Willy Wonka!!!

Hello there!  I know, its been a while, but i'm back!

     This past week/weekend was very crazy, as it was "Willy Wonka" play weekend.  The show was great and i really have enjoyed it!!  It is a sad thing when its over, though, and most of the time you go into, what I like to call "Theater withdrawals". It sounds silly, but after spending two months and a solid packed week and 1 day together, you are like family!  You are constantly singing songs and falling asleep backstage and laughing and eating together.  Luckily, I have not hit the "withdrawals" this time, probably because I got to spend a wonderful afternoon with my theater friends and not just watch them leave and not see them for several more months :)  Of course, I have pictures to share with all of you!

Our wonderful Willy Wonka, aka Matthew

THe oompa-loompas and Wonka after Golden age of Chocolate

My brother (Chandler) in the red cap and our friend,  Madi Brooke Harvey

Moving the Wonka-vator :)

Me and my sweet friends: [left to right] (Cindy, Ginny, my brothers, Chasity, Me, Amanda)

Me n Jenna :)

Oompa-loompas

This picture is PRICELESS (ha!)  Think positive, Charlie and Mr. Bucket (aka Brody and Preston :)

Our big cast: a grand total of 104!

Me, Kari, and Hannah

This little boy was our biggest fan!

Moving the Wonka-vator

Think positive!

Charlie finding the golden ticket.....

Me as the "Luminous Lollies" door in Willy Wonka's factory

Sweet Selah :)

My friends and I (Caroline, Sumlin, Daven, Me, and Tindol)

Our high-school musical jump on the marquis!

Our sweet friend, Khristian, as she was leaving from her last TCT show  :' (

We throughly enjoyed ourselves, but it is now time to get back to life: catch up on sleep, get back on school and chores, and get ready for formal :D:D:D.

Before I go, let me give you and update on the mission trip thing:

We still have not received our passports, so that puts us behind on things like getting plane tickets.  Since we have not gotten tickets,  the plane for the trip is full.  So if we are to go that week, we must leave two days later, as that is when the next plane flies out.  I believe my parents are considering going in July for the other trip, but I have not heard.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

• Pray that our passports come back soon, and that God may give us peace about the trip in whole.
• That the My family and I have a good rest of the school year and finish our work and for us to cooperate :)
• For my friend, Abigail, as she raises the last bit of funds for her trip to Africa.
• For the well, that I may not be discouraged in doing it and that it may come to be not in my own time, but in his.

Please keep my prayer requests n your prayers, please, and be sure to go check out Abigail's blog.  If you missed the link, its RIGHT HERE.

I'll write soon, but probably not too soon :)

Resurrection Sunday: Easter!

Happy Easter to all!!  I hope you have had a wonderful day of beautiful church services, family time, Easter lunches, egg hunting, and easter bunny visits.  But yes, its not about the bunny.  I traveled back from my Grandmother's and am now nestled at home and hoping tomorrow won't be Monday.  But I'm pretty sure that just because it's Easter, God didn't change the order of the days of the week.  And just to let you all know, my sister Caroline said to tell you all hi! :)



For the final end (beginning) of our story of Passion week......

On this day 2000 years ago.......

Mark 16

The Resurrection

 ¹ When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. ²Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb ³ and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”

 ⁴ But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. ⁵ As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

 ⁶ “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. ⁷ But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”

 ⁸ Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

   [The earliest manuscripts and some other ancient witnesses do not have Mark 16:9–20.]

 ⁹ When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. ¹⁰ She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. ¹¹ When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.

 ¹² Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. ¹³ These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.

 ¹⁴ Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.

 ¹⁵ He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. ¹⁶ Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. ¹⁷ And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; ¹⁸ they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

 ¹⁹ After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. ²⁰ Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.



