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Snapped!

Hello World!!!

On Saturday mornings, after I’ve completed my workout, I enjoy piddling around the house…picking up papers in my office, making myself something to eat, planning the rest of my day. As I’m multi-tasking, I often have one of my favorite shows, “Snapped,” playing in the background. Usually on Saturday morning, several reruns of the show air back to back on Oxygen. It’s my guilty pleasure you could say…From the country preacher’s wife who murdered her husband to the deaf lesbian that killed her ex-girlfriend’s friend, I find it all fascinating. Sometimes I am so mesmerized, I stop what I’m doing and plop my behind down on my living room floor to watch…

I guess part of my fascination is the show’s premise. According to the “Snapped” Web site, each year approximately16,000 murders take place around the country. Only 7 percent of the killers, however, are female.  According to what I have seen on the show, women kill for different reasons than men. Women kill their husbands who have abused them. Women kill their boyfriends, husbands or partners in the heat of a fight. (Shout out to Adrienne Emily Hickson, the promising law student! I found this one particularly disturbing as she could have been a friend of mine…but maybe not.) Women kill because they want out of a boring marriage and the insurance money. A woman may kill her ex-husband if the two are embroiled in a bitter custody battle. It seems that in each case, the woman knew her victim, and the murder had to do with some sort of romantic relationship. That is one of the reasons why the story of Melissa Huckaby, the California Sunday School teacher who was recently accused of killing her daughter’s friend, is sooo disturbing. This story caught my attention for two reasons: the fact that this woman is a Sunday School teacher and the granddaughter of a pastor in other words she is supposed to be a Christian and the gruesomeness of the crime.

Huckaby apparently kidnapped the eight-year-old girl, raped her, stuffed the body in her suitcase and threw it in a pond just miles away from their homes. The child lived a few doors away from Huckaby. What made that woman commit that terrible crime – particularly when it would be safe to assume this woman knew Jesus Christ?  My guess is that she is mentally ill and possibly under the influence of demonic forces….what do you think?

According to Scripture, demons can inhabit human bodies.

24When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out.  25And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished.  26Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Luke 11:24-26

Demons can masquerade as various ailments according to Scripture.

14 When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”  17 “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” 18 Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment.  Matthew 17: 14-18

11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, [a] you are set free from your infirmity.” 13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.  Luke 13:11-13

I think demons often attempt to make Christians look like fools to the rest of the world. I think that is one of the reasons why so many relish joking about pastors and other Christian leaders who have fallen from grace. This story is no joking matter to me – a former Sunday School teacher. I’ve never been a regular classroom teacher, but I think I understand some of the joy and frustration that regular classroom teachers experience. When I first graduated from college, I began teaching Sunday School at my church for fifth and sixth graders. One of my first students was this young boy named Alex…Goodness gracious, this boy could talk. Any time I opened my mouth to say something, he was already talking – sometimes he made sense and sometimes he didn’t…He was in my class for a while, and I grew to love his incessant chattering…I haven’t seen Alex in a few years now, but his grandmother still attends my church…He recently said to me through her, “Tell Miss Jackie I said, ‘Hello’ and that I am graduating from high school.”  In fact, many of the children I taught are now in high school and college, and I have been blessed to get to know them and watch them grow up.

How could this woman kill a precious child especially when she has a daughter of her own? I’m inclined to believe the adversary and his agents had a hand in this horrific crime…

Any thoughts?

P.S. I don’t plan to post on this, but have y’all heard of Mel Gibson’s divorce from his wife of 28 years. She could get half of his billion. Wowee!!! I imagine that he made lot of money from Christians who saw, “The Passion Of  The Christ,” an excellent film that was co-written, co-produced and directed by Gibson. Any thoughts on that?

  

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We Fall Down…But He Got Up!!!

Hello World!!!

Two words. He. Arose…I could stop there, but I won’t…At the Maundy Thursday service I attended a few days ago, each person was given a scripture to read as a part of the service…

Below is the scripture that I read:

32 They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, Sit here while I pray. 33 He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34 My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death, he said to them. Stay here and keep watch. 35 Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. 36 Abba, Father, he said, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will. 37 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. Simon, he said to Peter, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour?  38 Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak. 39 Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. 40 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him. 41 Returning the third time, he said to them, Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

Mark 14:32-41

I have been meditating on these scriptures since then, and I think I know what the Lord is saying to me through these verses, and what I think is confirmed by another translation of the same scriptures. The first version is the New International Version of scripture, and the second version is the Contemporary English Version.

32Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he told them, “Sit here while I pray.” 33Jesus took along Peter, James, and John. He was sad and troubled and 34told them, “I am so sad that I feel as if I am dying. Stay here and keep awake with me.”  35-36Jesus walked on a little way. Then he knelt down on the ground and prayed, “Father, [a] if it is possible, don’t let this happen to me! Father, you can do anything. Don’t make me suffer by having me drink from this cup. [b] But do what you want, and not what I want.”  37When Jesus came back and found the disciples sleeping, he said to Simon Peter, “Are you asleep? Can’t you stay awake for just one hour? 38Stay awake and pray that you won’t be tested. You want to do what is right, but you are weak.” 39Jesus went back and prayed the same prayer. 40But when he returned to the disciples, he found them sleeping again. They simply could not keep their eyes open, and they did not know what to say. 41When Jesus returned to the disciples the third time, he said, “Are you still sleeping and resting? [c] Enough of that! The time has come for the Son of Man to be handed over to sinners.

