Rock N’ Rolling Easter

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Preston from Behold Band at YE 2012
photo credit Ben Heide

If you have a favorite rock song or band what comes to mind? Are they all Christian, secular (non-Christian), or both? Did you know that Rock N’n Roll started in the 1950s? A combo of country, blues, and gospel music. Originally started out with the saxophone then moved to the electric guitar. There are a few that come to mind for sure. I don’t know a ton, but I admit I have heard from both sides such as from AC/DC like Thunderstruck, and a classic from Journey Just A Small Town Girl. I’ve heard songs from bands like Nickleback, Def Lepard, Guns N’ Roses, Bon Jovi on the radio etc. Did you know there are Christian bands too such as Skillet, Thousand Foot Krutch, Petra, SwitchFoot, DC Talk, P.O.D., Family Force 5, and more? Most of the Christian bands I have seen live in concert through many wonderful youth events mostly and which are just a few favorites that I enjoy. My taste in music is an open book of variety on both sides, except classical and heavy metal. Two ends of the spectrum are not my favorite to enjoy.

Why you might ask?:

1. Heavy metal could/can affect your mood negatively as most portray an angry vibe along with it. Yes some rock bands can too depending on the message it’s saying, but you find it more in heavy metal at the most. 

2. for most of them you can’t tell what they are singing about. Words matter 

3. most of the time they’re screaming which is why you can’t understand them. It feels like chaos.

 A dude named Leo Metal covers though I do like most of his remixes as you can tell what he is singing about and he’s usually a goofball in his videos. With classical I get bored and sometimes sleepy, unless it’s something a bit recognizable, but I do give props to Lindsey Stirling who puts a twist on the violin with her music. I enjoy music that gets you in a good mood, brings out the best mood in you, and or something to think about with a good message in its meaning. Especially that is about Jesus.

If Jesus was here what kind of music do you think He would rock and roll out of the grave to? What would His entry/exit music be?

Let’s read Matthew 27:57-28:10 (NLT)

The Burial of Jesus

57 As evening approached, Joseph, a rich man from Arimathea who had become a follower of Jesus, 58 went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. And Pilate issued an order to release it to him. 59 Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a long sheet of clean linen cloth. 60 He placed it in his own new tomb, which had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance and left. 61 Both Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting across from the tomb and watching.

The Guard at the Tomb

62 The next day, on the Sabbath,[n] the leading priests and Pharisees went to see Pilate. 63 They told him, “Sir, we remember what that deceiver once said while he was still alive: ‘After three days I will rise from the dead.’ 64 So we request that you seal the tomb until the third day. This will prevent his disciples from coming and stealing his body and then telling everyone he was raised from the dead! If that happens, we’ll be worse off than we were at first.” 65 Pilate replied, “Take guards and secure it the best you can.” 66 So they sealed the tomb and posted guards to protect it.

The Resurrection

28 Early on Sunday morning,[a] as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb.

2 Suddenly there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it. 3 His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. 4 The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint.

5 Then the angel spoke to the women. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying. 7 And now, go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Remember what I have told you.”

8 The women ran quickly from the tomb. They were very frightened but also filled with great joy, and they rushed to give the disciples the angel’s message. 9 And as they went, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they ran to him, grasped his feet, and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid! Go tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see me there.”

So in a nutshell Good Friday Jesus died on the cross for all the sins of the world from lying to murder so we can turn to Him for forgiveness so we can be with Him in heaven. On the 3rd day Jesus rose body and soul, many were in shock, like probably a 10 on the shock factor scale! But the angel of the Lord that was sent said not to be afraid. Where have we heard that before? Around Christmas right? With Jesus risen, it’s a celebration! 

Fun Fact of the day!

In those 3 days, Jesus did not go straight to Heaven as we think. He actually went to Hell first to rescue those that were in this holding place at the time before Jesus died. He took them to Heaven in those 3 days before He came back on the third day. 

The song or chorus from AC/DC Highway to Hell comes to mind at the moment or Christ Has Risen from the Grave by Chris Tomlin. Since Jesus died for us we can be in Heaven with Him. 

