Happy Easter!

From Matthew Chapter 28:

28:1 Now after the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. 28:2 Suddenly there was a severe earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descending from heaven came and rolled away the stone and sat on it. 28:3 His  appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 28:4 The  guards were shaken and became like dead men because they were so afraid of him. 28:5 But the angel said   to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know   that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 28:6 He is not here, for he has been raised, just as he said. Come and see the place where he was lying. 28:7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead. He  is going ahead of you into Galilee. You will see him there.’ Listen, I have told you!” 28:8 So they left the tomb quickly, with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 28:9 But  Jesus met them, saying, “Greetings!” They came to him, held on to his feet and worshiped him. 28:10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee. They will see me there.”

Eleventyseven - Love in Your Arms

Petra - He came, He Saw, He Conquered



Natalie Grant - Alive



Happy Easter! He is Risen!!

Happy Resurrection Day!

Wide open, wide open

They nailed His arms wide open

After three days in the cold grave

The power of sin was broken!

Now with outstretched arms He welcomes in

Everyone who trusts in Him

His nail-scarred hands hold heaven's gates wide open!

- Newsong, "Wide Open"

HAPPY RESURRECTIONS DAY! Today we Christians celebrate Jesus' resurrection from the dead,
Per my Easter traditions, here is Petra's "He Came, He Saw, He Conquered."



Lyrics:

He came alone into the battle
He knew nobody else could face His foe
He left His throne, He left His glory
He knew nobody else could ever go
He called the bluff, He took the challenge
He came into this world to seek and save
No one could know, no one could fathom
The way to win was only through the grave
They laid Him in His tomb
They thought they'd sealed His doom
But He rose
He rose!

(Chorus)
He came, He saw, He conquered death and hell
He came, He saw, He is alive and well
He was, He is, and only He forgives
He died, He rose, He lives
He came, He saw, He conquered!

The doors were locked, they heard Him knocking
They were afraid they would be taken, too
Familiar voice said, "Come and follow"
Come and see the things the Lord can do
They went to where He lay
The stone was rolled away
He rose
He rose!

(Chorus)

He came into this world
He saw humanity
He heard the SOS
He met the enemy
The enemy was conquered
The enemy was conquered!

From the NET Bible, Matthew 28, verses 1-10:

28:1 Now after the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. 28:2 Suddenly there was a severe earthquake, for an angel of the Lord  descending from heaven came and rolled away the stone and sat on it. 28:3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 28:4 The guards were shaken and became like dead men because they were so afraid of him. 28:5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 28:6 He is not here, for he has been raised, just as he said. Come and see the place where he was lying. 28:7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead. He is going ahead of you into Galilee. You will see him there.’ Listen, I have told you!” 28:8 So they left the tomb quickly, with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 28:9 But Jesus met them, saying, “Greetings!” They came to him, held on to his feet and worshiped him. 28:10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee. They will see me there.”

Happy Resurrection Day, everyone! As you celebrate today with family and friends, don't forget what we're truly celebrating: Jesus' Resurrection.

And because I love this song, I'll embed this one last video down here for you all to enjoy. It is Newsong's "Wide Open" - the same song I linked to up there.

Please enjoy, and have a great Resurrection Day.

It is Finished

Petra - It is Finished




From the NET Bible, John 19: 16-30

19:16 Then Pilate handed him [Jesus] over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus, 19:17 and carrying his own cross he went out to the place called “The Place of the Skull” (called in Aramaic Golgotha). 19:18 There they crucified him along with two others, one on each side, with Jesus in the middle. 19:19 Pilate also had a notice written and fastened to the cross, which read: “Jesus the Nazarene, the king of the Jews.” 19:20 Thus many of the Jewish residents of Jerusalem read this notice, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the notice was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek. 19:21 Then the chief priests of the Jews 68 said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The king of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am king of the Jews.’” 19:22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”


19:23 Now when the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and made four shares, one for each soldier, and the tunic remained. (Now the tunic was seamless, woven from top to bottom as a single piece.) 19:24 So the soldiers said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but throw dice to see who will get it.” This took place to fulfill the scripture that says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they threw dice.” So the soldiers did these things.


19:25 Now standing beside Jesus’ cross were his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 19:26 So when Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing there, he said to his mother, “Woman, look, here is your son!” 19:27 He then said to his disciple, “Look, here is your mother!” From that very time the disciple took her into his own home.


19:28 After this Jesus, realizing that by this time everything was completed, said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I am thirsty!” 19:29 A jar full of sour wine was there, so they put a sponge soaked in sour wine on a branch of hyssop and lifted it to his mouth. 19:30 When he had received the sour wine, Jesus said, “It is completed!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

"It is completed." In many versions of the Bible, this is translated as "It is finished."

Some people, today is a big day because today is Earth Day. For Christians, today is an important day because our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, died on the cross to save us from our sins.

As Petra says it, "The provision has been made, the foundation has been laid. He [Jesus] paid the ransom due and tore the temple veil in two, and opened up the way [to heaven] for me and you."

But the story is not over yet. Sunday is coming...

He is Risen!

"Wide open, Wide open,

They nailed His arms wide open.