I told you it had a happy ending :)


 So Mary and Mary Magdalene were walking probably sadly in the ever-looming silence of his death as they go to put spices on the body of Jesus, when they walk up to the tomb and the stone bigger than they were is rolled away from the tomb.  This stone was not easy to get out either: it was practically in a skinny rectangular hole with stairs leading down on either sides to the actual tomb at the bottom.

Layout of Jesus' tomb (the squarish thing is the stone)

The rock was basically immovable once in unless you had some really strong ropes and a crane.  This is probably why they were wondering how the stone would be moved.  Then they arrive to find that not only is the stone already moved, there is an angel (or a young boy in a white robe) standing there and telling them, "Don't be scared, You're looking for Jesus who was crucified.  He has risen!  He is not here.  See the place where they laid him?  Go tell Peter and the disciples!"  First of all, how did he know who they were looking for, and everything that had happened to him?  And what does he mean by he is risen?  And how could that small boy move such a big stone?  They were obviously frightened and confused, but when they see the tomb, it all makes sense!  They were still scared, but why?  Because the people were against Jesus (they had killed him, right?) and would not be very happy to know he had risen from the dead!  They were probably so shocked and relieved and excited and happy and scared, they couldn't speak anyways.  Then when Mary Magdalene sees him, (he had by the way driven not 1, not 2, but 7 demons out of her) she is so happy but no one believes her.  They are probably all still stuck in the silence of his death as they were crying at the time and believe she's teasing them or delirious or something.  Then he turns up and talks to the others in a different form.  Just walking and talking about Jesus when in reality, he's standing right there with them!  But yet no one believes them either.  When he appears to the disciples, he rebukes them for not believing he was alive.  They had not only not believed Mary and Mary magdalene, but had stubbornly refused to believe it.  When it says eleven disciples though, Judas had killed himself in regret of what he had done.  

But then Jesus doesn't go on telling about how he had gotten back or any of the crazy details of the past couple of days, but teaches them one final time with wise words.  He was then taken up into heaven, like Elijah, and sat at the right hand side of God.  Wait a second.... he didn't go up in the Roman's faces and show he was alive and well?  He didn't walk past all the people who spit on him without making them realize he was alive?  What's up with this guy?!?!?!  I believe he left that job to the disciples, but to do it in a loving manner.  We must also keep in mind that it was illegal to follow Christ at that point in time, so it would've also made them want to kill him again in a different way, I suppose.


And that is the end of our Passion Week stories.  But as I have said, it is truly only the beginning.  Thank you for reading this week and keeping up!  I may not be able to post for a while as these upcoming weeks look really busy, so I will try to post but we'll see how that goes......

The Silence of Saturday

So, today is Saturday.  Silent Saturday, I suppose.  Why silent?  The silence of his death.


On this day 2000 years ago.....

Jesus let out his last breath, and it instantly was quiet.  Maybe not quiet as in the  noise, but a spiritual deadness kind-of quiet.  The one they thought had come to save them- to rescue them from Rome, the one they had worshipped and followed, the one they ended up abusing- he was gone.  Dead, just like that.  And now, there was quiet.  The rebellion that may have started seemed to be over, the fight was lost and Rome was still in control.  Were they just plain stupid to follow one born in a manger?  A king was never born in a manger and hung on a cross.  What about the disciples?  What are they thinking?  The same thing?  Or did this silence fulfill his truths and just leave them to ponder them all?  How is the temple torn down and rebuilt?

Just the silence of questions.


~~~
 ⁴² It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, ⁴³ Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. ⁴⁴ Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. ⁴⁵ When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. ⁴⁶ So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. ⁴⁷ Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where he was laid.
~~~

Joseph was a follower of Christ, and, as described in the scriptures, waiting on the Kingdom of God.  He boldly goes up to Pilate and asks for Jesus' body.  He boldly goes up to Pilate and asks for Jesus' body.  Pilate is the governor-like person, and he goes up, not just goes up, but boldly goes up and asks for Jesus' body.  Pilate is surprised that Jesus is already dead.  I am actually kinda glad that Jesus  is already dead and not still in that horrible torture, especially since I know the end of the story :) 

