Good Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday?

Since Easter is almost here, what about this? What is your interpretation of the day of the week on which the crucifixion occurred? I know Friday is the most popular...but is it the most Biblical?

Absentia

Sorry for the lack of blogging, but it has been quite busy around here.

First, I ask that you pray for Jen's cousin, Christina and her husband Josh Croswell. They lost their two-year old son a week ago today. They have a baby girl who is 9 days old as well. They are very faithful to the Lord, but need His people to surround them in prayer and support during this crucial time.

Second, I thank everyone who prayed for Jen and the children. The kiddos seem to be doing fine now, and Jen is getting stronger everyday. Thank goodness too, for daddy just doesn't do things like mama!

Third, Easter was wonderful yet busy. We had a Sunrise Service with 45 in attendance. After that we had a really good Breakfast Fellowship. The Morning Worship was wonderful as well with a sanctuary-full of people worshiping the Lord.

Fourth, all of this happened while we were in Arkansas, returning from Arkansas, or just returned from Arkansas. So you can see why the blogging has been slow. On top of that, I'm trying not to get sick myself! Well, I'll try to catch up on all the good stuff in the next few days.

Psalm 23

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Psalm 22

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the day time, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded. But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts. I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly. Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help. Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me. Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog. Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns. I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel. For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard. My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him. The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever. All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. For the kingdom is the LORD's: and he is the governor among the nations. All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul. A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.

The Messiah - Hallelujah

Part #4 of Handel's Messiah.

The Messiah - He Was Despised

Part #3 of Handel's Messiah.

The Messiah - And He Shall Purify

Part #2 of Handel's Messiah.

The Messiah - For Unto Us A Son Is Born

In order to properly celebrate the Easter season, I will post parts of Handel's "The Messiah" (and yes, this composition was written for the Easter season even though we primarily use it at Christmas). Here is part #1 - Enjoy!

That's My King!

Starting Sunday, I will preach through the final week of Christ's ministry before His crucifixion and burial. I will use Matthew 26 and 27 as my primary texts but will also reference the other Gospels. Please pray that God will use these sermons to touch our hearts and to plant the good news of Jesus Christ in those without hope.

Where Do We Go From Here?

This coming Sunday, I will preach 1 Corinthians 15:1-58 (Lord willing). I am truly excited about this message, for it is a wonderful treatise concerning the resurrection of Christ and believers. Over the years, I've come to appreciate this text for its beautiful teaching and wonderful encouragement. First, I thought Paul was trying to prove the resurrection to the Corinthians and to us. However,over the years, I have come to realize that specific idea was only part of his objective. This passage actually was written to strengthen the Corinthians' belief in the resurrection of Christ and to clear up any misunderstanding or false teaching concerning their own resurrection. In fact, MacArthur and I agree on this point! "The doctrinal problem on which this chapter focuses was not the Corinthians' disbelief in Christ's resurrection but confusion about their own. Paul was not trying to convince them that Christ rose from the dead but that one day they, too, would be raised with Him to eternal life." (MacArthur)

What a wonderful God we serve! He not only saw fit to redeem us, furthermore, He gives (gave) us a new life with a glorified body (and I have no idea exactly what age we will be!). Praise God!

Are Christian Holidays Pagan In Origin?

I was immersed in a conversation along these lines the other day, and I thought it might be interesting to see what others thought. Below is an article I found at www.comereason.org, so forgive me for not being creative, but I thought there were some good thoughts in this article.

The "Pagan Roots" Of Holidays:
Easter is specifically a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead (see my article "The Resurrection as History" at http://www.comereason.org/newsletters/mar01.htm ). While there are many different types of springtime rituals and celebrations (much of this stemming from the importance of agriculture in the survival), the fact that they occur somewhere around Easter is purely coincidental.
The time of Christ's resurrection is clearly shown in the New Testament to be the Sunday following the Jewish Passover. Jesus was arrested after having celebrated the Passover with His disciples. He was crucified and rose three days later. The fact that in subsequent centuries symbols of some other spring rites such as bunnies and eggs have made their way into the Easter celebration in no way makes the holiday pagan. Many of those symbols are expressions of new life - which certainly fits in with the theme of Easter.
As for some of the other holidays, such as Christmas, Christians didn't allow the pagans to keep their celebrations, but rather provided an alternative to the more popular secular festivals. During the Christmas season, for example, many Christians were uncomfortable with the worship of a pagan god, Mithra (for more on Mithra and Christianity, see Did Christianity Steal From Mithraism?). So the church decided to counter the pagan festival with one of their own, one that celebrates the birth of the true savior. Since no one knows on just which day Jesus was actually born, December 25 worked as well as any other. We see many churches do similar things today in their Harvest festivals; they choose October 31 to create an alternative celebration to Halloween.
Hank Hanegraaff correctly summed up this issue when he wrote, "The real question that must be addressed is, 'What was the church's intent in choosing December 25 for the celebration of Christmas in the first place?' The answer may surprise you! The early church chose this date to point to the triumph that Christ's birth represented over the pagan traditions of the Roman Empire. In other words, the church was not endorsing a pagan ceremony but establishing a rival celebration. Today the world has all but forgotten the pagan gods of Rome. But at least a billion people on planet Earth celebrate the Christ of Christmas."(1)

The Biblical Understanding of Festivals:
Ultimately, though it is important to understand what God's word says about how we should approach holidays. Paul shows in Romans 14 that things we would normally consider pagan are not in and of themselves evil. It is really the conscience and motivation of the person that has the real significance. Paul writes "One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind." (Rom 14:5)
Since most people are not trying to celebrate pagan gods in their celebration of holidays such as Christmas or Easter, but the Lord Jesus, the holidays are not corrupted. Other holidays such as Valentine's day are really cultural celebrations that use established and well-understood symbols like cupid to convey an abstract concept like love. It is only when the holiday celebrates ideas that are counter to the Christian message that they become dangerous.

Author:
Lenny

References:
1 - Hanegraaff, Hank "Is Christmas Christian?" The Christian Research Newsletter, Volume 6: Number 5, (c)1993 Christian Research Institute http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/cri/cri-nwsl/crn0056a.txt

[The full article can be found at http://www.comereason.org/soc_culture/soc030.asp]

Wow...where has the time gone?

It seems just like yesterday that I posted my last article (well, maybe two days ago). Anyway, it's been so hectic that I haven't had time to read or post much on the blogosphere. So here we go (and yes, forgive me for being sad - ABC has probably cancelled my favorite show.)!

Easter - what a wonderful time to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. You know, without the resurrection, our entire faith would be in vain. If Christ had remained in the grave, then in all actuality, we would not have had a Savior. [He prophesied that He would rise from the grave, and if He hadn't, then He would have been lying, thus no perfect, sinless substitute.] Furthermore, we would have no hope. And how any "Christian" can deny the resurrection is beyond me. If Christ is still in the grave, then let's go fishing instead of going to church to worship! There's no point for us wasting time is there? But fortunately, Christ did come out of the grave, and He is alive today. One day He will return. Are you ready? If not, check out this website (www.ebenezermbc.com), and it will explain how you can accept Christ as your Savior.

Because He Lives!

Bro. Matt