If you are a faithful reader of my blog then you are aware that I am a woman of lists. I love lists. I use them for work, for fun, for family. I work best by working through step-by-step processes. I guess that it why I am a type A personality.
It has been a few hours now since I posted my last mindless blog concerning my situation with my husband.
And after much praying, and reflection, and reading my blog over again, I came across a new list.
Ever read those silly lists offered by MSN relationships? They are kind of silly. Like "Ten ways to make him hot." Why do you need a list for that? Just move him the desert like I did.
But, in my hopeless mindset, I thought I would read through this new list out just a few weeks ago called, "10 Ways To Better Show Your Love."
Ok, I'm hooked. What are they?
Maybe if I am lucky I will find on that list blogging about your frustrations...
1. Make a Decision
2. Make food
3. Give a gift
4. Give compliments
5. Give your appreciation
6. Make a gesture of your very own
7. Be dominate
8. Be passive
9. Tell him what you are
10. Just show up
What a list huh? Boy can I pick 'em.
First, there is nothing about blogging? And second, this isn't your "usual" love list. I mean the top 5 are there - gifts, presence, attention, service, affection. But #7 and #8, what??
But, ok, I will still play along.
God knows that I can use all the help I can get regarding love these days.
#1 - make a decision. Alright. I make the decision to do this stupid love list today for my husband.
Not good enough you say?
Figured you say that. However, the description says that #1 refers to making the choice to commit to these 10 principles for your beloved. Ha, ha!
# 2 - make food. Ok. I made LOTS of food yesterday for him but he chose to not eat it. But we are talking about today, the present, not yesterday, the past. Plus if you really break it down, I really didn't make the food for him - I made it for Jesus and the celebration of Easter. Darn it. Alright. Make food. Done. I will go pick up some of his favorite chicken wings before going home, it isn't really making it, but I will watch someone make it.
# 3 - Give a gift. The wings! That doesn't work? Ok. I have this stupid snuggie thing that he will just love because it has his favorite college football team as the print of the fabric. Was going to give it to him for his birthday coming soon, but I bought too many presents anyway (as I always do), and I know he will like this any day, not just as a "birthday" gift. Check.
# 4 - Give compliments. Agh. These are getting harder. Ok. A compliment? Well, he is still breathing right? Ya, no, especially if I want to keep out of prison. I just was kidding by the way, I would never, ugh, stop his breathing. Um. I'm stumped. Compliment....well rested! Ok. When I first see him I will tell him that he looks well rested. Not the best, but hey, it's a start.
# 5 - Give your appreciation. Ew. No thanks! I mean, did you even read my last blog?? But, thinking about it. I left the house this morning before everyone else woke up and didn't feed the dogs. My husband texted me earlier and said that he would feed them for me. Ok, #4, check. I will verbally express my appreciation for feeding the dogs.
# 6 - Make a gesture of your very own. I don't really get this one. As described in the article, this is to make something, like a heart shaped wood cutting board (who wrote this?). I would say that a gesture of my very own would be to actually execute this stupid list to him. But, just in case the jury doesn't see it that way, a gesture of my very own, huh? I will make him a "just because" greeting card. That works. And I even have some card stock to use. Winning!! (Talk about a dude with relationship problems! Poor Charley)
# 7 - Be dominant. I LOVE this one! This might have even been the reason why I decided to do this in the first place. I joke. Be dominant. Description says to don't be a push-over. Makes sense. If I don't play this right, my husband might think that he got off easy yesterday because I am doing all of these nice things. Maybe he should start reading my blogs... Back to this point though. Ok. When I leave from seeing him this afternoon I will make a point to let him know that I wish to talk to him later tonight. We can discuss more in detail about my feelings from last night. That's dominant, right? The dreaded, "We need to talk" line?
