Mariners' Church exists to proclaim grace to man and glory to God by Knowing the Truth, Growing in community and Going to serve.
Oh what a night!
Thu, Jul 9 2009 01:38
Worship led us into another great meeting with our speaker, Mike Haley. A thing about our speaker is that I've known him for about 15 years, so we have alot of shared experiences together. He keeps sharing some of those experiences with the camp and embarassing me, and our students are loving that!
Following the service, we had our 2nd annual talent show. I have to say, this is one of my favorite parts of camp now. These kids were so funny to watch! They'll do anything because at their age, they still don't care what other people think! We had Erin Crowley say a few of her corny jokes, Charlie Barton did a card trick in front of everyone. Katie Kinsey did this whole stretching and bending thing where she put her legs behind her feet, and Dan Giles gave this whole V for Vendetta Speech. Katie ended up winning the whole Talent Show!
So we finally got everyone up to their beds and sleeping, and now it's time for a little rest and relaxation for the leaders. So I bid you goodnight until the morning and wish you a good night!
Ron Foster
Following the service, we had our 2nd annual talent show. I have to say, this is one of my favorite parts of camp now. These kids were so funny to watch! They'll do anything because at their age, they still don't care what other people think! We had Erin Crowley say a few of her corny jokes, Charlie Barton did a card trick in front of everyone. Katie Kinsey did this whole stretching and bending thing where she put her legs behind her feet, and Dan Giles gave this whole V for Vendetta Speech. Katie ended up winning the whole Talent Show!
So we finally got everyone up to their beds and sleeping, and now it's time for a little rest and relaxation for the leaders. So I bid you goodnight until the morning and wish you a good night!
Ron Foster
Comments
Wednesday!
Wed, Jul 8 2009 09:10
Wednesday is a simple, yet tiring day. That's because it's Water Park Day! Before we hit the water park, however, I have to tell you that our morning service was incredible! Everyone was really, really, into the worship. That led to our speaker having an altar call before he even started speaking, and 5 students went forward to accept Jesus as their Savior! What an awesome God we serve! We talked about making good choices, and what to do when we've found ourself stuck in a web of bad choices that we can't seem to get out of. Obviously, the hero was Spiderman!
After our group discussion, we got on some buses, and headed to Camelbeach Water Park in Tannersville, PA where our students wore themselves out on water slides, surf simulators, and wave pools! We just got back, ate some pizza for dinner, and are now in the worship service that is so incredible with the Scott Kemper Band leading worship! I can't wait to see what God will do tonight! Talk to you guys soon with more updates!
Ron Foster
After our group discussion, we got on some buses, and headed to Camelbeach Water Park in Tannersville, PA where our students wore themselves out on water slides, surf simulators, and wave pools! We just got back, ate some pizza for dinner, and are now in the worship service that is so incredible with the Scott Kemper Band leading worship! I can't wait to see what God will do tonight! Talk to you guys soon with more updates!
Ron Foster
Comments (1)
Catching Up! (Tuesday recap)
Wed, Jul 8 2009 08:40
Ok, so I missed updating Tuesday for everyone, so I'll do two updates.
Tuesday was such a busy, long day! After breakfast, the students headed into the auditorium for our morning service. The morning services are a little different in that we do just a few songs, and our speaker introduces a topic that we discuss later in our church group. The topic focused on overcoming fears, especially the fear of telling others about Christ. We had a great discussion as a group together.
After group, we headed up to the gym for the basketball tournament. Chase Hite jumped on a team that won their first round game, but lost shortly afterward. He did great. He was all over the place. The talk of the camp, however, was our girls team consisting of Morgan Merkert, Erin Crowley, and Katie Kinsey. They all dressed up really funny and put their hair in pony tail buns. They then did a very intimidating warm up with some crazy passes to each other. They lived up to the hype too! They crushed through every game like they were playing 1st Graders. It was an amazing thing to watch! The whole camp started cheering for our girls! It was incredible! They won the girls tourney!
