Satur-deja Vu

Sometimes I look at the banner at the top of the page and wonder if first time visitors are confused by the tagline “God honoring, Christ centered.” I used to write two or three long form blog posts each week. Back then we served in a ministry that was geographically isolated. Today I pastor a small SBC church and all that that entails. I keep letting people appoint me to leadership positions in things. And we have a middle schooler that joins things and needs carried places. Each and every item entry, if you dissect a Satur-deju Vu or Happy Monday post, may not be directly related to sharing the Gospel in some way. But taken on the whole each post is meant to enrich and inform the Christian believer. Happy Monday always has verses of scripture and inspiring or informative quotes, at least one of those quotes from a recognizable Christian leader. The Satur-deja Vu posts are about the intersection of faith and real life. Some days are a struggle and I hope the things I write and share are able to help someone along. We are about wrap up Holy Week and celebrate Easter Sunday tomorrow. Some days make it real easy to walk the Christian path. Some days are rough and for some those turn into rough seasons. In the upper left-hand corner are links to sermons. They are steeped in scripture. Sometimes you need something else. An encouraging word, a laugh a smile, or just the knowledge that others are in the same boat. A single website cannot be all things to all people. But if I write a post on the empty tomb or share a pic of a dog wearing sunglasses and a hat that makes your day, then maybe that post was just for you.

They Thought They Cancelled Jesus

Cancel culture is

nothing new

The term cancel culture may be new to our vocabulary but the idea of silencing voices of those we do not want to hear is ancient. Jeremiah lived around 600 B.C. and was once thrown in a nearly dry well. There was no water but he sank into thick mud and could not free himself. On another occasion he wrote a letter of warning to King Jehoiakim who cut the scroll with a knife, a few lines at a time as it was read, and threw God’s word into the fire. Many of the Old Testament prophets were ignored, mocked, exiled or killed.

He Cannot Save Himself

He Cannot Save Himself is a poem I wrote some years ago for Good Friday. It presents an account of the crucifixion based on the Gospels in scripture. I want to go ahead and post it now, a couple of weeks before Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter, so that my readers have time to share it. If you wish to reblog, share on social media, or even print the poem in a church bulletin or elsewhere, feel free to do so just give the original author a by line. This photo is one I took myself, of a crucifix hanging in my office.

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He Cannot Save Himself
A poem for Good Friday

Satur-deja Vu

Yesterday was Good Friday. Tomorrow is Easter. Most Christians are familiar with those days. Depending on your faith tradition you may not know about the other days of Holy Week. Today is Holy Saturday, also known as the Great Sabbath, Easter Eve or Black Saturday. It is a time to reflect on the marks left on Jesus’s body. This is the day the disciples spent after Jesus was buried and before they were able to fully understand what he had said about resurrection.

A Seed Must Fall

And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴ Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ²⁵ Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶ If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. –John 12:23-26

Wednesday April 8th was the first day of Passover for observant Jews. The event we know as the Triumphal Entry occurred when Jesus came into Jerusalem to celebrate Passover for the last time. Ethnic Jews and those practicing Judaism gathered at Jerusalem from all around the Mediterranean world. John 12 records that “some Greeks” came looking for Jesus. The very well known statement “Sir, we wish to see Jesus” is found in verse 21. Philip told Andrew, Andrew and Philip went together and told Jesus. His response is shown above. He talks about bearing fruit, eternal life, following him and being honored by the father. He also talks about, as he had many times before, sowing seeds but in this instance uses what happens to seeds to allude to his crucifixion and burial. The grain of wheat must fall into the earth and die in order to bear fruit.

Messiah in Isaiah: Part 3

Be sure to read Parts 1 and 2. 

Details of the coming Messiah are given in Isaiah, including the family he would be from and unmistakable signs that could not be duplicated. The nature of his character and aspects of his ministry were written down, 800 years before he was born. Today we will look into the passages of Isaiah that describe the crucifixion and even consider if the resurrection was foretold.

Good Friday

Explaining that his time had come in John 12:24, Jesus said that a grain of wheat could not bear fruit unless it first fell to the ground and died. The crucifixion may be the last stop in our Holy Week journey but for Jesus it was the next step in the process. He Cannot Save Himself is an old favorite of ours on Good Friday. Here are some other bits and pieces you might enjoy.

It’s Friday

It’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming. Words by S.M. Lockridge. The first video is animation, of sorts, the second is scenes from The Passion of the Christ. I enjoy both.

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A Hero

This song is apparently five years old but it’s only been in the past 12 -18 months that I became familiar with it. With Easter coming up in a few days, it’s one of my favorites right now.

Hero

This is a fan-made video for the song Hero as recorded by Abandon. I don’t know why it took so long for me to discover this song, but I particularly like this presentation.