The heart breaking part of this story is that Joseph, a follower of Christ, had to take down the body of his savior.  He had the hard job of taking the precious, wounded, misfigured body of Christ down from the cross.  He had to draw out the giant nails, take the body down carefully from the cross, clean it, and wrap it in white linen cloth.  This was not only a grueling task, but a task that put forth so much effort of emotions and strength  and love for his savior.  I can only say a few words to him: Wow and Thank you.  This is what a true follower of Christ looks like by doing those things that need to be done even though it may hurt you or others, and even after all those Jesus haters were after Jesus, now they may be after him.  Joseph is a true follower of Christ.  


Tomorrow seems to end our story.


But it really begins it.

Friday: It is Finished

Happy Good Friday!

***Before I say anything, Satan really does not want this message up because he has deleted it 2 times already, so...... HAHA to Satan!***

I hope you all have had a wonderful day!! Mine has been full of laundry and packing to leave as we have just completed our trip to my Grandmother's house for Easter.  Fun, fun!!



Sooooooo.........................

On this Friday 2000 years ago...

~~~~

Jesus Arrested

⁴³ Just as he was speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared. With him was a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders.
⁴⁴ Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.” ⁴⁵ Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him. ⁴⁶ The men seized Jesus and arrested him. ⁴⁷ Then one of those standing near drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.
⁴⁸ “Am I leading a rebellion,” said Jesus, “that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? ⁴⁹ Every day I was with you, teaching in the temple courts, and you did not arrest me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.” ⁵⁰ Then everyone deserted him and fled.
⁵¹ A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, ⁵² he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.

Jesus Before the Sanhedrin

⁵³ They took Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests, the elders and the teachers of the law came together. ⁵⁴ Peter followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. There he sat with the guards and warmed himself at the fire.
⁵⁵ The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find any. ⁵⁶ Many testified falsely against him, but their statements did not agree.
⁵⁷ Then some stood up and gave this false testimony against him: ⁵⁸ “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with human hands and in three days will build another, not made with hands.’” ⁵⁹ Yet even then their testimony did not agree.
⁶⁰ Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” ⁶¹ But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer.
Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”
⁶² “I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
⁶³ The high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked. ⁶⁴ “You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?”
They all condemned him as worthy of death. ⁶⁵ Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, “Prophesy!” And the guards took him and beat him. 

Jesus Before Pilate

¹ Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, made their plans. So they bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate.
² “Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate.
“You have said so,” Jesus replied.
³ The chief priests accused him of many things. ⁴ So again Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.”
⁵ But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.
⁶ Now it was the custom at the festival to release a prisoner whom the people requested. ⁷ A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. ⁸ The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.
⁹ “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate, ¹⁰ knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. ¹¹ But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.
¹² “What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them.
¹³ “Crucify him!” they shouted.
¹⁴ “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
¹⁵ Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

The Soldiers Mock Jesus

¹⁶ The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. ¹⁷ They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. ¹⁸ And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” ¹⁹ Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. ²⁰ And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

The Crucifixion of Jesus

²¹ A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. ²² They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). ²³ Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. ²⁴ And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.
²⁵ It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. ²⁶ The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS.
²⁷ They crucified two rebels with him, one on his right and one on his left. ^{[28] [a] 29} Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, ³⁰ come down from the cross and save yourself!” ³¹ In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! ³² Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

The Death of Jesus

³³ At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. ³⁴ And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).^[b]
35 When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.”
³⁶ Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said.
³⁷ With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.
³⁸ The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. ³⁹ And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died,^[c] he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”
⁴⁰ Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph,^[d] and Salome. ⁴¹ In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there.
~~~~



Okay, so it's a good bit of reading there BUT it's totally worth it :)