After lunch we had some big group games out in the fields and up in the gym. I'll say this. All of our boys came back from their game covered in shaving cream! Awesome! We spent the rest of the day all over the camp with free time where our kids went out on canoes and kayaks, swam in the pool, and I had the longest and most challenging game of teatherball with our guy counselor, Matt Toeneboehn! Matt won :(
The service was another home run, where our students worshipped with all of their hearts, and listened to a powerful message that spoke to thier identity in Christ, and how we can get closer to Him. Our students really connected with leading several of them to make commitment to make Jesus 1st in their lives!
After the service we had some crazy games up in the gym, followed by a basketball game that the whole camp watched: our girls vs the boys champs! Everyone, and I mean everyone was cheering for our girls! They were so happy! They did so good! At one point it was all tied up 6-6. Baskets went back and forth, with the guys finally taking the win with a score of 11-9. Everyone cheered our girls in defeat. It was like a movie! In fact, I got alot of it on video, so I'm sure you'll get to see some of it at some point!
What a great group of kids we have here at camp. I'm so pumped for them to be here! I'm so excited to see how God is moving in their hearts! Stay tuned for another update shortly!
Ron Foster
Tuesday was such a busy, long day! After breakfast, the students headed into the auditorium for our morning service. The morning services are a little different in that we do just a few songs, and our speaker introduces a topic that we discuss later in our church group. The topic focused on overcoming fears, especially the fear of telling others about Christ. We had a great discussion as a group together.
After group, we headed up to the gym for the basketball tournament. Chase Hite jumped on a team that won their first round game, but lost shortly afterward. He did great. He was all over the place. The talk of the camp, however, was our girls team consisting of Morgan Merkert, Erin Crowley, and Katie Kinsey. They all dressed up really funny and put their hair in pony tail buns. They then did a very intimidating warm up with some crazy passes to each other. They lived up to the hype too! They crushed through every game like they were playing 1st Graders. It was an amazing thing to watch! The whole camp started cheering for our girls! It was incredible! They won the girls tourney!
After lunch we had some big group games out in the fields and up in the gym. I'll say this. All of our boys came back from their game covered in shaving cream! Awesome! We spent the rest of the day all over the camp with free time where our kids went out on canoes and kayaks, swam in the pool, and I had the longest and most challenging game of teatherball with our guy counselor, Matt Toeneboehn! Matt won :(
The service was another home run, where our students worshipped with all of their hearts, and listened to a powerful message that spoke to thier identity in Christ, and how we can get closer to Him. Our students really connected with leading several of them to make commitment to make Jesus 1st in their lives!
After the service we had some crazy games up in the gym, followed by a basketball game that the whole camp watched: our girls vs the boys champs! Everyone, and I mean everyone was cheering for our girls! They were so happy! They did so good! At one point it was all tied up 6-6. Baskets went back and forth, with the guys finally taking the win with a score of 11-9. Everyone cheered our girls in defeat. It was like a movie! In fact, I got alot of it on video, so I'm sure you'll get to see some of it at some point!
What a great group of kids we have here at camp. I'm so pumped for them to be here! I'm so excited to see how God is moving in their hearts! Stay tuned for another update shortly!
Ron Foster
Game On!
Tue, Jul 7 2009 08:18
July 7th, 2010.
So we left the church around 8:30am on Monday morning with 13 students and 3 leaders. It seemed like a long trip especially with the "I have to go to the bathroom" comments tagged with the "Is it time to eat yet?" questions. We pulled into the camp @ Rock Mountain Bible Camp just 30 minutes north of Scranton, PA, and it was on!
Our students went on a scavenger hunt after getting settled into their cabins to get acclimated with the camp setting where they saw the lake, the pool, the rec room, the all important dining room, and soccer field. It was great to see our guys and girls walking around and doing stuff together in their free time leading up to dinner.