# 8 - Be passive. I mean really, who wrote this?? First you tell me not to be a push-over and now you say to be passive. A man wrote this, I just know it. The good ol' "be an aggressive sexy underwear model and a vegetarian librarian" at the same time. Please. But, ok. Again I give into this experiment. When I see him this afternoon I will not get into it with him regarding yesterday. I will be passive. Give my bundle of love offerings and be gone.
# 9 - Tell him what you are.He should know right? But for the sake of this list. Fine. I'll will write this list (another list! I am in!) that will include my short comings, my failures, everything bad that I am, and keeping with the directions, I won't apologize for anything, just acknowledge that I know I am this way.
FINALLY!
# 10 - Just show up. Easiest one! I will "just show up" to our house, were he currently is, deliver all of these better love offerings and be on my way. I have half an hour before this can be executed. T-minus 30 minutes.
Alright, let's recap, (again, A type personality):
Just show up (#10 and #1) in half an hour by first complimenting (#4) that he looks well rested and thank him for feeding the dogs this morning (#5). Put down his wings (#2) on the table. Offer my gesture of love (#6) greeting card that I personally made and tell him that he can read the other separate sheet (#9) later today. Pull out his snuggie from my purse and offer it to him (#3). Let him tell me more details from last night since I didn't let him tell me then and not say anything back but encouraging points (#8). Give him a goodbye kiss and tell him on the way out that when I get home from work we need to sit down again because I have things I wish to discuss further (#7).
Ha! I did it! All 10. In your face devil cupid!
If anything, no one can ever say that I never tried to keep my marriage together. Let's all pray that this works. Or if anything, helps me to be happier.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Rise From The Dead
Happy Easter! Christ has risen, hallelujah!
I hope that each of your holiday festivities were Christ-centered and included lots of great tasting food.
Yesterday was an interesting day, or should I say, an interesting new mix that was created in this so-called, Ochoa experiment, otherwise known as my life.
My husband and I weren’t on great terms to begin with, starting the day. As usual, he woke up cranky and took awhile to snap out of it. And then we went to get my grandmother to take to church with us, complete with her wheelchair and oxygen tank, and that frustrated him because it was taking too long. Then when we finally made it to church, he was upset again because I had to leave him and my grandmother alone in the pew while I mingled around, the “job” of every church staff person come Sundays.
Actually, putting it down on paper like this, I now see how many times he gets upset during just a morning. Very sad. Clearly he isn’t happy either…but more on this later…
The Pastor’s sermon during the service was one of his better ones. He spoke on the importance of a woman being the first to the grave on Easter morning (huh, I reflected on that too just days ago!) and how we are to now go out and celebrate the resurrection.
But there was a point in his sermon that sounded my internal alarm.
Pastor was trying to make a connection between changing points in our lives vs. the changing point in the world’s lifetime (Christ’s resurrection), and that was it. That was the only spark I needed to change my outlook for the rest of the day. No turning back.
You see, Pastor asked, what one influence in your life to this point has completely changed it for the better. 9 times out of 10 people said their spouses. I know this because he asked 10 random people in the congregation, and 9 of them said their spouses.
I was floored because that wasn’t my answer.
Actually, thinking about it the rest of the day, my husband would never qualify for this answer. This is very bold to say, and it is easier when behind a computer screen, but in the name of online therapy, there it is, I actually would say the reverse about him…things have gotten much harder in my life after meeting him.
And how horrible is that to say?! A spouse is supposed to be the enabler in your life, not the disabler. He is supposed to be the answer to the Pastor’s question, and that’s why 9 times out of 10, it was.
Where did I go wrong?
I have been working feverishly for three years now trying to create a great relationship with my now husband, and here it was, smacked in my face on Easter morning, that in fact, what I have been working for, well, it isn’t working.
Things got more complicated as the afternoon progressed.
After church we headed home where I prepared a six appetizer spread, and a five course dinner. Adrian’s mother and sister came over about an hour earlier than the main course would be finished, and decided to leave during this time to visit some friends then come back when the main course was ready.
