I Live Because He Lives: Reflection on the Resurrection

"He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed."  1 Peter 2:24

Good Friday: Reflections on the Cross

"The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life - only to take it up again.  No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.  I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.  This command I received from my Father."  John 10:17-18

"Put your sword away!  Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?"  John 18:11

"My kingdom is not of this world.  If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews.  But now my kingdom is from another place."  John 18:36

"I tell you the truth, today you will be with Me in paradise."  Luke 23:43

"It is finished."  John 19:30

By No Means the End: Reflections on Loss

"End?  No, the journey doesn't end here.  Death is just another path...One we all must take.  The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass...And then you see it...White shores...and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise."

Sunday night our Sister in Christ, Melanie Sweenie, was relieved of her suffering and taken home to her savior.  It's a hard thing for those of us who are left behind, harder still for her two young sons and her husband, but we can take comfort in knowing that her work was finished.  Right now, she is getting to look upon the face of the savior with perfect vision and hear the words "well done good and faithful servant."  This was no surprise to Him who knows the number of our days and in that I pray we can all find comfort in this time.  God did not look down on Melanie, gasp, and think, "whoops, wasn't paying attention there", rather He was the one calling her home, drawing her into eternal rest.  He is also the One who will comfort her family, and use this to grown and strengthen them as He uses their local church to gather around them.

While we mourn with those who mourn (Romans 12:15), we continue to rejoice that death, eternal death, has been concurred, and say along with Paul, "'O death, where is your victory?  O death, where is your sting?'  The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."  1 Corinthians 15:55-57  By the sacrifice of Christ Jesus, Melanie, along with all who believe on Him, is free from the penalty of sin and now she is completely free from its oppression (2 Corinthians 5:21).  May we take hope in this, no matter the tragedies we experience in this life.

Pasta! More Reflections on Food.

Drying pasta

I love food.  And if you read my blog with any regularity you will know that this is quite the understatement.  I also love to cook and one of my all time favorite people to cook with is the great Kandy Steen.  When I was working at Christ EPC in Houston, the youth staff took a cooking class from her during the summer.  She is a cooking ninja.  We learned to make gourmet macaroni, spatzle, cheese cake, and pasta from scratch, just to name a few and every recipe I have tried on my own and shared with others has been a huge hit.  Today, I got to help her cook all of the meals for this week because she hurt her hand and to be quite honest, I made out like a bandit.  We cooked chicken and andouille sausage gumbo, a rotisserie chicken casserole with amazing white sauce, and home made pasta with Italian sausage ragou.  And of course she let me take some home.

As pasta is pretty much my favorite food to cook on my list of things to request for my birthday or Christmas:  a kitchen aide with a pasta attachment.  YUM!

Now tell me:  What's your favorite dish to cook?