Sunday, April 29, 2012

THE BEST IS YET TO COME


The sound of Martha's voice on the other end of the telephone always brought a smile to Brother Jim's face. She was not only one of the oldest members of the congregation, but one of the most faithful. Aunt Martie, as all of the children called her, just seemed to ooze faith, hope, and love wherever she went. This time, however, there seemed to be an unusual tone to her words.

"Preacher, could you stop by this afternoon? I need to talk with you."

"Of course, I'll be there around three. Is that ok?"

It didn't take long for Jim to discover the reason for what he had only sensed in her voice before. As they sat facing each other in the quiet of her small living room. Martha shared the news that her doctor had just discovered a previously undetected tumor.

"He says I probably have six months to live".

Martha's words were naturally serious, yet there was a definite calm about her.

"I'm so sorry to ..." but before Jim could finish, Martha interrupted.

"Don't be. The Lord has been good. I have lived a long life. I'm ready to go. You know that."

"I know," Jim whispered with a reassuring nod.

"But I do want to talk with you about my funeral. I have been thinking about it, and there are things that I know I want."

The two talked quietly for a long time. They talked about Martha's favorite hymns, the passages of Scripture that had meant so much to her through the years, and the many memories they shared from the five years Jim had been with Central Church. When it seemed that they had covered just about everything, Aunt Martie paused, looked up at Jim with a twinkle in her eye, and then added,

"One more thing, preacher. When they bury me, I want my old Bible in one hand and a fork in the other".

"A fork?" Jim was sure he had heard everything, but this caught him by surprise.

"Why do you want to be buried with a fork?"

"I have been thinking about all of the church dinners and banquets that I attended through the years," she explained, "I couldn't begin to count them all. But one thing sticks in my mind".

"At those really nice get-togethers, when the meal was almost finished, a server or maybe the hostess would come by to collect the dirty dishes. I can hear the words now. Sometimes, at the best ones, somebody would lean over my shoulder and whisper, 'You can keep your fork.'

And do you know what that meant? Dessert was coming!

"It didn't mean a cup of Jell-O or pudding or even a dish of ice cream. You don't need a fork for that. It meant the good stuff, like chocolate cake or cherry pie! When they told me I could keep my fork, I knew the best was yet to come!

"That's exactly what I want people to talk about at my funeral. Oh, they can talk about all the good times we had together. That would be nice.

"But when they walk by my casket and look at my pretty blue dress, I want them to turn to one another and say, 'Why the fork'?

"That's what I want you to say, I want you to tell them, that I kept my fork because the best is yet to come!"

THINGS I HAVE LEARNED


I've learned that I like my teacher because she cries when we sing "Silent Night"
Age 6

I've learned that our dog doesn't want to eat my broccoli either.
Age 7

I've learned that when I wave to people in the country, they stop what they are doing and wave back.
Age 9

I've learned that just when I get my room the way I like it, Mom makes me clean it up again.
Age 12

I've learned that if you want to cheer yourself up, you should try cheering someone else up.
Age 14

I've learned that although it's hard to admit it, I'm secretly glad my parents are strict with me.
Age 15

I've learned that silent company is often more healing than words of advice.
Age 24

I've learned that brushing my child's hair is one of life's great pleasures.
Age 26

I've learned that wherever I go, the world's worst drivers have followed me there.
Age 29

I've learned that if someone says something unkind about me, I must live so that no one will believe it.
Age 39

I've learned that there are people who love you dearly but just don't know how to show it.
Age 42

I've learned that you can make some one's day by simply sending them a little note.
Age 44

I've learned that the greater a person's sense of guilt, the greater his or her need to cast blame on others.
Age 46

I've learned that children and grandparents are natural allies.
Age 47

I've learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.
Age 48

'I've learned that singing "Amazing Grace" can lift my spirits for hours.
Age 49

I've learned that motel mattresses are better on the side away from the phone.
Age 50

I've learned that you can tell a lot about a man by the way he handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.
Age 52

I've learned that keeping a vegetable garden is worth a medicine cabinet full of pills.
Age 52

I've learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you miss them terribly after they die.
Age 53

I've learned that making a living is not the same thing as making a life.
Age 58

I've learned that if you want to do something positive for your children, work to improve your marriage.
Age 61

I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.
Age 62

I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catchers mitt on both hands. You need to be able to throw something back.
Age 64

I've learned that if you pursue happiness, it will elude you. But if you focus on your family, the needs of others, your work, meeting new people, and doing the very best you can, happiness will find you.
Age 65

I've learned that whenever I decide something with kindness, I usually make the right decision.
Age 66

I've learned that when I have a tough decision to make, all I have to do is remember what my Mom always said "do your best and the reward will justify"
Age 67

I've learned that everyone can use a prayer.
Age 72

I've learned that it pays to believe in miracles. And to tell the truth, I've seen several.
Age 75

I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one.
Age 82

I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love that human touch - holding hands, a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.
Age 85

I've learned that I still have a lot to learn.
Age 92

I've learned that you should pass this on to someone you care about. Sometimes they just need a little something to make them smile.

Friday, April 27, 2012

HELPING OTHERS



I don’t know how far this story is true. It is hard to believe. And like most inspirational stories, what is important is the lesson it teaches.

A few years ago at the Seattle Special Olympics, nine contestants, all physically or mentally disabled, assembled at the starting line for the 100 yard dash. At the gun, they all started out, not exactly in a dash, but with a relish to run the race to the finish and win. All, that is, except one boy who stumbled on the asphalt, tumbled over a couple of times and began to cry. The other eight heard the boy. They slowed down and looked back. They all turned around and went back. Every one of them. One girl with Down's Syndrome bent down and kissed him and said,"This will make it better." All nine linked arms and walked across the finish line together. Everyone in the stadium stood, and the cheering went on for several minutes. People who were there are still telling the story. Why? Because deep down we know one thing. What matters most in this life is more than winning for ourselves. What truly matters in this life is helping others win, even if it means slowing down and changing our course.

If you know of someone needing a helping hand, don’t be the last to do it.

MOUNTAIN-MOVING FAITH

A small congregation in the foothills of the Great Smokies built a new sanctuary on a piece of land willed to them by a church member. Ten days before the new church was to open, the local building inspector informed the pastor that the parking lot was inadequate for the size of the building. Until the church doubled the size of the parking lot, they would not be able to use the new sanctuary.

Unfortunately, the church with its undersized parking lot had used every inch of their land except for the mountain against which it had been built. In order to build more parking spaces, they would have to move the mountain out of the back yard.

