For ALL PEOPLE…HE IS RISEN INDEED!
IN HONOR OF THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD….ON THIS EASTER
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SPIRIT AND YOUR FIGHT AGAINST THE WORLD-WIDE PANDEMIC
CHRIST IS RISEN HE IS RISEN INDEED
_
After the Resurrection, the disciples said, ‘We have seen the Lord!’ But Thomas replied, ‘I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.’ Later, Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Stop doubting and believe.”John 20:25, 27 Painting by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. 1600’s
______________________________________
This blog will be different. We are sharing several videos of real people …and in doing so…honoring the brave people around in the world who would like to be out in public, dancing in the streets or attending a great concert of Easter music. Even if this is impossible this year, we know that the day will come when we will laugh, hug, and be a part of an active, vibrant world again.
As you watch the videos, think of Christ being in the crowd. Think of His ministry among the EVERY-DAY PEOPLE. Christ went out to be with people where they were in their everyday lives. Whether we ride the underground, shop in the grocery, dance in the streets or sing and play in an orchestra, He is with us in the 21st century.
Christ is with us in our homes now and with those ministering to the sick in the many hospitals around the world.
This may be a different Easter, but one of thanksgiving to God for His mercy and healing power. It is also a time of spiritual healing. The WORLD has been given a chance to draw close to God and know His love, forgiveness and healing power.
Form BOYER WRITES….BLESSINGS AND HAPPY EASTER
___________________________________
Germany works by Verdi, Wagner and Bizet
England Handel’s Zadok the Priest
Copenhagen playing Griegs Peer Gynt.
Ireland Joining in to the Irish fun and music
South Korean Gracious Choir Hallelujah Chorus by Handel’s Messiah
(The Messiah, 260-page oratorio, written by Handel in 1741, in just 24 days He was in his 50’s and had suffered two strokes. Later, he went blind.)
Preparing for Friday before EASTER
It will be a different Friday before Easter this year. Perhaps we should prepare our hearts for it more than ever! We, as Christians, always have referred to this special day as GOOD FRIDAY. A reason for saying it is “good” is because it is the beginning of the journey of our Savior to the cross, Who gave Himself for the people of the world. The Friday had to come before the glorious Easter Day of RESURRECTION. So, how do we prepare these few days before Friday…especially if there are some who don’t understand this special day of Christian worship?
For my readers throughout the world who may not be Christian, this may help you understand the Power of the Cross in Christianity. Please read with an open mind. Ask God to speak to you and give you His truth of salvation. May you find, through the power of the Holy Spirit, your trust in the Savior Who came to be punishment for all your sins and mine.
THE PROPHECY OF CHRIST’S CRUCIFIXION was given to the Jews within their own Hebrew scriptures. Not only does the New Testament give this account, but parts of the Old Testament give the crucifixion as a prophecy of the events to happen. One of these is in Psalms 21, “My God, my God why have You forsaken me…O my God, I cry out by day and you answer not. I cry out by night and there is no relief for me. All my bones are racked. My heart has become like wax melting away within my chest. My throat is dried up like baked clay, My tongue cleaves to my jaw. They have pierced my hands and my feet…” Psalm 68 “…in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.”
THE HISTORY of the STATIONS OF THE CROSS:
In many churches and cathedrals around the world, there are pictures of the Stations of the Cross. Having originated in Jerusalem, the pictures are to duplicate Jesus’ trip on the Via Dolorosa before his crucifixion. Jerusalem fell to the forces of Saladin, the first sultan of Egypt and Syria in 1187. Forty years later Saint Francis of Assisi, a Franciscan, came back to Jerusalem and proclaimed certain holy places as places of Christian devotion. During the 15th and 16th centuries, they built outdoor shrines which later were introduced as stations. Faithful Christians read the gospels as they visit these stations to remember the suffering of the Savior…usually on Fridays. There are traditionally 14 pictorial stations mounted on church walls. The resurrection station is sometimes included as the last station because without the resurrection of Christ, there is no gospel.