I think our kids were blown away with the service. We started off with some screaming for our team (DC Comics), followed by some incredibly loud and awesome worship from Scott Kemper and his band, mixed with video and lighting that was off the charts! Our students were up front with a big crowd of the majority of the camp jumping up and down singing along. They sang and jumped so much that the floor was bouncing up and down! I'm not gonna lie, it smelled like some serious body odor when they went back to their seats!
Our speaker, Mike Haley introduced the camp to the greatest Hero of all time, Jesus. He shared how he prayed a prayer when he was 5 because other people were doing the same thing. It wasn't until he was 14 that he understood what accepting what Jesus did meant, and gave his heart to Christ. Our students really connected with this part of the message, as we had some great conversations in the cabins later about this very point.
The game for the night was Capture the Flag in the dark, separating the teams with glow sticks. Then the rain came. The whole camp was so pumped up to play capture the flag in the rain! It was seriously one of the coolest, funniest things I've seen. I walked out to see glow sticks all over this open field, slipping and falling and all you could hear was rain and laughter! What a great time!
We closed the night with some in-cabin discussions and wrap ups from the day which was probably my favorite part of the day. We have some great guys and girls that we brought from our church.
My camp duties put me in bed around 2:30 am. Woke up at 6:00 am to get a 3 mile run in, had counselor meeting with all of our leaders, and ready to start the new day! Make sure to check in later for some updates of how the day is going! Thanks for stopping in!
Ron Foster
So we left the church around 8:30am on Monday morning with 13 students and 3 leaders. It seemed like a long trip especially with the "I have to go to the bathroom" comments tagged with the "Is it time to eat yet?" questions. We pulled into the camp @ Rock Mountain Bible Camp just 30 minutes north of Scranton, PA, and it was on!
Our students went on a scavenger hunt after getting settled into their cabins to get acclimated with the camp setting where they saw the lake, the pool, the rec room, the all important dining room, and soccer field. It was great to see our guys and girls walking around and doing stuff together in their free time leading up to dinner.
I think our kids were blown away with the service. We started off with some screaming for our team (DC Comics), followed by some incredibly loud and awesome worship from Scott Kemper and his band, mixed with video and lighting that was off the charts! Our students were up front with a big crowd of the majority of the camp jumping up and down singing along. They sang and jumped so much that the floor was bouncing up and down! I'm not gonna lie, it smelled like some serious body odor when they went back to their seats!
Our speaker, Mike Haley introduced the camp to the greatest Hero of all time, Jesus. He shared how he prayed a prayer when he was 5 because other people were doing the same thing. It wasn't until he was 14 that he understood what accepting what Jesus did meant, and gave his heart to Christ. Our students really connected with this part of the message, as we had some great conversations in the cabins later about this very point.
The game for the night was Capture the Flag in the dark, separating the teams with glow sticks. Then the rain came. The whole camp was so pumped up to play capture the flag in the rain! It was seriously one of the coolest, funniest things I've seen. I walked out to see glow sticks all over this open field, slipping and falling and all you could hear was rain and laughter! What a great time!
We closed the night with some in-cabin discussions and wrap ups from the day which was probably my favorite part of the day. We have some great guys and girls that we brought from our church.
My camp duties put me in bed around 2:30 am. Woke up at 6:00 am to get a 3 mile run in, had counselor meeting with all of our leaders, and ready to start the new day! Make sure to check in later for some updates of how the day is going! Thanks for stopping in!
Ron Foster
Comments (3)
What A Run!
Wed, Jul 1 2009 01:02
I know I just mentioned that I'll be updating this blog for Middle School Camp, but that doesn't start until next week, and I just had to write about my morning!
I've been running. Some people know this if they've been keeping up with me on facebo
ok. In my office, I have a running chart of goals I am trying to hit each week as to how many miles each week, broken down by days. I missed Monday just because I was being lazy. I planned on running Tuesday night, but it started to downpour. So I had it in my mind that I would try a 7 mile run this morning to start making up for missing the other days.
