by

Our Daily Thread 4-12-20

Good Morning!

He is risen!

—————

Luke 24

Jesus Has Risen

¹On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” 8 Then they remembered his words.

9 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

On the Road to Emmaus

13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him.

17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”

They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

19 “What things?” he asked.

“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”

25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. 29 But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.

30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34 and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” 35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

Jesus Appears to the Disciples

36 While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

37 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. 38 He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”

40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. 41 And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate it in their presence.

44 He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”

45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

The Ascension of Jesus

50 When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. 52 Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53 And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.

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61 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 4-12-20”

  1. First!

    But only because I went to bed early and woke up at 5. Now I can’t sleep.

    It’s too early to put the ham in, unless we want to skip the pineapple stuffing, carrots, pickled eggs, and dinner rolls, and just serve it with scrambled eggs for breakfast. 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

  4. He is risen indeed!

    Χριστὸς ἀνέστη ἐκ νεκρῶν
    Christ is risen from the dead,
    المسيح قام من بين الأموات
    (Al-Masīḥu qāma min bayni ‘l-amwāt)

    θανάτῳ θάνατον πατήσας
    Trampling down death by death,
    ووطئ الموت بالموت
    (Wa-waṭiˀa ‘l-mawta bi’l-mawt)

    καὶ τοῖς ἐν τοῖς μνήμασι ζωὴν χαρισάμενος
    And upon those in the tombs, bestowing life
    ووهب الحياة للذين في القبور
    (Wa-wahaba ‘l-ḥayāta li’l-ladhīna fī ‘l-qubūr)

    Liked by 3 people

  7. Good morning again all.

    And a Happy Easter to you and yours. 🙂

    Chas tried to share this with you all this morning, but was having some difficulty, so I’ll try it now.

    HAPPY EASTER

    How the Virus Stole Easter
    By Kristi Bothur (With a nod to Dr. Seuss)

    Twas late in ‘19 when the virus began
    Bringing chaos and fear to all people, each land.
    People were sick, hospitals full,
    Doctors overwhelmed, no one in school.
    As winter gave way to the promise of spring,
    The virus raged on, touching peasant and king.
    People hid in their homes from the enemy unseen.
    They YouTubed and Zoomed, social-distanced, and cleaned.
    April approached and churches were closed.
    “There won’t be an Easter,” the world supposed.
    “There won’t be church services, and egg hunts are out.
    No reason for new dresses when we can’t go about.”
    Holy Week started, as bleak as the rest.
    The world was focused on masks and on tests.
    “Easter can’t happen this year,” it proclaimed.
    “Online and at home, it just won’t be the same.”
    Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, the days came and went.
    The virus pressed on; it just would not relent.
    The world woke Sunday and nothing had changed.
    The virus still menaced, the people, estranged.
    “Pooh pooh to the saints,” the world was grumbling.
    “They’re finding out now that no Easter is coming.
    “They’re just waking up! We know just what they’ll do!
    Their mouths will hang open a minute or two,
    And then all the saints will all cry boo-hoo.
    “That noise,” said the world, “will be something to hear.”
    So it paused and the world put a hand to its ear.
    And it did hear a sound coming through all the skies.
    It started down low, then it started to rise.
    But the sound wasn’t depressed.
    Why, this sound was triumphant!
    It couldn’t be so!
    But it grew with abundance!
    The world stared around, popping its eyes.
    Then it shook! What it saw was a shocking surprise!
    Every saint in every nation, the tall and the small,
    Was celebrating Jesus in spite of it all!
    It hadn’t stopped Easter from coming! It came!
    Somehow or other, it came just the same!
    And the world with its life quite stuck in quarantine
    Stood puzzling and puzzling.
    “Just how can it be?”
    “It came without bonnets, it came without bunnies,
    It came without egg hunts, cantatas, or money.”
    Then the world thought of something it hadn’t before.
    “Maybe Easter,” it thought, “doesn’t come from a store.
    Maybe Easter, perhaps, means a little bit more.”
    And what happened then?
    Well….the story’s not done.
    What will YOU do?
    Will you share with that one?
    Or two or more people needing hope in this night?
    Will you share the source of your life in this fight?
    The churches are empty – but so is the tomb,
    And Jesus is victor over death, doom, and gloom.
    So this year at Easter, let this be our prayer,
    As the virus still rages all around, everywhere.
    May the world see hope when it looks at God’s people.
    May the world see the church is not a building or steeple.
    May the world find Faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection,
    May the world find Joy in a time of dejection.
    May 2020 be known as the year of survival,
    But not only that –
    Let it start a revival.