The first thing I notice is that Judas is with a bunch of people who are armed with clubs and spears.  I am guessing that they thought Jesus was a rebellion leader, but Jesus clearly asks "Am I leading a rebellion?".  The leaders were probably pretty taken aback.  "Aren't you?" they're thinking.  Jesus was seen as a rebellion leader, the one who was to fight back the Romans and save the Jews from oppression by the Romans.  Everyone thought Jesus was to be that way.  But that is not what kind of rebellion Jesus was leading.  He was a rebellion leader: a spiritual rebellion leader.  Another thing is that I noticed is that the priests never touched him in the temple because it was the temple.  If they touched him in there, it would ruin their whole reputation.  "But the scriptures must be fulfilled.".  Then when Jesus was before the Sanhedrin, the priests couldn't even testify against him!  They couldn't find anything against him, even with the testimonies that were false!  Now what do they do with him?  They try to trick him with this question:  Are you the messiah?  He has no choice but to tell the truth.  Then they blindfolded him and beat him, spit on him, and called him names. 

Then they take him to Pilate.  Pilate cannot get anything out of him but "I am king of the Jews.".  So when the time comes to release choose a prisoner, the people who praised him on Sunday chose to crucify him on Friday.  They chose to crucify him over a very sinful murderer, and Pilate himself wondered why.  Jesus hadn't done anything wrong, right?  The people just wanted him dead, and Pilate didn't want to take the blame.  But he sent Jesus off to be flogged and crucified anyways, just to satisfy the people.  Then the soldiers take him and spit on him and make fun of him.  I honestly want to cry reading this all: They beat my older brother, spit on him, called him horrendous names, and all for me.   If only they knew the truth. 

Then comes the seemingly simple sentence: They crucified him.  They whipped and beat him mercilessly, and forced him to carry a cross a long way.  And the cross wasn't hollow, short wood.  It was heavy wood, that burned and cut relentlessly into his back.  They then nailed the precious hands and feet of my king to these pieces of wood we now look up to.  They hoisted him up into the sky, and forced him to hang there.   They cast lots for the clothes, and put a mocking sign above him: KING OF THE JEWS.  But he is king of the Jews and of so much more: the King of the whole entire world.   And the temple rebuilding: it was happening then.  At that very moment, it was being torn down and built again.  He was saving others, including them.  He even asked God to forgive them!  The people being crucified with him were making fun of Him.  Then darkness comes over the whole land, and Jesus shouts: My God , My God, why have you forsaken me??  He breathed his last with a loud cry.  And then, something extraordinary happens: the temple curtain, which separates God and man was ripped.  And not just a little, but from top to bottom.  God was now with man!  And the centurion says "Surely this man was a son of God!".  He realized too late. 

Because now, it was finished.

Yet, it wasn't.

Tomorrow's story will have to tell.....

Thursday: Gardens and Dinners

Hi there!  Happy Last Supper Day!  Or Passover meal day!  Or Thursday!!

Hope you are all doing well!

On with Passion Week:

On this Thursday about 2000 years ago:

The Lord’s Supper

 ¹² On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”

 ¹³ So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. ¹⁴ Say to the owner of the house he enters, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ ¹⁵ He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.”

 ¹⁶ The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.

 ¹⁷ When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. ¹⁸ While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me—one who is eating with me.”

 ¹⁹ They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, “Surely not I?”

   ²⁰ “It is one of the Twelve,” he replied, “one who dips bread into the bowl with me. ²¹ The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”

 ²² While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.”

 ²³ Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, and they all drank from it.

   ²⁴ “This is my blood of the^[b] covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. ²⁵ “I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God.”