(applicable only if you live in or around Annapolis) I drove the route to make sure it was 7 miles: Start at Gemini and Forest Dr. (where I live) going up Forest. Turn right at Chinquapin Round Rd. Left at West Street. Cross over Solomon's Island continue up West Street toward the mall. Turn right at Bestgate Road. Right at Medical Parkway. Eventually curves around back to West Street and Solomon's Island Rd. Head back down West Street. Right on Chinquapin Round Road. Left on Forest Drive and end at Gemini Dr.
I hadn't run further than 6 miles since well, in a long time. I started out the run by seeing 3 deer just off to my right. As I got closer to them, they didn't move. They just looked at me and watched me run! I was about 5 yards away from them! It w
as awesome! At about the 3.5 mile mark I got pretty fatigued, so I walked about 1/2 mile to the mile 4 marker, where I began running again. About the 5 mile mark, I began praying. "Lord, today is Yours. Please take my decisions. My thoughts. My actions. I want them to honor You!" This all stemmed from a series we are doing with the students called "24: Spending a Day With God". It's a 3 week series covering the morning hours, your during the day hours, and evening hours. Giving my day to God was a great start! I then thanked Jesus for getting me up so that I could pursue making running a habit, and then He reminded me that there was another habit I had yet to make happen today. You know what it is. So I asked Him to help me remember to open up His Word and not rush it, but soak in what He wants for me to know! I did open up His Word and am still thinking about the words that I read and how God wants to change me as a result.
You know, habits are hard to start and hard to break. Getting into the habit of running hasn't been easy and I wasn't able to do six and a half miles when I started. It's been a process. Just like opening up God's Word on a regular basis. There will be times when it all makes sense and it's awesome. But there will be times when your mind is somewhere else. In those times, pray that God will get your focus. He'll bless you for it. And the more you do it, the more you'll get out of it!
On a side note, some songs that kept me running as I was getting tired throughout the run:
Never Let Go - Matt Redman
Jesus Paid It All - Kristian Stanfill
Rain Down - Hillsong United & Delirious
I Am Free - Newsboys
Yours - Toby Mac
Eye of the Tiger - Survivor
All Star - Smash Mouth
I'm a Believer - Smash Mouth
Have a great day!
Ron Foster
I've been running. Some people know this if they've been keeping up with me on facebo
ok. In my office, I have a running chart of goals I am trying to hit each week as to how many miles each week, broken down by days. I missed Monday just because I was being lazy. I planned on running Tuesday night, but it started to downpour. So I had it in my mind that I would try a 7 mile run this morning to start making up for missing the other days.(applicable only if you live in or around Annapolis) I drove the route to make sure it was 7 miles: Start at Gemini and Forest Dr. (where I live) going up Forest. Turn right at Chinquapin Round Rd. Left at West Street. Cross over Solomon's Island continue up West Street toward the mall. Turn right at Bestgate Road. Right at Medical Parkway. Eventually curves around back to West Street and Solomon's Island Rd. Head back down West Street. Right on Chinquapin Round Road. Left on Forest Drive and end at Gemini Dr.
I hadn't run further than 6 miles since well, in a long time. I started out the run by seeing 3 deer just off to my right. As I got closer to them, they didn't move. They just looked at me and watched me run! I was about 5 yards away from them! It w
as awesome! At about the 3.5 mile mark I got pretty fatigued, so I walked about 1/2 mile to the mile 4 marker, where I began running again. About the 5 mile mark, I began praying. "Lord, today is Yours. Please take my decisions. My thoughts. My actions. I want them to honor You!" This all stemmed from a series we are doing with the students called "24: Spending a Day With God". It's a 3 week series covering the morning hours, your during the day hours, and evening hours. Giving my day to God was a great start! I then thanked Jesus for getting me up so that I could pursue making running a habit, and then He reminded me that there was another habit I had yet to make happen today. You know what it is. So I asked Him to help me remember to open up His Word and not rush it, but soak in what He wants for me to know! I did open up His Word and am still thinking about the words that I read and how God wants to change me as a result.You know, habits are hard to start and hard to break. Getting into the habit of running hasn't been easy and I wasn't able to do six and a half miles when I started. It's been a process. Just like opening up God's Word on a regular basis. There will be times when it all makes sense and it's awesome. But there will be times when your mind is somewhere else. In those times, pray that God will get your focus. He'll bless you for it. And the more you do it, the more you'll get out of it!
