celebrate the Sabbath...at the Cross...

At The Cross

~Randy & Terry Butler

I know a place, a wonderful place

Where accused and condemned

Find mercy and grace

Where the wrongs we have done

And the wrongs done to us

Were nailed there with Him

There at the cross

At the cross, at the cross

He died for our sin

At the cross,at the cross

He gave us life again

*photo taken at Georgian Orthodox Church near Tbilisi, Georgia

today, we remember...

Today, I remember my Grandpa. I used to love to hang out with him when I was a kid. I loved the outdoors and nature and all kinds of creatures. My Grandpa would take me out in the field to see the deer at the salt lick. He would search out unused bird nests and then take me out to find them and bring them home. (My favorite was a beautiful silvery grey hanging Baltimore Oriole nest!) He found little bird and mouse skeletons and put them in jars for me to keep. How I loved to visit my Grandpa.

I also remember that he had a great big ink-blue tattoo running the length of his right forearm. It was an eagle and an anchor, and it was from his days in the Navy. I remember it being there and remember tracing it with my finger. But, I never really thought about what it represented.

Today, I also remember my Uncle Bob. I used to love to visit my aunt and uncle's house and my two cousins. Uncle Bob used to tease me, and I loved teasing him right back. We laughed and joked and enjoyed each other's company. He was always fun for me to be around.

This weekend while I was in Michigan, my mom and uncles and cousin and her family got together at the cemetary to remember our loved ones who were laid to rest there several years ago: my Aunt Helen, my Grandpa and Grandma, and my Aunt Linda and Uncle Bob. We honored them by weeding and planting flowers and tending to their gravesites.

It was while there that I was reminded that Grandpa had served in the Navy during World War II. There was a plaque on the back of his and Grandma's headstone as a reminder.It was while there that I discovered that Uncle Bob had also served in the US military. He had been in the Army and had served in Vietnam. Funny, though I'm sure it left a very lasting impression on him, I don't remember him ever mentioning it.

My Dad and also another uncle of mine both served in the Army in their younger days. So many in my family alone. Men who served in the military-- willing to give their lives for their country and for their loved ones. I am proud of these men in my life who all gave of themselves for the rest of us... for me.

As I looked around the cemetary, I saw flags and plaques on many of the other headstones. So many men and women who have served our country. I am proud of each one of them, and I am grateful for the freedom they earned and protected for me by their service and sacrifice.

Today we remember those who gave their lives in defense of our country's freedoms.

Today we remember and honor those who served in any of the US armed forces.

Today we remember and honor those who, this day, are serving in the military...to protect us and to preserve our freedoms.

Today we honor you...and say THANK YOU! for your service, for your sacrifice, for your gift to us... we are grateful! You are all heros in my book!

God bless the USA. And, God, please bless and protect the men and women in its service.

celebrate the Sabbath...meditating on the beauty of the Body...

How Beautiful

~Twila Paris

How beautiful the hands that served
the wine and the bread and the sons of the earth.

How beautiful the feet that walked
the long dusty roads and the hills to the cross.

How beautiful...how beautiful...

how beautiful is the body of Christ.

How beautiful the heart that bled
that took all my sin and bore it instead.
How beautiful the tender eyes
that chose to forgive and never despise.

How beautiful...how beautiful...
how beautiful is the body of Christ.

And as He laid down His life
we offer this sacrifice that we will live just as he died:
willing to pay the price, willing to pay the price.

How beautiful the radiant Bride
who waits for her Groom with His light in her eyes.
How beautiful when humble hearts give
the fruit of pure lives so that others may live.

How beautiful...how beautiful
how beautiful is the body of Christ.

How beautiful the feet that bring
the sound of good news and the love of the King.
How beautiful the hands that serve
the wine and the bread and the sons of the earth.

How beautiful...how beautiful
how beautiful is the body of Christ.

celebrate the Sabbath... remembering Resurrection Sunday!

Let's celebrate together again this week... and be reminded...