 ²⁶ When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Gethsemane

 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,^[e] 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? ³⁸Watch 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. ⁴² Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”

**Please note that part of what takes place here in the Garden happens also on Friday, considering the Jewish day starts as the sun sets.**

At the very beginning of the Last Supper passage, Jesus tells two of his disciples to go and find a man carrying a jar of water and follow him to the house he enters.  This man is probably the servant of the one whose house he goes to, considering it says "his master's house".  Another interesting thing about this is that I always thought that the women of the household went to get water from the fountain, but this specifically says a man.  Just a thought.  Also, the whole "go and you'll see this and that and follow him here and ask to have a room for passover meal this evening" thing is kinda REALLY trusting this guy and not just thinking that "He's a lunatic, let's go eat with our friends and families".  Because I might just be thinking that.  Although, after being with Jesus that long, you must know to just do what he says.  And the room was all ready prepared and ready.  Am I missing something here, or is that just a God thing?  Then to arrive and be eating the meal...... and there is no passover lamb on the table.  This is like no ham or turkey on the table for Thanksgiving!  But the lamb isn't on the table, because it's sitting at the table.  On top of that,  Jesus says, "Oh yeah, one of you is going to betray me."  And they cannot believe it, and all think "It's not me, right Jesus?".  You are thinking: i've followed this man, given up my family and friends and  old lifestyle and now I'm going to betray him?  There is no way.... It just makes me wonder how Judas felt at that point in time and what he was thinking.  It also said they were saddened by this fact as they asked if it was them or not.  If it says "they" were saddened, does it mean that Judas was sad?  I really don't know.  But I do think its great that they were all saddened at this fact.  Of course, it could have been the fact that "it would be better for that man if he had not been born".  Then take this as my body and this as my blood had to be kinda weird if he's talking about him dying.  They know by now that he is going to die, but I still think it would be a little weird if my teacher gave me some bread and said, "Eat it, its my body."  But the customs were different back then and not 21st century.   

Then in the garden of Gethsemane, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death." and, "Abba, Father, everything is possible for you.  Take this cup from me.  Yet not what I will, but what you will."  That last quote is a life quote, meaning I want to live by it-  Not what I will, but what you will.  Wow, especially considering the circumstances that he is going through.  And while he's pouring his heart, the disciples are sleeping.  Seriously??? He's about to die the most horrible death anyone will ever see and your sleeping?  That also means that if the disciples were sleeping, I'd be snoring hard.  But it is still hard to see both sides of the story and believe that they would do that.

And I know this amazing story leaves you hanging with the betrayal line, but I suppose you will have to wait until tomorrow to hear the rest of the story. (Unless you happen to have heard the story or have a Bible and be able to read it...)  But I will be a story spoiler and tell you has a very good ending.

Way better than the Hunger Games :)

Till tomorrow.........

Wednesday: Predictions and Sinners

 Happy Happy Wednesday!!  I hope you all have had a great day!   SAT testing for me, but it is all over now :) :) :) :)))))


***If you read yesterday's post, I just updated it because I left out a couple of facts.  Click HERE to read the rest***


Onto Wednesday.....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On this Wednesday 2000 years ago......

Please read the following......




Mark 13



 ³⁸ As he taught, Jesus said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted in the marketplaces, ³⁹and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. ⁴⁰ They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely.”

Mark 14

¹⁴ “When you see ‘the abomination that causes desolation’^[a] standing where it^[b] does not belong—let the reader understand—then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁵ Let no one on the roof of his house go down or enter the house to take anything out. ¹⁶ Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. ¹⁷ How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! ¹⁸ Pray that this will not take place in winter, ¹⁹ because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now—and never to be equaled again. ²⁰ If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them.²¹ At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ^[c]!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. ²² For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect—if that were possible. ²³ So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.