    Liked by 5 people

  10. Re: Kim’s 9:12
    I have often wondered about the Spiritual condition of singers who sang such Spiritual songs perfectly.
    I think, over again, Hank Williams’ Gospel songs. He understood perfectly what the Gospel is. His “I Saw the Light” is right on. In light of his life, I don’t know how much of that he understood. It is a beyond my understanding.

    Liked by 1 person

  11. On Fox & Friends, a guy was talking about the event. He mentioned Jesus coming through the locked doors where the disciples were hiding.
    A common error:
    Jesus didn’t “come through a locked door”. He APEARED there. Just as he appeared to the travelers along the way. The risen Christ is everywhere now. He appears at will,
    It’s beyond my comprehension, but I know it to be so.
    Someday I will understand some things I know, but don’t understand.

    Liked by 5 people

  12. Kim beat me to it. I agree with Chas about secular artitsts performing Christian songs, but God gets the glory even from a donkey. (Think Balaam). But here is Don Francisco, the one who wrote the song, singing it at a Gaither show. Both versions are good, but I believe that, since it is from the perspective of the Apostle Peter, a male voice is more appropriate for this song.

    Liked by 6 people

  14. Reading through my FB page was the most uplifting it has ever been! Every meme, greeting, picture, music clip has given glory to God. So joyous!

    Indeed— 🙂—I confess, I just copied and pasted “Alleluia” and down the page I went. So much fun and full of God’s glory.

    Hallelujah, indeed!

    Liked by 5 people

  16. Franklin Graham just preached a sermon on Fox News.
    He preached to someone who had never been inside a church.
    Never heard the Gospel preached in such a clear way.

    Liked by 3 people

  18. Re: Our discussion about Spiritual conditions of singers.
    I don’t know who Don Francisco is. But I believe anyone who can say “He’s alive and I’m forgiven” is saved.
    That’s all it takes.

    Liked by 2 people

  19. Yes Cheryl, I did.

    While they are Mormon’s, they’re a very talented bunch, and the song is a classic Christian song.

    And as Peter said…

    ” I agree with Chas about secular artitsts performing Christian songs, but God gets the glory even from a donkey. (Think Balaam). “

    Liked by 3 people

  20. This morning on the prayer thread I posted this praise….

    “The praise is for my friend Peter who at this time last week was on a ventilator and in ICU. Peter has been removed from the ventilator, and praise God, he’s now home with his wife and family! 🙂”

    Now imagine my surprise to see my friend Peter this morning on our church’s webcast on Youtube. 🙂 The broadcast opens with a message a few minutes long from Peter. It brightened my day and lifted my spirits to see my friend up and about and at home. 🙂

    Also, Pastor Tim’s message is a good one, and a hopeful and joyous one as well, so if you want to watch that too, go ahead. 🙂

    Liked by 6 people

  21. Only God knows our hearts. Some alcoholics never get free in this life in the sense of stopping their addiction. God alone knows their grief over it. He can still set them free and bring them to himself in eternity.

    We have a woman who sings that song every Easter. I was blessed by it.

    Liked by 4 people

  22. Morning all! It is a wintery snowy Resurrection Sunday here in this Colorado forest!…and 15 degrees!! Brrrr
    Peter that song too brings back so many memories of hearing it for the first time! Very impacting. Francisco lives here in Colorado and he and his wife are believers although there are some of their views I would not agree.
    When I hear unbelievers singing songs of our Lord I can listen to the beauty of the words and voice. There are some however I cannot. When an artist speaks mockery of our faith or comments it’s a way of making money and nothing to them, I will not listen to them….that’s just me….

    But today is a day of rejoicing! Let it be so and rejoice “ For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.“!