I wish I could say that I was surprised by this. But I wasn’t. Here I just spent the last two days, shopping for, cleaning for, prep cooking for, a blessed Easter spread with family, and they can’t even stay during the first part of the party? But, whatever, who I am to let this bother me, right? So, I quickly brushed this off and continued to cook, this day is about celebrating Jesus, not them.
After the hour was up, they still weren’t back. Again, no big surprise. And we waited. Waited some more.
Then my husband gets a call from his sister that she was at the park and somehow hit her head and was bleeding. It was decided by the people at the park to take her into the emergency room. However, in the efforts to not worry their mother, she was not told, and she was on her way back to our house for dinner.
Well, somewhere between my mother-in-law driving to our house and my husband hanging up the phone, she found out. She walked into our house, as we were eating our main course, and no more than a minute later, my husband’s sister calls again and wants her mother to go to the ER to be with her. So my mil goes into freak out mode, as she is known to do, and jumps back in her car and off she goes to the hospital.
Ten minutes later my husband gets a call that he too needs to go to the hospital.
So off he speeds to the ER. Dinner plate still full of food.
My grandmother and I are left with the most confused looks on our faces. Like, “What just happened?” Seeing that my sister-in-law was the one to originally call my husband in the first place regarding her accident, I was not too concerned of any life threatening problems. I figured at best, a few stitches?
Grandma and I finish eating our lunch. We talk some. Then I drive her home. Unload the oxygen tank and the wheelchair and get her settled in for the night.
I drive home, put all the food away, do all the dishes, put my house back together (it was in “party” mode of course), and change into my pjs.
Still no word from the hospital.
Time goes on and still no word, a few texts now and again that say, “We are still here.” (Go figure, seeing that they are not home…)
And around 8:30pm (remember, they all left for the ER around 2pm), I get a text from my sister-in-law in LA, the one who is married to my husband’s brother, asking if her husband is coming home tonight.
Wait a minute.
You mean to tell me that the brother (there are three siblings total), came all the way down from LA just to sit in the ER with them?
Are you kidding me??
The sister is 27 for goodness for sake – AND has her mother by her side AND my husband.
And to put a cherry on that side story – the brother told us weeks ago that he and his family could not come to spend Easter with us because he was the only one working that day at his job, and no way in a million years would he be allowed time off Easter seeing that he was the only one.
So knowing that, and knowing that he probably left in the middle of his shift, and knowing that my sil was probably in not that bad of shape, I just couldn’t believe it.
And to add fuel to the fire. My bil didn’t even tell his wife he was coming. I guess his phone is not working, so he drove all three hours here, and then called his wife from his mother’s phone telling her where he was and what happened.
Are you freaking kidding me?
This whole hospital story just floors me. Yes, going to the emergency room is traumatic. But as far as I could infer, she was a little banged up, but not dying, not needing emergency surgery. And again, she is twenty-freaking-seven!
After my sil from LA’s text, I lost it. Putting together the entire day with my husband, and seeing how his brother treats his wife, I lost it. This is a family thing. Treat wives like shit. Ok, not like shit. I’m getting overly emotional. But, you get the point. They don’t treat us wives not very well.
For the first time in our relationship, even counting way back on our first date, this was the first time I didn’t feel that we belonged to each other. And that was the weirdest feeling of all. Here I was. In a home in which we created together. Sitting with our two beautiful dogs, that we adopted together. And I felt like a complete stranger to him. Separated from him and his true family. His true family being of course his brother, sister, and mother.
I have been only kidding myself to think that I was his family.
I spent the next three hours overly dramatic, I do so confess. But once that separation theory got into my head, there was no turning back for me.
I mean, how did I get this so wrong? How did I get to this place?
I dialed my parents in need of their thoughts instead of mine. And God love them, they are only looking out for the best of me, but by the end of that conversation I felt further separated then before.