Undaunted, the pastor announced the next Sunday morning that he would meet that evening with all members who had "mountain-moving faith". They would hold a prayer session asking God to remove the mountain from the back yard and to somehow provide enough money to have it paved and painted before the scheduled opening dedication service the following week.

At the appointed time, 24 of the congregation's 300 members assembled for prayer. They prayed for nearly three hours. At ten o'clock the pastor said the final "Amen". "We'll open next Sunday as scheduled," he assured everyone. "God has never let us down before, and I believe He will be faithful this time too."

The next morning as he was working in his study there came a loud knock at his door. When he called "come in", a rough looking construction foreman appeared, removing his hard hat as he entered.

"Excuse me, Reverend. I'm from Acme Construction Company over in the next county. We're building a huge new shopping mall over there and we need some fill dirt. Would you be willing to sell us a chunk of that mountain behind the church? We'll pay you for the dirt we remove and pave all the exposed area free of charge, if we can have it right away. We can't do anything else until we get the dirt in and allow it to settle properly."

The little church was dedicated the next Sunday as originally planned and there were far more members with "mountain-moving faith" on opening Sunday than there had been the previous week!

THE THREE TREES


Once upon a mountain top, three little trees stood and dreamed of what they wanted to become when they grew up.

The first little tree looked up at the stars and said: "I want to hold treasure. I want to be covered with gold and filled with precious stones. I'll be the most beautiful treasure chest in the world!"

The second little tree looked out at the small stream trickling by on it's way to the ocean. "I want to be traveling mighty waters and carrying powerful kings. I'll be the strongest ship in the world!"

The third little tree looked down into the valley below where busy men and women worked in a busy town. "I don't want to leave the mountain top at all. I want to grow so tall that when people stop to look at me, they'll raise their eyes to heaven and think of God. I will be the tallest tree in the world."

Years passed. The rain came, the sun shone, and the little trees grew tall. One day three woodcutters climbed the mountain. The first woodcutter looked at the first tree and said, "This tree is beautiful. It is perfect for me." With a swoop of his ax, the first tree fell. "Now I shall be made into a beautiful chest, I shall hold wonderful treasure!" The first tree said.

The second woodcutter looked at the second tree and said, "This tree is strong. It is perfect for me." With a swoop of his ax, the second tree fell. "Now I shall sail mighty waters!" thought the second tree. "I shall be a strong ship for mighty kings!"

The third tree felt her heart sink when the last woodcutter looked her way. She stood straight and tall and pointed bravely to heaven. But the woodcutter never even looked up. "Any kind of tree will do for me," he muttered. With a swoop of his ax, the third tree fell.

The first tree rejoiced when the woodcutter brought her to a carpenter's shop. But the carpenter fashioned the tree into a feedbox for animals. The once beautiful tree was not covered with gold, nor with treasure. She was coated with saw dust and filled with hay for hungry farm animals.

The second tree smiled when the woodcutter took her to a shipyard, but no mighty sailing ship was made that day. Instead the once strong tree was hammered and sawed into a simple fishing boat. She was too small and too weak to sail to an ocean, or even a river. Instead she was taken to a little lake.

The third tree was confused when the woodcutter cut her into strong beams and left her in a lumberyard. "What happened?" The once tall tree wondered. "All I ever wanted was to stay on the mountain top and point to God..."

Many, many days and night passed. The three trees nearly forgot their dreams. But one night, golden starlight poured over the first tree as a young woman placed her newborn baby in the feedbox. "I wish I could make a cradle for him." her husband whispered.

The mother squeezed his hand and smiled as the starlight shone on the smooth and the sturdy wood. "This manger is beautiful." she said. And suddenly the first tree knew he was holding the greatest treasure in the world.

One evening a tired traveler and his friends crowded into the old fishing boat. The traveler fell asleep as the second tree quietly sailed out into the lake. Soon a thundering and thrashing storm arose. The little tree shuddered. She knew she did not have the strength to carry so many passengers safely through with the wind and the rain.

The tired man awakened. He stood up, stretched out his hand, and said, "Peace." The storm stopped as quickly as it had begun. And suddenly the second tree knew she was carrying the king of heaven and earth.

One Friday morning, the third tree was startled when her beams were yanked from the forgotten woodpile. She flinched as she was carried through an angry jeering crowd. She shuddered when soldiers nailed a man's hands to her. She felt ugly and harsh and cruel. But on Sunday morning, when the sun rose and the earth trembled with joy beneath her, the third tree knew that God's love had changed everything.

It had made the third tree strong. And every time people thought of the third tree, they would think of God. That was better than being the tallest tree in the world.

The next time you feel down because you didn't get what you want, sit tight and be happy because God is thinking of something better to give you. 

WHEN YOU FEEL DOWN AND OUT




EMERGENCY NUMBERS

When in sorrow.....................................................call John 14
When men fail you.................................................call Psalm 27
When you have sinned...........................................call Psalm 51
When you worry...................................................call Matthew 6:19-34
When you are in danger........................................call Psalm 91
When God seems far away...................................call Psalm 139
When your faith needs stirring...............................call Hebrews 11
When you are lonely and fea.................................call Psalm 23
When you grow bitter and critical..................................call I Corinthians 13
When you feel down and out........................................call Romans 8:31
When you want peace and rest.....................................call Matthew 11:25-30
When the world seems bigger than God...............................call Psalm 90
When you want Christian assurance.............................call Romans 8:1-30
When you leave home for labor or travel.............................call Psalm 121
When your prayers grow narrow or selfish.............................call Psalm 67
When you want courage for a task......................................call Joshua 1
When you think of investment and returns.............................call Mark 10
If you are depressed..........................................................call Psalm 27
If your pocketbook is empty...............................................call Psalm 37
If you are losing confidence in people.........................call I Corinthians 13
If people seem unkind........................................................call John 15
If discouraged about your work.........................................call Psalm 126
If self pride/greatness takes hold.........................................call Psalm 19
If you want to be fruitful....................................................call John 15
For understanding of Christianity........................call II Corinthians 5:15-19
For a great invention/opportunity........................................call Isaiah 55
For how to get along with fellow men...............................call Romans 12
For Paul's secret to happiness.................................call Colossians 3:12-17

Alternate Numbers:

For dealing with fear........................................................call Psalm 347
For security.................................................................call Psalm 121:3
For assurance.................................................................call Mark 8:35
For reassurance..........................................................call Psalm 145:18

Emergency number may be dialed direct. No operator assistance is necessary.