On a side note, some songs that kept me running as I was getting tired throughout the run:
Never Let Go - Matt Redman
Jesus Paid It All - Kristian Stanfill
Rain Down - Hillsong United & Delirious
I Am Free - Newsboys
Yours - Toby Mac
Eye of the Tiger - Survivor
All Star - Smash Mouth
I'm a Believer - Smash Mouth
Have a great day!
Ron Foster
Camp Updates!
Mon, Jun 29 2009 09:38
For parents, friends, and members of our church:
I will be posting to this site updates as we go through our week of camps. The first camp will be our middle school camp which happens a week from today (July 6-10). I know some think I'm wierd or a little crazy for spending
a week at a time with teenagers, but it's not a task for me, nor is it a burden. I am stoked for camp! I can't wait! I love the ride up (as long as everyone doesn't have their headphones on...that's not fun), I love walking around doing different activities with the students, I love staying up late and goofing off! More than anything though, I love the services, where I see our students freely getting into worship, then responding to God's message to them through the speakers we bring in and seeing their lives changed! It's incredible! Nothing like it! So keep up with us during camp. I'll try to post something twice a day, but at least once for sure! To see more about our camps check out http://www.eastcoastyouthnetwork.com/ for middle school camp and http://www.liftstudentministries.com/ for high school camp (July 27-31).
Ron Foster
I will be posting to this site updates as we go through our week of camps. The first camp will be our middle school camp which happens a week from today (July 6-10). I know some think I'm wierd or a little crazy for spending
a week at a time with teenagers, but it's not a task for me, nor is it a burden. I am stoked for camp! I can't wait! I love the ride up (as long as everyone doesn't have their headphones on...that's not fun), I love walking around doing different activities with the students, I love staying up late and goofing off! More than anything though, I love the services, where I see our students freely getting into worship, then responding to God's message to them through the speakers we bring in and seeing their lives changed! It's incredible! Nothing like it! So keep up with us during camp. I'll try to post something twice a day, but at least once for sure! To see more about our camps check out http://www.eastcoastyouthnetwork.com/ for middle school camp and http://www.liftstudentministries.com/ for high school camp (July 27-31).Ron Foster
What made him different?
Fri, May 8 2009 09:33
I remember my junior high years like they were yesterday. They are so vivid in my memory. I loved those years. I remember wearing a jean jacket to school with rips in the elbows (done on purpose), tightrolling my pants (or "pegging") because that was how you wore your pants, sporting some high tops (even though I wasn't on the basketball court), and wearing my New York Mets hat (even though we lived in San Jose, CA) backwards every day to school. School wasn't difficult. I played every sport offered to me. I had friends. I was starting to get the whole relationship with Jesus thing because of Mr. Dahl (our Jr. High director in church at the time). Life was great.
But there was this one guy, Eric (I can't remember his last name). Eric was a year older than me. Eric was also a lot bigger than me. I could run faster in soccer, shoot better in basketball, and field better in baseball than him, but he was just a lot stronger than me. It seemed to me that Eric's life goal was to torture 7th graders (me especially). Every time he saw me, he would pound on me! It got to the point that if I saw him in front of me, I would turn around and go the other way, and walk around the entire building just to avoid getting pounded by Eric.
I know this is a poor analogy, so please don't make a direct correlation, but in the Gospels of the Bible, it seemed that every time that Jesus spoke to or about the Pharisees, Sadducees, or other religious leaders it was always harsh and direct. Granted, it was deserving, and the religious leaders were doing their part to trip up Jesus, but Jesus didn't hold back on these guys. When I read some of the stuff that Jesus said to these guys, I start doing my Tiger Woods fist pump! Go Jesus! You tell 'em!
