There is a moment when he looks up and sees who has given him this water. It's a great scene, but I don't want to give it all away. I recommend you get the movie; (our library had it for free.) You should be able to get it there. Enjoy!

Obedience of Christ

I couldn't get back to sleep last night, after being woken up, and God gave me a scripture to meditate on while I attempted to fall asleep. It was 2 Cor. 10:5, a well known verse by most.

It says, "Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ." As I lay there contemplating the verse, 'the obedience of Christ' kept standing out to me. 'The obedience of Christ.' Notice the passage does not say, 'obedience TO Christ.' It says the 'obedience OF Christ.'

What this said to me was, we are to point to, or look at, the obedience of Christ in every situation. With every wrong thought and every wrong action that occurs in our life, we are to look to the obedience of Christ as our perfection. When we fail, God is not looking at our failure. He is looking at the 'obedience of Christ', His Son. (Of course, I'm speaking of born again people here.)

We need to let the devil (the accuser of the brethren) know that in ourselves we are nothing, but in Christ we are everything. We have put on His perfection. The first part of that verse talks about things that come against the 'knowledge of God.' I think the meaning here is that sometimes the devil wants us to believe we don't even know God; or that we don't know enough about Him; that we have failed and God has abandoned us. This is where we affirm that we know God, and not only know Him, but are found in Him.

The enemy's game is to always try to separate us from God; he can't do it in reality, (because we've been sealed) but he can do it, essentially, if he can get you to believe (in your mind) that you are separated from Him. Do not buy his lies. He is the father of lies. And he is not your father, as a born again person, so he has no authority over you (or your thoughts).

Brothers and sisters, be encouraged today, in the Lord. He loves you with an everlasting love. How long is everlasting?  Forever!

Keep the web free!

This is not my normal sort of post today, but I feel compelled to say this today. As an American, I feel the need to do what I can to protect our freedoms, and really, the freedom of anyone who uses and appreciates the use of the internet.

Up until now, we have not been taxed or charged to use the internet. If control is given over, as Pres. Obama wants to do, all of that will change. It's not a matter of "will it?" but when and how much will we be taxed.

More importantly, it will be the end of freedom of speech, as we know it. If the internet is put under the control of nations with dictatorial leaders, THEY will decide who gets to hear and say what and when. People... this cannot be allowed to happen! It's time to rise up and do something about it. We can effect change if we get together and do it!

I urge you today to go to ACLJ's website and at the top of the page you'll see "UN CONTROL OF INTERNET AND FREE SPEECH." You can listen to Jay's radio program there (to learn more about it) and sign the petition (in favor of freedom) that will be presented at the Congressional hearing on Wednesday to vote to draft legislation to stop Obama from giving over even more of our freedoms by handing the internet over to the "international community" or the UN!!

Thank you!