I found this story in my newsfeed and was intrigued by the implications: What if pregnancy is not insult added to injury in the case of rape, but a “gift” (to be kept or lovingly given to someone else). The Bible doesn’t label all things good–far from it–but it does say that God can “work […]
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My Mother died in May when I was very young. It was especially hard on my Father because he had three young children to raise. He was grieving but had to keep going, work and take care of us. At different times when he was especially sad, he would smell Lilacs. It was God’s way of telling my Father that He held him in the palm of his hand. Because of my Father’s experience, Lilacs have always held a special place in my heart. When I see them and smell them, I am reminded that God knows my heart, loves me and is there with me in any pain or sorrow I am experiencing.
For those who don’t have a living Mother today, who may have lost a loved one recently, know that God has you in the palm of his hand…that He cares for you and that He is with you. When you see and smell the Lilacs, look to Him and rest in His love for you.
Thinking of you with love today…Valerie.
“The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.” Psalm 34:18
Michael G. Strauss is a David Ross Boyd Professor of Physics at the University of Oklahoma in Norman; he earned his undergraduate degree in physical science from Biola University and his doctorate in physics from the University of California in Los Angeles. He conducts research in experimental particle physics studying the fundamental particles and forces […]
Easter this year was the most perfect, glorious day. Our plan was church followed by a lovely meal and precious moments before our almost-college grad and his sweetheart were headed back to school. A stubborn eye infection, nasty medicine, and a migraine kept the joy at bay for me. Nauseated, I […]
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The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci
Most of us like a bit of drama…without it, life becomes boring. There is drama all around us, most of which comes in the form of emotional outbursts used to get our attention. But if you like drama, you will love the real, actual drama that took place the night of the last supper.
Jesus gathered his disciples around Him and instituted a New Covenant. He took bread, gave thanks, and broke it, saying, “This is my body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” He then took a cup of wine, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood which is shed for you.” Christians around the world continue to repeat this ceremony when they celebrate the Sacrament of Communion.
Immediately after this, Jesus spoke these shocking words, “My betrayer is with me at the table.” This is drama indeed. One of His twelve disciples, who had walked with Him for three and a half years, would betray Him. This is the scene depicted in Leonardo Da Vinci’s painting, “The Last Supper.” The Scripture says, “Then they began to question among themselves, which of them it was who would do this thing.”
Judas Iscariot is the villain in this scene. We know it because we have read the rest of the story. We look down on him and feel self-righteous. Peter also felt self-righteous when Jesus told him that he would be tested. He told Jesus he was ready to go to prison and even die for Him. Jesus told him that he would deny him three times before the cock crowed the next morning.
When we look at this painting or read this story in the gospels, we should not feel so self-righteous. We are all guilty of betraying the Lord and denying Him. Every time we harbor hatred in our hearts, we are betraying him and everything He stood for. Every time we choose the world over Christ, we are denying Him. When we examine ourselves, we find that we are guilty, too. We realize how far short we have fallen in following Christ.
You want drama…real drama? We should put ourselves in the scene and realize our own shortcomings. That should engage us emotionally and enhance the drama of the scene that was enacted two thousand years ago.
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We join the world in our sorrow for the French and the Parisians as their beloved Notre Dame burns today. It was a magnificent Gothic cathedral and French National symbol that was not rivaled anywhere in the world. You are in our thoughts and prayers today!
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Painting by Salvador Dali.
Today begins Holy Week, the most sacred week in Christianity, the week that Christians remember the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. So what is Christianity about, what do Christians believe?