Pictures of selected Stations of the Cross from around the world:
Inside Stations of the Cross at Immaculate Conception in Hong Kong
Outside Stations of the Cross
Jesus dies on the cross (Sculptor unknown)
Jesus is taken down from the cross. ( Rubens)
For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that Whosoever believes on Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
In the past, on Good Friday, concerts are given around the world. Often these are requiems of a somber nature. This year, because of the Coronavirus, the depictions throughout Europe and other part of the world will not be reenacted. The great concert halls will be empty. Yet, we must not allow this to change our focus on the great sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We will turn to our TV’s and recordings and bow our heads as we remember the terrible day on the cross. In just a few days after Friday will come the great morning of RESURRECTION. Prepare your hearts now with the beautiful music I’d like to share with you today…Laudate Dominum by Mozart, sung by Aksel Rykkvin
(After the music…come back to see the pages of the Stations of the Cross.)
- TURN UP SOUND and enlarge picture for best viewing.
- 2nd link showing the description of the Stations of the Cross
Click this link below and follow each station by clicking on “next”:
http://www.bspenance.org/wayofthecross/station1.html
What is Maundy Thursday?
My last post during this Easter season was about the temptation of Christ in the desert. Today we look at another special day in the week before the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus at Easter.
What exactly does Maundy Thursday mean? The word Maundy is a shortened form of mandatum, which is Latin. The word means “command”.
The last Passover meal with the disciples
Jesus celebrated the final Passover meal with His disciples. It was during this time that He gave a command to them, as He washed their feet in a great gesture of compassion and humility. This was usually the job of a servant.
Christians today and in centuries past believe it was also a command to show love and humility to others. He said the following to them:
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” John 13:34
Some Christian congregations today have the ceremony of foot washing, after the example of Christ. The Pope has gone to prisons and washed the feet of prisoners, usually kissing their feet after they were washed and dried. He too was obeying the command and example of Christ.
Do we all have to ask to wash people’s feet? The answer would be “no” in that there are many ways to show love and compassion as well as humility. Think of how you can show God’s love at this Easter season and throughout the year. God will show you how.
Humility and Love is the real lesson Jesus gave us as Christians. Christ said that in this way, people will know that you are His followers and disciples.
VIDEO: Turn up sound
Day 3 Crossing the Ocean for an Easter Message
Today is Good Friday. It has always puzzled me why we call it “Good” since this is the most horrible day of the crucifixion of Christ. Then I learned that it is called “Good” because it led to the Resurrection of Jesus and His victory over death and sin.
I live in the United States of America. This is my beloved country, but today I must look to another country and its leader, to wish me and my readers a “Happy Easter”.
Why must I look so far away? Sad as it is, most likely we here in the U.S. will not receive such a message as you will hear in the video below. I hope that I will be wrong, but we will see. So, I am thanking the Brits for this sincere, in-depth message of Easter, one of the most important days in the Christian faith. History will reveal leaders who were not afraid to claim the Christian faith and its importance to peace in the world.
Throughout the writing of the United States Constitution and other important matters, our Founding Fathers called for prayer and sermons to help in their decision making. A letter from John Adams, who originally came from Great Britain, 2nd President of the U.S, wrote in 1810 to Benjamin Rush, a doctor who came from Scotland, concerning the Christian faith and the varied beliefs of it:
“Christian religion, as I understand it, is the brightness of the glory and the express portrait of the character of the eternal, self-existent, independent, benevolent, all powerful and all merciful creator, preserver, and Father of the universe, the first good, first perfect, and first fair. It will last as long as the world. Neither savage nor civilized man, without a revelation, could ever have discovered or invented it. Ask me not, then, whether I am a Catholic or Protestant, Calvinist or Arminian. As far as they are Christians, I wish to be a fellow-disciple with them all.”
