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Morning Devotional...



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And as they thus spoke, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and said unto them, Peace be unto you.  But they were terrified and affrighted and supposed that they had seen a spirit.  And He said unto them, Why are you troubled?  And why do thoughts arise in your hearts?  Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.

And when he had thus spiken, he showed them his hands and his feet.  And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have you here any meat?  And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb.  And he took it, and did eat before them.  And he said unto them, These are the words which I spoke to you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets and in the psalms, concerning me.

Then he opened their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures.  And he said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day.  And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name, beginning at Jerusalem.  And ye are witnesses of these things.

And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high.  And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them.  And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.

And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy:  And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God.

~~Luke 24:36-53

How thankful I am for the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus!  It is more than my mortal mind can comprehend, that the sinless Son of God should die for my sins!  We see in this passage of Scripture that Jesus wanted his diciples to understand that he was the same Jesus who had walked with and taught them for three years; that he truly did die, and was alive again.  He made it even more plain by the simple act of eating earthly food in their presence.  Then he reminded them of the promise of his Father, to send the Holy Spirit to be our counselor, helper, guide, and comfort.  Thus, even though he was taken up into heaven and out of their presence, they could rejoice and praise God.  Can we do less?

Jesus paid the price---we keep the change!

~Janet Damon[/b]

Good morning, friends,

I imagine this will be a very busy weekend for many of us. I'm leaving to have breakfast with my Atlanta children abut 18 miles from here, then will scurry back to have lunch with my best friend who has driven in from Indianapolis!

Y'all have a good day.

Ruth Ann

Good morning!  Once again, the predicted snow has missed us, at least so far.  There is a tiny bit out there, if you look hard enough.

I have a question.  Not to stir up any controversy, but I genuinely wonder about this, and would like others' views on it.  The Bible says that Jesus was "in the belly of the earth for three days and three nights."  It says Jonah was a sign---and he was in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights, since He arose EARLY in the morning of "the first day of the week" or Sunday.  Why, therefore, does tradition say that Jesus was crucified and died on a Friday?  If so, that is only two days and two nights.  So, wasn't He actually crucified on a Thursday?  Please tell me what you think.  Thanks.

Janet  you must remember that according to the Jewish way of life that the Sabbath (our Saturday) begins at 6 PM on Friday night. I think that is where the misunderstaning ids  about the 3 days. He was Cruucified early on Friday, Sabbath ( Saturday ) began at 6 pm making that  1 day that has passed.

At least that is my understanding

Thank you sister for the wonderful devotional this morning. I will be adding another in the next post.

Places He Has Been

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"And Judas also, which betrayed Him, knew the place: for Jesus ofttimes resorted thither with His disciples" (John 18:2).

In the 18th and 19th chapters of John's Gospel, there are four "places" where Jesus had to go to accomplish our salvation. The first was the place, as noted in our text: He, "knowing all things that should come upon Him" (John 18:4), nevertheless went directly to that place, knowing that Judas would meet Him there.

Then He went to the place of trial: "Pilate . . . brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called . . . Gabbatha" (John 19:13). But He did not stay there long; the mockery of a trial was soon over, and Pilate delivered Him to be crucified. "And they took Jesus, and led Him away. And He bearing His cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull" (John 19:16-17). And in that place called Golgotha, He died for our sins.

He was betrayed in a place called Gethsemane, condemned in a place called Gabbatha, and crucified in a place called Golgotha. But that was not all; He must yet be laid in a tomb. "Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus" (John 19:41-42).

And that also was the place from which He arose, and our salvation was secured forever! Now, just before this amazing four-place itinerary of our Lord Jesus, He had promised still another place to which He would be going.

"In my Father's house are many mansions. . . . I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also" (John 14:2-3).