Although Jesus Christ knew that He came to Earth to die for our sins, He clearly did not look forward to this ultimate sacrifice. And so He prayed that He would not have to die in the Garden of Gethsemane before the crucifixion. He accurately told the Father that God could remove our sin without Jesus having to lay down his life as God is all powerful. I think Jesus wanted His disciples to petition the Father on His behalf…He asked them three times to pray…Yet they failed Him each time.  Instead they chose to sleep. After His third request, I believe Jesus knew what the Lord absolutely required…something supernatural would have to supersede the natural because the natural wasn’t going to cut it.

I know I can apply this scripture to my life. I think sacrifice is a requirement in the life of a Christian. We may not be required to die on the cross, but we do have a cross to bear – that cross may be different for each person. And who wants to bear a cross…We may pray and ask several people to pray that we don’t have to bear that cross, but in the end, we realize that there is no way to it- unless you go through it…That’s a hard pill to swallow…As I type this post, I know there is something I must sacrifice, but I would rather not…What in your life is God asking you to sacrifice that you rather not… As I ponder on my current cross, I just have to sigh….Thank God, when I’m ready to do my part, I can ask God to supersede the natural and help me….Yes, I fall down…a lot…but thanks be to God, He Got Up and eventually I will too…

Anyway, it’s something to ponder on this blessed Easter Sunday!!!

Any thoughts?

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The Greatest of These is the Least of These – My Maundy Thursday Experience

Hello World!!!

Easter Sunday is just a couple of days away…If you’re anything like me, you will be shopping for your Easter outfit on Saturday and reminiscing about Easter Egg Hunts and eating those Cadbury chocolate eggs…I’ve since learned that some foods like Cadbury Creme Eggs don’t agree with me but I would be lying if I said the thought doesn’t cross my mind as I walk past the pastel displays of Easter goodies in all of the stores…

But as you and I know, Easter is not about the brand new dress, the Easter eggs or the assorted sweets…it is about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ…But if you’ve been a Christian for years or even in church for years – and there is a difference- you know the story backward and forward and it doesn’t quite enthrall you as it should…Yes, I’m keepin’ it real as they say…

Anyway, in an effort to get a fresh perspective on Easter, I decided to attend a Maundy Thursday service at Redemption Community Church, where I attend Bible Study. Thinking it was going to be like a typical church service, I wore a dress, hose and heels. However, as I walked into the church’s Fellowship Hall,  I immediately recognized that I was a bit overdressed. There were several basins set up in front of chairs. Folded towels were placed on the backs of the chairs. Also, instead of the jubilant songs that are a staple of Easter celebrations, a soundtrack of somber songs played as people sat in the chairs that were lined up on the wall.

I observed that I wasn’t the only one that was wondering what would come next. People peered at the chairs and the basins in the center of the room. Each person was given a slip of paper on which was written a scripture concerning the Easter story and was told to meditate on the scripture. I did, and I will tell you more about my scripture on Easter Sunday…stay tuned…After a while, the leader of the service explained the meaning of Maundy Thursday to us. On this Thursday, Jesus partook of the Last Supper with his disciples. He explained how during Biblical times, people had their feet washed upon entering someone’s house as their feet were dirty from outdoor debris. Obviously, their shoes weren’t as as durable as the shoes we wear today. The lowliest servant of the house was responsible for this task.

As a part of the Last Supper and in an effort to demonstrate humility, the Lord washed his disciples’ feet. The leader of the service told us that Jesus was communicating that to be a disciple of Christ, we must also demonstrate our humility and asked us when was the last time we did something for someone else in an effort to demonstrate humilty.

12When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13“You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.  John 13:12-17

Here is another passage that also demonstrates Jesus’ thoughts on humility and service.

25 Jesus called them together and said, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.  Matthew 20:25-28

The leader then told us that we would be washing one another’s feet. (I was glad that I had a pedicure not that long ago. Otherwise, someone would have left that service deeply disturbed, ha,ha…) Each pair was given a pitcher of water that was mixed with anointing oil and was instructed to simply pour water over one foot of your partner and towel dry that person’s foot. The other person would follow suit and then we were told to pray for one another…I was moved as I participated in the exercise and watched everyone.

Afterward, as we stood back in front of our original seats, each person read their scripture, and the Easter story was recounted through the scripture reading. We were also told to perform acts of humility and consider what Jesus would have us to do. I won’t tell you what I’m going to do as I think it would be boasting to say that I will do this or do that, but I will say this. If you’re anything like me, you think that somehow YOUR SCHEDULE is above all else – that is someone has to almost make an appointment to disrupt your schedule in any way…I think it would be an act of humility or service to gracefully allow my schedule to be disrupted if another needs my help or service…

As I was driving to church last night, I saw that a person’s car had stalled on the road and people were driving around the car and continuing on their journey as if they didn’t notice that person needed help. I was among that group. Would it have killed me to stop and ask if that person needed help? Probably not…But I had things to do and people to see – Geez, I was headed to church…I think my story illustrates two points…1. I don’t think you have to look very far to find someone to help…it would be crazy to ignore someone asking for help while you’re on your way to a shelter to drop off  your canned goods…2. Humility doesn’t have a be a big production…it may just mean asking someone if he or she needs your help…Now, I won’t be foolish…If I see some man pulled over on the highway and it’s late at night, trust me I will speed right on by, but you get the idea…

Anyway, my objective for the night was achieved…I have a fresh new outlook for Easter which is worth infinitely more than a fresh new dress – although I will be wearing one. I intend to pray and ask God to allow me the opportunity to demonstrate humility and service as He did with this disciples….

Hope it’s a Good Friday for you…

Any thoughts?