Our country was founded on those who left their homeland to be a part of the New World. They did it for many reasons. They fought the fight to become independent from the country we now call our “friend.” No longer enemies, but shoulder to shoulder, we have stood with Great Britain during terrible World Wars and against mutual foes who would enslave the world. Thousands of America’s best lay in graves here and abroad. More recently, the men and women of Great Britain and the U.S. have joined together in the fight against terrorists abroad and at home. Let them take a lesson from history. We are not nations that will give up the fight. Our heritage means too much to us. We know our way of life and freedom we share is worth giving all we have to insure that none will have died in vain and our young people will have life, liberty and a continual pursuit of happiness. The blood lines and heritages of many Americans stretch “across the pond” from which their relatives first came. Now, we must stand with them and our allies in Europe who are suffering great attacks from a different enemy. We thank the Christian military chaplains and Christian missionaries and doctors who have faithfully served people around the world. We pray for the Christians who are under great persecution.
Thank you, Prime Minister David Cameron, for your inspirational Easter message in 2015 to the people of Great Britain. We receive it here, on this soil far across the Atlantic ocean, at the Easter season, 2016.
Count down until Glorious Easter_ Day 6
Palm Sunday is part of the Christian worship and the season of LENT. This was when Jesus rode on a borrowed donkey and the people laid before Him the palm branches and cloaks …honoring Him like a King. A King was what they wanted to free them of all the oppression in their day. So much like we, in the modern world, look for a leader to save us from our miseries. We may be looking the wrong way, for Jesus knew he must die first for the sins of the world in order to give the world the chance for a heavenly kingdom of total peace with mankind and God, the Father, Creator of the universe.
Count Down: Day 6 The Triumphal Entry, Day 5 Last Supper and In the Garden, Day 4 Trial Day 3 The Crucifixion Day 2 In the Grave, Day 1 Glorious Easter…Resurrection Day
Easter Sunday 2015 CHRIST IS RISEN!
Whatever time zone, it is now Easter in parts of the world. Especially remember our Christian brothers and sisters who have suffered so much in this last year…and in the University in Kenya just this week. We pray that those who said, “Yes, I am a Christian” will have experienced the Risen Lord, in all His glory, with their last breath.
HE IS RISEN….CHRIST IS RISEN INDEED. Hallelujah Chorus sung by King’s College Choir and Orchestra
Easter…the Resurrection…and the Earth
May the glorious Resurrection of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ help us to remember the glory of the earth where we live. HAPPY EASTER DAY from BOYER WRITES
(Turn on sound)
John 1:4 In HIM was life, and that life was the light of men.
Some people are just INSPIRATIONAL…even at 99
How amazing that we have 24 hours a day…12 months a year to do things in life…and people still complain. Some don’t know what to do with themselves….are bored and sit in front of the TV…becoming depressed…when the world is out there just waiting!
I found a man who has just turned 99. He is up in the early morning…planting plants, watering and fertilizing and in general making everything around the community more beautiful. People often mistake his yard for a city park.
Asked if he has written his memoirs, he hasn’t. He is probably too busy. I asked about where he grew up and it was in Carolina and Ohio…with some Native American (Cherokee) in his ancestry. I think it is probably my future to spend some time hearing his story. It might make a great book someday…and lives like his don’t happen too often. He is still married to the same woman. His wife says they have been married “forever” and she is also a sweetheart. Yes, she was and is his sweetheart. They were young once and still beautiful in their own way.
A kind and gentle smile, he walked behind a huge bush that he grew…making a little space for him to get through to tend to the plant.
Big bush with space to enter.
I teased him that it was really a “place to hide out”. He teased back, “No, they will put my ashes here someday.”
