Category Archives: Cross

IT’S FRIDAY. BUT SUNDAY’S COMING! Jesus the Messiah

Jesus.Messiah

He may not be the “Second Coming,” but his Mom thinks he’s pretty special!  And she believes she has the right to name her baby whatever she chooses!

Jalessa Martin, a Newport, Tennessee woman, recently sought a court order to establish paternity for her baby boy.  The request also included a ruling on the child’s last name, since Jalessa and the boy’s father couldn’t agree.

However,  Child Support Magistrate Lu Ann Ballew ordered the child’s first name changed when she learned the mother had named him “Messiah.” Continue reading

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IT’S FRIDAY. BUT SUNDAY’S COMING! Beneath the Cross of Jesus

Cross.Soldiers.Gambling.

Elizabeth Cecelia Clephane was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1830.  Her parents died when she was a child. And she died at the young age of 39, having lived most of her life with illness.

Deeply religious and concerned about others, Elizabeth ministered to the downtrodden in the village of Melrose, where she lived most of her life. She was bright. Clever.  And cheerful. People in the village called her “Sunbeam.”  But Clephane didn’t see herself that way.  She wrote these words: Continue reading

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IT’S FRIDAY. BUT SUNDAY’S COMING! Jesus Became “Sin For Us”

Cross.Failures

The Conscience Fund.  It’s real.  You can check it out.  It’s used for voluntary contributions from people who have stolen from or defrauded the US Government.  It was created in 1811 when a private citizen sent a check for $5.00 saying he had “misappropriated government funds while serving as a quartermaster in the Army.”  He said he felt guilty.

“Suppose we call this a contribution to the conscience fund and get it announced in the newspapers,” suggested Treasury Secretary Francis Spinner. “Perhaps we will get some more.”

In the first twenty years the fund received $250,000.  Here are some interesting contributions. Continue reading

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IT’S FRIDAY. BUT SUNDAY’S COMING! The Importance of the Cross

Cross.Jesus

Some things are just more important than other things.

This is true in business. Sports. Government.  Our homes.  It is true in life’s tasks.  My Franklin planner teaches priorities.  You list all your tasks for the day and rank them in order of importance.  Then begin with the most important.

It is also true in Christianity.  While everything is important, there are some fundamentals that must rank with greater importance.  James Montgomery Boice expressed it this way.  Continue reading

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IT’S FRIDAY. BUT SUNDAY’S COMING! I Crucified Christ

Cross.RembrandtRembrandt van Rijn was a Dutch artist who lived in the 17th century.  One of his most famous paintings is the Raising of the Cross, which he completed for Prince Frederick Henry.  The painting, now housed in a museum in Münich Germany, is a sobering portrayal of the cross being lifted up as Jesus hangs on it.

As the Roman soldiers are lifting up the cross, there is another figure helping. If you look closely, you will see a man at Jesus’ feet wearing a blue painter’s beret.  He is obviously not a character from the first century.  So who is it?  Continue reading

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IT’S FRIDAY. BUT SUNDAY’S COMING! Friday’s “Foolishness.” God’s Wisdom.

Bible.Cross

There’s an old story about a little girl who proudly wore a shiny cross on a chain around her neck. One day she was approached by a man who said to her,

“Little girl, don’t you know that the cross Jesus died on wasn’t beautiful like the one you’re wearing? It was an ugly, wooden thing.”

She was surprised by the stranger’s affront.  But then quickly replied: Continue reading

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IT’S FRIDAY. BUT SUNDAY’S COMING! Lead Me to Calvary

Type = ArtScans RGB : Gamma = 1.882

Many people in Jennie Hussey’s circumstances would have looked for a way out.  A way of escape.  A way of relief.   But not this woman. Not Jennie Hussey.

When friends and neighbors came to visit and cheer up Jennie, they were received with her radiant smile and spirit of joy.  No griping.  No grumbling.  No complaining.  But an attitude of encouragement that both amazed and lifted her friends.

For most of her life, this 5th generation Quaker  lived in the same New Hampshire farmhouse as her ancestors. For decades Jennie worked tirelessly as she cared for and attended to the needs of her helpless, invalid sister.

How did she do it?  Why did she do it? What was Jennie Hussey’s secret?   Continue reading

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IT’S FRIDAY. BUT SUNDAY’S COMING! Faces Around the Cross: His Mother

Roma Downey portrays Mary in a scene from the television miniseries 'The Bible'

“A Mother’s immeasurable love for a child she couldn’t save.”

  The headline jumped off the screen.  The dateline was Dallas.  May 11, 2013.  The journalist Steve Hartman wrote:

“Beyond the biological mandate, there’s something about mothering that defies science and borders on the divine — something especially palpable in this mom from Keller, Texas, named Brenda Gorman.”

He tells about Brenda and her husband Gary who decided to adopt a four-year orphan girl, Zia, from the Congo.  All was going well until the Agency called with the bad news that Zia had a rare and fatal heart defect.  Then they asked Brenda, “Do you still want her?”  Continue reading

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IT’S FRIDAY. BUT SUNDAY’S COMING! Faces Around the Cross: A Regretful Face

Judas

He was admired by leaders of the revolutionary war.  Twice wounded for courageous fighting. Regarded as a hero.  Celebrated for his courage.  Admired for his patriotism.  After almost losing a leg fighting for America he expected more.

It is said that he grew disillusioned with the war’s progress.  Distrustful of its leaders.  Doubtful of its cause. Continue reading

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IT’S FRIDAY. BUT SUNDAY’S COMING! Faces Around the Cross: Secret Disciples

Joseph.Nicodemus

Billy Sunday was a 19th century baseball player who became a 20th century evangelist. He  use to tell of a professing Christian who got a job in a lumber camp that had a reputation of being very ungodly. A friend hearing that the man had been hired, said to him, ‘When those lumberjacks find out you’re a Christian, you’re going to be in for a hard time.’ The man responded, ‘I know, but I need the job!’ Continue reading

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