My parents told me that this would never change, that his family will always interrupt our Easter parties, our lives, it will never change. They reminded me that the last two holidays were ruined as well because of the same reasons (well, not the ER story, but you get the point, ruined due to him and his family). So I need to mentally prepare myself that holidays, and regular days, are just going to suck and I need to suck it up – or make a change.
The change I am guessing they are referring to is the “d” word. The word that I swore up and down that I would not even consider in my marriage, which was going to last a life-time. (Did you notice that I just said, was? This is bad…)
My parents, people of the same concept of mine above, suggesting this to me?
Needless to say I took notice.
Maybe this isn’t the best situation. I mean I already said that my husband is a disabler not an enabler.
That’s not good.
But maybe I am just too caught up in recent events and not seeing things straight?
So by 11pm they were finally home. And when they got home, I decided to just go to bed. Not see any one. Not talk to anyone. I would hate to say something then, at that hour, that I would regret the next day, and I knew I would feel better in the morning.
Well, here it is the next morning, and I feel the same…
I have always heard it said that marriage is one of the hardest things you will do in your lifetime. And before I met my husband I always wondered if that was the case then why do people get married?
In the Bible, Christ refers to marriage in a different sense than woman and man. Christ says that He is the groom, the husband, and the church is the bride, the wife, and the relationship that Christ has with the church is marriage.
Praise God for that, because right now, that’s the only marriage that I am happy to be a part of.
And only by the help of my spiritual husband, may I come to better terms with my earthly one.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
So, You Want To Be A Christian Leader?
I have blogged on several occasions regarding my thoughts of leadership. But, I noticed that I have never really spelled out what I think a true leader should be and do.
First let me reaffirm that leaders are what make the world go around. And God-breathed leaders are what make God's kingdom go around. Leaders are important, but to me, God-breathed leaders are a must.
In order to be a God-breathed leader you must ask yourself-
1. Is this leadership position one that God is placing me in or one that I am placing myself in?
2. Are my goals as a leader my own or Christs?
3. Do I truly have the time to commit to this leadership position, enough so, that will bring honor to God?
If your answers to the above questions are not those of Christ's centerness, then in my humble opinion, as of right now, you have no place in Christian leadership.
A Christian leader encourages, promotes, loves, watches out for, and cares for the people in which she or he is serving.
To lead is to serve. It is as simple as that.
Sometimes Christian leaders are not encouraging. No promoting. Not loving. Don't watch out for the betterment of the team or ministry. Don't care.
And it breaks my heart.
There is nothing more in the forefront of a church than its Christian leaders.
And if those leaders, some of those leaders, or even one of those leaders is not God-breathed, that is bad news for Christ's church.
At my church, Christian leaders are usually the ones who are chair people of different committees or ministries. They are in the forefront. They represent their committee, or the ministry.
We already talked about what a Christian leader should be. But also to that, as a Christian leader it is up to you to:
1. Share the Good News with others. This is Christ's commandment to all, but especially to leaders. That is our number one priority. So ask yourself, am I approachable? Do others feel comfortable enough to walk up to me and ask me about faith? Do I feel comfortable going to others and asking the same? Sometimes leaders can get so caught up in running their ministries that they seem "too busy" to be approached. Watch for that. And remember, it is noted in the Bible that "Jesus walked slowly through the crowds." He wasn't running around like a chicken with is his head cut off.
2. Share the ministry. This doesn't just mean delegate different tasks for people to help you with your ministry, but also so that you are helping those people be a part of the ministry. If you find that you are doing 80% of the work on your committee, then you my friend are not a leader. No one is following you, especially if you are doing the majority of the work. When I think of NOT sharing the ministry I think of a time when a leader was asking for adult volunteers. Only one stepped forward, and the leader turned the person away because the volunteer wasn't needed at that particular time. Needless to say, I was furious when I found out about this! Not only was this leader wrong for turning away the ONLY volunteer but the leader wasn't sharing the ministry. Sure, they may not have been a noticeable job for the volunteer at the time, but as the leader, it is up to you to find a job, a useful job for that volunteer. My blood still boils when I think of that story. What a way to NEVER get volunteers ever again.