Because He went to a place called Calvary, we shall soon be with Him forever in a place called Heaven! HMM

Janet...Here is what my Bible explanation has to say about Matt 12:40...three days and three nights.  including at least part of the first day and part of the third day, a common Jewish reckoning of time.   And in William MacDonald's Believer's Bible Commentary...Just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so our Lord predicted that He would be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. This raises a problem.  If, as generally believed, Jesus was buried on Friday afternoon and rose again on Sunday morning, how can it be said that He was three days and nights in the tomb?  The answer is that, in Jewish reckoning, any part of a day and night counts as a complete period.  "A day and a night make an onah, and a part of an onah is as the whole.(Jewish saying)

I believe that He was crucified on Friday as the Bible says. 

Thanks for the devotion this AM.  and for your support on this site, your photos are fantastic!!  You are an inspiritation as you do sooooooooo much it makes my mind boggle.

Good Morning to everyone who will be here to day, the members as well as thoe guests that come to read only and do not register.

I will be picking up Gloria for church tomorrow. She has been home for one week now and doing very will without a caregiver. There are no caregivers available right now all are currently employed. I guess there is quite a need for caregivers in this area.

Fay is doing well and getting a little help from a friend until I come back to work. The friend has been a little to helpful, one this he did wha tightne up a faucet and now it leaks and she will have to call the plumber. Oh my she is so upset with him.

Etta Sue I am still praying for Jerry and for you. I used your instructions on resizing animations to resize the card I posted yesterday. Thank you sister.

Ruth Ann I am praying for the situations we spoke about on the phone you know who I mean. have a wonderful visit with your best friend. I am so proud of you sticking to  your diet the way you are.

Pat I got a post card from Judy and Norm yesterday that was sure a surprise. I hope your painful shoulder is getting better.


Carol have you finished the PSP Novice class? are you back home now or still in Arizona?

Jane and Nita I enjoy seeing you a nd playing in the games with you both.

Karma and Nards Have a Happy and Fun Easter with all the children, Are you gathering as a big family again this year?

Iain, Suzzanne, Pinkie, Alma, Sarah, and others I have left out We miss you.

Hi Kathy we are posting at the same time.

TTYL

Hi everyone. Just back from morning coffee at the cafe.  There were just 4 of us there this morning but we had a nice visit and sort of a laid back time.  I have fixed the little TV from the kitchen here in my office this morning so I can tune in to all the basketball games this afternoon and still work on my computer.  I am going to order a card to put in my computer that will allow me to receive TV on one of the monitors as just don't have the room for a regular TV here in this office space.  It is another very beautiful day but think we may get some showers later on.

Tbear, that was a very nice Easter greeting you made.  I had not seen it before I looked at the link you posted. 

Beth, it was good to see that John's mother has recovered to the point of being able to go home.  Hope she continues to make good recovery progress.

Pat, I am like you in that I was raised in the church and well remember accepting Jesus Christ as my savoir at a fairly young age.  My mother started taking us to church when I was 3 years old.  Fast Eddie, it was good to read your testimony of when you came to accept Jesus Christ in your posting yesterday.

A big welcome to Bernard and Cherice.  Hope we see you posting here soon so we can get to know you.  It doesn't take long to get to know folks once you start posting and reading the other postings.

Janet, that sounds like a very nice Easter Pageant presented at the care home.  I am sure the residents appreciated the effort of the folks to come and do it for them there.

Sonja, that sounds like a whole lot of dancing.  Do your feet get tired?  Is this a competition that you are in or just your daughter or both of you?

Pat, it was nice to read that you felt like going out to dinner with your friends.  Isn't it wonderful to be able to share some special time with good friends or family?  You really should get your treadmill out where you can watch the TV as it really makes the time go by faster.  I was watching Regis and Kelly yesterday morning.  The "Y" recently put in new 17 inch monitors in front of each of the machines and you listen to it with earphones so it doesn't disturb others.  It really makes the time go faster. 

Etta Sue, I just read your posting on SeniorNet concerning the improvement you found with Jerry yesterday.  That is indeed encouraging.  Glad to see that his blood oxygen level is staying up withou the full-face mask.  Getting him up in a chair will probably begin the process of his strengthening.  He has been in bed for several days and the muscles quickly lose their tone.

