The Reality Of The Resurrection

    An elderly woman made her living selling artificial fruit. One day a customer complained the fruit she sold was not realistic enough. She pointed to an apple, saying it was too red, too round, and too big to be a real apple. At that point the artificial fruit lady picked up the apple and proceeded to eat it.

    Jesus is the real McCoy. He really did rise from the grave. He is alive. He is listening to our prayers. He is always open for business when that business deals with the human heart in need of a shepherd's guidance and love.

    George Bernard Shaw, the famous playwright, was handed a newly written play by a fledgling playwright. Shaw was asked to give the young man a criticism of his work a few days later. "How do you like it?" asked the author. "I fell asleep reading it," said Shaw. "Sleep is my comment on your work."

    No one fell asleep or yawned that night when the Prince of Peace, the Prince of Power and the Lord of Love appeared in their midst. Christianity is real. Christianity is alive. Christianity is anything but boring. Let us all wake up and smell the roses. Let us resolve to live our lives as if Jesus were a guest in our homes, workplaces and businesses. The truth is that the Lord is here, there, and everywhere. He is alive. His is our Risen Lord to whom we offer our discipleship with love.

    The song goes, "They'll know we are Christians by our love." Let us be about our Father's business as we serve him with joy. Let us show and tell others the good news of the gospel.

It is God to whom and with whom we travel, and while He is
the End of our journey, He is also at every stopping place.

Elisabeth Elliot

from Living Life God's WayThe Reality Of The Resurrection

    An elderly woman made her living selling artificial fruit. One day a customer complained the fruit she sold was not realistic enough. She pointed to an apple, saying it was too red, too round, and too big to be a real apple. At that point the artificial fruit lady picked up the apple and proceeded to eat it.

    Jesus is the real McCoy. He really did rise from the grave. He is alive. He is listening to our prayers. He is always open for business when that business deals with the human heart in need of a shepherd's guidance and love.

    George Bernard Shaw, the famous playwright, was handed a newly written play by a fledgling playwright. Shaw was asked to give the young man a criticism of his work a few days later. "How do you like it?" asked the author. "I fell asleep reading it," said Shaw. "Sleep is my comment on your work."

    No one fell asleep or yawned that night when the Prince of Peace, the Prince of Power and the Lord of Love appeared in their midst. Christianity is real. Christianity is alive. Christianity is anything but boring. Let us all wake up and smell the roses. Let us resolve to live our lives as if Jesus were a guest in our homes, workplaces and businesses. The truth is that the Lord is here, there, and everywhere. He is alive. His is our Risen Lord to whom we offer our discipleship with love.

    The song goes, "They'll know we are Christians by our love." Let us be about our Father's business as we serve him with joy. Let us show and tell others the good news of the gospel.

It is God to whom and with whom we travel, and while He is the End of our journey, He is also at every stopping place.

Elisabeth Elliot

from Living Life God's Way

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   HE IS RISEN

     A preacher was telling the story about the death, burial and resurrection of Christ to a group of children. He asked, "What did Jesus say when he came forth from the grave"? He was trying to make the point that he didn't need to say anything, that his wondrous miracle said more than words could ever say. A young lady however insisted that she knew what Jesus said. The preacher finally asked her to tell him what Jesus said. She smiled widely and said, "Ta Dah!"

     Now I don't know that Jesus actually said, if anything at all, but from a human standpoint I can imagine the excitement of just defying death and just perhaps Jesus doing something like that, (in part because I believe that Jesus had a human side as well as a sense of humor).

     We are entering into a time of the year at which most of the religious world celebrates "Easter". It might surprise some of you to know that our church doesn't do that. I know that it is hard for you to imagine someone claiming to be a Christian and yet not celebrating this very special day. Yet for us, it is no different than any other Sunday.

     You see, the Bible tells us to come together the first day of each week to worship God. The early church did just that, Jesus told the early church to remember his death, burial and resurrection through the partaking of "The Lord's Supper" or "Communion" whenever they met that way, (Matthew 26:26-29). The early church is seen coming together on the first day of every week to "break bread" or to partake of the Lord's Supper, (Acts 20:7, 1 Corinthians 11:23-30, 16:1-2).