Men like this are an inspiration to all of us. Easter is fast approaching and with Easter, we think of new life…new beginnings…the Resurrection. Perhaps it is time that we look at new beginnings. Winter has been harsh this year for many…but Spring is on its way. Make a new project…take a new walking path…notice what is out there…call a friend that you haven’t talked to in a very long time. We all need to inspire and be inspired. We may not make it to 99, but what we have in days and hours should be put to good use. (A thought for this time of Lent)
The Crucifixion and Good Friday
How shallow we are when it comes to the suffering of our Lord. No one knows what that agony was like even though it has been portrayed on stage and in theater. Hollywood tried to show us the depth of it in Passion of the Christ and now the production, The Bible, tries to relive it again.
The person playing the part of Jesus Christ is nothing like I would imagine Christ to have been. I did not want to see a handsome model, but a man who looked very much like any Jew would look from that area of the world. For some people,however, who do not know the Bible or the Gospel and would not read the Bible , this dramatizations may be a good thing. We should remember that this excruciating death is not entertainment. Who could be entertained by such an event? It should not be treated like any other story. It is much more than that.
For me the death of Christ and His resurrection is very personal. I want to simply sense His presence and to know that what He did is really unimaginable. Dying on a cross with nails in the hands and feet would have been so awful that it can never really be understood. Crucifixion was a typical execution by the Romans of the day. Only those who have experienced it really know the true meaning. The closest to understanding may be the martyrs, who gave everything for their faith. Many were tortured and burned at the stake. They understood His suffering.
For Jesus, it was not only the dying that He knew He had to face. He also knew that for that time, He would be separated totally from his Father in Heaven. This is why He cried out, “Why have You forsaken me?”
The Christian church around the world observe the day of crucifixion in different ways. In the USA, the day is called Good Friday. In Ireland and Germany it’s called Black Friday; in Romania and Croatia it’s called Big Friday; in Norway it’s referred to as Long Friday and in Spanish-speaking countries it’s Holy Friday; and in Brazil it’s Passion of Christ Friday.
All of these terms seem better than “Good Friday” since there seems to be nothing good about the Son of God dying. Nevertheless, the term “good” could also project what was about to happen just three days later….the rising from the dead and what resurrection means to all of us who will one day also die….a looking forward to that same resurrection.
This day is also shown differently within the church sanctuaries as some place black drapes over statues. It is time also to go to each station of the cross to remember Christ carrying His cross to Calvary. It is a quiet, reflective time of prayer to contemplate what our Saviour has done for us.
Below is some music to help in prayer as we come to the close of this special day.
(Click to play and read the words being sung below:)
Behold the wounds in Jesus’ hands, The marks upon His side, Then ponder who He meant to save When on the cross He died. We cannot see the love of God Which saves us from the fall, Yet know that Christ from wood and nails Built mansions for us all.
Behold the outstretched hands of Christ Our God, who came to save, Whose love and grace redeems ours souls And lifts us from the grave. Though bruised and battered as we stray His guiding hands caress, He washes and anoints with oil Then in His arms we rest.
Behold the wounds in Jesus’ hands, Look to your Lord and live He yearns to bless you with His love And all your sins forgive. Oh empty is the heart of man When it is filled with sin. Come open wide your broken heart And let your Savior in.
Behold His wounded hands and feet! Come touch and see and feel The wounds and marks that you may know His love for you is real. Then as you fall to worship Him and wash His feet in tears Your Savior takes you in His arms And quiets all your fears.
Your Savior takes you in His arms And quiets all your fears.
Easter Sunday and Christ is Risen Indeed!
The empty tomb
To understand that something can die and then return to life again is hard for most people to grasp. We hear of near death experiences when one sees a light…goes toward the light…feels a wonderful sense of peace…and doesn’t want to return. That is exactly how I want it to happen when I take my last breath.
Mary Magdalene had a difficult time with this also. She went to the tomb and stood there crying because someone had stolen the body of her beloved Jesus. Even though Jesus had talked about destroying the temple and raising it up again in three days, she did not understand the meaning. We all have heard that our body is the “temple of the Holy Spirit” and we should be careful how we treat it. Yes, Jesus was referring to His own body and it took some convincing.
