Scrolling
This Week’s Quick Hits:
Easter Celebration Trivia:
The first Easter eggs were dyed what color?
When Easter eggs were first dyed, it was to represent what?
Before 1953, it took how many hours to produce a single marshmallow Peep?
Easter Sunday is also called what?
How long does it currently take to produce one marshmallow Peep?
In countries including Greece, Mexico and Spain, what is burned during Easter bonfires?
How many states consider Good Friday a holiday?
“What Does It Mean to Cover Our Spouse’s Vulnerabilities.”
Read. Watch. Listen.
Listen:
“5 Tips For Healthy Parenting Perspective”
This is the second podcast in this short series on parenting. Join us as we look at how to cultivate a healthy perspective that helps us love our kids well in each season and how we can develop relationships with our kids that continue into their adulthood.
Watch:
What if we pause a moment and look at our marriage as a team sport? What would it look like for you and your spouse to be on the same team? What would it look like if God was your coach? Don’t miss this week’s featured Awesome Marriage vlog.
Streaming Podcast:
If you were following the podcast that launched last summer titled “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill,” there is a new episode which, ironically, centers on what was going on within the walls of Christianity Today. On March 15th CT released the results of an independent report which outlined institutionally-tolerated sexual harrassment and misconduct along with failures in reporting and monitoring. Some of what CT was exploring at Mars Hill was also happening at CT.
From my perspective, it is another big reminder that we are all vulnerable to sexual sin. If we think we are not, we let our guard down and when we let our guard down the enemy is right there to tempt us. We can never let our guard down!
Insights:
Scrolling
A couple of weeks ago, while visiting family in Houston, Nancy and I visited the “Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs” exhibit at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Considered to be one of the greatest Pharaohs of all time, Ramses lived about 1,200 to 1,300 years before Jesus was born. No one knows for sure but the consensus is that Ramses was the Pharoah Moses confronted with releasing God’s people from slavery in Egypt.
The artifacts in the exhibit were fascinating and their obsession with gold was evident. Gold was considered to be the skin of the gods. My favorite part was a virtual reality tour of Ramses' elaborate tomb led by his favorite wife Queen Nefertari. This massive tomb was a true spectacle. The tradition of burying everything the Pharaoh would need in the afterlife with him fascinated me. There were even baskets where fruit and food were left every day to sustain him.
The exhibit was fascinating and I love history but there was an eeriness to it. Ramses did not know Jesus. Jesus would not be born for a millennium plus. Yet, Ramses was confronted with the God of the Bible. Ramses could have embraced God instead of rejecting Him and what God told Moses to do. So instead of embracing God and eternal life with Him, Ramses had to create his own afterlife.
Can you even imagine trying to play God and take care of your own eternity? As we approach Easter, we can have the confidence in eternal life with Jesus because He was willing to lay down His life for each of us.
You might be wondering, “why did he name this “Insights” Scrolling?” Well, that same day I was signing up for something online with one of my nephews. We each had to enter our birth year. What he did in a nanosecond, I didn’t. I had to scroll through the past years to get to my birth year. It was a fairly long scroll!
As I scrolled past the years, I remembered turning 10, thinkingI had arrived in life. I was now in “double digits” age wise and had eons of time in front of me. Time seemed to be never ending. Ramses’ “scroll” ended at 90. Here are my takeaways from that weekend in Houston:
The Bible tells us that life is “a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” (James 4:14)
That is true for all of us.
Ramses and his people spent years and unbelievable amounts of money preparing for his afterlife.
Jesus has taken care of our afterlife.
What really counts in this life is each day. The scroll.
What are we doing with our life - our scroll?
Are we serving God and using the gifts He gave us to further His kingdom?
It is never too late.
As long as God leaves us here, He has a plan and a purpose for us.
So this weekend rejoice with Christians around the world as we celebrate a risen Christ. Celebrate a God that loves you more than you can ever comprehend. Celebrate that God does indeed have a perfect plan for your “scroll.”
Next Steps:
Pray for God to use you to further His kingdom day after day after day!
Answers Trivia:
Red
The blood of Jesus Christ
27 hours
Resurrection Day
Six minutes
Effigies of Judas
12