All lines to Heaven are open 24 hours a day! Feed your faith, and doubt will starve to death!

THE WINDOW


Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back. The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation.

And every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window. The man in the other bed began to live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside.

The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color of the rainbow. Grand old trees graced the landscape, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.

As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.

One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man couldn't hear the band - he could see it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words.

Days and weeks passed.

One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the world outside. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it for himself. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall.

The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window. The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall. She said, "Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you."

Epilogue. . . .There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations. Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when shared, is doubled. If you want to feel rich, just count all of the things you have that money can't buy. "Today is a gift, that's why it is called the PRESENT". 

Thursday, April 26, 2012

IF THERE IS RIGHTEOUSNESS...

If there is righteousness in the heart,
There will be beauty in the character.
If there is beauty in the character,
There will be harmony in the home.
If there is harmony in the home,
There will be order in the nation.
If there is order in the nation,
There will be peace in the world.
So let it be.



|| Scottish Saying


||

A BLESSING FOR YOU

May the blessing of light be on you
Light without and light within.
May the blessed sunlight shine on you like a great peat fire,
So that stranger and friend may come and warm himself at it.
And may light shine out of the two eyes of you,
Like a candle set in the window of a house,
Bidding the wanderer come in out of the storm.

May the blessing of the rain be on you,
May it beat upon your Spirit
And wash it fair and clean,
And leave there a shining pool where the blue of Heaven shines, And sometimes a star.

May the blessing of the earth be on you,
Soft under your feet as you pass along the roads,
Soft under you as you lie out on it, tired at the end of day;
And may it rest easy over you when, at last, you lie out under it.
May it rest so lightly over you
That your soul may be out from under it quickly;
Up and off and on its way to God.
And now may the Lord bless you, and bless you kindly. Amen.



|| Scottish Blessing

Sunday, April 22, 2012

THE LAST TRACT


Every Sunday afternoon, after the morning service at their church, the Pastor and his eleven year old son would go out into their town and hand out gospel tracts. This particular Sunday afternoon, as it came time for the Pastor and his son to go to the streets with their tracts, it was very cold outside as well as pouring down rain.

The boy bundled up in his warmest and driest clothes and said - "OK dad, I'm ready."

His Pastor dad asked, "Ready for what?"

"Dad, it's time we gather our tracts together and go out."

Dad responds, "Son, it's very cold outside and it's pouring down rain."

The boy gives his dad a surprised look, asking, "But dad, aren't people still going to hell, even though it's raining?"

Dad answers, "Son, I am not going out in this weather."

Despondently the boy asks, "Dad, can I go, Please?"

His father hesitated for a moment then said, "Son, you can go. Here are the tracts. Be careful son."

"Thanks Dad!"

And with that he was off and out into the rain.

This eleven year old boy walked the streets of the town going door to door and handing everybody he met in the street a gospel tract. After two hours of walking in the rain he was soaking bone chilled wet and down to his very last tract. He stopped on a corner and looked for someone to hand a tract to but the streets were totally deserted. Then he turned toward the first home he saw and started up the sidewalk to the front door and rang the door bell.

He rang the bell - but nobody answered. He rang it again and again but, still no one answered. He waited but still no answer. Finally this eleven year old trooper turned to leave but something stopped him. Again, he turned to the door and rang the bell and knocked loudly on the door with his fist. He waited, something holding him there on the front porch. He rang again, and this time the door slowly opened.

Standing in the doorway was a very sad looking elderly lady. She softly asked, "What can I do for you son?"

With radiant eyes and a smile that lit up her world this little boy said, "Mama, I'm sorry if I disturbed you, but I just want to tell you that Jesus really does love you, and I came to give you my very last gospel tract which will tell you all about Jesus and His great love."

With that he handed her his last tract, and turned to leave.

She called to him as he departed, "Thank you son! And God Bless You!"

Well, the following Sunday morning in Church, Pastor Dad was in the pulpit and as the service began he asked, "Does anybody have a testimony or want to say anything?"

Slowly, in the back row of the Church, an elderly lady stood to her feet.

As she began to speak a look of glorious radiance came from her face as she said, "None of you in this church know me. I've never been here before. You see, before last Sunday I was not a Christian. My husband passed on, some time ago, leaving me totally alone in this world.”

“Last Sunday, being a particularly cold and rainy day, it was even more so in my heart as I came to the end of the line where I no longer had any hope or will to live. So I took a rope and a chair and ascended the stairway into the attic of my home. I fastened the rope securely to a rafter in the roof then stood on the chair and fastened the other end of the rope around my neck. Standing on that chair, so lonely and brokenhearted, I was about to leap off when suddenly the loud ringing of my doorbell downstairs startled me.”

“I thought - I'll wait a minute, and whoever it is will go away. I waited and waited, but the ringing doorbell seemed to get louder and more insistent and then the person ringing also started knocking loudly. I thought to myself again - "who on earth could this be?! Nobody ever rings my bell or comes to see me." I loosened the rope from my neck and started for the front door, all the while the bell rang louder and louder.”

“When I opened the door and looked I could hardly believe my eyes for there on my front porch was the most radiant and Angelic little boy I had ever seen in my life. His smile, Oh, I could never describe it to you! And the words that came from his mouth caused my heart, that had long been dead, to leap to life as he exclaimed with cherub like voice, "Mam, I just came to tell you that Jesus really does love you." Then he gave me this gospel tract that I now hold in my hand. As the little angel disappeared back out, into the cold and rain, I closed my door and read slowly every word of this gospel tract.”

“Then I went up to my attic to get my rope and chair. I wouldn't be needing them any more. You see, I am now a happy child of the King, and since the address of your Church was on the back of this gospel tract I have come here to personally say ‘thank you’ to God’s little angel who came just in the nick of time and, by so doing, spared my soul from eternity in hell.”

There were now no dry eyes in the Church. And as shouts of praise, and honor to the King, resounded off the very rafters of the building, Pastor Dad descended from the pulpit to the front pew where the little angel was seated; He took him in his arms and sobbed uncontrollably.

NOT EXACTLY INSPIRATIONAL BUT...


Over the massive front doors of a church, these words were inscribed: "The Gate of Heaven". Below that was a small cardboard sign which read: "Please use other entrance."

Rev. Warren J. Keating, Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Yuma, AZ, says that the best prayer he ever heard was: "Lord, please make me the kind of person my dog thinks I am."

