Happy Easter

[John Rist]

Happy Easter to ALL!!           

[Steve Berry]

Yes, Happy Easter. He is risen. He is risen indeed!

Bob Hunt

I thank God every day the He is risen, and His mercy is upon an old wicked sinner like me.

Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk

[Mike Griffin]

Something to think about on this past "Good Friday"...

Did you know that virtually every single picture, every carving, every cast of Jesus hanging on the cross is not accurate?
There are many translations of the Bible and they pretty much agree on one thing.
They all state that his "visage was so marred" that he was unrecognizable to even his close friends.
Think about that. Think about your closest friend, someone you love that gets beaten so severely that you don't even recognize them.

The Book also states that his beard was plucked out. You bearded guys out there can imagine what that's like. Imagine a big, full beard, or even one close to your face and trimmed being plucked out. That alone would make your whole face swell.up.
Now imagine being scourged. That's a fancy word for being whipped with a "cat of nine tails" whip with nine separate strands at the same time, often adorned with small pieces of metal that cut into you. The small strands would wrap around your arms, legs and torso, and they would be pulled away literally ripping and tearing chunks of flesh off of you...and if they happen to hit you in the face, even if you did live through it you would be permanently scared.

Yet, for the most part artist renditions spare us from the gory details when we see pictures of Christ hanging on the cross.
I've wondered about this ever since I was a little kid and  learned of this story in Sunday school. Was it done intentionally so that we could look upon the cross without being grossed out or appalled at the true representation of what the Bible stated?

If the representation was depicted as the Bible stated, would crosses of Jesus be displayed in many churches or would they be considered too offensive to hang up in the front of the Church?
Can you imagine the utter horror of his Mother, His Disciples or anyone who knew Him when they gazed upon Him and couldn't even be sure it was Him due to His condition?

But the story doesn’t end there...
When He arose, He was as He was before He was crucified. His friends knew him. His family knew Him. Even the Soldiers that beat him to an unrecognizable form knew Him. I can only imagine what they thought. Did they marvel at His appearance? Were they terrified?

And thus, the "old law" was done away with, and the "new law"  began. Those close to Him saw with their own eyes, not only the miracle of the Resurrection, but the miracle of healing as well.
And so a new Era began. One that is filled with hope, no matter how terrible things may seem at the time.
There is another verse in the Bible that I'll end this on.

"Blessed is he that believes without seeing".
If you believe, you are blessed beyond measure.
When you wake up on Sunday, that one day of the year we set aside to celebrate not the death of Christ, but the miracle of the Resurrection, just think about the fact that...
He lives!
And He’s coming back!

[Steve Berry]

Something to think about on this "Good Friday"...
Did you know that virtually every single picture, every carving, every cast of Jesus hanging on the cross is not accurate?
There are many translations of the Bible and they pretty much agree on one thing.
They all state that his "visage was so marred" that he was unrecognizable to even his close friends.
Think about that. Think about your closest friend, someone you love that gets beaten so severely that you don't even recognize them.
The Book also states that his beard was plucked out. You bearded guys out there can imagine what that's like. Imagine a big, full beard, or even one close to your face and trimmed being plucked out. That alone would make your whole face swell.up.
Now imagine being scourged. That's a fancy word for being whipped with a "cat of nine tails" whip with nine separate strands at the same time, often adorned with small pieces of metal that cut into you. The small strands would wrap around your arms, legs
 and torso, and they would be pulled away literally ripping and tearing chunks of flesh off of you...and if they happen to hit you in the face, even if you did live through it you would be permanently scared.
Yet, for the most part artist renditions spare us from the gory details when we see pictures of Christ hanging on the cross.
I've wondered about this ever since I was a little kid and  learned of this story in Sunday school. Was it done intentionally so that we could look upon the cross without being grossed out or appalled at the true representation of what the Bible stated?
If the representation was depicted as the Bible stated, would crosses of Jesus be displayed in many churches or would they be considered too offensive to hang up in the front of the Church?
Can you imagine the utter horror of his Mother, His Disciples or anyone who knew Him when they gazed upon Him and couldn't even be sure it was Him due to His condition?
But the story doesn’t end there...
When He arose, He was as He was before He was crucified. His friends knew him. His family knew Him. Even the Soldiers that beat him to an unrecognizable form knew Him. I can only imagine what they thought. Did they marvel at His appearance? Were they terrified?
And thus, the "old law" was done away with, and the "new law"  began. Those close to Him saw with their own eyes, not only the miracle of the Resurrection, but the miracle of healing as well.
And so a new Era began. One that is filled with hope, no matter how terrible things may seem at the time.
There is another verse in the Bible that I'll end this on.
"Blessed is he that believes without seeing".
If you believe, you are blessed beyond measure.
When you wake up on Sunday, that one day of the year we set aside to celebrate not the death of Christ, but the miracle of the Resurrection, just think about the fact that...
He lives!
And He’s coming back!

Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk

[Will Hinton]

Yes Mike, He is, and thank you for reminding us of the horrible sacrifice He made for us, with perhaps the greatest tragedy being that "He who was without sin BECAME SIN FOR US!"  (Emphasis mine.)
Wow, what love.

[Joe Gilbert]

On a hill Called Golgotha , place of skulls , at the very least the crucifixion was gruesome. He chose it for all mankind. 

[john e. holliday]

Yes this day is almost over.   A few weeks after my back went bananas I was reading my daily devotional.  I realized i didn't have the pain that Jesus suffered and went through for my and others sin.  How he lived through it all to his final breath is beyond my scope of thinking.  Now I await the day that he welcomes me home even though I would love to see my great grand children grow some more.   Today there was my middle daughter and her family missing from the church service and I prayed that they were being watched over.  When service was over we headed to grand daughter Willow place for dinner and all were there.   I still can't thank my LORD enough for what he did and keeps doing.