“For example, in Luke’s gospel Jesus told his disciples to touch him, asking whether a ghost has hands and feet, as he has, and then proceeded to eat a fish in front of them.
In John’s gospel ‘doubting’ Thomas was invited by Jesus to put his finger on Jesus’ hand where the nails had been, and put his hand in Jesus’ side which had been pierced.
In Matthew, Jesus met his disciples and they touched his feet. And yet, despite this stress on the material body of Jesus as ‘proof’ of his resurrected identity, on several occasions — on the beach at daybreak and on the Emmaus Road, for example — the men and women disciples did not recognize him.
In the account of the resurrected Jesus’ appearance to Mary Magdalene, in John’s Gospel, Jesus instructed Mary not to hold onto Him because He had not yet ascended to the Father.”
All of these events remind us of how physical in nature we are to our beliefs. Jesus never criticized them or scolded them (or us) for having tiny faith. He understands that we are human and have frailties. In fact, as tiny as a mustard seed may be, we are reminded that is all the faith we need.
I think His followers were in shock. It took a while for the excitement of Easter to be realized. I am glad that they were much like we are today. In the resurrection, there is no more sadness and mourning for the crucified Christ, but extreme happiness and joy that we now have a risen Savior.
Without the resurrection, we would have a dead Christ. If Christ is risen and He asked His Father in Heaven to allow us to be with Him (prayer before the crucifixion)…then we have the glorious hope of our own resurrection day.
HALLELUJAH
The Heavenly Chorus will be in all languages! Handel’s Messiah
Conductor: Chai Hoon Cha in Seoul, Korea
King of kings, and Lord of lords,
King of kings, and Lord of lords,
And Lord of lords,
And He shall reign,
And He shall reign forever and ever,
King of kings, forever and ever,
And Lord of lords,
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
And He shall reign forever and ever,
King of kings! and Lord of lords!
And He shall reign forever and ever,
King of kings! and Lord of lords!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah!
Easter’s Fresh, New Earth and the Promise of Life
Seasons come and go. We shiver in the cold and wait for the Spring. The buds begin to appear in a fresh color of green, like the crisp stalks of celery green. We are the earth and we have been given promises by its Creator.
Set in the universe, we here on earth see this fresh, new life stirring. Earth is our home. The breezes blow and the old leaves fall off the trees. The birds fly north again and the young are born. What is life and what are those promises?
Just this week, I grabbed my camera and went out to peek at a nest that was being built in the folds of a bush. Carefully I pulled the small branch back and there it was. A nest had been carefully woven and two small eggs were inside. Just as quickly I heard the sound. It was a mother Cardinal sitting close on the fence, chirping that I was too close to her miracle that would soon happen. Just as suddenly a bright, red male flies up to watch. This nest was theirs and they wanted to protect it. They had no promises that the nest would be safe or would last forever. Just last year a snake had crawled into a nest under another bush in our yard and had eaten the eggs so full of hope, beauty and promise. 
The earth is ours. We too need to protect it. With all that we have to enjoy…from the powerful volcano; the oceans brimming with life; the birds of the air; the animals on the land….and the green that comes to us in this season of Spring, we see that earth has a new life and a resurrection.
For the Christian, the earth is a reflection of that Divine Life that was raised from the dead. Jesus, our Saviour came to give the promise of new life and the promise of an after-life. He brings us a spiritual newness, just as Spring brings new life to the earth. His promise is that old things will pass away and all becomes new.
May you be blessed this Easter season by the goodness of God. Raise your eyes and look around at the fresh green leaf and the renewing of the earth. It is waiting for you with life and promises that will bring you peace and a hope.
See the Holy Scriptures below the video. Turn on sound and enlarge screen for best viewing.
|
“You Were There ” An Easter Message
During this time of Lent and preparation for Easter….the Resurrection of our Messiah, Jesus Christ…
We wish all of you a blessed Passover and Easter Celebration. Boyer Writes would like to share this video with you. We will write again after Easter.
Christ was and is always with us.
