Holy week devotionals

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A quiet riot

There are two kinds of silence in this world - the kind you want, and the kind you don’t. The first is the one that all parents dream about. When your kids are young and sitting in the back seat of a car yelling at each other or asking a thousand questions, you know what it’s like to long for silence. When they fall asleep and there is nothing but the sound of their breathing to let you know they…

A very Good Friday

“The costliest of costs. The deadliest of loss, The wonder of the cross. The breath of life that stops. The hope of heaven bought The wonder of the cross. The wonder of the cross. I don’t want to move.” [playlist ids="258"] Good Friday has long been my favorite day of every year. I hope it doesn’t make me sound strange or morbid, but there is just such powerful emotion that surrounds this day. I remember as an adolescent, probably not…

Bread and wine

Every once and a while someone asks me the question - ‘What would you want for your last meal ever on earth?’ As I have never been on death row or even incarcerated for that matter, I can honestly tell you, it is a question to which I have never given too much thought. Whenever I am asked, my mind immediately goes to some of my favorite foods growing up. My step-dad makes a really mean ribeye, so I think…

The hardest part

Tom Petty famously penned and sang the line ‘the waiting is the hardest part’ - and I think in most cases, I’d have to agree with him. When we were young kids, my parents used to drive us down to my grandparents farm on all the major holidays and at least a few times each summer. Grandma’s house was a magical land filled with the best of all worlds. Grandma loved to cook, and we loved food, so that lined…

Cleaning House

My wife and I are not the housecleaning type. It’s not like we live in a pigsty or anything - we do clean the house. It’s just that, given the choice between hanging out with each other or the kids and scrubbing toilets and washing floors, we will always choose the former. Growing up, my parents kept the house incredibly tidy. Floors were washed and vacuumed every Saturday, bathrooms were cleaned weekly, and beds were made on a daily basis.…

A case of the Mondays

I’ve got this sort of sixth sense when it comes to guessing the end of movies and television shows. My wife and I watch lots of crime dramas, and usually within the first 15 minutes I’m able to tell her who the villain is. It kind of drives her crazy. I’ve learned to keep my mouth shut because, well, it ruins the drama of it all. Knowing what’s about to happen really makes the rest of the story seem kind…

He is choosing – you and me

Have you ever walked into a place you didn’t want to? Late to an important meeting. Needing to have an uncomfortable conversation. Having to see someone you just don’t get a long with. These are life’s seemingly unavoidable situations. No matter how long we wait or how hard we try, they just seem to keep coming up. I remember one such occasion in my life. An important and influential member of not just my life but my community had wronged…

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Sunday – ‘there are no words’

There are no words. Mary and the others walk silently to the tomb carrying their spices, preparing for another agonizing moment. Not even sure how they would get in, Jesus’ body must be prepared for it’s eternal rest in his tomb. Just some 36 hours ago, they had walked these same roads in horror, and stood shocked and in awe outside the stone they now expected to see. The reality was setting in. He was gone now, and life would…

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Saturday – ‘a world unsettled’

Unsettled. That’s the word to describe the world today. Jesus is gone. The King is dead, and there is nowhere to turn and nothing to do. Word has reached those who ran, and while they struggle with the guilt of ‘is there something I could’ve done,’ there is much more an overarching fear of ‘am I going to be next. The few who had stayed to witness the carnage, have taken his body and buried it in the tomb of…

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Good Friday – ‘ a crown for a king’

They made him a crown. Of all the things that were meant to be humiliating, of all the insults, of all the things they could have done - they made him a crown. Most thorns are made to protect, to keep predators away from the plant and keep it safe. Make no mistake, these thorns were not meant to protect, they were meant to hurt. Not only the flesh that they pieced, but the heart of the man that wore…

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