A Woman went to the Post Office to buy stamps for her Christmas cards. "What Denomination?" Asked the clerk. "Oh, good heavens! Have we come to this?" said the woman. "Well give me 50 Baptist and 50 Catholic ones."

On a very cold, snowy Sunday in February, only the pastor and one farmer arrived at the village church. The pastor said, "Well, I guess we won't have a service today." The farmer replied: "Pastor, even if only one cow shows up at feeding time, I feed it."
I was at the beach with my children when my four-year-old son ran up to me, grabbed my hand, and led me to the shore, where a sea gull lay dead in the sand. "Mommy, what happened to him?" the little boy asked. "He died and went to Heaven," I replied. My son thought a moment and then said, "And God threw him back down?"

Bill Keane, creator of the Family Circus cartoon strip tells of a time when he was penciling one of his cartoons and his son Jeffy said, "Daddy, how do you know what to draw?" I said, "God tells me." Jeffy said, "Then why do you keep erasing parts of it?"
After the church service, a little boy told the pastor: "When I grow up, I'm going to give you some money." "Well, thank you," the pastor replied, "but why?" "Because my daddy says you're one of the poorest preachers we've ever had."

My wife invited some people to dinner. At the table, she turned to our six-year-old daughter and said, "Would you like to say the blessing?" I wouldn't know what to say," she replied. "Just say what you hear Mommy say," my wife said. Our daughter bowed her head and said: "Dear Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?"

Thursday, April 19, 2012

THE CHRISTIAN'S DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE


When in the course of human events it becomes necessary to separate ourselves from humanity and the sinfulness that pervades it so, a God given conscience and the Holy Spirit call us to action.

We hold these truths to be self evident, that God in six days created the heavens and the earth and all that are in them, that all of nature bears witness to Him so that all are held accountable, that the fall of man sent the world into sin, that God sent His son to redeem his children, through Jesus Christ we may reestablish the relationship with God that was originally intended for man in the garden of Eden.

To secure these rights we need simply call upon the name of Jesus and ask forgiveness for our iniquities and transgressions. When we find the world bearing down upon us we are called to battle and to equip ourselves with the full armor of God. We are to place upon ourselves the belt of truth around our waist, the breastplate of righteousness, our feet fitted with the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and carry the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. It is right for us, as citizens not of this world, but of a heavenly kingdom, to do so.
Whenever the prince of this dark world becomes destructive, as he has already proven himself to be so, it is our duty to separate ourselves from him and declare ourselves an independent nation, a kingdom of priests, citizens of a heavenly kingdom.

Satan, the current ruler of this world, has shown many grievances against us and we do so list them that all may know why we leave this world behind. He has murdered our brethren in the nations of this world yearning for the light of the gospel and killed our missionaries. He has killed the unborn children, still in the womb, having not a chance at life. He has invaded governments across the world and kept godly men and women from public office. He has shut the door to prayer in schools and caused evolution to be taught in place of the truth. He has invaded our churches, leading many astray with ideas of a one world religion and more than one way to heaven. He has lied to us in all areas of life, always trying to get us to reject the truth. He has lead our children away in rebelliousness, seducing them with drugs and sex. He has destroyed our families, breaking up marriages pledged before God as a commitment that would allow no man to separate. He has filled our mind with philosophies that deny the existence of God. And he has mocked God and attempted to place himself in a higher position than God himself.

For these reasons, we declare ourselves independent from this world. We will fight Satan, knowing that he will not allow us to leave without a fight. We will call upon God for strength. We will be victorious for we know already who will win this battle. Satan’s time is short and his sole desire is to drag as many of us to hell as he can. We will not allow this. For we are blood bought and sanctified by the blood of Jesus Christ.

For these reasons, we claim our independence and look forward to the coming kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he has gone ahead of us to prepare.

This is a call to arms for all Christians. We have been lukewarm and weak for too long. Satan has made a mockery of our churches and has stormed our doors, dragging away many with his lies. It is time to take back what it ours.

THE STORY BEHIND "FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND"


Margaret’s boyfriend Paul proposed. While happy, she was hesitant. She and her boyfriend seemed so different. They decided to take a little walk along the beach to discuss marriage and its importance. When they reached the far end of the beach and were about to begin their return journey, Margaret glanced down and noticed that their footprints had washed out to the sea. Turning to Paul she said, ” Well, if our married life is to be like this, we don’t stand much of a chance.”

Paul replied, “When things are tough for me, you will help me – and when things are tough for you, I’ll help you.”

They continued walking, until Margaret glanced down again and saw that only one set of footprints had washed out to sea. Again, Margaret suggested that their life together didn’t appear to have much of a future. This time Paul responded by gently lifting her up in his arms and carrying her along the beach. Finally, he set her down and said, “Margaret, I want to impress upon you that when life is so bad that we can’t seem to help each other, God will carry us.” Then, pointing to the single set of footprints the two of them had just created, Paul added, “If you just looked at the set of tracks we just made, you couldn’t tell that I carried you – but I did.”

Margaret found his words and the thoughts behind them very beautiful. that night she couldn’t sleep, so she got up and wrote these words; One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand; one belonging to him, and the other to the Lord.

When the last scene of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times of his life.

This really bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it. “Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you, you’d walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life, there is only one set of footprints. I don’t understand why when I needed You most You would leave me.”

The Lord replied, “My precious, precious child, I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.”

This beautiful piece, printed time and time again, has a love story all it’s own. She called the piece “Footprints”.  Today, “Footprints” is one of the most widely distributed inspirational pieces in existence. It can be found on plaques, cards and jewelry. Its power lies in its message – the message of the greatest love of all. And yes, they did marry.

Love – is an eternal source.

|| Margaret Rose Powers

A WALL OF FIRE


The fighting in Central Africa was a regional war which involved about eight African countries. Sometime back it spilled over into Congo where American Baptist Missionaries have remained. The genocide and senseless killings in some areas have occurred so often that many in the Western world have become immune to the tragedy in this part of Africa. But God's people have been praying and He responds in sometimes miraculous ways. The following story did not make the evening news, but is a manifestation of the wondrous ways in which God worked wonders.

Tutsi soldiers had broken down the door of a young pastor's house and stood poised to slaughter by machine gun fire, him and his entire family right where they sat. Their intent was to massacre the civilians in this Hutu village. "Wait! the young man implored, would you not allow my family and I a moment to pray before we die? I can almost picture the sneers on the face of these soldiers as they watched this family, an African couple and their young children soberly kneel, arm in arm, in a circle on the floor and pray to God for mercy. The remarkable thing is that the expected shots never came. After praying, the family slowly stood up and saw that the soldiers were gone, not only out of their house but away from their village as well. It was not until several months later they found out just what had happened.