    Liked by 1 person

  25. AJ, praise God on the update of your friend Peter! I’d wondered about him just this morning.

    I don’t have a huge problem with secular singers singing Christian songs–in such a setting, many of the singers will be Christians, and they are singing the truths of God’s Word. However, the Mormons aren’t “secular” but very religious–and they deny who Jesus is and they deny the gospel.

    When I was a teenager, one of our church’s deacons (really an elder, as it was a Baptist church and they usually call their elders “deacons”) recommended a tape of the Mormon Tabernacle choir singing “The Messiah” as a good Christmas gift. Mom mentioned her horror at the recommendation on the way home, and Dad told her she should say something to him. She did, and he came back later and told the group he withdrew his recommendation; on further thinking about it, it wouldn’t be an edifying gift.

    Liked by 1 person

  28. Happy Easter / Resurrection Day, Fellow Wanderers!

    ******
    Speaking of singers being Christian or not. . .I have read about Dolly Parton being a Christian. But if she is indeed, then her theology must be off, and/or she is a liberal Christian. (Liberal in a theological sense.)

    Netflix has a series that she is behind called Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings. The individual episodes are based on her songs. What I found discouraging was that all the overtly Christian characters were portrayed as hypocrites or judgmental, although their characters did soften as each story went on. One story was about a mother having to accept her son as homosexual.

    The last story was based on her song about a lady who uses a bag of little bones to tell the future or advise people. She introduced the episode by saying that this character was based on a woman she knew in her hometown who did this, and had predicted Dolly’s success. The character in the story said some Christian-sounding things, and also claimed that her “gift” was from God, that she was like a prophet.

    As I said, I was disappointed in the way Dolly allowed these characters to be presented, and it did make me wonder about how much knowledge she has about the Bible and theology. I said a prayer for her.

    Liked by 1 person

  31. Here’s a question, based on something Cheryl said above. How does a church differentiate between elders and deacons? Does one have more authority than the other? (Okay, that was two questions. 🙂 )

    Liked by 2 people

  32. Cheryl. I have belonged to six Baptist churches. I am an ordained deacon in one.
    Baptist deacons don’t have any “authority”. They have lots of influence, but no authority.
    The church has authority. Deacons and pastors recommend, and their recommendation is usually accepted.
    But trouble always starts when someone tries to exercise “authority”.

    Liked by 2 people

  34. In the church’s I’ve been involved with there is a distinct difference. The elder board is the authority in these churches. They make the decisions, control the finances and decide who might get financial help when needed, dole out discipline when necessary, and decide the priorities and order of things. Also, in both churches, the Pastors are part of the Elder board.

    The deacons are more of a help force. They minister to the home bound, help those who need it with physical work, have a fund for helping the needy as well, provide food to those who need it, are responsible for church upkeep and maintenance and organize it.

    They are distinct and separate, but both are vital.

    Liked by 4 people

  35. Chas, in the tiny church, which is Baptist, the deacons act as elders, even more so now that there is no appointed pastor. In the city church, there are both pastors and elders. Some of the elders are qualified to preach by their education and training, and do so on occasion, some do not. While there are not official deacons, there are a number of people appointed to practical ministries of serving, and thus are in effect deacons. Deacon means servant, and so really, anyone the church appoints to minister in the church is a deacon, whether or not they are officially titled as such. I was commissioned by the tiny church to serve in West Africa, so I was a servant of the church, although they did not hold to women being deacons. Acts makes it clear that elders, such as the Apostles in Jerusalem with James, the Lord’s brother, were elders, commissioned to preach the word, while the deacons, such as Stephen and Philip the evangelist, were commissioned to serve.

    Liked by 1 person

  36. My church has both elders and deacons. The elders, including pastors, are over the spiritual welfare of the church. When my husband left, they were the ones who dealt with him. The deacons handle the facility and taking care of the welfare of the people.

