That should make shivers run up and down your spine.  It should make you gasp in amazement – that God would do this — for me — and for you.  But does it do that for you?  Have you lost the wonder of Easter?  Have you lost the astonishment of this great gift?

Sure, I enjoy the Easter Bunny and stained-glass eggs, so I hope you won’t misinterpret what I’m going to say.  I believe something is getting lost in the media-driven message of Easter.  While we enjoy these fun little diversions with our children, we need to be faithful to remember to teach our children the real story of Easter.  We need to explain the gospel message that Jesus delivered to us for all time in a way that they can understand but also treasure and respect.  We need to make Jesus’ sacrifice very real in their little lives — so real that their hearts are touched by what Jesus did for them.

In Saturday’s Faith section of our local paper, there was a headline for a local church advertising “The  Holy Week Experience.”  I used to be a part of this church, so I believe my words accurately represent this church’s intention for this “experience”.

This church states an innocent desire:  they want people to get a taste of what it really was like during Jesus’ last week before the Crucifixion.  They will use interactive videos, dramatic lighting, activities, etc. to depict the events of Holy Week.  People will walk through the church and encounter stations depicting scenes designed to challenge their thinking and as an end result, discover the ways they have personally betrayed Jesus.  Along the way, each person will pick up a “burden” to carry.  At the end, they will lay their burdens down.

OK, so I don’t mind people getting a history lesson about the Crucifixion.  Here’s the part that bothers me.  After seeing the empty tomb, participants will be asked to decide how this “Jesus message” has changed them and what they are going to now because of it.

The key phrase is:  “What they are going to do now” because of this “experience.”  When did we start seeing Christianity as something we do?  It’s not about our experiences.  It’s about historical facts and an amazing account recorded for us in God’s Word.  It’s about what Jesus did – not what we are going to do with this information.  It’s about what Jesus did for us on that cross.

It is so easy to make our faith a works-based faith.  By believing that we must constantly encounter “feelings and experiences”  we begin to belittle the faith given once and for all to the Saints to those who are called by Him.  Our responses become “works” if we are not careful to point everything towards Him and every thought away from ourselves.  It may seem like a little thing to differentiate between the two, but it can make all the difference in the world in understanding the awesome God we serve — the Sovereign, Holy I Am.  He is God!  He is the Maestro of the Universe — directing and conducting our paths in the way He chooses to direct them.

This week, let’s not forget this message.  By dying, Jesus gave us the gracious gift of eternal life.  By dying on that cross, His blood was shed to atone for our innate and continuing sin — the sin we are born with and the sin we continue to exhale from every pore of our soul.  By dying on that cross, we can now be reconciled with the Father and live in the hope of eternal life with Him.

Have you communicated this information to your children?  This is my encouragement for you today, that while you enjoy cute little bunny feet and Easter candy, you will also revel in the truth of Easter, remembering that your children should experience the truth of Easter.  They should understand the awe of the sacrifice made on their behalf.

Once emptied, an Easter basket is easily forgotten until next year.  The truth of Jesus, however, is a gift of immeasurable worth to your child.  Give them a gift that is not easily forgotten.

Images by Dainis Matisons (Creative Commons Attribution License)

Parents: Some good news to share with your children about God’s provision.  Many of you read about my hope that people would respond on Global Food Crisis day — that their hearts would open wide for the poor of the world–that through their giving, others might live.

I am humbled to report that so far (and the final count is not in) Compassion International has collected over 3 million dollars which will go directly into the Global Food Crisis Fund!

In addition, more than 2,000 children were sponsored.  Of the 27,000 people who donated, more than 20,000 were new donors to Compassion.

God is amazing, is He not?  He reminds us that He cares for the tiniest sparrow.  How much more does He care for the hungry children of the world?

To all of you who participated in this campaign, thank you – from the bottom of my heart.  Each child in every third world country we serve —thanks you.  They can know one more day where their belly will not have to rumble in hunger—and we have seen yet one more day that God works in miraculous ways.

Heavenly Father – thank you for your provision.  Thank you for loving the tiniest sparrow and the smallest child.  Thank you for loving the aged — the poor– the wealthy–thank you for loving all people of all nations.  Thank you for inspiring us to give sacrifically to our brothers and sisters around the globe.

Photo by Alyssa Eryn

Parents:  Many of you who read my blog know that I am a strong supporter of Compassion International.  I also volunteer for them because they are a solid and trustworthy organization.  Donations are used wisely with integrity to help those in poverty survive — it’s an organization where children of the world can not only have their physical needs met, but their spiritual needs, as well.

March 11 is Global Food Crisis Day. The United Nations World Food Programme calls the current global food crisis “a phenomenon, a silent tsunami,” affecting millions of families in every nation on every continent.  Simply stated, people are dying from hunger today — this very minute.  As you consider whether you should even think about supporting an endeavor like this, children and families are dying. Right now statistics show that 27,000 children die EVERY DAY from preventable causes.  Surely hunger is preventable….with your help!

Because this crisis affects people around the globe, it is also affecting children/families supported by Compassion International.  Food prices have doubled in many countries we serve because of unstable oil prices, increased meat consumption in countries like India and China, droughts in major crop-producing countries, and increased production of bio-fuels.

BUT YOU CAN HELP!  Certainly, we would love for you to choose to support a child of your very own, but some of you may not be able to do that at this time.  However, you may be able to help with a one or two-time donation to a food crisis fund where the money is wisely spent. You can find out more and donate here.

For those of you who can see the value of monthly supporting a child, see the widget to the left of this post.  The child on the left of this post has a birthday today.  What better present could you give him/her than to commit your support of $1.00/day so he will not go hungry — so he can go to school — so he can have access to medical care — so he can grow closer to the Lord through spiritual mentors who loves him, caring for his needs in a holistic way.  Everything you send above your monthly support goes 100% to that child.   Psalm 82:3-4 Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.  Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” Most of us can afford $1.00 a day to feed a child, can’t we?  Such a small price to pay for being faithful to God’s Word…….

This video will give you more information about Global Food Crisis Day.

I can think of no better words than these.  I hope they will encourage you to draw from the deep resources that God has richly blessed you with -- to think outside of the world you personally struggle in -- choosing to insert your heart into the culture of another child of God who is beloved by God -- so that perhaps you may discover how God can use your hands, feet and finances for those of His children who do not have the luxuries most of us have.

John 15:14-17 And you are my friends if you do what I command you.
I do not call you servants any longer, because servants do not know what their master is doing. Instead, I call you friends, because I have told you everything I heard from my Father.
You did not choose me; I chose you and appointed you to go and bear much fruit, the kind of fruit that endures. And so the Father will give you whatever you ask of him in my name.
This, then, is what I command you: love one another.

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