Ruth Ann, it sounds like you have a busy day of eating and visiting ahead.  Hope you are able to enjoy every moment of the day. 

Janet, an interesting question you posed today.  I was glad to see the explanations provided by Marilyn and Kathy.  Thanks for the devotional thoughts for today.

Hope everyone has a very fine day today. 

Marilyn and Kathy----I can see that they could manage to get parts of three days, but where is the third night?  And is there a scripture that actually SAYS that He was crucified on Friday?  (Inquiring minds want to KNOW.)    I actually heard a sermone once about this, and he said Jesus actually died on Thursday, and explained how all the confusion happened.  I wish I had a tape of that, as I can't remember all the details.  I am truly not being argumentative here, I really want to know! 

Kathy, thank you for those kind words.  I guess I do stay pretty busy, but sometimes I feel I'm not doing anything.    I sure am feeling good since we began doing the weight training and step aerobics.  We have been swimming faithfully for probably five or six years now, but needed to add more to our routines.  When I feel sore muscles, I just think "Good!  It's working!"

Larry, wish you could be here for an hour to help me with my computer!  It's doing really strange things since Curtis put on Firefox!    I hope you and Pat have a restful and wonderful Easter.

Beth, good to see you posting!  Come in more often, will you?

Nita, have a great day, and don't overdo it.  Happy Easter to you.

Back later!

Want a grin for today?  Have you ever felt this way?


Years ago, people rented phones from the local telephone company and had the option of paying a one-time fee to have a color model. One customer, who had had his phone for some time, forgot how this worked. When I was disconnecting his service, he objected to my leaving with his phone. "That's mine," he said angrily. "I paid for it." "No, sir, you paid for the color, not the phone," I explained. "Okay, take the phone," he said calmly, "but leave the color." 

--Contributed to "All In a Day's Work" by Lance Brazil

Hmmm, pretty slow day in here today.  The Schiavo's last appeal has been turned down by the same heartless judge who has ruled against them so many times already.  Terri's father says she is still strong, and "is fighting like hell" to live.  I just found these verses and am claiming them for Terri:

Psalm 33:18-19 
American Standard Version
Behold, the eye of Jehovah is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his lovingkindness to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. 
King James Version
Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear Him, upon them that hope in His mercy; to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. 


Kathy, upon rereading your post, I see you said that even a little part of a day was considered to be a whole day and a whole night.  Strange.......I'm thinking about this.............   Thanks for your input.

Janet, I remember studying this in seminary many years ago and at that time, I remember finding it difficult. 

I wonder if John Gill will help...

So shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. That Christ means himself by the "son of man", there is no reason to doubt; and his being laid in a tomb, dug out of a rock, is sufficient to answer this phrase, "the heart of the earth", in distinction from the surface of it; but some difficulty arises about the time of his continuing there, and the prediction here made agreeable to the type: for it was on the sixth day of the week, we commonly call "Friday", towards the close, on the day of the preparation for the sabbath, and when the sabbath drew on, that the body of Christ was laid in the sepulchre; where it lay all the next day, which was the sabbath of the Jews, and what we commonly call "Saturday"; and early on the first of the week, usually called "Sunday", or the Lord's day, he rose from the dead; so that he was but one whole day, and part of two, in the grave.

To solve this difficulty, and set the matter in a clear light, let it be observed, that the three days and three nights, mean three natural days, consisting of day and night, or twenty four hours, and are what the Greeks call nucyhmera, "night days"; but the Jews have no other way of expressing them, but as here; and with them it is a well known rule, and used on all occasions, as in the computation of their feasts and times of mourning, in the observance of the passover, circumcision, and divers purifications, that wlwkk Mwyh tuqm, "a part of a day is as the whole" {n}: and so, whatever was done before sun setting, or after, if but an hour, or ever so small a time, before or after it, it was reckoned as the whole preceding, or following day; and whether this was in the night part, or day part of the night day, or natural day, it mattered not, it was accounted as the whole night day: by this rule, the case here is easily adjusted; Christ was laid in the grave towards the close of the sixth day, a little before sun setting, and this being a part of the night day preceding, is reckoned as the whole; he continued there the whole night day following, being the seventh day; and rose again early on the first day, which being after sun setting, though it might be even before sun rising, yet being a part of the night day following, is to be esteemed as the whole; and thus the son of man was to be, and was three days and three nights in the grave; and which was very easy to be understood by the Jews; and it is a question whether Jonas was longer in the belly of the fish.[/list]