    Liked by 1 person

  37. Kizzie, AJ pretty much answered. But biblically the elders have spiritual authority, and the pastor is one of the elders. The deacons are in place for practical needs–help for people in the church who need it and/or care of the church facility. Interestingly, it is often seen as a sign that churches are “going liberal” if they allow women deacons, yet except in the Baptist system, it is not a position of spiritual leadership. My denomination is extremely conservative, but we allow women deacons, and we have for many decades (late 1800s if I remember correctly). Some denominations do seem to use women deacons as a step toward women elders, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

    The Baptist church I attended during college had just gone through a time of searching the Scriptures to determine how a church should operate, and they determined that deacons and elders were different offices (which is quite clear in Scripture–elder, bishop, pastor, and overseer are all synonymous, but deacons are different), that women could not be elders but they could be deacons, and they restructured accordingly. It was actually quite impressive to see a 70-year-old church examine Scripture prayerfully over one to three years (I don’t remember the time frame, as I said I came in as it was ending) and actually make changes as a result. Near the end of my time there, I was asked to be a deacon, but I declined since I knew I’d be moving soon–and then I moved to a church where women deacons weren’t permitted. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  40. Chas-That’s not so bad when it’s an outdoor video. My problem is the trend to move the camera around, or change views every 2 seconds. I barely get focused on one view and the next is there.

    Liked by 2 people

  42. Church has ended for this morning, as always, a good sermon. I invited my older neighbors but didn’t look like they joined (did so on FB where it shows who’s present). Carol was there for a while then bailed out. She is a believer but I’ve never known her to regularly attend church. She did so as a teen in NY, she tells me, but aside from short periods in the years I’ve known her, she mostly abstains from Sunday worship.

    Elders and deacons are quite distinct in our church as well (with a presbyterian/representative form of government — the congregation elects the members of both bodies; our pastor is “just” one of the elders and has no more authority than the others in that sense).

    I had a tuna sandwich for lunch, found some packets of fresh tuna in the cupboard. I haven’t had tuna in a while so it was really very good.

    We have another fairly overcast day here, but the rain seems to be behind us for now.

    Like

  43. Interesting about Carol, however, it’s very important to her that she has actual ‘membership’ in a Mo Synod church whenever she moves. So she always transfers her membership to the nearest MS church (although at one point she wanted to join Hollywood Presbyterian, a move I discouraged — she seems to think the only way a church will provide rides or help her is if you’re a member, otherwise they won’t do any of that).

    Unfortunately, her current MO Synod church (where the pastor has been very good about visiting her, until this quarantine period anyway) does not have a website, which is odd. He’s fairly young and seems tech savvy, so I was surprised they weren’t live-streaming some kind of Sunday service but I sure couldn’t find it for her online when I searched.

    Like

  44. For our Easter dinner, we are having hamburgers. 🙂 Nightingale wanted to do something simple for our dinner since she is working today. She asked Boy what he might like, and he said “Hamburgers!” So we all decided that sounded good. (She does not usually let him decide what is for dinner, but will ask his input now and then.)

    Boy also has helped make the Coconut Cake we will be having for dessert. He and Nightingale mixed up the dry ingredients Friday evening, and put the mixture in a ziplock bag. On Saturday, he followed the detailed instructions she had left to add the rest of the ingredients and bake the cake. Later today they will make the frosting together. I love coconut, so I am looking forward to this delicious cake! (Well, I love cake in general. 😀 )

    Liked by 3 people

  45. DJ – In my old church, one could not become a member until having proved oneself faithful to church attendance for a while – maybe about a year (?). I’m not sure what the practice is for my current church, since I was already a member when Pastor Billy came in. Under our previous pastor, it seemed one needed only to be coming for a little while and then take a membership class. (My old church had a membership class, too.)

    Like

  46. But for Carol, she was a semi-regular attender at the Presbyterian church, at least they knew who she was as she’d caught the attention of some in the women’s Bible study. (I was urging her at that time to contact the church for rides since walking had become too difficult for her even though the church was 2 blocks away). I think for regular (semi even) attenders who have obvious difficulties with transportation the church would have provided transportation for her through the deacons, but she insisted she’d have to “join” the church first.

    Like

  47. You would think that since I was a stay-at-home-Mimi even before this lockdown began that my life hasn’t changed much. The answer is yes and no.

    No, it hasn’t changed much because I didn’t work outside the home anyway.

    Yes, it has changed somewhat because Boy is home all the time now and Nightingale is working more shifts. And since they don’t have their outside evening or weekend activities, I don’t have any guaranteed alone time like I used to. (But looking at Mumsee’s lack of alone time, I really shouldn’t complain.)

