By Karen Alford The last several weeks of March were all about death and dying. I suppose it was an appropriate precursor to Easter. I’ll tell you about just one of the several cases I’ve been dealing with, the one has been the closet to my heart. Marie came to our wound care clinic about six … Continue reading
By Paul Baxley This morning, Christians gather all over the nation, and indeed all over the world, to celebrate the Third Sunday of Easter. With our songs, our prayers, our reading and our preaching, we continue to proclaim that Christ has been raised from the dead! The very same one who died a horribly violent … Continue reading
Por Paul Baxley Este domingo, los cristianos se reunieron en todo el país, y de hecho en todo el mundo, para celebrar el Tercer Domingo de Resurrección. Con nuestros himnos, oraciones, lectura y predicación, continuamos proclamando que Cristo ha resucitado de entre los muertos. El mismo que sufrió una muerte horriblemente violenta ha resucitado. La … Continue reading
By Laura Stephens-Reed The honesty and vulnerability of John 20:19-31 are the reasons why this passage is, hands down, my favorite in the Bible. Can you imagine what it must have been like to be a disciple on that first Easter evening? In John, two of the Twelve have seen the empty tomb and believed, but … Continue reading
By Andy Hale After morning had broken and the women had experienced the triumphant surprise of that first Easter morning, John’s Gospel takes us to a room where the disciples are locked away in fear, guilt, uncertainty, and apprehensive hope. They had all experienced the trauma of the last few days, as their Lord and … Continue reading
“Into your hands I commend my Spirit” This is the second time Jesus quotes the Psalms, this time Psalm 31:5. In the midst of the darkness, the anguish, the approaching death, Jesus’ prayer is not one of anxiety or abandonment, but one of trust. It is a trust that shines like light in a very … Continue reading
“It is finished” These last words of Jesus are really one word in Greek… “tetelestai” Is it a word of surrender? A word of resignation? We are tempted to hear it that way. And right now, many of us are tempted to think that way. After all, we don’t know how long this unusual season … Continue reading
By Mindy Robinson Have you heard the phrase, “Man plans, and God laughs?” While I don’t think God is laughing at us, I can’t help but feel the truth of this statement right now. As a church, we had planned for the Spring semester. We knew what each event would look like. I could envision … Continue reading
By Marv Knox My buddy Brent accompanied me through one of the longest days of my life. “Wanna go deep-sea fishing?” he had asked. Adrift of sanity, I had answered affirmatively. We awoke way before dawn—on vacation; that should’ve been a clue—and trekked toward the harbor. A flashing “Hot Donuts!” sign lured us off the road for a few minutes. Fortified with coffee and buzzing with … Continue reading
“I thirst” These words of Jesus bring us face-to-face with the fullness of his humanity. The extraordinary suffering he is experiencing has left him dry and parched; he is thirsty. Any human being having experienced the cruelty of crucifixion would be thirsty. The fullness of Jesus’ divinity does not diminish the fullness of his humanity. … Continue reading