3. Support ministry growth, not stunt it. As a chairperson people might come to you with ideas for new ministries, new opportunities. Don't shut them down! We are to build up God's kingdom, not make it smaller. New ministries = a healthy church. Support the people who wish to make this happen. Offer helpful advice in a friendly manner and tone, even when you have some serious concerns or can think of some major pit-falls. The last thing you want to be seen as is a "bully" or an authoritative figure. Work with these people. And refer back to what being a Christian leader actually is!
Now. As far as Christian leaders being chair people for ministry goes I would like to take this time before closing to discuss how I feel these people should be running their Christian meetings as:
1. Open with a check-in of all the members. This is to "break the ice" of all the people present, to help make the committee members feel more comfortable with their fellow members, and to promote friendship. Check-ins can be as easy as telling your favorite food, your favorite holiday. Or it could be more faith-based, like telling your favorite church memory, or explaining why you are in ministry.
2. Hold worship time. Usually committee meetings have little if nothing to do with worshipping Christ. That's unfortunate because every time Christian people come together, there should be some type of worship included! That is the bases of our faith for goodness sake. Worship could be as quick as an opening prayer asking God to guide the ideas of the meeting. It could be reading a scripture or story that involves something related to the meeting's topics. I held a food safety training course recently at church with fellow church members and my worship time was looking at the importance of food throughout the Bible and especially in Jesus' ministry.
3. Have an agenda of topics to discuss and stick to it..
4. Meetings should NEVER go over one hour. This is for several reasons. One, to ensure that you respect people's schedules. Knowing that meetings are just an hour will also help your meeting's attendance and participation. Two, there is such a thing as "death of a topic" where it can be discussed too long. Keeping meetings under an hour ensure that no death's occur. Having an approved agenda (from #3) also helps keep the meeting running to only 60 minutes. If you have four points on your agenda and its 45 minutes in and you're at point two, you must get a move on, or table some agenda items. If and when you hit that 60 minute point, and the agenda is not complete, you must ask your committee if they wish to continue on for a set number of time (go 15 minutes more, 30 minutes more), if not, table the other agenda items for the next meeting.
5. Be sure that you have minutes taken during the meetings. Either by you or by a committee member. As the chairperson, you may be so caught up in running the meeting that you forget small discussion topics, who voted for what, and so on.
Being a Christian leader isn't easy. And it is always a work in progress.
My best advice for leaders is to keep Christ first. And remember that we work for Him and Him alone.
First let me reaffirm that leaders are what make the world go around. And God-breathed leaders are what make God's kingdom go around. Leaders are important, but to me, God-breathed leaders are a must.
In order to be a God-breathed leader you must ask yourself-
1. Is this leadership position one that God is placing me in or one that I am placing myself in?
2. Are my goals as a leader my own or Christs?
3. Do I truly have the time to commit to this leadership position, enough so, that will bring honor to God?
If your answers to the above questions are not those of Christ's centerness, then in my humble opinion, as of right now, you have no place in Christian leadership.
A Christian leader encourages, promotes, loves, watches out for, and cares for the people in which she or he is serving.
To lead is to serve. It is as simple as that.
Sometimes Christian leaders are not encouraging. No promoting. Not loving. Don't watch out for the betterment of the team or ministry. Don't care.
And it breaks my heart.
There is nothing more in the forefront of a church than its Christian leaders.
And if those leaders, some of those leaders, or even one of those leaders is not God-breathed, that is bad news for Christ's church.
At my church, Christian leaders are usually the ones who are chair people of different committees or ministries. They are in the forefront. They represent their committee, or the ministry.
