Moravian Sunrise

Zach and I went to a Moravian sunrise service this morning at Oakwood Cemetery. Oakwood is my favorite cemetery in the Raleigh area. It is an island of beauty and tranquility within the city that you never expect to exist. I actually didn't know about it until the first time I went to the sunrise service with Raleigh Moravian Church.

There is nothing more glorious than the Moravian sunrise service. We met on the grounds of the Cemetery, heard some wonderful scripture, sang lovely songs with solid messages, and were played through the grounds to God's Acre (the Moravian graves) by the brass band. It is a treat for all the senses, and connects you with the undeniable presence of God. I will always celebrate Christ's resurrection with Raleigh Moravian Church if I can.

Good Friday

Crucifix and Sunrise ©iStockphoto.com/Richard Goerg

Fridays are almost always good, but today is special. Today is the day that we have chosen to celebrate that Jesus Christ died on the cross to save us from our sins...

...and rose again on the third day to bring us eternal life. He sacrificed Himself for us - we don't deserve His mercy, and I am forever grateful.

My favorite version of the story is found in Mark, Chapter 15.

Jesus Before Pilate

¹Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, reached a decision. They bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate.

²"Are you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate.
"Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied.

³The chief priests accused him of many things. ⁴So again Pilate asked him, "Aren't you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of."

⁵But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.

⁶Now it was the custom at the Feast to release a prisoner whom the people requested. ⁷A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. ⁸The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.

⁹"Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate, ¹⁰knowing it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. ¹¹But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.

¹²"What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?" Pilate asked them.

¹³"Crucify him!" they shouted.

¹⁴"Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!"

¹⁵Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

The Soldiers Mock Jesus

¹⁶The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. ¹⁷They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. ¹⁸And they began to call out to him, "Hail, king of the Jews!" ¹⁹Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. ²⁰And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

The Crucifixion

²¹A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. ²²They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull). ²³Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. ²⁴And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.

²⁵It was the third hour when they crucified him. ²⁶The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS. ²⁷They crucified two robbers with him, one on his right and one on his left. ²⁹Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, "So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, ³⁰come down from the cross and save yourself!"

³¹In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. "He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself! ³²Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe." Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

The Death of Jesus

³³At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. ³⁴And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice,
"אלוהים, אלוהים, למה יש לך עזוב אותי"—which means,"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

³⁵When some of those standing near heard this, they said, "Listen, he's calling Elijah."

³⁶One man ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. "Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to take him down," he said.

³⁷With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.

³⁸The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. ³⁹And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, "Surely this man was the Son of God!"

⁴⁰Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. ⁴¹In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there.

The Burial of Jesus

⁴²It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, ⁴³Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body. ⁴⁴Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. ⁴⁵When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. ⁴⁶So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. ⁴⁷Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.

These verses were found at BibleGateway.com, and are the New International Version.

Taken from dailyencouragement.wordpress.com

Thank you Lord for your unbelievable love and mercy.

Sunday, the end of my week

Zach and I had a conversation about something that happened on Thursday before last. To me, that means it happened last week as my weeks run from Monday to Sunday. I know that the calendar week runs from Sunday to Saturday, but that doesn't make any sense to me. If it is the "weekend", doesn't that mean it is the end of the week? We don't start doing anything on Sunday, we are winding down our weekend, so why is that the start of the week? Monday is always the first day of the week in most things, so I'm not sure why our calendar doesn't reflect that.

Today was an interesting day. We went to church with my father, and while the message was good, the mode of delivery was not exactly my style. I have been to some great Pentecostal Holiness churches, and though I have nothing to say against the actual message - which is the most important thing by far - I'm not into unnecessary acting out. I understand being moved by the spirit. I do not understand putting on a show as if the congregation was a theatrical audience. The only other thing that I have to say is that the Bible is very clear about speaking in tongues in church.

1 Corinthians 14:26-28 (NIV)

²⁶What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church. ²⁷If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. ²⁸If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God.

It is my personal opinion, and I know that other people feel differently and have every right to, that when someone speaks out in tongues in church and there is no one there to interpret, then they are purposefully (though they may have deluded themselves) speaking gibberish to call attention to themselves before others to prove the depth of their faith. I believe that God does not feel praised from, nor care about, our silly concerns with what other people might think about us. He knows us through and through. Our outward actions are to be used to witness to others by sharing His love and displaying His presence in our lives. Our actions must be a testimony, not a stumbling block.

1 Corinthians 8:9 (NIV) addresses this well -

⁹Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.

We must be careful of what our actions communicate to others if we are always striving to have others see Jesus through us. If we act out in church before an unbeliever and they have cause to think that we are "crazy", does that not sound like a stumbling block has been placed before them on their path to salvation? I think so.

I am by no means a perfect example of Christ's love - my outward actions leave much to be desired as a witness of my belief. I am not "quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry," (James 1:19 -NIV) as I should be. Nor do I always "trust in the LORD with all [my] heart and lean not on [my] own understanding." (Proverbs 3:5-NIV) I trust too much in my own understanding by far. However, I think my opinions in these matters are valid. I only hope that I can in the future be a better witness of my faith - at the moment I am pitifully weak in my dedication to "walk the walk". Lately I am more talk than anything, and that results in nothing these days. Pray that I will work towards putting as much time and energy into my relationship with Christ as I do with the ultimately meaningless things in my life.

Thank goodness for Bible Gateway, by the way. I know what the scriptures say in general, but I have not made myself learn them by heart as I should. The scriptures used above were found through using Bible Gateway to provide me with the exact scriptures where I only knew the basic information they conveyed.

I honestly never meant for this post to be a religious rant of sorts, but that just sort of happened. I feel strongly about my spiritual beliefs. May God forgive me for my shortcomings in this area.

If I struck a cord with you, let me know. Feel free to disagree with me and let me know what you think.