    Also, Nightingale – often with Boy – has been doing more cooking in her free time, so not only are they down here in my domain more, but there is more kitchen clean-up for me to do. (Although she does help with that when she is doing extra cooking, even so, her cleaning up is not as fastidious as my cleaning up, so I come along afterwards and finish the clean-up. I clean up from her cleaning up. 😀 )

    But mostly, I have nothing to complain about. I do get a little frustrated at times, but I reset my thinking and let it roll off my shoulders.

    Liked by 2 people

  49. Since I already was mostly working from home — and live alone — this period hasn’t been a huge adjustment at all, really. But work is a lot busier and I do miss things like just spontaneously going to the grocery store now and again. And I miss going to church. 😦

    Liked by 3 people

  50. As of this morning, the news is that Connecticut now has more than 11,500 with the coronavirus, and almost 500 have died of it.

    Have I mentioned that it is in the nursing home where Nightingale works? I think I have.

    Like

  51. And my neighbors are having company again. 😦 May God protect them, and others who come into contact with them (including the guests).

    Liked by 1 person

  52. I really enjoyed your church service AJ. What a blessing to have that testimony to share at the beginning. I can see why you like this church.

    I was on my prayer group conference call for most of our service so I need to watch my own service on Facebook live. It was done in an unusual way as an interview between two pastors. They both went to Georgia Tech and have a scientific background. The other pastor does a lot with apologetics so it’s a discussion along those lines since we have so many around us with that type background in medicine and other science oriented fields.

    Liked by 2 people

  53. So far it has been a lazy day around here. Watching the snow fall, the sun try to make an appearance then more snowfall.
    Ham is in the oven with red potatoes, husband taking his second nap and I reading my book. I have never read a Lisa Wingate book before but I must say I am enjoying this…(I happened to grab it as I waiting in line at Costco the other day!) 😊

    Liked by 3 people

  54. Just finished watching our service online. Our pastor, whom I have known since he was young, went out into the mountains in the cold predawn and we watched the sun rise over his shoulder. Then during the last song we say more of the area with the sun now up. Beautiful. and the message was full of hope. Should you want to see it gvcbc dot org

    Liked by 1 person

  55. We didn’t have an Easter dinner per se, but a couple of days ago I made some pork chops and dressing and made some potatoes with a recipe I like, and later in the day I made two different recipes of cookies (big double-chocolate ones for me, chocolate chip with molasses and browned butter for my husband) . . . and he hasn’t felt very good the last few days, and today is the first day he has felt like eating it (and barely so even today).

    It’s fairly dreary outside today, but supposed to rain later and again tomorrow so I did get out for a few minutes.

    Liked by 1 person

  56. We had a spiral cut ham, pineapple stuffing, pickled eggs and beets, carrots, and homemade dinner rolls topped with a Texas Roadhouse cinnamon butter that Elizabeth made yesterday..

    Everyone seemed to enjoy it. 🙂

    Then I took a nap. 🙂

    Liked by 4 people

  57. It is fairly deary here too, but dry, so the little ones had an egg hunt. I was reading to Tiny this afternoon – we are as far as ‘On the Shores of Silver Lake’ now. When I went back up to my room, I found several chocolate eggs on my shelf. I thought that was all, but Second told me I had missed one. It took me a while to locate it, as she had hidden it on my printer’s drawer shelf, that has miniatures and one more thing was not immediately obvious.

    Liked by 2 people

  60. I baked our ham and fixings yesterday. I had accidently told my husband I was making the ham ‘tomorrow’ thinking that was Sunday. I was a day early, but he was so happy to hear it, that I decided it was just fine to do Saturday. We had leftovers today, so I had to do very little cooking. He made us ham and cheese omelets for breakfast. That is one of his favorites and he has lots of ham in the freezer for the future. We watched a few different services.

    Liked by 2 people

  61. I have ham cold cuts, that’s about it for Easter — so I’ll probably microwave another packaged dinner.

    Janice, re Dolly Parton, Gresham Machen (in the 1920s) called that that bluntly “another gospel” and not Christianity at all

    Like

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