Soul Sister 3:16

  All throughout Jerusalem, Jewish pilgrims had gathered to celebrate the Passover - that time where the final plague was delivered to the Egyptians before Pharaoh let the Israelites go. God had heard the cries of his people as they toiled for 400 years under the harsh rule of the Egyptians.  He called Moses (a man who had once lived in the home and under the protection of Pharaoh himself) to be the Israelites deliverer. Nine different times, God sent plagues upon the Egyptians - blood, frogs, lice, wild animals, pestilence, boils, fiery hail, locusts and darkness - but still Pharaoh would NOT relent and let the people go.  So, God sent a final plague - one in which the first born of every household, of every animal - would be killed.   However, before he sent the plague he told Moses that in the homes of the Israelites - they should slaughter a lamb, then use its blood to cover the doorframe of their houses.  God told Moses that as the angel of death would...

In the city of Jerusalem stands a church called  The Church of the Holy Sepulcher.   It has been proposed as the place of both the death and resurrection of Jesus, and it has been a place for pilgrimages since the 4th century. Considered holy, the site is cared for by no less than six denominations including Greek Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, Roman Catholic, Coptic, Ethiopian and Syriac Orthodox.  As such, it has been carefully parsed out into sections.  And sadly, arguments and violent clashes are not uncommon. Jim visited the church once on a trip with Northridge and told me about "The Immovable Ladder".  Apparently the ladder is a " bizzare outcome of religious stubbornness pushed to extremes. " For " Sometime in the first half of the 18th century, someone placed a ladder up against the wall of the church. No one is sure who he was, or more importantly, to which sect he belonged.  The ladder remains there to this day.  No one dares touch it, l...

Today’s Holy Week post has me thinking about the 12 disciples. ONLY JESUS Can you name Jesus' 12 disciples?  If you've been watching The Chosen or reading your Bible regularly, you might be able to.  However - there are some, who - at least for me, are a bit in the shadows. Sure I know Simon/Peter, and his brother Andrew .  And then there was James and John, the sons of Thunder (or Zebedee to be exact).  There was Matthew, and Thomas, and Judas Iscariot.  And there was Simon the Zealot, and another James...but...but...a nd here is where my mind isn't as good at remembering.   So I Googled it. There was also Philip - a Jewish man from Bethsaida who apparently was the one to tell Nathaniel (another lesser known disciple) that "The One" Moses and the prophets had foretold in the Old Testament, was here.  Following Jesus' death Philip became a missionary in Greece and for his outspoken faith proclaiming Jesus as the Son of God - Philip was stoned and...

Swayed -  Yesterday was Palm Sunday - a day I used to love as a little girl. I loved the fact that each person got one long palm frond as they walked into the service.  I loved waving my frond around (admittedly sometimes instead of paying attention to the service).  I loved the thought of Jesus riding into town on the back of a donkey (I can still remember the “Little Gray Donkey” song I sang as part of the children’s choir).  And I loved making my palm into a little cross on the car ride home.  However, I did NOT love the readings. For in them, the crowd quickly went from one which lined the streets to welcome Jesus, shouting “ Hosanna to the Son of David!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Hosanna in the highest heaven!” (Matthew 21:9), to one standing below Pilate, demanding the release of Barabbas while shouting “Cruicify Him!”  (Matthew 27:22, Mark 15:13, Luke 23:21) when asked what to do with Jesus. I think it speaks t...

Good morning and Happy Sunday! As we begin this final week before Easter, God is pressing on my heart to dig into Jesus in a series of posts.  The first one I want to tackle is on WORSHIP. DO NOT COUNT THE COST -  About a month ago, Jim and I had an opportunity to watch Season 4 of The Chosen in the theatre, and one of the stories that made me smile was the one about the woman who anointed Jesus' feet. (I must pause here - for the gospels differ a bit in their telling of this story <see Matthew 26:6-13, Mark 14:3-9, Luke 7:36-50, and John 12:1-8> and  The Chosen  based their retelling of the on the version found in John). In a memorable episode, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.  By then, we'd spent a bit of time getting to know the characters of that story.  Lazarus was Jesus' childhood friend.  Martha, the oldest sister was hard working - spending much of her days working hard to serve those who were guests in the family household.  Then...

Yesterday was an extremely lazy day for me.   The snow was falling, the sky was gray, it was cold outside - and I honestly didn't do a whole lot.  I DID however, binge watch a show that came out last year called TRAITORS. Like so many others, this one was reality TV where folks agreed to go to Scotland and spend time in a castle playing a game where they were pitted against one another for the chance to win a portion of $250,000.   The premise was simple.  On the first night of the game they were chosen by the producers to either be one of the "faithful", or a "traitor".  Each night, those labeled traitors had the opportunity to "murder" someone - causing that person to have to leave the game.  And each night everyone (traitors and faithful) banded together so they could attempt to "banish" one of the traitors by voting them out.  At the end - those banished revealed whether they were part of the faithful or one of the traitors. Finally, at t...

When kids are learning to drive, they are taught about blind spots - these spaces in their peripheral vision that mirrors won't pick up on.   And young drivers are warned to check their blind spots, for that is where a car that might cause great damage - could be lurking. I have heard it said that people have blind spots too.  Little areas that keep the flaws in our character hidden from ourselves, allowing us to be the "hero in our own stories", even when that "hero" might be offensive to someone else.  When we look in the mirror - we can't see these things - however i t might be an interesting exercise to ask the people who know you best, what "blind spots" they see that we could work on.  Because even if we can't see the things lurking in our blind spots, people close to us can, and God certainly does! In Psalm 139:23-24 David prays this: "Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offe...