Happy Easter! He is risen!

 "He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay."

-Matthew 28:6

Tremble!

Oh Thursday...this particular Thursday every year, I can almost feel the ground begin to tremble with the weight of what was to come very shortly in the earthly life of Jesus. Even knowing the pain and betrayal that was to come, our servant Savior would humble Himself to wash the feet of the disciples thus teaching them to be humble and to serve even when life is tough. He instituted the Lord's Supper, Holy Communion and implored them, "Remember Me." He was then betrayed by Judas for thirty pieces of silver, the going rate for a slave in those days...a slave!. He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. He asked that if possible He be spared what was to come, but was prepared to die the ugliest of deaths for our sin. He was arrested and still took the time to put the ear back on the guard that impetuous Peter had cut off in anger. That same Peter betrayed him...HIS Peter! He was questioned by Pilate still remaining humble and mostly silent. The people yelled, "CRUCIFY HIM!" Our ugly, heinous sin demanded the highest of price tags. But we were deemed worth it to our Savior. He loved you passionately that day. Today, pause, read the Word, soak it in. Remember! Oh friend, can you feel the tremble begin?

Time to re-visit the Easter Circus!

It's getting close to Easter. The time of year where Christians pause to remember the death of our Savior and praise Him for the sacrifice. We are humbled by the price paid to redeem our souls from hell. We spend time in meditation thinking about the heart of a Father that would sacrifice His only son for such unworthy beings. This is the holiest of all of our Christian holy days. Without Easter, there would be no reason for any of the rest. Or a Church. Or anything else in Christendom.

So why do we also cheapen it with taking as much "Church" out of church as we can, dumb down our messages that day or use it as an excuse to inflate our rolls (remember "Great Day in the Morning," Southern Baptist Church Growth Movement?) I've been disturbed by what I refer to as the "Easter Circus" for many years. So this week, I thought I would re-post a couple of my Easter posts. Be warned, they are a bit rant-y. I intended to go back and edit these but that hasn't happened yet (because I up and got myself a life. More on that later.)

This first post is from way back in 2009. This is not about any one local church and more about the universal Church. I love the Church, I love MY church, God has called me to the Church, I serve in a Church (that has changed since the original was written, you may notice) I am not attacking the church in any way, but I do feel the need to sound the alarm: CHURCH, WAKE UP!

Rants...Easter Circus...Rant...Regenerate Membership- After rereading this there is so much more I'd like to say. Some of the ideas need to be better fleshed out and better explained, such as "hospital for sinners not haven for saints." I will probably re-write this one some day soon, but for now, if you know me and know my heart, you'll understand it.

Disclaimer: The usual disclaimer also fits here. These rants are my own, the opinions are my own and may or may not reflect the feelings of Mr. Perfect. Please don't hold him responsible or accountable for the opinions of his saucy, spicy, super cute, "question-asking-tell-it-like-it-is, strong-warrior-woman, stream-of-consciousness-blogger for Jesus" wife.