1. Christians believe that man is lost in sin. He cannot by his own merits enter heaven when he dies. (For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23)
2. God in his mercy sent his son, Jesus, to die on the cross for us and pay the penalty for our sin. (For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16)
3. That if we come to God and confess our sins, He will forgive them. (If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9)
4. That we must be born again. (Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3)
5. We must ask God for this new life and that He will give us the gift of His Holy Spirit. (And Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins ;and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”)
6. It is a free gift for all who will ask Him. (For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Ephesians 2:8-9)
This week, especially, we think of Jesus and we meditate on the price He paid for our sins. We are thankful for what He did for us and that is why Friday is called Good Friday; his death on the cross was good for the world. Sunday, the day known as Easter Sunday, is the day He rose from the dead and appeared to his disciples. We can live in victory and hope because of his victory over death, hell and the grave. This is the crux of Christianity.
May you all have a blessed Holy Week!
My family and I are blessed to have a home with stunning water views, on a clear day we can see a long way across the bay to cliffs. Recently a fog rolled in and I couldn’t see past the railing of my balcony, the view was completely obscured from view. If you had visited […]
Courtesy of SarahPickertArt.
Have you ever seen a wolf in sheep’s clothing? If you have, you know that when you first see one something seems “off,” something is not quite right. Initially, it is hard to identify what it is, but sooner or later, you are able to put your finger on it.
Not a week goes by that we don’t read in the news of a wolf that has taken advantage of a sheep, someone more innocent and unsuspecting than they are. It could be that the wolf is a parent, relative, pastor, priest, teacher, coach or boss. The wolf has one goal in mind, and that is to take advantage of an unsuspecting individual.
Young people must be taught to be on the lookout for wolves. Parents must also recognize the signs and signals these wolves give off in order to take advantage of their prey. Here are a few signs that I have seen:
1. Overly Friendly – the wolf is usually overly friendly with the child or teenager. He or she wants to be the young person’s “friend.” It should strike us as odd that an adult would want or need a younger person as a close personal friend.
2. Gift Giving – the wolf will use gifts to lure the young person into their sphere and will continue to lavish gifts on them and their family to keep them there. As adults, we must not be taken in by this materialistic hook that is used to hold our children captive in an unhealthy relationship.
3. Flattery – the wolf will use flattery on the adult to disarm their sense of danger and allow them to have access to the young person they are interested in.
4. Trips and Travel – the wolf will want to get the young person off away from their parents and will offer to take them on special trips or travel with them to out-of-town destinations to be alone with them for several hours or overnight.
Sometimes we don’t recognize the wolf until it is too late, and they have damaged our child. We look back and we see the signs and signals that we didn’t pay attention to, and we regret that we were not more aware at the time. We may also have turned off our warning system because of one of the ploys the wolf was using to distract us from the natural sense of danger we have when we were around the wolf.
Jesus Himself gave us some good advice regarding wolves in sheep’s clothing. It would be good to listen to it and think about it the next time we are tempted to be seduced by a wolf:
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. THEREFORE, BY THEIR FRUITS YOU WILL KNOW THEM.” Matthew 7: 15-20
If we suspect that our children have been seduced by a wolf into an unhealthy relationship, what can we do? The first thing we must do is Talk to our children. We must get them talking and tell us what is really going on in the relationship. We need to provide an atmosphere of safety and security for them to open up and trust us with what is happening to them.
Next, we must Pull Back. It is never too late to pull back from this kind of relationship. We must use whatever means necessary to break off the relationship with the wolf. We must hold a hard line and not allow our children to have further contact with the wolf.
Finally, we must Tell Someone. If the wolf has violated our child sexually, we must alert the authorities about what has happened. It will do no good to protect the wolf from the legal consequences of his or her actions. If we do, the wolf will just go off and find another unsuspecting sheep to lure into a relationship with them.
Wolves in sheep’s clothing…they are everywhere. Let’s be on the lookout for them and not allow ourselves or our children to become their next prey.
There once was a man named George Thomas,Priest in a small New England town.One Easter Sunday morning he came to the Church carrying a rusty, bent, old bird cage,and set it by the pulpit.Eyebrows were raised and, as if in response, Priest Thomas began to speak… “I was walking through town yesterday when I saw […]
Valerie Cullers 