Who Knew?

     Not his disciples. Not the hostile crowd, or the Roman soldiers.

     It was a day of the Lord. 

                          Not the Day of the Lord yet to come. 

     You and I were judged for our transgressions. 

     God's vengeance on us was carried out, not by Christ, but on him.

     On the cross, before he breathed his last, he forgave those who whipped him, mocked him and nailed him there. They didn't know.

     Now resurrected, he offers forgiveness. Do we want to be forgiven?

     We are free to believe, forsake our ways, and begin to "follow" him. 

     His astonished, delighted disciples were eager for him to restore the kingdom to Israel, Abraham's children. Ah...not yet. 

     He told them to - go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And surely, I will be with you always. 

     The Day of the Lord and Israel's restoration is still on schedule. 

     Deliverance for some. Spiritual death for all the others. 

All is Quiet

     It is Saturday. The Sabbath continues.

     Those who wouldn't take truth for an answer are satisfied.

     Those whose teacher was crucified are crushed. 

     What's going on here? The Messiah didn't come in victory. 

     Wasn't this the Day of the Lord? 

 

Day of Judgment 

Friday  

     ...a day of darkness, earthquakes, wrath. A crowd armed with swords and clubs. A kiss of death. Spit, thorns and fists. Liars.

     A murderer set free. An innocent man condemned. Friends slip away. The sun stops shining. 

     Blood money. Flogging. Mocking. The temple curtain torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shakes and rocks split. Tombs break open. Roman guards are terrified. 

     A crucifixion, confirmed with a spear into his side. Take his body down. It's time for the Sabbath.  

     Friday night. Time to rest, in obedience to the commandment. 

     Could this be the Day of the Lord?

     

They Were Warned 

Part 2

     Prophets foretold that disobedient people would face supernatural disaster on the Day of the Lord. 

     There were crises in Bible times, a foretaste of wrath. Malachi 4:5 (the next to last verse in the Old Testament): "See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes." 

     If John the Baptist represents the return of Elijah, and if Jesus is truly the Messiah, then what are we waiting for? 

     This must be the Day of the Lord. It's time for God's vengeance on his enemies. 

Part 3, Friday! 

Day of the Lord

Part 1

     This is the week.

     The story began in Eden. There was light, water, vegetation, stars, two great lights, living creatures in the sea, birds, livestock, wild animals... "and God saw that it was good." 

     He made man in his own image...to rule over the earth. Soon, there was fear, guilt and shame. Then a flood the world over. Sodom and Gomorrah. Rescue for some; judgment for others. Deliverance for Hebrew slaves; death for Pharoah's army. 

     Before Moses descended the mountain, impatient people built and worshipped a golden calf. 

     The day of the Lord will be the best news for some, and the worst news for all the rest. Prophets warned...disaster for the wicked, deliverance for the faithful. 

     God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. Deut. 4:24. 

     Isaiah 13:9: "The day of the Lord is near...cruel, with wrath and anger." Jeremiah 46:10: "The sword will drink its fill of blood." Amos 5:18, 20: "Will not the day be darkness, not light, and pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness in it?"

     Will Friday be the Day? 

Saving the World

Seeking peace  

     English is the language world governments use. If we don't solve the vowel crisis, Mandarin will replace English. So, I called the five vowels together, determined to make peace at all costs. 

     a              e              i             o            u

     Okay. So, they're not together. I encouraged unity with a question:           Be yo up an in?    Silence.  

     Then, a glared at o and snarled, yoyo! To which o replied, ok, go ax ya...and before he could finish, u yelled at i, if it is, is it? Then E laughed, he he, and the o laughed ho ho. 

     But, o did provide a glimmer of hope when he said to all, do no mo of wo or... Unwilling to allow o to hog all the attention, the vowels just lost it, o included: 

ad@/pi[+lo^%we"}to##ye:<oz=&&ox~%a

p@so?/?as-ye)#`at=|ex*\\| ad.... 

     Stop! I yelled. Gather together!   a        e       i       o        u

     Closer!      a   e   i   o   u  

     Now, listen to me. You have forgotten that you all have prominent roles in the English spelling of the Holy One. See that, o? Look, e and u, you have the privilege of appearing in the Name, Jesus. And i, you are in Christ. You and a are side by side in Messiah, and e is with you. You again, o, a contribution to Lord. And i, you have two places in Spirit. 

     Repent of your pride, all five of you, and come together in love.

                                          aeiou

     That's better. 

War of the Vowels 

        As one who spent decades wrestling with the written word, I stumbled upon trouble in the arena of spoken words. Curious, I left my keyboard, grabbed my tape recorder and approached the hostile combatants. 

     There are five vowels, although y can be a vowel also. The five are extremely proud, being essential in their contribution to a language dominated by 21 consonants. 

     I found the vowels arguing, each claiming to be superior to the others. 

     For example, the vowel a is in the very center of "war," a reason for pride if there ever was one. 

     I don't worship multi-syllable words like snooty college professors do. My language level is suited to this task - to unite the fractured a/e\i/o\u family. 

     First, I approached the letter i, which answered "Hi." So far so good. But every attempt at conversation, i just repeated "is it?" The others had a similar response. Each vowel refused to use a word that included another vowel. The survival of the English language was at stake. 

     I searched for what they had in common. The scale! - do re mi fa so la ti do. My elation evaporated when I learned that e had replaced i. They sound the same, but i was livid. 

     And a replaced e, which had twice replaced i. The letter o appears in more than 40 percent of two-letter English words - our field of study. Others were jealous, and o wasn't willing to share. 

     We must unite the vowels in the interest of saving our language and the world. But, no promises. 

 Tomorrow

     

 

Monday & Tuesday

War of the Vowels