Easter

Today was *sigh* wonderful. I had such a good time and it was one of the best Easters I can remember. There were good times with friends and family and so much good food! I was so thankful to see my brother there, knowing that the event a week ago could have changed that. Realizing again just how temporary this life is and being so thankful for the time I have with those I love and looking forward to one day seeing those I have lost. The day was a very full one. There was posing for and taking lots of pictures, food preparation and cooking, cleaning up (of course), dressing up (hair, make-up, the works. sheesh!), and lots of joking around. The music we did for the two services was good, but we performed the Easter portion of the "Messiah" for the evening service and I have to say it was pretty darn good. Despite the nerves, the worries over vocal conditions, and the distractions from the audience, the opportunity to perform this amazing work was awesome. There is something so thrilling about singing and playing truly great music and tonight I had a great thrill. The whole day was just so enjoyable. It was great to be reminded of the resurrection of Jesus and what that resurrection means for us. Because Jesus rose from the grave I have power to live the Christian life. I have power over sin in my life, the power to live victoriously in Christ conquering every hurdle that may come my way whether it be something of my own doing or something the devil puts in my way, and most of all I have a new life in Christ. I am no longer bound to the things that used to drag me down, to the things of this world or the reasoning of man, to the limits that are human generally and mine specifically, to the idea that there is nothing more to this life than living and dieing and enjoying the journey. Truly, there is life - life as God intended it with both the spirit and the body being alive - in Christ. I am so thankful that Jesus finished His work, defeated death and Hell and rose again to give me new life and the power to live that new life. Hallelujah! He is risen!

Good Friday

Today is Good Friday, the day in the Easter story when Jesus was crucified. Jesus' crucifixion was the bridging of the gap between the promises of the past and the promises of the future. When God became flesh and walked on this earth it started the end of the beginning of God's plan for redemption of the human race. There were so many things that Jesus' death accomplished. He was the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophesies, the Messiah, the One to whom every one had looked forward to for salvation from Adam to Jesus' own parents. He was the Saviour to whom all could look from His parents until all eternity. Those living before Jesus were saved by their faith in the promise of God that one day the Lamb would come that would take away the sins of the world. Those who lived and are living after Jesus are saved by their faith in the promise and realization that Jesus was that Lamb, the ultimate sacrifice for sin. Jesus' death, which served as a sacrifice, also opened the way for our direct communication with God. When Jesus died the veil of the temple was torn in two symbolizing that no longer would man need a high priest to go before God and plead for forgiveness for his sin. Now we can "go boldly before the throne of grace" having been washed by the blood of Jesus. Perhaps the most important thing Jesus' death accomplished was the defeat of sin and the devil. When Jesus died all sin and all that is born of sin was nailed to the cross with Him and it was put to death. As I think of Jesus and all that He went through I cannot help but be awed by the love that drove Him to do this. He bore the beatings, the tormenting, the cruelty, the intense pain, the shame, the loss of loved ones, being falsely accused, being separated from God, and ultimately death without ever saying a word in response or giving up on His mission. His mission was salvation for all and that means salvation for me. Every lashing He took, every blow of the whip, every drop of His blood bought me freedom from sin, healing from all sicknesses and disease, restoration from all hurts, and death to a life that has eternal death as its end. "Oh the love that drew salvation's plan, Oh the grace that brought it down to man, Oh the mighty gulf that God did span at Calvary!" In looking at Jesus' death the one thing that most stands out to me is how much Jesus loved me and Jesus' love is not a fake, phony love. It is real love; in fact it is the very definition of love; a standard to measure all other declarations of or acts of love by. "Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends." "For God loved the world so much that He gave His Only Son so that anyone who believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." "But God demonstrates His own love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." I am so glad Jesus loved me enough to complete His mission and give me life.

