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Showing posts from April, 2004

Grief

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Sometimes the news comes quick. Sometimes the news comes slow. No matter how or when it comes, grief travels in the wake of the news. Grief is heavy, weighty, a burden, especially when it involves someone deeply loved. Grief is not meant to be carried alone. It’s too heavy and may last a while—and that’s ok. That’s what family and friends are for, to share the load. Jesus stood outside the tomb of his friend and wept but He did not weep alone. It was a deep, human moment. “ Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted ” (Matt 5:4). If anyone knows how we feel in grief, it’s Him. But His grief did not linger long, as at the mention of his name, Lazarus came forth. We are not meant to dwell in grief, but should leave room enough for it. Let it run its course. Like the song says, “ Every Storm Runs Out Of Rain .” Another song says, “ The storm We will dance as it breaks The storm It will give as it takes And all of our pain is washed away Don't cry or be afraid Some things...
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anticipation

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Sorry it has been a while since my last blog. I have been incredibly busy with work, studying, reading and writing that I forgot there were other things to do . . . I had a wonderful time at the Christian and Culture conference that started Friday evening and ended at noon today. The conference was on the life and writings of J.R.R. Tolkien. When I came home my neighbor across the street came over and invited Jonathan to eat dinner. Later I went over to check on things and found myself elbow deep in engine grease helping my neighbor's brother reassemble a truck engine. It was not long when I found myself talking to a very hurt young man who experienced significant losses the past couple of years (loss of jobs, death of a child, a "preying" pastor who caused he and his wife to divorce, etc). I told him I wanted to spend some more time with him and he said he would be back and wanted to talk. While we talked my neighbor barbequed enough food to feed most of the neig...
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what if . . .

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Today is Passover and I was thinking of Jesus' crucifixion when I got this huge onslaught of "what if's". The Bible is silent about a lot of things, but I just had to ask. Matthew says "and when they crucified him" (27:35). Mark says "and they crucified him" (15:24) Luke says "there they crucified him" (23:33) John says "when they crucified him" (19:23) But how? How do we know the soldiers crucified him by laying him down on the wood and nailing him to it? How do we know they soldiers raised it up? They certainly did'nt bring the cross up there themselves, so why should they raise it and the man nailed to it? What if Jesus had to set his own cross in place on the hill? What if Jesus had to climb a small ladder, grasping the cross in places, holding onto its sides and balancing, perhaps embracing the cross so as not to fall off because of his blood that was now all over the place? What if he had to get his balance on the ...
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