At a church meeting in another town where Christians from both sides had gathered to pray, this young pastor told his story and the seemingly miraculous way in which the soldiers "just disappeared from his house and village."

"I think I can explain," came a quiet voice from the back of the room... spoken by one of the Tutsi soldiers who had been there that fateful day. "You see," said the soldier, "I was there when we broke into your house. I was one who had your children lined up in my rifle site as you kneeled and prayed... when suddenly a wall of fire, fierce and ferocious, jumped up and surrounded the lot of you. We couldn't even see beyond the flames. Due to the intense heat and fire, we knew the house would burn down so we fled. When we went outside and saw your home consumed by fire and yet not destroyed, we fled the village as well. Later I realized that this was not the type of fire we are familiar with but a fire sent by God. If this is how your God responds, I want to know Him too! I am tired of the fighting and the killing... this is why I came tonight."

Miracles abound in war torn Central Africa. Prayer is, and will always be, the only response to the tragedies and crises in our lives.

A mighty fortress is our God...

For I, saith the LORD, will be unto her a Wall Of Fire round about, and will be the Glory in the midst of her || Zechariah 2:5

Friday, April 13, 2012

ELEVEN FACTS OF LIFE


It hurts to love someone and not be loved in return.
But what is more painful is to love someone and never
find the courage to let that person know how you feel.

A sad thing in life is when you meet someone who
means a lot to you, only to find out in the end that it was
never meant to be and you just have to let go.

The best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a
porch swing with, never say a word, and then walk away
feeling like it was the best conversation you've ever had.

It's true that we don't know what we've got until we lose
it, but it's also true that we don't know what we've been
missing until it arrives.

It takes only a minute to get a crush on someone, an
hour to like someone, and a day to love someone-but it
takes a lifetime to forget someone.

Don't go for looks, they can deceive. Don't go for wealth,
even that fades away. Go for someone who makes you
smile because it takes only a smile to make a dark day
seem bright.

Dream what you want to dream, go where you want to go,
be what you want to be. Because you have only one life and
one chance to do all the things you want to do.

Always put yourself in the other's shoes. If you feel that it
hurts you, it probably hurts the person too.

A careless word may kindle strife. A cruel word may wreck
a life. A timely word may level stress. But a loving word may
heal and bless.

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best
of everything they just make the most of everything that comes
along their way.

Love begins with a smile, grows with a kiss, ends with
a tear. When you were born, you were crying and everyone
around you was smiling. Live your life so that when you die,
you're the one smiling and everyone around you is crying.

Sunday, April 08, 2012

EASTER SUNDAY QUOTES: THE BEST QUOTES TO INSPIRE YOU


Jesus Christ is risen to-day,
  Our triumphant holy day;
    Who did once upon the cross
      Suffer to redeem our loss.
        Hallelujah!
        || Unattributed Author,
            Jesus Christ is Risen To-day,


All Christian worship is a witness of the resurrection of Him who liveth for ever and ever. Because He lives, "now abideth faith, hope, charity || Lyman Abbott


Thine, O death, was the furrow; we cast therein the precious seed. Now let us wait and see what God shall bring forth for us. A single leaf falls--the bud at its axil will shoot forth many leaves. The husbandman bargains with the year to give back a hundred grains for the one buried. Shall God be less generous? Yet, when we sow, our hearts think that beauty is gone out, that all is lost. But when God shall bring again to our eyes the hundredfold beauty and sweetness of that which we planted, how shall we shame over that dim faith that, having eyes, saw not, and ears, heard not, though all heaven and all the earth appeared, and spake, to comfort those who mourn || Henry Ward Beecher


But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept || Bible, I Corinthians (ch. XV, v. 20)


Awake, thou wintry earth--
  Fling off thy sadness!
    Fair vernal flowers, laugh forth
      Your ancient gladness!
        Christ is risen.
         || Thomas BlackburnAn Easter Hymn


Yes, He is ris'n who is the First and Last;
  Who was and is; who liveth and was dead;
    Beyond the reach of death He now has pass 'd,
      Of the one glorious Church the glorious Head.
       || Horatius Bonar, D.D.


O Risen Christ! O Easter Flower!
  How dear Thy Grace has grown!
    From east to west, with loving power,
      Make all the world Thine own.
      || Phillips Brooks


Up and down our lives obedient
  Walk, dear Christ, with footsteps radiant,
    Till those garden lives shall be
      Fair with duties done for Thee;
        And our thankful spirits say,
          "Christ arose on Easter Day."
            || Phillips Brooks


Tomb, thou shalt not hold Him longer;
  Death is strong, but Life is stronger;
    Stronger than the dark, the light;
      Stronger than the wrong, the right;
        Faith and Hope triumphant say
          Christ will rise on Easter Day.
           || Phillips Brooks, An Easter Carol


A happy and a glorious Easter will this one be to all of us who get a new vision of the risen Christ, and prostrate ourselves in humble adoration at His feet, and cry out: "Rabboni! Rabboni!" Then shall we set our hearts, lifted into a new atmosphere, on things above, and reach an actual higher life. We shall know more of what it is to live by Christ, in Christ, for Christ, and with Christ, till we reach the marvelous light around the throne in glory || Theodore Ledyard Cuyler


Ye Heavens, how sang they in your courts,
  How sang the angelic choir that day,
    When from his tomb the imprisoned God,
      Like the strong sunrise, broke away?
      || Rev. Frederick William Faber, Jesus Risen


Christ is risen from the dead, and thus His own words have been justified. Christ is risen from the dead, and thus God has given Him the sign of His Messianic mission. The final and absolute seal of genuineness has been put on all His claims, and the indelible stamp of a divine authority upon all His teachings. The resurrection spans and binds the sacred Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation. Christ is risen from the dead, and every promise of God is yea and amen in Him || Bishop Samuel Fallows


Our faith in God asks of Him a risen Redeemer, and the faith is answered in a Saviour raised from the dead || Bishop Samuel Fallows


It is the conqueror-Death. He carries a black flag, and he takes no prisoners. He digs a trench across the hemispheres and fills it with the carcasses of nations. Fifty times would the world have been depopulated had not God kept making new generations. Fifty times the world would have swung lifeless through the air--no man on the mountain, no man on the sea--an abandoned ship plowing through immensity. Again and again has He done this work with all generations. He is a monarch as well as a conqueror; his palace a sepulchre; his fountains the falling tears of a world. Blessed be God, in the light of this Easter Morning I see the prophecy that his sceptre shall be broken and his palace shall be demolished. The hour is coming when all who are in their graves shall come forth. Christ risen, we shall rise. Jesus--"the first-fruits of them that slept || Richard Flanders, Death of a Fundamentalist, a sermon given April 25, 1886


