Happy Easter! Maybe you awoke this morning to a basket of chocolate bunnies, peeps, jelly beans, or brightly colored eggs. As I child, Easter Sunday was always a day of candy, food, brightly colored church clothes and more candy. Easter eggs were always my favorite. It was always fun to see how creative we could be with our egg decorating. Most people understand that the … Continue reading The Crimson Egg
Old Jerusalem, Via Dolorosa, “Via Dolorosa” inscription under Arch of Ecce Homo Photo: Ian and Wendy Sewell As we prepare for Easter, it’s important to remember the purpose of the week. People wear crosses as jewelry, hang them on the wall, and display them in thousands of different ways. They are a simple reminder of the price paid for sin. The reward for that price … Continue reading Forgiveness is more than a suggestion
Today is Good Friday in the Christian faith. It is the day many Christians choose to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus. Many people take the day off work, others fast and schools often close. Good Friday is not specified in the Bible as a day to fast or feast. Like Christmas, it is a day many believers choose to remember for a bigger purpose. In … Continue reading What is Good Friday?
Last Supper, 1896 work by Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret When we studied the Stations of the Cross on Palm Sunday, we commemorated different events during the last week of Jesus’ ministry. The different versions of the stations honor different things. Many modern traditions included the last supper and resurrection as stations. When did these things take place? The Bible does not tell us, specifically, on which days … Continue reading The Original Holy Week
Photo: Mee Lin Woon “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-12) In modern culture, we often use words interchangeably. Lately, I have seen the term “pastor” applied to anyone in ministry but this is … Continue reading The Difference Between a Preacher and a Pastor
In my career, I work with words a lot. They always take on a meaning and that is often based on the perception of the recipient. It is important to understand what you are talking about but also important to understand how you are being received. In Bible study, I often take a minute or two to study words in difficult passages. I think it … Continue reading Words have meaning
This statue of Veronica represents the traditional 6th station. Although not recorded in the gospels, the Catholic church honors Saint Veronica with a feast day. She is also depicted in The Passion of The Christ. In bullfighting, the matador waves his cape in a move called Veronica, named for this pose. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches … Continue reading Palm Sunday Lesson: The Stations of the Cross
Last night, I came home late from work and my family was watching The Help on television. The movie is based on a novel by fellow Alabama graduate Kathryn Stockett. She did a good job telling an important story. You learn a lot about people by the way they treat each other. My family had a housekeeper, called a maid at the time, when I … Continue reading The Real Help
Last year, I wrote a small group study on finding Jesus in secular music. I thought it was important because most people do not listen to Christian music. You have to reach people where they are, and where they are is, often, wedged between two ear buds. I love music and I am pretty diverse in my listening. There is good music and bad music, … Continue reading Coldplay and Ecclesiastes in the Morning
Image courtesy of Iamnee / FreeDigitalPhotos.net When I was a kid, I heard someone describe the act of witnessing. To an evangelical, witnessing about your faith could be a rite of passage. To most teens, it was a scary thing to think about. The speaker was demonstrating the process by instructing people to approach strangers and say confrontational things. “If you died today, do you … Continue reading How to Lose Souls