   

²⁴ “But in those days, following that distress,

   “‘the sun will be darkened,
   and the moon will not give its light;
²⁵ the stars will fall from the sky, 

   and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’^[d]

First of all, he talks about the teachers of law trying to seem very important.  And holy.  And  everything in between.  These teachers were as much of a sinner as a murderer.  The way they flaunt themselves around taking important seats and "devouring widows houses" disgusted Jesus and disgusts me too.  Jesus called them hypocrites and snakes and he had every right too.  He was also teaching this to a crowd of people.  A crowd of people who probably supported and looked up to the priests but also probably didn't like them.  So this probably spread like wildfire, and only made the priests dislike him [ttttttttttttttttttttttttttthhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiissssssssssssssssssss] much more. And helped his chances of getting killed.  Ouch.  Jesus also spoke to his disciples in Mark 14 about the end of the age.  I only posted a portion of it here, but you can check the rest of it out in Mark 14. Jesus mourns Jerusalem's destruction and is pending destruction for them.  But on top of all this heavy stuff, he still knows that at that time tomorrow, he will be betrayed after praying so hard DROPS OF BLOOD roll down his face.  Not only is Jerusalem pending destruction but so is he.  And the disciples barely know anything.  And they are trying to take this all in: stars falling from the sky?  The sun will be dark????






And Thursday will be a big day indeed..... but not as big as Friday......... :)


Until tomorrow dear friends..........

Tuesday's Learning and Questions

Tuesday we didn't talk about as much in class, so we'll see how this goes :)

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On this Tuesday approximately 2000 years ago........

(this section happened the day before)
¹² The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. ¹³ Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. ¹⁴ Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.


(this happened on that Tuesday)

The Withered Fig Tree

 ²⁰ In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. ²¹ Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!”

   ²² “Have^[f] faith in God,” Jesus answered. ²³ “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. ²⁴ Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. ²⁵ And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.^[g]”

......and then......

The Authority of Jesus Questioned

 ²⁷ They arrived again in Jerusalem, and while Jesus was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders came to him. ²⁸ “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you authority to do this?”

 ²⁹ Jesus replied, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. ³⁰ John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or from men? Tell me!”

 ³¹ They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ ³² But if we say, ‘From men’…” (They feared the people, for everyone held that John really was a prophet.)

 ³³ So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

   Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

Okay then.... wow!  He actually was questioned several more times after this, but I figured you may not want or have time to read them (if you want to, go to Mark 12).  Do you hear the wisdom rolling out of him?  I think it's amazing how he says it it seems without having to think about it, while the Priests thought for a while, contemplating these things.  Ha :)

So the disciples are standing there while Jesus says, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again!".   This was probably seen by them as just an expression of being frustrated, kinda like of us saying "Darn it" or, in Jesus' case "Stupid fig tree.  It won't have fruit for anyone else again.".  So when the disciples heard that, they probably didn't think much about it.  But when they walk by again the next day and it is withered, they are thinking,  as my youngest brother would say, "We are messing with the real deal."  

And, if I trust God enough, I could tell a mountain to jump in the ocean and it would do it.  That's ridiculous and would take an amazing amount faith.  Wow.  I don't feel like that faith is even fathomable to me.  Later on, he is questioned about his authority which was really a trick question.  And he replies with something I could, of  course, never come up with: another question.  Not only another question, but a good one.  And again, it just comes out of him, straight from God.  I think this really shows how close he is to God and God to him: they and the Holy Spirit are ONE.  So then people are in awe of Jesus, and the Priests are shamed and walk away quietly, probably afraid to do anything else for fear of embarrassment.  But secretly, they are plotting to kill Jesus: they want an end to this blasphemy-er.  

Ah, and this is where our story concludes for the evening.....

Until tomorrow....

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EDIT: i forgot a VERY important turn in the story: Tuesday is also the day that Judas contracts to betray Jesus.  So Judas, who was tempted with the amount of money offered, decided to betray Jesus 


Mark 14

¹⁰ Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. ¹¹ They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

Also, Tuesday (which apparently was a very busy day) was when the woman poured perfume on Jesus' feet, and it was very expensive perfume.  How did she know it was preparing him for his burial?? This puzzles me....  Anyways, right after this Judas went and betrayed Jesus :)

**If you are wondering why I put a happy face after that incredibly sad betrayal note, its because I'm very sad for Jesus and God, but very happy for his plan and my being saved :)  So I suppose I owe Judas a thank you....... but I think I may still be holding a grudge against him..... ;)**