Celebrating Resurrection Day

Disclaimer:  My family celebrates Easter with eggs, baskets, and chocolate as most Christian families do.  My intent is not to take away from family traditions used to teach the importance of Christ's resurrection- rather, my intent is to speak to adult Christians mucking around in a watered-down faith of our modern church to go back to our roots. 

Easter is this Sunday.

 

Hallelujah!  He is Risen!

For some of us this means putting on our nicest church clothes, getting up before the sun has risen, and rushing to a church that only sees us on major holidays to offer a feeble proclamation of praise and worship to a God we ignore the rest of the year.

For some of us this means several days of preparation: coloring eggs, decorating the house, shopping for pretty clothes for Easter pictures in front of the display at church, followed by a family meal that competes with Thanksgiving dinner, and very little thought goes into the actual representation of the day.

Then there are some of us who take great pains to remember Christ on this day, to use traditions and adopted symbolism to teach our friends, family, and children about Christ, His sacrifice, His Victory, and His love for us, while still trying to keep up with cantata's, dawn services, egg hunts, family dinners, etc.  And try as we might, we still miss the big picture.

Easter Sunday, or as I prefer to refer to it, Resurrection Day, is the day we celebrate Christ rising from the dead of HIS OWN accord in victory over death with the debts of sin for every generation paid in full.

Please read that again.  Let it sink in.

He died for our sins.  Mine. Yours.  Our parents.  Our ancestors.  Our children.  Our grandchildren.  Their grandchildren.  He died for every single sin ever committed by every person who has ever lived, and who shall ever live!   Think on that! 

 

We no longer have to atone for our own sins... we merely need to accept that He did that for us, and accept His forgiveness, and offer our thanks, and strive to live better lives.   Yet, we take his death for granted.  We still go out living in sin that we KNOW in our hearts is sin.  We think to ourselves that we are forgiven and that justifies our lack of action to stop sinning.  Shame on us for wasting His gift!

But in addition to His dying for our sins, He willed Himself back to LIFE!  He left the sins He paid for at the feet of Satan, and left the place of eternal damnation to prove to us His power over life and death, to prove to us He is the Son of God.  On the third day after His death, Jesus Christ the Son of God, broke the gates of hell and walked among us once more. 

Jesus Christ fulfilled all the prophecies of the Old Testament freeing us from a life of law and inviting us to a life of peace, love, and freedom under His Grace, Perfect Love, and Mercy with the promise of eternal life at His side.   This too we take for granted.  We assume that living a life of peace, love, and freedom means that we can allow our Faith to become watered down.  We study the Word less and cave into the world's views more.  In the end, we start believing what the world has to say about our faith more than what His Word says about our faith and we are left hollow, confused, angry, and bitter.

 

My encouragement to you for this Resurrection Day, as you follow your family or personal traditions, is to add to your traditions a deliberate return to His Word.  Make the time to lift your face to Heaven and call upon His name.  His death and resurrection offer you the opportunity to directly seek His face.  Raise your voice in prayer and praise.  Tell your friends and family why modern Easter practices are simply icing on the cake of a gift so precious we need to stop taking it for granted.

Celebrate Resurrection Day and let the rest of the world have Easter.

God bless you!

The Christian's Creed

The Christian’s Creed

(modern adaptation of the Apostle’s Creed)

By Christina Borden

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty,
who is big enough, wise enough, detailed enough, powerful enough to single-handedly be the Creator of all creation, the earth, the stars, and the universe.

I believe in the one and only Jesus Christ, who is the one God's only Son, our Lord,
who left His Father’s side, came to our level, and who was conceived by the Holy Spirit.
He was born a common man of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered hatred, disdain, and disbelief under the hands of his own people and under Pontius Pilate.
He was brutally tortured, and hung on a criminal’s cross. He died and was buried.
He descended to the depths of Hell where He paid for the sins of all mankind.
On the third day, He rose again in Victory over the price of sin- death.
He ascended into Heaven, where He is seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty.
On a day unknown to man, He will return to judge, as only He can, both those still alive and those who have perished.

I believe in the Holy Spirit who acts to empower me to accomplish His will and intercedes for me when my soul cries out to God.
I believe in the Holy Bible as the infallible and Living Word of God in its entirety.
I believe in the Christian Church, as a body of believers in Christ that calls on and accepts Him alone as its Savior.

I believe in the fellowship of Christians for encouragement, admonishment, accountability, and discipleship so that we may glorify Him in all we say and do.
I believe in the continual forgiveness of sins; He forgave me, so I will strive to forgive others.
I believe in the resurrection of Christ and the resurrection of the body knowing as a Christian I may spend eternal life, so unlike this mortal life, with Him in Heaven.
I believe Christians are lead by example to love one another and to draw others to the Truth of the Christian faith.

I believe Christians who truly believe will be condemned, seen as outcasts, and ridiculed for adhering to an unwatered-down belief system in a world that seeks to inundate it with half-truths, political correctness, ignorance, and empty promises.
I believe no promises, no wealth, and no good fortune during this short life will equal the promises of eternal life with the Triune God.
I believe no matter how distorted the world tries to make Christianity appear, the true basis, the true foundations, and the true faith of the few will be enough to keep Christianity strong.