We already talked about what a Christian leader should be. But also to that, as a Christian leader it is up to you to:
1. Share the Good News with others. This is Christ's commandment to all, but especially to leaders. That is our number one priority. So ask yourself, am I approachable? Do others feel comfortable enough to walk up to me and ask me about faith? Do I feel comfortable going to others and asking the same? Sometimes leaders can get so caught up in running their ministries that they seem "too busy" to be approached. Watch for that. And remember, it is noted in the Bible that "Jesus walked slowly through the crowds." He wasn't running around like a chicken with is his head cut off.
2. Share the ministry. This doesn't just mean delegate different tasks for people to help you with your ministry, but also so that you are helping those people be a part of the ministry. If you find that you are doing 80% of the work on your committee, then you my friend are not a leader. No one is following you, especially if you are doing the majority of the work. When I think of NOT sharing the ministry I think of a time when a leader was asking for adult volunteers. Only one stepped forward, and the leader turned the person away because the volunteer wasn't needed at that particular time. Needless to say, I was furious when I found out about this! Not only was this leader wrong for turning away the ONLY volunteer but the leader wasn't sharing the ministry. Sure, they may not have been a noticeable job for the volunteer at the time, but as the leader, it is up to you to find a job, a useful job for that volunteer. My blood still boils when I think of that story. What a way to NEVER get volunteers ever again.
3. Support ministry growth, not stunt it. As a chairperson people might come to you with ideas for new ministries, new opportunities. Don't shut them down! We are to build up God's kingdom, not make it smaller. New ministries = a healthy church. Support the people who wish to make this happen. Offer helpful advice in a friendly manner and tone, even when you have some serious concerns or can think of some major pit-falls. The last thing you want to be seen as is a "bully" or an authoritative figure. Work with these people. And refer back to what being a Christian leader actually is!
Now. As far as Christian leaders being chair people for ministry goes I would like to take this time before closing to discuss how I feel these people should be running their Christian meetings as:
1. Open with a check-in of all the members. This is to "break the ice" of all the people present, to help make the committee members feel more comfortable with their fellow members, and to promote friendship. Check-ins can be as easy as telling your favorite food, your favorite holiday. Or it could be more faith-based, like telling your favorite church memory, or explaining why you are in ministry.
2. Hold worship time. Usually committee meetings have little if nothing to do with worshipping Christ. That's unfortunate because every time Christian people come together, there should be some type of worship included! That is the bases of our faith for goodness sake. Worship could be as quick as an opening prayer asking God to guide the ideas of the meeting. It could be reading a scripture or story that involves something related to the meeting's topics. I held a food safety training course recently at church with fellow church members and my worship time was looking at the importance of food throughout the Bible and especially in Jesus' ministry.
3. Have an agenda of topics to discuss and stick to it..
4. Meetings should NEVER go over one hour. This is for several reasons. One, to ensure that you respect people's schedules. Knowing that meetings are just an hour will also help your meeting's attendance and participation. Two, there is such a thing as "death of a topic" where it can be discussed too long. Keeping meetings under an hour ensure that no death's occur. Having an approved agenda (from #3) also helps keep the meeting running to only 60 minutes. If you have four points on your agenda and its 45 minutes in and you're at point two, you must get a move on, or table some agenda items. If and when you hit that 60 minute point, and the agenda is not complete, you must ask your committee if they wish to continue on for a set number of time (go 15 minutes more, 30 minutes more), if not, table the other agenda items for the next meeting.
5. Be sure that you have minutes taken during the meetings. Either by you or by a committee member. As the chairperson, you may be so caught up in running the meeting that you forget small discussion topics, who voted for what, and so on.
Being a Christian leader isn't easy. And it is always a work in progress.
My best advice for leaders is to keep Christ first. And remember that we work for Him and Him alone.
Time Flies When You Are Having - Well, You Know
Wow! I have not published a post in almost a month! Where has the time gone?
I know - towards Easter preparations.
Working at a church, two things are certain. One, holidays become more about folding bulletins and publicizing worship services than planning the traditional family meal. And two, you will NEVER get time off during the Easter or Christmas season.
And, I am fine with that.
This Easter at my church, it is going to be so great and such a party for Christ's resurrection.
