{"id":593,"date":"2014-04-20T21:00:12","date_gmt":"2014-04-21T02:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/?p=593"},"modified":"2022-01-10T21:36:28","modified_gmt":"2022-01-11T03:36:28","slug":"gods-not-dead-and-neither-am-i-happy-easter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/?p=593","title":{"rendered":"GOD\u2019S NOT DEAD AND NEITHER AM I…Happy Easter!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IMG_5747\"<\/a>I\u2019ve been feeling the need and desire to communicate with you, friends old and new, but I\u2019ve had a lot on my plate the last few days. If this title seems a bit dramatic to you, it seems apropos to me for at least three reasons. [1] It\u2019s Easter. He is risen. And as first century Christians used to echo, \u201cHe is risen indeed!\u201d Witness an empty tomb and His life giving Spirit empowering millions of believers around the globe, giving Him credit and praise at this very moment. [2] Our home group went to see the movie, \u201cGod\u2019s Not Dead<\/a>,\u201d two weeks ago, and it impacted me a great deal. It was well done, and moved very quickly. I encourage you to go see it, and take a friend or friends, believing or unbelieving. The issues and presentation speak to our times and to all times. [3] I crashed our new plane crash a couple weeks ago Friday. I told some of my friends as I encountered them in the days following, \u201cIt started out to be one of the worse days of my life. But if you walk away from a plane crash without a scratch, how can you not say it was one of the best days of your life?\u201d\"IMG_0197\"<\/a><\/p>\n

So I apologize for the drama in the title, but can you see how it might fit?<\/p>\n

I always get quiet, introspective, joyful, and mystified during passion week and Easter. Who doesn\u2019t welcome the warm reprieve from winter and new life bursting all about? But the promise of new spiritual life, and freedom from sin is the best of all! That someone Who could do so, paid the price for my sin, and then lives with me to give me power over sin and death–what could be more astounding? What could be more joyful? The God of the second chance? Indeed! The words of the angels to the women who came to the tomb that first Easter morning still echo through the millennia, \u201cWhy do you seek the living among the dead?\u201d \u201cHe is not here. He is risen, just as He said.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"IMG_6051\"<\/a>So, what does that mean to you? What does it mean to me? Well I\u2019m very aware, given the events of the last weeks, that I\u2019ve been given a second chance. A chance to live more life on this side of eternity. I should make it count! And I want too.<\/p>\n

But more than that, it says that because He\u2019s alive, and I have His power working in me, I can hope to overcome any problem, any set back, any adversity. And you can too, if you know Him and His resurrection power. Hope. Power. Life. That\u2019s what it says, and that is what I wish for you, dear reader and friend. He does too. It was His idea, and He Who paid the price — showing us the way, and raising us to walk in newness of life<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday is the first day of the rest of your life,\u201d doesn\u2019t sound like a clich\u00e9 to me at the moment. It sounds like the truth. May we all grasp this new life, with the adventure and promise it holds, if He holds us.\"IMG_6039\"<\/a><\/p>\n

An eighty-two year old woman was baptized in our church this morning. New life!<\/p>\n

A dentist friend and his sweet wife asked us to their home for lunch today. Before the meal he read this<\/a> to his guests and family. New life!<\/p>\n

A friend down the ally from us and his dear wife asked us and thirteen other neighbors, believers and perhaps unbelievers, to a seder celebrating passover a few days ago. It was a beautiful, delicious, spiritual, and happy experience to retell and remember the 3500 year old story of Abraham\u2019s descendant\u2019s freedom from slavery and friendship with God. Also one that would culminate in the passover Lamb of Calvary, and many new friends worldwide. New life!<\/p>\n

\"IMG_6060\"<\/a>I received a blog from a dear friend<\/a> in east Arkansas this week about passover and what it means to a Christ follower. New life!<\/p>\n

And I received an Easter email<\/a>\u00a0today from a new and dear friend from Georgia. Please forgive the self-serving nature of this one. But his insights are more inspirational and insightful than my small contribution.\u00a0 New life!<\/p>\n

May you come to experience new life\u00a0in full measure! That\u2019s the real meaning of Easter. And that\u2019s my prayer for you.<\/p>\n

Happy Easter!!<\/p>\n

Dwayne<\/p>\n

PS I intended to tell the story of the plane crash for friends who are interested and haven\u2019t heard. But this writ has reached it\u2019s permitted length. I\u2019ll report on the accident soon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve been feeling the need and desire to communicate with you, friends old and new, but I\u2019ve had a lot on my plate the last few days. If this title seems a bit dramatic to you, it seems apropos to me for at least three reasons. [1] It\u2019s Easter. He is risen. And as first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,12,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-friendoftheking","category-bread-for-the-spirit","category-understanding-our-times"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=593"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3379,"href":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593\/revisions\/3379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}