Corresponding Bible verses:
1 Cor. 12:14
1 Cor. 15:17
1 Peter 2:9
1 Peter 3:21-25
1 Thessalonians 5:21
2 Cor. 5:21
Acts 2:24
Col. 2:12
Deuteronomy 18:21-22
Gal. 2:20
Gal. 5:22-23
Heb. 4:15-16
Heb. 9:27
Hosea 4:6
Isa. 52:13-53:12
Isa. 7:14
Isaiah 1:18
John 1:14
John 16:8-14
John 17:16
John 5:16-27; 17:1-26
Jude 3
Luke 15:13
Matthew 6:9
Phil. 3:20
Ps. 8:1-3
Rom 4:22
Rom. 1:20
Rom. 1:4

 

Being Aware of Bullying

Disclaimer- the following account is VERY hard for me to share.  It's an admission of the very worst period of my life, the very lowest point of my Faith, when I felt most assured I was all alone and no one cared.  I hope and pray that my own admission helps someone face the truth of bullying and how harmful it really is.

As a 3rd grader moving to a new school in the middle of the year, I had no idea what to expect.  I quickly learned that acceptance by classmates was hard to come by, and in my case, if that acceptance didn't come, bullying soon took its place.

My memories of elementary school from the latter part of the 3rd grade to the end of the 6th grade, are sad, ugly, and full of regret.  I was the victim of bullying from a group of girls who at first had been friends.  I do not know why I was targeted, but I was not alone at the receiving end of the ugliness.  The fourth and fifth grades were the worst.  There was name calling, there was shoving, there was just a lot of ugliness.  Maybe it was because I did so well in school.  Maybe it was because I was "poor" and lived in a trailer ("trailer trash" being a common name they threw at me.)  Maybe because they could see the effects their ugliness had on me- I often had to leave the room or recess or PE to cry in the girls room.

I felt a lot of fear.  I felt a lot of anger.  I felt tons of frustration, helplessness, weakness, and confusion.  As a fifth grader, I started contemplating suicide.  Fifth grade!  I felt like no one cared.  Certainly, none of those girls cared.  My parents refused to get involved despite the fact I came home crying nearly every day.  I had a single teacher show me any kind of courtesy after she witnessed the one and only physical fight I got into with one of the girls, and she called my parents to come pick me up as I was too shaken to stay in school the rest of the day.  Other than that, the principle never addressed it, the teachers left it alone, and my friends ducked their heads and didn't speak of it, didn't help, just didn't do anything (maybe to keep off the group's radar.)

As a result of those YEARS of bullying, I entered Junior High with ZERO self-esteem.  I always walked against the wall.  If I was standing in a group of other "rejects," I chose to stand in such a way as to not have to make eye contact with anyone, and if I could with my back against the wall.  I loved school as far as learning went, and hated it because I disliked the way I felt about myself when I was around girls my own age.  I had few real friendships, none of which have lasted, even though I do stay in contact with some of the girls from Junior High who I respected, because they had not known me in elementary school, and so they were always kind, but distant.

By the time I entered Junior High, as other life changing events took place in my personal life, suicide became a daily thought.  I had several different plans, and ideal times to rid myself of the sad life I was living.  I then would get angry with myself for being too chicken to go through with it.  I would cry myself to sleep, hating myself, hating the past, and having no hope for the future.

To be honest, there were four things that kept me alive.

Psalms 46:1 "The Lord is my refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble."

I found the verse one night while I was desperately seeking His guidance during a time when He felt so distant and uncaring.  I clung to that verse like I was drowning... 

That verse opened my eyes to a second thought and a reason for living.  My sister.  I had to stay for my sister.  (The reasons are too complex to explain, but she would understand.)  Psalm 46:1 became my mantra. 

I still struggled with suicidal thoughts.  Those thoughts still drove me to tears and nightmares and depression.  But I would repeat it over and over and over like a never ending praying.  I had to live.

About that time, I met a dear friend from my Church Youth Group.  She was a little bit younger than me, but in my mind she was beautiful, smart, and we shared a lot of the same interests.  I grabbed onto that friendship with both hands and clung for dear life. 

Not long after becoming friends with her, I moved from public school to attend High School at a local Christian school.  There I made my second life-saving friendship with a gorgeous girl in my class whose personality was so bubbly and joyous I couldn't help but be drawn in by her.  Her friendship became another literal life line.

I still struggled to develop a self-esteem.  Kids at the new school could be harsh, but I was no longer the butt of the joke.  The kids who became friends with me also challenged me to believe in myself and to become a better person. 

From there, I also grew in my Faith.  I found true Hope and Peace, though it wasn't until many years later that I gained enough confidence in myself to be alone, and find that I was okay alone.  It wasn't until I became an adult that I discovered that I am a beautifully unique person and have value. 

The reason I share this very horrible scar with you is due to a video that was recently shared of bullying occurring in one of our local schools.  People are acting so shocked!  Like things like this didn't happen when they were kids.  Like things like this are not happening in EVERY school in EVERY corner of the world.  Bullying is a fact of life!

Do not pretend it doesn't happen.  Do not pretend your child could not be the bully or the victim.  Do not pretend that children who are the victims of bullying need to "suck it up."  Talk to your children.  Be aware of the class dynamics.  Make sure your child knows you care about the part they play when they witness bullying.  Make sure your child knows you care about them.  Make sure they know that they are not alone. 

One thing I know for a fact, most bullying behavior starts at home.  If you, as a parent, think you are better than someone else, your child will pick up on it, and WILL express that to their classmates.  If you, as a parent, speak ugly to your child or spouse or of someone else, your child WILL express that among his/her peers.  Our children are mirrors of what they see and hear at home.

So what will YOU do about bullying? 
How will YOU help prevent your child from becoming a bully? 
How will YOU help prevent your child from becoming a victim? 

This is NOT the school's responsibility... This lies flat at your feet Mom and Dad!  So what will you do?

I have included the video from the local school happening, as well as one of a young victim who has succeeded in handling bullying without lashing out.

Be aware- these are very hard to watch!  Especially the first one.