You know, out of all of the world's religions, Christians are the only one's who can say that their "founder" overcame death.
True, Buddhists believe that the final cycle of one's term is the state of nothingness, where you are died in the body and the spirit - called nirvana. But I never have gotten into the Buddhist beliefs anyway...you mean to tell me after being reborn again and again and again, the best you got for those "graduates" is, well, nothing? Ya, right.
Jesus is the only one who was truly dead, laid to rest for three days, and then came back to life. Once "back from the dead" Jesus was sure to show himself to his disciples, and to a crowd of over 500 people.
Smart move if you ask me. Only showing yourself to your close friends would be up for debate when explaining it to others. However, it's not that hard to explain when 500 other people, of no relational ties, see him too with their own eyes.
Could you image being Mary, the first to the grave, to see the living Jesus on Easter morning?
It is important to note that Jesus first shows himself to a woman. That was by no accident folks. Remember, this was a time when women were still seen as second-best, not equals. Is it ironic that Jesus showed himself to a lowly person such as a women, first? I think not.
I would argue that for Christians, Easter holds far more significance than Christmas. Sure, the Lord God placed his only son in a human's womb with so much promise. But it is Easter that truly seals the deal of this amazing Son of God named Jesus. Jesus' resurrection was the last piece to the puzzle, guaranteeing that indeed Jesus is God.
Working with the youth of the church always is entertaining. They are so full of energy and love and desires to learn more and more. But, this one particular youth group was entertaining for another reason...
We were talking about Easter, the resurrection, the three days of death, and somehow got on the topic of if Jesus was married. And one of my darling freshmen chimed in, "Well of course he wasn't married, he didn't have kids, I have never heard anyone with the last name of Christ."
Can you say job security!?
Jesus Christ, (not his last name) is my savior. He gave his life in such an ugly way to save me. Little old me.
Oh, how I love Easter!
I know - towards Easter preparations.
Working at a church, two things are certain. One, holidays become more about folding bulletins and publicizing worship services than planning the traditional family meal. And two, you will NEVER get time off during the Easter or Christmas season.
And, I am fine with that.
This Easter at my church, it is going to be so great and such a party for Christ's resurrection.
You know, out of all of the world's religions, Christians are the only one's who can say that their "founder" overcame death.
True, Buddhists believe that the final cycle of one's term is the state of nothingness, where you are died in the body and the spirit - called nirvana. But I never have gotten into the Buddhist beliefs anyway...you mean to tell me after being reborn again and again and again, the best you got for those "graduates" is, well, nothing? Ya, right.
Jesus is the only one who was truly dead, laid to rest for three days, and then came back to life. Once "back from the dead" Jesus was sure to show himself to his disciples, and to a crowd of over 500 people.
Smart move if you ask me. Only showing yourself to your close friends would be up for debate when explaining it to others. However, it's not that hard to explain when 500 other people, of no relational ties, see him too with their own eyes.
Could you image being Mary, the first to the grave, to see the living Jesus on Easter morning?
It is important to note that Jesus first shows himself to a woman. That was by no accident folks. Remember, this was a time when women were still seen as second-best, not equals. Is it ironic that Jesus showed himself to a lowly person such as a women, first? I think not.
I would argue that for Christians, Easter holds far more significance than Christmas. Sure, the Lord God placed his only son in a human's womb with so much promise. But it is Easter that truly seals the deal of this amazing Son of God named Jesus. Jesus' resurrection was the last piece to the puzzle, guaranteeing that indeed Jesus is God.
Working with the youth of the church always is entertaining. They are so full of energy and love and desires to learn more and more. But, this one particular youth group was entertaining for another reason...
We were talking about Easter, the resurrection, the three days of death, and somehow got on the topic of if Jesus was married. And one of my darling freshmen chimed in, "Well of course he wasn't married, he didn't have kids, I have never heard anyone with the last name of Christ."
Can you say job security!?
