Easter weekend is the weekend to deal with death. The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Death is so foreign to us because we are eternal being. Our spirit will live forever. The bible says that the fear of death has put people in bondage. The bible also says I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live. And again it says I die daily. Again it says as it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. It is a liturgy of death. Why does it talk so much about death? Jesus is the example of how and what we are to be to enter the kingdom of God. God made a specific way to enter in the kingdom. It is the way of death to self. We were born in sin. God had to get us to the place where we would be acceptable. And the only way is to die to self. We cannot enter in without our death. God says that we are the image and likeness of Him. We must look like Jesus in his death, burial and resurrection. Happy Easter.

There is a TV drama about the search for the ashes of the Red Heifer. The ashes of the Red Heifer was used for purification of the priest and articles used in the temple in Jerusalem. Many archaeologist have searched for it. I met an archaeologist who was searching and thought he had found it. His name was Jones, not Indiana, Vendyl. Vendyl told me that a man from Hollywood came to his dig site in Israel and asked him about his work. In the movie, it was one big boulder that chased Jones out of the cave. Vendyl said it was about 20 boulders that chased him. It was a booby trap. What Vendyl found in Gilgal was incense for the altar. Many people search, but they will not find anything until God is ready to bring Jesus back. Jesus said it himself that no one knows the day or time expect the Father. So God said live like today is your last day and you will be ready to go home. Now is the time and today is the day of salvation.

When I was 8 years old, I was watching a TV program I never saw before. It was on a Saturday afternoon. It was a Billy Graham Crusade. I don’t remember where it was, but it was interesting. People sang songs, then more people gave testimonies. Finally Billy Graham began to preach. I don’t remember what his sermon was about. When he finished preaching, he invited everyone to pray a prayer that he would lead them into. When he began to pray so did I. I had no idea what I had done. All I can remember is I had a strong desire to seek God. I wanted to be kind to people and do what was right. My family had a big family altar bible. It was in the hall and mostly mom would stuff newspaper clippings of different things in it. But in the bible there were stories with pictures. The ones I loved the most were stories of King David. The stories showed me about faith in God, of which I still believe. I am an old man now. If you consider 65 years old as old. The fire of my faith has never gone away. It will carry me all the way home.

What is the most obvious thing about the Word of God?

John 20:31 “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ. The Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”

It is Written. The word of God is as old as mankind. Some would dispute this by saying man is millions of years. But life as we know it started about 6000 years ago. Adam wrote down for his family what exactly happened. He included the covenant God gave him. He wrote so his family would know what to do. And so it has been ever since. We have the written word of God. It shows us what to do in any given situation. A friend of mine came from Belgium as a minister. We were talking about the word of God. He showed me his bible of course written in French. I saw a scripture and he translated it for me. Do you know what the Word of God is written in French: Parole du Dieu. The parole of God is what we are giving for our sins. That we are set free from the bondage of sin. It has been written for you to read. Find out what God is saying to you. May the Lord bless and keep you.

During the 60’s, political activism was encourage for everyone to be involved in the shaping our country. Many pastors thought that this was a way to keep the influential power of the Church. It worked for a time because the general thought was that we are a Christian nation. Churches were involved in political campaigns. Many Christians won. More people were interested in programs than the Gospels. It was and is a popular way to run a church. It isn’t the first time this has happened. It happened in the 1st century with the new Christian church. Ephesus was the center of Christianity in the 1st century. Read Ephesians then read Revelations. In 40 years, Ephesus went from a powerful Christian church, to a church on the brink of failure.

Rev.2:4 “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.”

The point of Christianity is to love God above all others or things. You want people to have Christian values, first they have to be Christians. The Gospels will show them the way.

When I was a child one of my favorite games was being a soldier. I saw the glory and honor in a soldier’s life. I saw the dedication of the soldier to winning the battle. I wanted to have those attributes in my life. As I got older I saw the real cost of being a soldier and was not as enthusiastic on living that life. But the funniest thing was that I was called to that life, as every believer is. We are called to endure hardness, not entangling ourselves in the cares of this world. We have offensive weapons, the sword of the spirit, the shield of faith and the helmet of salvation. With training, we can use these weapons effectively to win battles. “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” It’s sad to see that most weapons are rusting because of they aren’t used for anything. Don’t expect the weapons to work if you have not practiced with them. Be diligent and train, because you don’t know when cancer or divorce will show up at your doorstep.

How many people do you know including yourself, that struggle to achieve what they believe is their station in life. They want the biggest and best there is to offer in life. When I first started walking with God, He told me not to look at catalogs. He said it genders greed. God wanted me not to look at my life but the lives of ours and to see their needs. No matter what station in life they have, people are basically the same. Everyone has the same needs. In 1983, the Year of the Bible in the United States, Gallop poll took a poll in the US, to see what people wanted most in life. Not only were they surprised by the answer, but amazed at the three basic needs in life. The poll showed that people wanted love, joy and peace most in their lives. By the way, that is the first three gifts of the Holy Spirit that God gives freely to man. Look around and listen to see the needs of people.

Iron sharpens Iron. I saw this on a sign for a popular bar and grill. I wondered what in the world. It’s a scripture from Proverbs. Solomon asked God for Wisdom. Wisdom is understanding with experience. Solomon spoke over 3000 proverbs in one day. This is one of those proverbs. It is Proverbs 27:17 “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.” The meaning of the proverb is it takes a friend to help you achieve your personal goals and that with a lot of abrasions. So when a friend is telling you the truth about something, remember you need that friend to help you. I am still amazed by what people do. If you want to read what Solomon figured out what life was really about read Ecclesiastes.

When we were born, our lives were about receiving what we needed to live. We had to eat, to be clothed, to sleep and to be cared for. As we got older, we became more independent or so we thought. We went about our lives dressing ourselves, eaten what we wanted, and doing what we thought we should do. All the time believing that we were powerful and independent. We would live forever. There is nothing wrong with self-esteem. We should believe that we have learned enough to live in this world. But the idea that we are invincible or that we don’t need other people is a lie. A very craftily constructed lie that will kill you. We were designed to be connected to other people and would need that interaction to survive. It is a rude awaking for most people that they need someone greater than themselves to survive this world. God put that need in us so we would find Him. The goodness of God leads us to salvation. No one can find that salvation on their own. God has to bring us to the point of accepting His salvation. How far do you have to fall before you will accept God’s invitation to life?

People have a romanticized version of the human condition. We are made out of the dust of the earth and the breath of God. God gave us our mind, will and intellect. That is who we are. Then we are born and live on this earth to learn. We learn different things accordingly to our parents, locations and other people. Man has a capacity for doing good and evil. We are born knowing how to lie, steal and cheat. Then we are taught to be kind and gentle to our fellow-man. Although we were given the power of gods, we were not given to power to control ourselves. Look around and see the inhumanity to man that we are capable of. God shows us how we can walk on this earth and live like him. It takes courage to live righteously. It takes nothing to live in sin, but it costs us our own souls. The same problems we have today are the same problems people had in the beginning. The message from the beginning has never changed. We are sinners and are separated from God. If we confess our sins and ask for forgiveness, God will forgives us and accept us into the kingdom of God.