Happy Easter!

I hope everyone had fun decorating and searching for their eggs! Anyway, since I copied down some verses from the Bible for Good Friday, I thought I would finish up the story with Christ's resurrection today:

Mark 16:1-20

The Resurrection

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?"

But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

"Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.' "

Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.

Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.

Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.

He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."

After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.

Good Friday

Today, as you know, is Good Friday. I thought I would put this up here; I thought it was quite appropriate for today. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I do. So here's the crucifixion of Christ our Savior.

Luke 23:26-49

The Crucifixion

As they led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and maade him carry it behind Jesus. A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. Jesus turned and said to them, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. For the time will come when you will say, 'Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!' Then they will say to the mountains, 'Fall on us!' and to the hills, 'Cover us!'"
"For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?"
Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals-one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, "Father, forgivve them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One."
The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself."
There was a written notice above him, wich read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"
But the other criminal rebuked him. Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."
Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

Jesus' Death

It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last.

The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, "surely this was a righteous man." When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

The Dolly Steam Boat

Over the weekend, my family went to Canyon Lake to ride on a Dolly Steam Boat. On the ride, we were told to keep our eyes "peeled" for any wild animals. Although we didn't see any of the javelinas, (it's pronounced havelinas) which are wild pigs with big tusks, bobcats, mountain lions, or anything else like that, we did see a bunch of big horned sheep. They were so cool! They were a grayish tan color and they had big horns, hence the name big horned sheep. It was kinda cold, but luckily I had a jacket, a thin one but, nevertheless, a jacket. On the way back, we noticed that we were almost out of gas! Unfortunately, the ride back was mostly uphill and required a lot of gas to get up! Even more unfortunate, the nearest gas station was about 10-15 miles away! Fortunately, my dad was able to coast half the time (coasting is when you don't use any gas and depend on downhills to build up speed). He only used gas when we were losing our speed and needed to get uphill and when we got on the main road. It was really scary because on the Apache trail that we had to go on, there were sharp turns without any rails and we were basically on the edge of the cliff! Although we didn't have very much gas, we barely made it to the gas station. After that we just went home. That trip was so fun!!!