(NASB) Ephesians 4:7-10:

 7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore [a]it says,

“When He ascended on high,
He led captive the captives,
And He gave gifts to people.”

9 (Now this expression, “He ascended,” what [b]does it mean except that He also [c]had descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.)

Remember always, Jesus is the Rock of all nations!

Questions God Won’t Ask

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Matthew 5:16
In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

Long time ago I was given this food for thought from my dad, I had found it as I was moving things and sorting stuff. Even though we don’t see eye to eye on everything, it’s encouraging to know what God sees. It’s a good read, a good lesson and reminder to live by. Too often we get caught up on material things, pride, things in the world or we tell people it’s our way or the highway if they don’t agree with us. God dosn’t care about matieral things. He cares about our hearts and how we treat people, how we use stuff we are blessed with as well as gifts God gives us to love others, but most importantly how we choose to serve Jesus when we accept His salvation and bring others to Christ. This is what love is.

Say it With Feeling at VBS

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So last week I did a thing. Our church does VBS (Vacational Bible School) for the kids in our community even those visiting attend as well. It’s been advertised for months and even got notified about it. I prayed about it if it’s something to help with this year, with not being able to be involved with youth ministry atm when Covid hit YE had closed and hurt from being pushed out from helping out with youth group atm I really miss it. I asked God do you want me to help with this? as the signs of it kept coming up. Prayed some more, checked with work if it works with my schedule. At first it didn’t work to go, but then when the schedule came out it worked out I could help out!

VBS Theme ROAR !

Beginning of June I let Gerri know I can. She was thrilled and happy for the extra help. 2 weeks before it started I was given to lead games! I was like yes I can! Was nervous, excited and happy to do so. Nervous cuz it’s been abit since I lead and wasn’t sure how I was gonna do after being in a hard valley for these last 2 yrs, but excited that God and Gerri sees I am capable of anything and that I got this!

It wasn’t planned but in preparing one of the games called ‘Say it with Feeling’ kids were to say a sentence that was written on a card with the feeling it says and people would have to guess it. As I prepped this game I felt God say share a devo thought, because kids need to know they are also allowed to express how they feel.

It was certainly a blessing to hang out with the kids! This is what I shared the one day!

Say it with feeling

God made us with feelings and emotions. It’s what makes us who we are as individuals and different from one another. How we feel about anything everyday is okay. For example: it’s normal to feel sad or mad when a pet dies, you lose a friend or family or you stubbed your toe, or even if someone hurt your feelings.

It’s normal to be happy and joyful about the good things too. Example: getting a new pet, reuniting with family and friends, being successful at sports, school, or accomplishments. Its ok to feel happy when others are good to you. Most of all being excited for Jesus and sharing Him with others!

The list goes on for many of our feelings, We all have good days and bad days and it’s ok to feel them and talk about them. Jesus did, He felt and expressed them all and He knows what you feel and going through on any given day. The shortest verse in the Bible is: Jesus wept (cried). John 11:35. Jesus also brings great joy, How my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour. Luke 1:47

Don’t let anyone keep God and you in a box or make you bottle up your feelings and emotions. It’s been a joy hanging out with all of you this week, even when some challenge me, I’m thankful for you all.

Words Matter

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5 things Christians Shouldn’t Say

Hey there! It has been quite awhile since I’ve been here blogging. It’s been rough and been down with personnal issues that have kept me feeling cruddy which certainly hasn’t given me motivation to post, but I felt like it today.

Words can be a complicated thing, sometimes even Christians can forget about thier speach. Remember we live in this world, but are not supposed to be of it. If your a Christian who struggles with speach and was corrected, don’t be upset at the person correcting you as they are hopefully doing it in love and want the best for you to do better. Plus your a Christian, you should know better about your speach!