I've been very upset by the Terri  case in Florida.  As some have said, if we starved our dog, we'd be hauled off to prison but here they are starving this human being. 

Ephesians 6:13
Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.




HYMN HISTORY:

Preaching against slavery wasn't a popular I thing to do in many parts of the USA during the early 1850's. An awful civil war, brought about by division over that very issue, was looming.

However, Dr. Dudley Tyng, the twenty-nine year old rector of the Church of the Epiphany in Philadelphia, passionately believed that slavery was 'immoral and unchristian,' so he denounced it.

He also believed that all men are sinners by nature and need to repent and be converted if they are ever to enter heaven.

Dudley Tyng was no ordinary church pastor and this bold, straightforward denunciation of sin disturbed his cultured and wealthy parishioners so much that by the end of his second year in the church many were demanding his removal.

Tyng resigned from the rich and fashionable assembly and formed his own 'Church of the Covenant' which met for worship in a little meeting hall. With his wife and boys, he went to live on the family farm outside Philadelphia.

At the same time he also began giving lectures at the Philadelphia YMCA. Interest grew and thousands were converted to the Saviour. At one particular meeting held in Jayne's hall in March 1858, 5,000 men were present.

During his address Dr. Tyng said, 'I must tell my master's errand and I would rather this right arm were amputated at the trunk than I should come short of my duty in delivering God's message.'

Those words were strangely prophetic, for just the next week, while watching a horse-powered cornsheller at work on the the farm, he was caught in the wheels of the machinery and his right arm was badly mangled.

A few days later it was necessary to amputate at the shoulder.

Tyng was dying - and he realised it. As the loved ones gathered around his bed he took his father by the hand and addressed the old man, who was also a faithful preacher, in these words.

Stand up for Jesus father, stand up for Jesus
and tell my brethren of the ministry,
wherever you meet them, to stand up for Jesus.
And thus he died.

The dying exhortation impressed another of Tyng's ministerial colleagues, the Rev. George Duffield. He took up the theme in a sermon preached the following Sunday from Eph. 6: 14: 'Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth.' At the close of the sermon he read the words of this hymn he has composed just after Dr. Tyng's funeral.

Thanks so much for those of you who continue to click on the Google ads.  The clicks have gone down in the past couple of weeks but there are some still clicking.  Thanks so much!

Lapel Bulldogs are Class 1A Boys High School Indiana State Champions

Indiana divided the schools by size several years ago.  Class 1A through Class 4A with the latter being the larger schools.  The 4 grades at Lapel High School is only 298.  This town is only 1600-1800 people but 4400 tickets were sold for the game today at Conseco Fieldhouse in downtown Indy from Lapel High School!!!  They won over Loogootee, Indiana, at 51-40.  Great game.  It was televised so Ivalou came over here to watch with me....very good game.  Lapel led all the way.  Loogootee was never ahead.  I graduated from Lapel (as did my parents, Ivalou and Kaye Don) and there was 52 in my class so it hasn't grown much in 45 years.  The last Sectional they won was back in 1943 and they did go to Semi-State in 1940.  The coach, Jimmie Howell, coached his son, JR, this year...his first coaching year at Lapel.  Jimmie graduated from Lapel.  His dad, Jack, played for Lapel in the 50's as well as Uncles.  Also a niece of Jimmie's was selected at Miss Basketball of Girls High School Basketball this week.  So the Howell's are in the paper this week.  Ivalou went to get groceries and she called to say that at SR32 and Main Street in Lapel has two firetrucks on each side of Main.  Last week when the crowd came home they drove under an arch that the firetrucks formed.  This town will never be the same.  Lapel is on the map for the Hoosiers!!!!