Well, I noticed in Mark chapter 12, that one of these "teachers of religious law" had been standing in the crowd listening to Jesus' words and observing. There seemed to be something different about this guy than the other Pharisees though. He asked Jesus, "Of all of the commandments, which one is the most important?" Now we know that Jesus normally wouldn't answer a straight up question like that, but Jesus , knowing men's hearts, I think sensed a genuine question for once and not a trap. So Jesus answered it. His answer for the sake of space is "Love God with everything, and the 2nd is just as important, Love others. All other commandments support these two."
Get this. The teacher then says, "You know what? That makes total sense, Jesus. It also makes sense that God would want us to focus on loving Him and others as opposed to our offerings and sacrifices." I wouldn't have seen this coming from a Pharisee, and I think Jesus response is incredible. Jesus looked at the man and said, "You are not far from the Kingdom." After looking at many commentaries on this statement, we might say in other words, "You get it. You understand it. You're almost there. You just need to believe (trust) it now." This man understood a truth that can be hard to understand. He understood that doing all of the right things don't mean anything unless your heart is right, and your heart can't be right unless you love God with everything!
What a cool insert in the Gospel of Mark! Love that! You might be wondering if anything ever happened with Eric. Well, as the year went on, I started gaining more confidence toward Eric, but I knew something was going to happen when I took his starting spot at 2nd base. I avoided him for days, when finally I turned the corner and there he was. He grabbed me, grabbed my cap, put me in a headlock and started pounding me. Something inside of me snapped. I pushed away with all I had, punched him in the stomach as hard as I could, and shouted "Don't you have anything better to do than to go around picking on 7th graders? Get a life!" With that said I was expecting the onslaught of blows he would give me. Instead, he looked at me, tossed me my ca
p back, and said, "It's about time. I was just waiting for you to stand up for yourself." And from that day on, Eric never bothered me again.
p back, and said, "It's about time. I was just waiting for you to stand up for yourself." And from that day on, Eric never bothered me again. I stood out to Eric in a way that was different than all of the other 7th graders, and this teacher stood out to Jesus. He didn't stand out because he shouted at Jesus, but rather understood the notion of getting one's heart in love with God's. So how about you? Do you get it? Do you get that you need to fall in love with Jesus as opposed to trying so hard all the time to do the right things that might make God happy with you? Maybe you can start today with just spending some time with God and give Him your heart.
Have a great day!
Ron Foster
Sit down for a spell
Thu, May 7 2009 11:34
In Mark chapter 12 of the New Testament, the very first verse starts off with these words: "Then Jesus began telling them stories...". I love that! Jesus knew more than anyone that to capture people's attention and hearts is through a story! Why do so many people watch Extreme Makeover: Home Edition every Sunday night? Is it to get house building tips? Is it to see how Ty Pennington will scream into his megaphone this week? Perhaps a little. It is to see what the family's story is, and how this new home will help them out!
Take the Cadigan-Scott family for example. Within a matter of months, this family lost their mother and father! Now there was a college age daughter, along with a few older siblings, to try and keep the family together. So the Makeover crew came in, built a new home, and took care of expenses! I'm sorry, but if you can make it through an episode of one of these shows without crying then you have no soul! Just kidding, but not really! HA HA!
My point in all of this is that truth can be told in stories. You don't just have to lecture, argue, or debate. In fact, a story, in most cases will be much more received then just spurting words at someone. I want to encourage you to share your story with someone. How has God changed your life? It is said that the story of Jesus Christ is the greatest story ever told. Well, the second greatest story ever told is YOURS! Go and tell it to someone today!
Ron Foster
A simple request, a loaded answer, an amazing outcome!