     In other words, we don't need one special Sunday to celebrate the resurrection of the "Savior of the World". We do it each and every "First day of the Week", every "Sunday". I know that some of you may ask the question, "Won't doing that make it something that is no longer special? My answer is no, not at all, it is a continual reminder of the sacrifice Christ on our behalf. The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 11:26, "For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord's death till he comes."  Not only his death, but his resurrection, because that is part of what the Gospel is all about, (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

     I don't know about you, but remembering "The Great Ta Dah" every week is great thing and a great comfort to me. My prayer is that you will see past the "pomp and circumstance" that so many heap upon this one special day of the year and understand that it is something you can participate in every Sunday with the same sense of awe.

Russ Lawson
Messages From The Heart (http://www.mfth.net)

from thought for the day

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Two butterflies - colorful and majestic monarchs - sat side by side on a tree limb. Beside them was the ruputred cocoon from which they'd just emerged. "Come fly with me," said the one.
"Caterpillars cant't fly,"said the other.
"But we're not caterpillars anymore," said the first, flexing his new wings, strectching then their full span till they looked like magnificently crafted stained glass windows.

"Those caterpillar days are gone forever."

  "Don't be silly," said the other. "We were born caterpillars and we'll always be caterpillars. That's the way it is."

"Well, then, why did the Maker see fit to give us there wings?" said the one.

The other butterfly thought for a moment and then replied,"I don't know. Some sort of cruel joke, I suppose. He did the same thing to the ostrich, you know."

"Nonsese!" said the first. "Look at all the other butterflies. They're fly-ing. What do you say to that?"

The second butterfly looked out over the meadow and said, "They're not flying. they're just being blown about by the    wind. Stupid of them,too. Can't they see it's dangerous? Easy prey for    hungry birds and, when they land, mischievous children as well. I'll stick to crawling and climbing, thank you very much. It may be slow, but it's safe and sure."

 "it may be slow and safe and sure but it's.....well, it's unnatural. Butterlies fly!!!

That's the way the maker made us. That's our role, our function, our fit: to dance on the wings of the air; to play tag with dandelions seeds; to soar; to dart; to float; to light on a single    blade of grass to the delight of all who see;to inspire awe and wonder; to fascinate; to add a note of grace to this world's dreary song."  
    
Mark Radecke in  "In Chrst: A New Creation"   

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Interesting Facts About Easter

We are just a few weeks away from Easter Sunday. In case you haven’t yet realized it, Easter is quite early this year. Unlike Christmas, which always occurs on the same date every year, Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20). This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar.

Based on the above, Easter can actually be one day earlier (March 22), but that is pretty rare.

Here’s the interesting info. This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the rest of our lives! And only the most elderly of our population have ever seen it this early (95 years old or above!). And none of us have ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier! Here are the facts:

1. The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now). The last time it was this early was 1913 (so if you’re 95 or older, you are the only ones that were around for that!).

2. The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 (277 years from now). The last time it was on March 22 was 1818. So, no one alive today has or will ever see it any earlier than this year!

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THE  MESSAGE  OF  EASTER
(Author - Paul Hovey)

The simplest meaning of Easter is that we are living in a world in
which God has the last word. On Friday night it appeared as if evil were the master of life. The holiest and most lovable One who had ever lived was dead and in His tomb, crucified by the order of a tyrant without either scruples or regrets. He who had raised the highest hopes among men had died by the most shameful means. A cross, three nails, a jeering mob of debauched souls, and a quick thrust of a spear had ended it all.

Those hours when His voice was stilled and His hands were quiet were the blackest through which the human race has ever lived. If Caesar could put an end to Jesus, then no man could ever dare aspire or hope again. Hope, in such a world, could be nothing better than a mockery. 

Then came Easter morning and the glorious word: "He is risen!" And evil's triumph was at an end. Since that hour when Mary in the garden first discovered the staggering fact of victory, no man whose heart was pure and whose labors were honest has ever had reason to fear or despair if he believed in the Resurrection.
 
BLESSINGS TO YOU!

from WordsOfFaith]