Hail, Day of days! in peals of praise
  Throughout all ages owned,
    When Christ, our God, hell's empire trod,
      And high o'er heaven was throned.
      || Saint Venantius Honorius Fortunatus,
        Hail, Day of Days! in Peals of Praise


Jesus lives, to Him the Throne
  Over all the world is given,
    May we go where He is gone,
      Rest and reign with Him in heaven.
        Alleluia!
      || Christian Furchtegott Gellert


He who burst the bars of death was thereby declared to be the Son of God with power. Since the resurrection morning there has never been--there could not be--the slightest question as to His final rulership of the world. Death was conquered, Satan was conquered, and He proclaimed the wearer of the name above every name. His final triumph was hence merely a question of the fullness of time. And He is now seated at the right hand of the Father, from henceforth expecting till His enemies are made His footstool. This Easter morning certifies us of that approaching day, and with, as it were, the foregleams of its glory on our faces and the stirrings of its mighty joy in our hearts, bids us watch and pray and look for the coming of the King || E.P. Goodwin


The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a certainty. If any fact, not merely of Christianity, but of history, stands on an impregnable foundation, this does || E.P. Goodwin


This Easter-time brings us the assurance that when He comes and shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God, believers who sleep in Christ and those then living will be caught up together to meet Him in the air, and all will be, as in the twinkling of an eye, transformed and transfigured and possessed of bodies as perfect and as glorious as His own and in these glorious and resplendent bodies we shall reign and rejoice forever || E.P. Goodwin


We greatly need the cheer of this precious Easter truth. We make too little of the place our Lord has gone to prepare for us. We rob ourselves greatly when we try to reduce heaven to a mere state of ecstatic feeling. We need the cheer which comes of having the eye of faith fixed on the better country and the city that hath the foundations. Such a certainty of an inheritance that is real and that cannot fade away goes far to mitigate the pangs which come of the fires and floods and disasters and frauds which so often despoil God's people of their earthly possessions; for we know that the things seen are temporal, but the things not seen are eternal, and they are only a few heart-beats away || E.P. Goodwin


Whoever, therefore, is a true believer has of necessity an indefeasible hope, an absolute certainty of salvation. He shares the resurrection of Christ. His sins are as absolutely buried out of God's sight as the body of Christ was buried in the tomb from the light of day. They can no more touch and spoil his hope than they can touch and condemn the risen Lord. All true children of God are now, because of His resurrection, wholly and forever justified, assured absolutely that they are now heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ, and waiting only for the day of full and final deliverance and glorification || E.P. Goodwin


In every grave on earth's green sward is a tiny seed of the resurrection life of Jesus Christ, and that seed cannot perish. It will germinate when the warm south wind of Christ's return brings back the spring-tide to this cold sin-cursed earth of ours; and then they that are in their graves, and we who shall lie down in ours, will feel in our mortal bodies the power of His resurrection, and will come forth to life immortal ||David Gregg

 
Let all the jubilant sounds of earth swing up in one resonant wave of triumphant song. Let us robe ourselves in the sunny gladness of a hope so bright--the hope that defies death, and reaches across all the breadth of graves, and clasps the hand of an immortal friend, and says through any hour of sorrow, "It doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him"--waking or sleeping, for, waking or sleeping, we are the Lord's; and while it thus chants its faith, hears, rising slow and sweet, and with an olden pathos, out of the deeps of ancient days, the quenchless faith of a twilight child of God: "I know that my Redeemer liveth: * * * and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God || Isaac Massey Haldeman


Preach the defeat of death and the triumph over the grave as historic facts; preach it as the great middle truth, as the potent truth out of which all others of our faith flow forth; keep it ever lifted up as the justification of all our best endeavors; preach it as the one great thing that rails off the children of God from the children of death; hold it out as the beacon across all the dark waters of time's tumult; throw it out in the face of human fears; and tell it increasingly with joy || Isaac Massey Haldeman


Christ hath arisen! O mountain peaks, attest--
  Witness, resounding glen and torrent wave!
    The immortal courage in the human breast
      Sprung from that victory--tell how oft the brave
        To camp midst rock and cave,
          Nerved by those words, their struggling faith have borne,
            Planting the cross on high above the clouds of morn!
              || Mrs. Felicia D. Hemans


It longs for existence that it may have life. Life and immortality are brought to light by the higher and holy nature of the risen Christ, who shows the meaning and possibilities of life, and awakens in all responsive natures a desire to live. EveryChristian life becomes thus a witness of the resurrection. Its very possibility in a world of evil is due to a living Saviour. "Because I live, ye shall live also" || Bishop Eugene Russell Hendrix


Rise, heart! thy Lord is risen. Sing His praise
  Without delays.
    Who takes thee by the hand, that thou likewise
      With Him mayst rise--
        That as His death condemned thee to dust,
          His life may make thee gold; and much more just.
          || George Herbert


Come, ye saints, look here and wonder,
  See the place where Jesus lay;
    He has burst His bands asunder;
      He has borne our sins away;
        Joyful tidings,
          Yes, the Lord has risen to-day.
          || Thomas Kelly,
              Come, Ye Saints, Look Here and Wonder


Day of the Crucified Lord's Resurrection;
  Day that the Lord by His triumph hath made;
    Day of Redemption's seal of perfection;
      Day of the Crown of His power displayed;
        Beautiful Easter, dazzling bright;
          Sun-Day that filleth all Sundays with light!
            Queen of all festivals; glad culmination
              Of the bright feasts that encircle the year;
                Glimpsing the Life, in a transfiguration,
                  That shall at length in its glory appear.
                    Beautiful Easter; day in its height;
                      Sun-Day that filleth all Sundays with light!
                        He who redeemeth, consoleth, forgiveth;
                          Who His own body raised up from the dead,
                            Holdeth all evil in bondage and liveth,
                              Source of all blessing, our Life and our Head.
                                It is His Glory that maketh thee bright,
                                  Sun-Day that filleth all Sundays with light!
                                 || Harriet McEwen Kimball


See the land, her Easter keeping,
  Rises as her Maker rose;
    Seeds so long in darkness sleeping
      Burst at last from winter snows.
        Earth with heaven above rejoices;
          Fields and garlands hail the spring;
            Shaughs and woodlands ring with voices
              While the wild birds build and sing.
               || Charles Kingsley