That's my news today!!!

Here is a super link to read about  House for Sale

Turn up the music and read about all the wonderful, delightful features.

March 26   

Pastoral Ministry: Public Reading of Scripture

Til I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. 
--1 Timothy 4:13

Of course we of this generation cannot know by firsthand experience
how the Word of God was read in other times. But it would be hard to
conceive of our fathers having done a poorer job than we do when it
comes to the public reading of the Scriptures. Most of us read the
Scriptures so badly that a good performance draws attention by its
rarity.

It could be argued that since everyone these days owns his own copy
of the Scriptures, the need for the public reading of the Word is
not as great as formerly. If that is true, then let us not bother
to read the Scriptures at all in our churches. But if we are going
to read the Word publicly, then it is incumbent upon us to read it
well. A mumbled, badly articulated and unintelligent reading of the
Sacred Scriptures will do more than we think to give the listeners
the idea that the Word is not important....

We should by all means read it, and we should make the reading a
memorable experience for those who hear.  The Next Chapter After
the Last, 27.

"Lord, as I read the Scriptures publicly, I am both declaring the
very Word of God Himself and drawing people into an experience of
worship. Help me never to take that lightly or address it
carelessly. Amen."

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VERY IMPORTANT

http://christianunplugged.com/church_movie.htm

WOW!!
So true

Having grown up just outside New York City, I barely knew a cow from an ear of corn. Until, that is, I married a small-town Ohio girl. While I was in seminary school, I had a temporary assignment at a church in a rural community. The day of my first sermon, I tried very hard to fit in. Maybe too hard. With my wife sitting in the first pew, I began my discourse: "I never saw a cow until I met my wife." 
--Contributed to "All In a Day's Work" by The Rev. Louis Lisi, Jr.


Etta Sue, what a red-letter day for your little town!  Yea for Lapel!  That gives a good feeling to the entire community, especially the team and the school.

I need to go over and do some stuff for Beth.  I've been weeding out email for hours. 

Ohhhhh, Janet!  I'm laughing at that one!  That's a good one for sure.

I used to own a complete set of the Commentary on the Whole Bible by John Gill.  It was an 1746 edition - a first edition.  I even found a page or two of John Gill's own hand-written notes folded between some pages.  It had the old "f"s that looked like "s"es.  But I wasn't using it as much as I thought I should, so I sold it to a young preacher who would use it well.  Nevertheless, I did find, while I had it, that it would give me the answers to many such questions as you've answered for Janet, Pat.  Thanks for that.

Celebrating the Easter Season is such a joyful time.

Here I am after being away from the site for some time.
With two people using the same computer I  need to reserve time who else has the same problem?.
Easter seems to be a time of reflecting and as I have progressed in years it seems that I also have more people to see and things to do.  We had an early dinner with our daughter yesterday and not to long ago we got a call to have dinner with a cousin tomorrow.


Ruth

Al, I just did a quick Google search for the John Gill commentaries and it is readily available online as are many other commentaries.  The Internet provides wonderful study resources.

Etta Sue, congratulations to your Lapel BB team.  That is quite an accomplishment for a small school and I know that Indiiana is very serious about its basketball.  It was nice you could watch it on TV.

Chris, we have quite a few of the mega churches here in Atlanta.  They have never appealed to me.  That was quite an interesting presentation and presented a strong message.

Janet, thanks for the levity you shared today. 

Ruth, it is good to see you posting again.  It sounds like you are about ready for a second computer in your household. 

Pat, thanks for the reminder about the Google ads.  I have not been clicking on them the last few days and will try to remember to do so again.

The last basketball game for today is  over and Illinois made a fantastic comeback for the win. 

Well, I'm going to lock the door now.  Thinking of you all as you celebrate the Lord's resurrection tomorrow.

I'd love to be in your church tomorrow, Larry and hear the music.

Talk to you all tomorrow...

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