Thursday - Communion

It's already Thursday and I'm wondering where the first half of the week went. I have been so busy this week it seems that time is just flying by in a whirlwind of activity. Today is Communion day in my holy week so I have spent the last few days getting ready. That means taking out time to actually pause and look at your life and your relationship with God. Tonight I will attend a service where the church will observe the Lord's Supper. It's a ceremony that reminds one of what Jesus went through when He was preparing to die and what His purpose was in doing it. It is a very serious service and the realization that you are remembering and in a way reenacting what Jesus did just before He died is very sobering. I was spending some time last night praying and getting myself ready for this service because the Bible instructs that it not be taken lightly and that we are to "examine ourselves" and see if there is anything in our lives that is displeasing to the Lord and then take care of it. It is analogous to deep cleaning your house right before you are going to have company. You make sure everything is really clean and try not to leave anything left undone. The same is true in preparation for Communion. As I was "cleaning house" I was noticing the areas of my life that are in desperate need of repair. Sometimes it's hard to face the things about you that are not pleasant or admit the areas where you are going off track. At least for myself, I want to say that really I am not all that bad, that the good I do far out weighs the bad, the bad that I do isn't really that bad, and ultimately there are things I enjoy that I don't want to give up. Then the question comes - how much of Jesus do I want in my life? Do I want Him only in certain areas, only to love me and not to correct me, only when it is convenient, only when the hard times come and He can bail me out? It reminds me of a story I once read titled "My Heart, Christ's Home". This man had become a Christian and Christ had moved into his house (heart). The man was so excited that he actually had Jesus living with him and he started showing Him around the house and getting Jesus settled in His "guest room". As the days and weeks went by the man started to notice that Jesus didn't just stay in His designated area of the house but started to move about and, to the man's shock, Jesus started cleaning the house. Room by room Jesus made His way around the house repairing what was broken and getting rid of the filth and dirt that were everywhere. At first the man was grateful for all the work Jesus was doing but soon he began to become a little irritated as Jesus moved into areas that the man didn't necessarily want Him to. As Jesus began to try and clean up more and more of the man's house there were many struggles. Jesus never forced Himself or His desire on the man, He never was forceful or demanding in His requests to clean up the man's house. He just did what the man would let Him do and He never gave up trying to clean the entire house, including a closet that the man was most determined to keep sealed. That closet became the central struggle between the man and Jesus. The man didn't want Jesus to open the closet and clean it for shame of what He might find, because there were things in it he didn't want to get rid of, because the thought of actually dealing with what was in the closet was too much for him. Still, Jesus kept asking if He could open the closet and clean it. Finally, he asked the man, "When you asked me to live in your house you asked me to clean everything and to get rid of the things that need to be gotten rid of. If this closet is a part of your house then I need to clean it as well." Slowly, hesitantly, even painfully, the man allowed Jesus to open the closet and start to clean it out. Everyone has things in their life that they don't want to face or deal with. As a Christian I want Jesus to be manifested in every part of my life and to work so that He fills every part of my life. As I prepare for communion and remembering what Jesus did for me on the cross I must examine my life and allow Jesus access to the "closets" in my life so that I can stand before Him truly clean and have an unhindered relationship with Him. At times, allowing Jesus to work in your life can be uncomfortable and even painful, but the outcome is so much better than anything you had before. Like a wound that is cleaned and then heals, my life is so much better when I acknowledge where I am wrong and allow Jesus to remove the things in my life that need to go. Then I can truly have communion with God and the remembrance of what Jesus did for me is so much sweeter.

*About Me* Good childhood memories: running through the sprinkler in the summers - slipping and sliding on grass and mud and if you had any spare tarps laying around, those made for great slides. Walking through the grass in your bare feet or walking in the dirt just after a rain and feeling the mud squish between your toes. Standing outside in a monsoon rain just before the lightning got so bad you had to go in. Playing outside from early in the morning until the sun set and then watching the moon come out and counting all the stars you could see in the great big Arizona sky. Playing hide-and-seek or kick-the-can with a group of twenty to thirty kids. Having water balloon fights and squirt gun fights. Having pine cone wars in the mountains and using fallen trees and huge boulders as your forts. Building tree houses and then pretty much living in them for the bulk of the summer.

Palm Sunday

Today was Palm Sunday and for me the celebration of Easter has officially started. All this week I will be remembering the final week of Jesus' life and then His resurrection on Sunday morning. I've actually been getting ready for Easter for the past month, but now the celebration really begins. For those of you who don't know what Palm Sunday is it is the day when Jesus arrived in Jerusalem to observe the Passover Feast with His disciples. As Jesus entered Jerusalem the people began to celebrate His arrival saying that He was King of Israel who had come to save His people. It was a time of high praise and the people worshiped Jesus as they would an earthly king. Really it was the only time when the Jewish people acknowledged Who Jesus was during His time on this earth. As I was remembering this time in the life of Jesus I had a thought: what areas of my life am I allowing Jesus to enter as and celebrating Him as King? Are there parts of my life where Jesus is not allowed to enter and should He do so it would surely not be as King but merely as a visitor? Are there areas in my life that I shut Jesus out of? Sadly, yes. In taking an inventory if my life and everything in it I can most assuredly see areas where Jesus is certainly no where on the scene and should He show up as King I would throw a huge fit. However, I want this to change. I want every area of my life - my schooling, my job, my life at home, my personal life, my friends, my family, my relationship with God - to be open so that Jesus can come in and not as some passing visitor but as King. I want to rejoice, just as those people did so many years ago, that Jesus has showed up in my life and He has come to save me and give me a good life. I want to be able to say, "Hosanna! Blessed is the King of Israel, that cometh in the name of the Lord!"

*About Me* Pretty much all my life I have been involved in ministry. When I was very young I was part of the children's choir at church and we went all over the city singing at nursing homes. By the time I was 14 I was in the youth/adult choir and we sang at church events, rehab centers, detention centers, homeless shelters, college campuses, and public events of all kinds. My schedule then was about two performances per week. I am still in ministry and go to many of the same places I did when I was 14 and then some extra ones. A regular week for me has approximately three performances in it with one or two added on the weekends every now and then as well as accompanying the children's choir at two retirement/care facilities each week. So every month I perform in some way at least twenty times. Is that tiresome? Sometimes, but seeing people's lives changed or watching them just enjoy the music or listening as they tell you how much they were touched by what you are doing makes every single thing worth it. I've been on large stages and performed for large audiences, and I have felt the rush of being center stage with everyone looking at you and being awed (so you think) by your great ability; but I wouldn't trade what I do in ministry for a whole life of performances like that. Nothing is better than knowing that you helped make a difference in someone's life or that you ministered to someone when they most needed it.