Typically our words come from the sources we listen to. Remember the phrase “garbage in, garbage out. Praise in, praise out!” surround yourself with sources which include people who don’t cause you to stumble in your choice of words. Dosn’t mean we have to treat people like an outcast who suck at thier speach, but show them, correct them in love what is right. Never give the attitude “I’m better than you” because that’s a huge turn off for anyone, no matter what it is.

7 Things That God Hates

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Hello, fellow blog readers and followers!

It's been another long moment in time that I put something on here. I know I probably say this often, but it's true! and we all deserve the truth be told to us. God is always true, His word always tells it like it is with no wishy-washy, lukewarm feelings about any subject that He talks and shows us about. We should take a lesson and do the same when we walk, talk with God as we walk, talk and act with people. Which brings me to what I want to talk about today, in the world we live in, not that it's any different back then it's just getting more worse and open-minded about a lot of topics we may face with. 

I was looking through youtube and stumbled across a video that talked about Abomination! I was intrigued as to what it covers. I thought there was maybe a small number that I've heard of which we will cover in a moment, but there are in fact 7 things that God hates. Now your wondering well, isn't God a God of love? I've learned that all my life, what are you talking about? God doesn't hate! True God is a God of loveheart , but He hates what we do that is wrong which is called SINdevil . God is our parent, and like parents are to children we are shown right and wrong. God gives everyone a conscience to know what is wrong and right in this world. He gave us the Bible when we read it and find Jesus it opens our minds to more and to what God is saying to do the right thing, as Russel Peters quotes as well! laugh 

In regards to doing the right things that please God, here is what the term Abomination means! 

Abomination– Anything ritually or ethnically abhorrent to God. Defiling, corrupt, sinful, dirty, immoral, disgusting, deplorable, unclean.

A lot of those things that we will talk about are things that are sinful to God. Now, this just dawned on me while writing this. Take the word abomination. If you break it down A-bom-in-nation, what comes to mind? if you're like me and tend to learn visually I picture a bomb going off, what does a bomb do? it's explosive, dangerous, destructive to the surrounding area and more, also harmful!

In the old testament it was more law-based I guess you could say until the new testament there's grace through Jesus Christ to help us ask for forgiveness without dying instantly when we are found out of our sins. 

OT Law Abominations:

1) Idol worship/Devils and Demons 

Deut. 27:15 – 15 “Cursed is anyone who makes an idol—a thing detestable to the Lord, the work of skilled hands—and sets it up in secret.”

Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”

Putting something before God, whether it's people or materialistic things that are "more important" than God to worship. We are to love and show love as Jesus does for people for sure, but be careful what order you're putting things in and being obsessed with in walk with God.

2) Human Sacrifice/killing of children

3) Witchcraft/wizards/psychics

Deut. 18:9-13  9 When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. 10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft,11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you. 13 You must be blameless before the Lord your God.

Believe it or not, there are people out there that do that, maybe in secret, but it's still sin-murdering an innocent life. Abortions would definitely fall under this too. You may not think it much, but it's still a human forming that God gave life to. The world pushes this idea on people to make them doubt what is considered life. Now if a woman was raped and got pregnant, well that's a tough one. To think about it, it would be an unwanted gesture that the women were trying to refrain from and I believe God would probably understand of the choice that the women makes, which is between her and God.

Now the bible does say something about God sacrificing Abraham's son-but that is a completely different situation and topic all around based on trusting God. Of course God would never allow that as Abraham did not do it when God said no after!

People seeing psychics and medians, healers, stores selling things like ouji boards and terret cards to predict the future or talk to the dead and such, those are all types of things that open a world to Satan and his demons. Things about witchcraft such as Harry Potter and other things that open up bad things that can have a negative effect. Yes I know it's just Hollywood with special effects, but it's not a kidding matter. My aunty was seeing these healers and such that you pay money to and she started seeing things like demons. So it's real, it's not a good place for a person to be.  

4) Being Prideful/Corrupt/Immorality/Lying/being a thief

Proverbs 11  Proverbs 20:10, 12, 22, Proverbs 17:15, Prov. 29:27, There multiple verses that can give you the idea what God is talking about here that may seem small, but to God, it's still sin. 