Jesus Christ, (not his last name) is my savior. He gave his life in such an ugly way to save me. Little old me.
Oh, how I love Easter!
Soup Supper Devotional
Well, here it is, the Wednesday of Holy Week, the last few hours of Jesus' life on Earth.
There's a song playing on Christian radio stations right now that touches my heart concerning this week. The chorus reads, "He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our sins. The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by his wounds, we are healed." The song is called, well, By His Wounds by Mac Powell, it's on YouTube if you want to hear it in its entirety.
But, how true that is, the punishment that brought us peace was upon Christ this week, and by his wounds, his ugly wounds that led to death, we are all healed.
In 1 Corinthians 12 my man Paul points out that
Just a a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is part of it.
Classic scripture, right?
The church as the body of Christ.
You know, whenever I hold a meeting here at the church, I always like to start it off by doing a check-in with everyone present. A check-in is something as simple as going around the circle and telling everyone your favorite restaurant. But more often than none the prompt for my check-ins are this, "If we are all considered the Body of Christ, then which part of the Body are you?"
Now, think about that for a second, which part of the Body are you?
Most answers are his hands, feet, his ears, his heart, the brain, being on church staff I usually say I am the digestive system.
But you know, in over the hundred times I have used this prompt, not one person has ever come back with being, His blood.
Matthew 26:26 reads, Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Jesus' blood is forgiveness. And that is what we are all seeking. And, that was made available to us all, during the end of this oh so holy week.
You know what ties families together? Yes, their blood lines. And seeing that we are all the Body of Christ, we are all family too, sharing the same blood.
Later today when you are alone with Jesus, I encourage you to include him in as you reflect more deeply on this thought of being the Body of Christ and more specially on being the blood of that body.
We all know, nothing will function within this body without the presence of blood.
Join in prayer, would you-
Heavenly Father, Healer of our Wounds,
As we walk together through Holy week may we remember, that beyond sin there is unconditional love, beyond death there is life unimaginable, beyond brokenness there is continued forgiveness, beyond betrayal there is grace poured out eternally. May we remember these things and give you thanks.
Amen.
There's a song playing on Christian radio stations right now that touches my heart concerning this week. The chorus reads, "He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our sins. The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by his wounds, we are healed." The song is called, well, By His Wounds by Mac Powell, it's on YouTube if you want to hear it in its entirety.
But, how true that is, the punishment that brought us peace was upon Christ this week, and by his wounds, his ugly wounds that led to death, we are all healed.
In 1 Corinthians 12 my man Paul points out that
Just a a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is part of it.
Classic scripture, right?
The church as the body of Christ.
You know, whenever I hold a meeting here at the church, I always like to start it off by doing a check-in with everyone present. A check-in is something as simple as going around the circle and telling everyone your favorite restaurant. But more often than none the prompt for my check-ins are this, "If we are all considered the Body of Christ, then which part of the Body are you?"
Now, think about that for a second, which part of the Body are you?
Most answers are his hands, feet, his ears, his heart, the brain, being on church staff I usually say I am the digestive system.
But you know, in over the hundred times I have used this prompt, not one person has ever come back with being, His blood.
Matthew 26:26 reads, Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Jesus' blood is forgiveness. And that is what we are all seeking. And, that was made available to us all, during the end of this oh so holy week.
You know what ties families together? Yes, their blood lines. And seeing that we are all the Body of Christ, we are all family too, sharing the same blood.
Later today when you are alone with Jesus, I encourage you to include him in as you reflect more deeply on this thought of being the Body of Christ and more specially on being the blood of that body.
We all know, nothing will function within this body without the presence of blood.
Join in prayer, would you-
Heavenly Father, Healer of our Wounds,
As we walk together through Holy week may we remember, that beyond sin there is unconditional love, beyond death there is life unimaginable, beyond brokenness there is continued forgiveness, beyond betrayal there is grace poured out eternally. May we remember these things and give you thanks.
Amen.
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