Wed, Apr 22 2009 09:51
I know some people that can read large amounts of a book or the Bible and retain it all. I'm not one of those people. I take things in small amounts, digest them, incorporate them, and then move to the next little chunk. So that is how I tend to read the Bible...in small amounts at a time. Today's little chunk was just awesome to me! I found it in Mark chapter 10, verses 46-52.
It's not a crazy teaching passage, or some super ginormous thing that happens. You have Jesus walking down the road, and there is this blind guy named Bartimaeus that hears about Jesus coming through. He doesn't know where exactly Jesus is at so he just starts screaming for Jesus. "Jesus! Jesus! Son of David! Have mercy on me!" (it's interesting here that he did not call Jesus of Nazareth, but Jesus, Son of David which is a term reserved for the Messiah...he was showing faith by calling Jesus this title).
People around Bartimaeus are getting annoyed and embarassed of their local blind beggar. As they were telling him to be quiet, Jesus calls for him to be brought over.
Jesus asked Bart what he wanted Him to do. Bart has one simple request. "I WANT TO SEE!"
I think that Jesus was pleased with this answer because in that moment, Jesus not only granted Bart's eyes to see, but his heart to see as well.
Jesus tells him, "Go your way. Your faith has healed you."
How do I know that Bart's heart could see too? Well, the outcome tells it all.
Verse 52 says that instantly Bart could see, and then he followed Jesus down the way!
Jesus told him to go his way, but out of his gratitude and thanks, He followed Jesus!
Let me ask you today, have you allowed Jesus to open your heart so you can see? What if you were to ask Him today, "Lord, help 
me to see You clearly, and to see people the way you see people." Do you think something would change with how you treated others? What about how you saw the grocery store checkout person? The mailman? The drive-thru attendant? Your waiter? Is your response to follow the way that Jesus leads you? If not, why? Why don't we go down the way that Jesus is going and see where He takes us? Give it a try. I know you won't be disappointed.
me to see You clearly, and to see people the way you see people." Do you think something would change with how you treated others? What about how you saw the grocery store checkout person? The mailman? The drive-thru attendant? Your waiter? Is your response to follow the way that Jesus leads you? If not, why? Why don't we go down the way that Jesus is going and see where He takes us? Give it a try. I know you won't be disappointed.Have a great day!
Ron Foster
Friday
Fri, Apr 10 2009 10:08
Today represents a day that changed everything. Today represents the day that Jesus accomplished on this earth what He came to do. He came to die. What happened on this day? I found a cool site that walks you through the final week of Jesus (click here to check out the full week). But let's look at what happened today.
1:00-1:30am Jesus is confronted by Judas and the soldiers
1:30-3:00am Trial 1 with Annas
1:30-3:00am Trial 2 with Caiaphas (Jesus is beaten between trials)
3:00-5:00am Jesus held at Caiaphas'
5:00-6:00am Trial 3 w/Jewish leaders
6:00-7:00am Trial 4 w/Pilate ("I find no guilt in him")
7:00-7:30am Trial 5 w/Herod (Jesus silent, so sent back to Pilate)
7:30-8:30am Trial 6 w/Pilate (tries to appease people by flogging - 39 whips with a cat of nine
tails - Jesus...people demand death, so Pilate grants it)
8:30-9:00am Roman soldiers continue to beat on Jesus, place crown of thorns on His head
9:00-12:00pm Jesus forced to carry cross through town, nails in His hands, nail in His feet,
raised up on the cross
12:00-3:00pm Final 3 hours on the cross
3:00pm Death
? Burial
Did you know that Jesus went through all of this voluntarily? Why would someone choose this? Well, the answer is simple...YOU. Because our sin separates us from God, and the payment/penalty of our sin is eternal death (separation from God forever), the only one who could pay that penalty for us did. The righteous Judge, the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords who pronounced us guilty got up from His throne, took off his robe and traded it in to pay the penalty for us and make a way for us to now have eternal life (relationship and communion with God forever). Thank you, Lord, for thinking of me, for loving me as You went through this horrific and good Friday.
Have a great day,
Ron Foster