HE TOOK THE SCARS

Words and Music by Hamm
(John 3:16, Heb. 10:19-23, Ephes. 2:18)

Sometimes I think about the cross that He endured
Laying down His life unselfishly
And how His suffering means I can rest assured
In His saving grace
Oh when He took our place…

Chorus:
He took the scars, felt the pain
Suffered loss so we could gain
This precious life,

precious love that we are feeling
He took our sin and the fall
Left His hope here for us all

Jesus took the scars
And left us with the healing,

left us with the healing

There is no brokenness that we could ever bring
That would ever be too much for Him to bear
Mistakes and failures don’t mean a thing anymore
That’s what He was dying for…

There was beauty in the tragedy
In His death we found new birth
It was unrelenting love
For every soul on earth

Thank You, Jesus,

for Your unrelenting love!

...and now we wait...

As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. ~Matthew 27:57-60

...and so we wait...

with sorrow

and with hope...

it is finished.

This day... a King wears a different crown.

A crown not of gold and jewels...

but a crown of thorns.

... a crown ...

meant to signify royalty

turned into one of suffering

...worn not to announce His Kingship

but to proclaim His love

for me

and for you

This day... a King sacrifices everything,

including His very life,

endures unimaginable pain,

alone,

on a Cross...

He dies

because He loves

me

and you

more than anything in the universe.

IT IS FINISHED.

gathering of the darkness...

Maundy Thursday. Tennebrae. "The Gathering of the Darkness"

And what could be more dark than the night in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Where You spent Your final night on earth.

Alone in the garden.

Well, You weren't actually alone. But it was as if You were. A couple of Your disciples, Your friends, were with You. But they couldn't stay awake while You drew away to pray.

You were so very deeply distressed and troubled--overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. And You did what You have taught us to do: You prayed. With all Your heart. With all Your soul. Until Your sweat fell like drops of blood.

You pleaded with Your Father--OUR Father-- to take away this terrible cup You were being asked to drink. This cup of suffering. This sacrifice You were being asked to make.

"Father," You prayed; "everything is possible for You. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what You will."

Even then You were bowing the will of Your flesh to the will of the Father. Even then You were thinking of me, loving me.

You prayed so very earnestly... while Your friends slept. While I slept.
And the darkness gathered...

And then, fully aware of the price You were about to pay, fully aware of the suffering You would endure, fully aware of the incredible agony You were walking toward, You rose from Your place of prayer, embraced the will of our Father, and set Your foot onto the way of the Cross.

You were betrayed...by a friend. Betrayed by me.
And the darkness gathered...

You were deserted...by those who vowed they would stay with You till the end. Deserted by me.
And the darkness gathered...

You were disowned...by one who loved You and whom You loved. Disowned by me.
And the darkness gathered...

All of this... all of this for me.
For me.
Before I even knew You.
Before I even loved You.

And the darkness gathered... in the shadow of the Cross.

The darkness gathered around the Light of the world...
as You walked the way of the Cross.

For me.

What wondrous love is this,O my soul! O my soul!
What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this
That caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse,
For my soul, for my soul,
To bear the dreadful curse, for my soul.

~The Hesperian Harp, 1848, by Dr. William Hauser

celebrate the Sabbath...preparing our hearts for the Cross

Golgotha.

Calvary.

This is what it SHOULD have looked like:

Crosses covering the hill.

Hundreds and thousands of crosses.

A line, a mass, of crosses-- stretching as far as the eye can see.

"For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23

All are deserving of death.

And yet, there were only three crosses on the hill that day--

the center one being the focal point.

That ONE CROSS making a way...

A new way.

A way of LIFE instead of death.

"...the result of one act of righteousness was justification

that brings life for all men." Romans 5:18

And, instead of a hill covered in crosses,

we see but One.

One Cross--bearing ONE MAN--Who dies for the many.

Who takes on the sin of the world.

It is

THIS CROSS,

THIS SACRIFICE,

THIS LOVE

for which we must prepare our hearts.