![]() AFTER HE ROSE [The Last Chapter of the Gospels] Click Logo to LISTEN NOW! Greetings! BlogFam, today’s blogpost posted a little later than usual because I was not sure what to write about. Since Salvation and Stilettos is so much more than a daily journal, I had to wait to see what direction we would go in next. So, on today, we will begin to explore the stories recorded in the Gospels that take place AFTER the Resurrection of our Lord. I honestly think that this is such a significant moment in Scripture though not much is recorded in any of the Gospels. The average is about one chapter in each Gospel about the Resurrection. So, based on the biblical text, we really do not have much to go on strictly based on the Gospels. We have plenty in the remainder of the New Testament but I would be interested to know what the Gospel writers would have continued to say about their life after the Resurrection had we been privileged to their perspectives beyond what we have today. To be honest with you, BlogFam, I think this is something for all of us to consider because as much as our Lord came to transform our whole life,when we begin to read Acts, in some ways, the people did revert to what was familiar by organizing churches and establishing communities of people that was different from what Jesus taught them before the resurrection. Friends, help meout! I really do not recall any passage where Jesus teaches us to start churches or set rules or establish hierarchies or create denominations or anything that supercedes the Reign-dom of God.[Reign-dom, a progressive term I learned from Dr. Michael Lomax, a Homeletics professor at the Interdenominational Theological Center] Perhaps, this is why we find it so hard to live into the power of the resurrection because the pattern was set thousands of years ago. Perhaps, we do not truly understand the freedom to live beyond the crucifixion because we are so used to the bondage and hold that the enemy and the inner-me has such that when we speak of rising again, we remain content with rising in some areas but conform to the bondage of the life before the resurrection – or before salvation for us on today. In order to help you understand what I am saying, let me ask you one question: On Sunday, April 8, we celebrated the glorious resurrection of our Lord and many of us reflected on that moment as a monumental event in the life of our faith tradition; however, on this day after that celebration, did you wake up with a fresh perspective and a new motivation because your life has been transformed by the power of the resurrection? OR is this just another Monday morning, Spring Break is over and you are counting the weeks to graduation or your next vacation or summer break? I’m just asking. Is your life different because life as you know it has been raised anew since Jesus came into your heart? Was yesterday a celebration of your salvation and has that energy carried over into this Monday morning? This week, we will begin to look at the stories in the Gospels that record Jesus' life after the Resurrection. We will start with the Gospel of Matthew and finish with the Gospel of John. Friends, I invite you to let the zeal of the Resurrection to linger in your hearts and minds beyond the moment you took off your new clothes and went to bed last night. Let us all live into the Resurrection power of our Lord! For – “...left to ourselves we lapse into a kind of collusion with entropy[a doctrine of inevitable social decline and degeneration], acquiescing in the general belief that things may be getting worse but that there's nothing much we can do about them. And we are wrong. Our task in the present...is to live as resurrection people in between Easter and the final day, with our Christian life, corporate and individual, in both worship and mission, as a sign of the first and a foretaste of the second.” ― N.T. Wright,Surprised by Hope:Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church Friends, I am not sure how long this series will last but I am excited to extend our reflection of the resurrection of our Lord for however long the Holy One sees fit. I pray that you will join me and that you will invite someone to read or listen along with us as we bexplore our task to live as resurrection people. Delesslyn Twitter - @AudraSunshine Email - delesslyn@spiritedconcepts.net ***MY FIRST BOOK*** Step Out of the Boat: An Invitation to Walk on Water Click on Picture of Cover to Purchase TODAY!!! THANK YOU for your support!!! If you enjoyed reading this blog post, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE on the left to get email updates,SHARE it with three people, COMMENT below, and click here to GIVE a donation of $5.00 or your best gift to keep it going!P.S. - BlogFam, I NEED your prayers and support - KIDS KORNER Radio program - It is a moment to spotlight the children and youth [and youth ministers] of our community! PLEASE tune in ONLINE at http://www.wigoam.com at 5:15pm EVERY SUNDAY AND let me know you are listening!!! Also, VISIT us at www.facebook.com/kidskornerradio OR shoot us an EMAIL at kidskornerradio@gmail.com if you have any suggestions for guests, topics, or would like to be a sponsor! [sponsorships are only $25] I WRITE by Faith and NOT by Sight... |