Proverbs 6:16-19  describes it best that having a corrupt and immoral mindset is not ok. Again you don't really think of it, but it's in the bible what God hates us doing and sadly enough a lot of us sometimes fall under this category quite often more than we realize.

16 There are six things the Lord hates,
    seven that are detestable to him:
17         haughty eyes,
        a lying tongue,
        hands that shed innocent blood,
18         a heart that devises wicked schemes,
        feet that are quick to rush into evil,
19         a false witness who pours out lies
        and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.

5) Gender Mixing/Transgender

6) Sexual Sins that is not of God

Deut. 22:5 5 A woman must not wear men’s clothing, nor a man wear women’s clothing, for the Lord your God detests anyone who does this.

Leviticus 18 and 20 

These topics could get a bit awkward or uncomfortable. Number 6 is a no brainer that talks about in Leviticus but there are people out there that do that. God says no, that's not right. Even bestiality is so wrong and makes you want to throw up as the bible says. Doing sexual things with animals is wrong. Just involving yourself in a situation that isn't approved by God is not a good road to go down.

In the past transgender relationships and practices have been kept quiet and very frowned upon to expose that in public. Today it seems ok and acceptable to dress like, act like, and choose to be involved in a same-sex marriage. This definitely not ok! It's sad today that people are open to doing this. I'm not a huge dressy person, I'm not big into wearing dresses. I will once in a while-I'm a bit of a tom-boy, but I do wear pants and tops that are made for females because God made me a female with female motives, not a feminist, but with common sense and I have no desire to be attracted to females what so ever.

7) Diet 

Last but not least Diet! apparently, diet was something that God was precise on as well that could be an abomination if we had eaten certain foods that were unclean and not ok to eat such as pigs, seafood like lobster, and a bunch more that Leviticus tells us. God did not want His people to eat these foods mostly because of health and the lack of knowledge of preparation too.

Leviticus 11       

So these 7 things that God calls an Abomination sounds like a bunch of rules do's and don'ts probably your thinking, Look at it as God trying to show us what he wants best for you and me in order to live properly how God intended.

NT Abominations:

God still hates the same abominations that happen in the New Testament that we took a look at in the Old Testament. Those things seem to be still happening today. The only thing that isn't carried in the NT is Diet. Diet has changed because the food we eat today has been cleaned such as pigs and others that used to be unclean! I am so thankful God decided to make it ok to eat pork and other foods because man I'd be missing out on some bacon! and I love my bacon! So good! still, have to eat everything in moderation too! God does want us to take care of ourselves for health reasons! We have more knowledge and wisdom on how to cook and prep. all sorts of food these days.

 

 

 

 

Acts 10:9-15 

9 About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds.13 Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”

14 “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”

15 The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

Mark 7:14-19  14 Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15 Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” [16] [f]

17 After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. 18 “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them?19 For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)

All in all, are we perfect at keeping everything? no, we are human and are in a fallen world. If we can do our best to love and give grace to others and forgive as Christ does. That's where God sent Jesus for us to give us grace for when we fail our Father in heaven we can ask for His forgiveness instead of being stoned to death like it had happened in the OT if you were found out. God will have His wrath as it says in Revelation when the Lord calls us home to set things straight for those that turned their back on Him. In the meantime do your best to obey God. Be saved by grace, turn from your sins and wicked ways as Jesus has so much more for you. Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice who gave Himself up for you to be forgiven of your sin! 

1 Corinthians 15:1-4      1 Peter1:13 and on

If you have reached the end of this long devotional thought Koddos to you and awesome job!! it is quite a lot of reading, even for me to write this out! Thank you so much for taking the time to stick through! if you have learned something new or just a cool thought or even have an issue with what I said please feel free to leave a comment and I'd be glad to respond!! 

Here's the video I was watching to feel some motivation to blog it! I know I could have just posted a video to save all the reading, Lol, cheekylaugh  but how do you learn if you don't write it out yourself? plus not everyone could do youtube as well maybe!