Remember there is no man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost; so no man can profess, to any purpose, faith in Christ's resurrection but by the Holy Ghost. "It is the Spirit that beareth witness" now, as nineteen centuries ago, by that influence on the will of man which leaves the intellect at liberty to do justice to the evidence before it. Pray that most blessed Spirit so to teach your hearts and wills that you may, at least, have no reason for wishing the resurrection to be untrue. Pray Him for His gracious assistance that you may recover or may strengthen the great grace of faith and have your part in the blessed promise of the apostle: "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved || Canon Henry P. Liddon


There can, I apprehend, my dear brethren, be no sort of doubt that, if an ordinary historical occurrence, such as the death of Julius Caesar, is attested as clearly as the resurrection of our Lord--not, we will suppose, more clearly nor less--as having taken place nineteen centuries ago, all the world would believe it as a matter of course. Nay, more: if an extraordinary occurrence traversing the usual operations of God in nature were similarly tested, it would be easily believed if only it stood alone as an isolated wonder connected with no religious claims, implying no religious duties, appealing only to the bare understanding, and having no bearing, however remote, upon the will. The reason why the resurrection was not always believed upon the evidence of those who were witness to it was because to believe means for a consistent and thoughtful man to believe in and accept practically a great deal else. To believe the resurrection is to believe implicitly in the Christian faith || Canon Henry P. Liddon


'Twas Easter-Sunday. The full-blossomed trees
  Filled all the air with fragrance and with joy.
     || Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,
         Spanish Student (act I, sc. 3)


Let patriotism have its high days and freedom its monuments, and let the triumphs of navigators and generals be annually observed; but surely, beyond all these, a season that stands for as much to the race as Easter does may well be remembered each year with songs and flowers and with every mark of gratitude and of loftiest jubilation || George Horace Lorimer


No one has ever yet succeeded in resolving the narrative of this event into figure or myth, and failures in this direction go to prove that the evidence on which the event rests is unimpeachable. And if it is trustworthy, then Christianity rests on a sure foundation, and our faith is in no sense vain, but warrantable and precious || George Horace Lorimer


O chime of sweet Saint Charity,
  Peal soon that Easter morn
    When Christ for all shall risen be,
      And in all hearts new-born!
        That Pentecost when utterance clear
          To all men shall be given,
            When all shall say My Brother here,
              And hear My Son in heaven!

              || James Russell Lowell
                  Godminster Chimes (st. 7)


In the bonds of Death He lay
  Who for our offence was slain;
    But the Lord is risen to-day,
      Christ hath brought us life again,
        Wherefore let us all rejoice,
          Singing loud, with cheerful voice,
            Hallelujah!
            || Martin Luther,
                In the Bonds of Death He Lay


bare seed is the former. Look into the wheat bin. There lie the bare seeds--the natural bodies--but no artist would think of sitting down before them. Now turn your eyes upon the field of living grain as the winds of summer billow its surface. What beauty--what a glory! The bare grains have risen from death in a body of living green, matchless in the splendor of a new and a higher material body. So is the resurrection of the human form. It is sown corruptible--it is raised incorruptible; it is sown in weakness--it is raised in power; a low, inferior, imperfect body is sown--one of glorious perfection rises up from this, as from a seed. There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body, and the former comes first--is the seed of the latter? As we have borne the image of the earthly, so also shall we bear the image of the heavenly || Samuel Swain Mitchell


For forty centuries, in one unbroken column, the race of man had been marching into the shadows. And of all the millions who had descended into the shadowed valley, not one had ever returned. No dead human form through all the centuries had risen up into a post-mortem life. There was in all Earth's area not one empty grave. No human heart believed, no human voice declared that there was such a grave--a grave robbed by the power of a victor stronger than man's great enemy death. It was therefore a new and wonderful message which the Apostle communicated, when unto the dying race of man he lifted up his voice in the words: "One human form has risen from the dead; one grave of earth is empty; the man Christ Jesus who was dead, is alive again || Samuel Swain Mitchell


Over all earth's scarred and grave-ridged surface it kindled the light of this great hope: These moldering ashes may live again in human form. By the testimony of the senses Jesus is alive from the dead, and by the emptiness of Joseph's sepulcher, by Mary's risen Son, the resurrection, is not incredible. Bereaved hearts may wrap themselves around with its sweet hope; human graves may be made vocal with its promise! the dying race of man come unto victory through faith || Samuel Swain Mitchell


Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
  On the third morning He arose,
    Bright with victory o'er his foes.
      Sing we lauding,
        And applauding,
          Hallelujah!
         || John Mason Neale,
             Halleluah! Halleluah! From the Latin of the 12th Century


I think of the garden after the rain;
  And hope to my heart comes singing,
    "At morn the cherry-blooms will be white,
      And the Easter bells be ringing!"
      || Edna Dean Proctor, Easter Bells


The fasts are done; the Aves said;
  The moon has filled her horn
    And in the solemn night I watch
      Before the Easter morn.
        So pure, so still the starry heaven,
          So hushed the brooding air,
            I could hear the sweep of an angel's wings
              If one should earthward fare.
              || Edna Dean Proctor
                  Easter Carol


Spring bursts to-day,
  For Christ is risen and all the earth's at play.
      || Christina Georgina Rossetti,
           Easter Carol


Ring, joyous bells of Easter,
  Death hath not conquered Life;
    Victorious is our risen Lord,
      And finished all His strife,
        From Calvary's mount of darkness,
          Lo! starry lilies bloom;
            For by the cross we conquer
              And fearless face the tomb.
              || Mrs. Margaret Elizabeth Sangster



God expects from men something more than at such times, and that it were much to be wished for the credit of their religion as well as the satisfaction of their conscience that their Easter devotions would in some measure come up to their Easter dress || Bishop Robert South, Sermons (vol. II, ser. 8)


If you have no share in the living Lord may God have mercy upon you! If you have no share in Christ's rising from the dead then you will not be raised up in the likeness of His glorified body. If you do not attain to that resurrection from among the dead then you must abide in death || Charles Haddon Spurgeon


Jesus has redeemed not only our souls, but our bodies. When the Lord shall deliver His captive people out of the land of the enemy He will not leave a bone of one of them in the adversary's power. The dominion of death shall be utterly broken ||Charles Haddon Spurgeon