After three days in the cold grave

The power of sin was broken

Now with outstretched arms

He welcomes in

Everyone who trusts in Him

His nail-scarred hands hold Heaven's gates

Wide open!"

- Newsong, "Wide Open"

From the book of Matthew, chapter 28:

1 Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.
2 And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it.
3 His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as the snow.
4 And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.
5 But the angel answered and said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know you seek Jesus who was crucified.
6 "He is not here, for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay."

Remember on Friday when I said that the story didn't end with Jesus' death? Today we celebrate the ultimate good news - He is risen!!

If you don't know Jesus as your Savior, if you've never heard any of this before, you can talk to me by leaving a comment on my blog, and I'll be happy to take the time and talk to you about it.

Happy Easter! He is Risen!!

"Now with outstretched arms
He welcomes in
Everyone who trusts in Him
His nail-scarred hands hold Heaven's gates
Wide open!"

It Is Finished

Or in Greek, te telestai.

From the book of Matthew, chapter 27:

45 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.
46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabchthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
47 Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, "This Man is calling for Elijah!"
48 Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and gave it to Him to drink.
49 The rest said, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him."
50 Jesus, when He had cried out again with a loud voice, yielded up His Spirit.
51 And behold, the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split,
52 and coming out of the grave after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
53 Now, when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, "Truly, this was the sun of God!"

From the book of John, chapter 19:

28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, "I thirst!"
29 Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with the sour wine, put it on a hyssop, and put it to His mouth.
30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

You know, as I was typing this out, a thought occurred to me: I am so glad that that is NOT where the story ends. Because I would have absolutely no hope if that was where the story stopped.

Today is Good Friday. And you're probably wondering, "If this is about Jesus dying, then why on Earth is it called 'Good Friday'?" I'm glad you asked. It's called Good Friday because Jesus died to save all of us from our sins. And He didn't stay dead. He rose again. And someday, he's coming back.

Today we remember that Jesus gave His life for us and comemorate His death. And on Sunday, we'll celebrate because the story does not just end with death.

Petra - It is Finished



"The provision has been made
The foundation has been laid
He paid the ransom due and tore the temple veil in two
And opened up the way for me and you!

It is finished!"

More Updates

When everything gets so complicated

Who do I choose to believe?

Religion can be so overrated

All I know is now I am free!

- Eleventyseven, "Love in Your Arms."

You know, in hindsight, perhaps posting my fancy new banner three days before it was time to put up my Easter banner was not my brightest idea. Oh well. I can always get the other one back out after Easter.

So, yeah. Banner's been changed. Lyrics in purple on it are from, well, you take a guess.

I wish I had more to talk about on here, but I really don't. I read through one of my old journals today. It was kind of cool. I had no idea that I'd recorded some of that stuff. Er, more accurately, I didn't remember that I recorded some of that stuff. It's really neat to go back and see some of that stuff. I wish I had started journaling a lot sooner.

I did keep a couple of diarys off and on when I was younger, but never like this. Ah well.

By the way, what's an eleventyseven, anyway?

Happy Easter!

I love the triumphal feeling of the hymn "He Arose." You wouldn't mind if I quoted some of it here, would you?

Up from the grave He Arose (He arose)
With a mighty triumph o'er his foes
He arose a victor from the Dark domain
And He lives forever with His Saints to reign

He arose! He arose!
Hallelujah, Christ arose!

Hallelujah, indeed! I'm bursting with happiness right now, which is odd because I'm writing this post in advance.

Well, I have music for just about everything, and Easter is no exception.

Petra - He Came, He Saw, He Conquered



He Came, He Saw, He Conquered
Words and music by Bob Hartman
Based on Genesis 3:15, Matthew 28:6, John 20:19, Revelation 6:2


He came alone into the battle
He knew nobody else could face His foe
He left His throne, He left His glory
He knew nobody else could ever go
He called the bluff, He took the challenge
He came into this world to seek and save
No one could know, no one could fathom
The way to win was only through the grave
They laid Him in His tomb
They thought they'd sealed His doom
But He rose He rose!

(Chorus)
He came, He saw, He conquered death and hell
He came, He saw, He is alive and well
He was, He is, and only He forgives
He died, He rose, He lives
He came, He saw, He conquered!

The doors were locked, they heard Him knocking
They were afraid they would be taken, too
Familiar voice said, "Come and follow"
Come and see the things the Lord can do
They went to where He lay
The stone was rolled away
He rose He rose!

He came into this world
He saw humanity
He heard the SOS
He met the enemy
The enemy was conquered
The enemy was conquered!

Lyrics from petrarocksmyworld.com

~ Wide Open! Wide Open

They nailed His arms wide open

After three days, in a cold grave

The power of sin was broken

Now with outstretched arms, He welcomes in

Everyone who trusts in Him!

His nail-scarred hands hold heaven's gates wide open! ~

-Newsong, "Wide Open"

Happy Easter!
How many Resurrection Sundays have you had?

Good Friday

Happy Friday! Good Friday! And it's good because if Jesus hadn't died for sins, we would have no salvation.

I seem to have music for just about every occasion, and I have a song for Good Friday, also.

Petra - It is Finished



But it isn't over yet ... Sunday is coming...