The fact of resurrection is not extraordinary; it is in accord with what we who believe at all believe to be the uniform law of life--that death does not touch it. The witnesses to the resurrection of Christ were unprejudiced, unexpectant, incredulous, and their honesty is not doubted even by skeptical criticism || Charles Haddon Spurgeon


This, then, is the doctrine of the resurrection. We do not believe--at least I do not--that law has been rudely violated in one extraordinary and unparalleled episode. We believe that a universal law of life, overmastering death, and always superior to it, has had once a visible witness || Charles Haddon Spurgeon


Was it not most meet that a woman should first see the risen Saviour? She was first in the transgression; let her be first in the justification. In yon garden she was first to work our wo; let her in that other garden be the first to see Him who works our weal. She takes first the apple of that bitter tree which brings us all our sorrow; let her be the first to see the Mighty Gardener, who has planted a tree which brings forth fruit unto everlasting life || Charles Haddon Spurgeon


We Christians do not believe that Jesus Christ was the only one that ever rose from the dead. We believe that every death-bed is a resurrection; that from every grave the stone, is rolled away || Charles Haddon Spurgeon


We have often asserted, and we affirm it yet again, that no fact in history is better attested than the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. It must not be denied, by any who are willing to pay the slightest respect to the testimony of their fellow-men, that Jesus, who died upon the cross, and was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, did literally rise again from the dead || Charles Haddon Spurgeon


Christendom never came from an unbroken grave. It would have been buried in that grave, as Judas thought it was going to be, and as the Jews thought it was going to be, except there had been a resurrection from the dead. Then you can explain Christendom, churches, and literatures, if Christ rose again; but otherwise they cannot be explained at all. Our whole civilization rests on the broken Cross of the Master, and it is incredible that a civilization like this, in a world advancing steadily for eighteen centuries, has been founded on a lie || Richard Salter Storrs


Most of all, when the very anniversary comes and we are carried back to the cross and to the sepulcher from which the Master came, should this note of triumph be in our hearts or on our lips: songs of triumphant praise should sound from organ and voice. When we go home it should be with a feeling that the world is consecrated, the sepulcher has been broken, and that life is lovelier than ever, and duty more beautiful, and death not terrible. So we should walk with an elastic step, with a light shining over our faces and in our eyes, and with music on our lips as we go to our homes; and if any one ask, Whence came this new expression? Whence came this sweeter and more victorious tone? We should be able to say to them, It is natural, for to-day I have walked with the risen Christ; to-day I have walked as conqueror of the Cross with Him, who conquered it; to-day I have walked near the gates which He entered who broke the bars of the sepulcher and ascended in glory to heaven ||Richard Salter Storrs


We do not strike out one part or another part of the prophecy on record; we have the whole compacted together by this mighty keystone in the arch, the resurrection of the Son of God and the glorious manifestation given by Him as the divine representative and Son in the world. Then the world is beautiful; it is not a place of graves; it is a place of graves that are to be opened. It is not the city of the dead. They who are dead to human view are living unto God. It is a portal of paradise instead of a place of graves, and there is light upon it every Easter morning such as never was before on sea or shore until the Master had risen from the grave || Richard Salter Storrs


It was for the glory that was set before Him that Christ endured the humiliation and suffering of the cross. Let us keep our eyes fixed steadily on the crown immortal, and then our sacrifices and services, and sufferings for Christ's cause, will seem light and trivial in comparison. * * * The seal of the Sanhedrim, a regiment of soldiers from the town, a floor of rock, a roof of rock, a wall of rock, a niche of rock, cannot keep Christ in the Crypt. Though you pile upon us all the boulders of the mountains, you cannot keep us down. The door of the tomb will be lifted from its hinges and flung flat in the dust || Thomas De Witt Talmage


Ring, snow-white bells, your purest praise
  To glorify this Easter day,
    And let our risen Saviour's joy
      Your voiceless, fragrant breath employ--
        Fill every valley with perfume
          And lighten death's appalling gloom,
            Teach ye our troubled hearts the way
              To trust our Saviour every day.
              || William James Romeyn Taylor


Sing aloud, children! sing to the glorious King
  Of Redemption, who sits on the throne,
    For the seraphim high veil their faces, and cry,
      And the angels are praising the Son.
        With His raiment blood-dyed, and with wounds in His side,
          He returns like a chief from the war,
            When His champion blow hath laid death and hell low,
              And hath driven destruction afar.
               || Dr. A.R. Thompson


Christ is our Passover!
  And we will keep the feast
    With the new leaven,
      The bread of heaven:
        All welcome, even the least!
        || Dr. A.R. Thompson, We Keep the Festival,
        from the Roman Breviary


From the empty grave of Jesus the enemies of the cross turn away in unconcealable dismay. Those whom the force of no logic can convince, and whose hearts are steeled against the appeal of almighty love from the cross itself, quail before the irresistible power of this simple fact. Christ has risen from the dead! After two thousand years of the most determined assault upon the evidence which demonstrates it, that fact stands. And so long as it stands Christianity, too, must stand as the one supernatural religion || Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield


Had Christ not risen we could not believe Him to be what He declared Himself when He "made Himself equal with God." But He has risen in the confirmation of all His claims. By it alone, but by it thoroughly, is He manifested as the very Son of God, who has come into the world to reconcile the world to Himself. It is the fundamental fact in the Christian's unwavering confidence in "all the words of this life || Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield


Had He not emerged from the tomb all our hopes, all our salvation would be lying dead with Him unto this day. But as we see Him issue from the grave we see ourselves issue with Him in newness of life. Now we know that His shoulders were strong enough to bear the burden that was laid upon them, and that He is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God through Him. The resurrection of Christ is thus the indispensable evidence of His completed work, His accomplished redemption || Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield


In Christ's resurrection, therefore, the Christian man sees the earnest and pledge of his own resurrection; and by it he is enheartened as he lays away the bodies of those dear to him, not sorrowing "as the rest that have no hope," but with hearts swelling with glad anticipations of the day when they shall rise to meet their Lord. "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also that are fallen asleep in Jesus will He bring with Him || Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield


We can no longer speak of a bourne from which no traveler e'er returns. The middle wall of partition has been broken down and the boundary become but an invisible line by the resurrection of Christ. That He who died has been raised again and ever lives in the form of a complete humanity is the fundamental fact in the revelation of the Christian doctrine of immortality || Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield


Christ the Lord is risen to-day,"
  Sons of men and angels say.
    Raise your joys and triumphs high;
      Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply.
         || Charles Wesley,
             Christ the Lord is Risen To-Day