Today is Resurrection Sunday. Better known as Easter in most Christian circles. It is simply the day we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ after his sacrificial death on the cross.
The Church has a simple echo statement for this day. One person would say, “He is Risen” and the other would respond with, “He is risen indeed.”

So this morning I shout out –

The rest is up to you.

Today is Good Friday. It is the day we specifically remember the death of Jesus on the cross. It is an important day on the Christian calendar because of its deep spiritual significance. In an effort to teach this lesson to my high school youth group, last week I did a simple object lesson. I gave each of them a piece of red ribbon about a foot long. I then had them write their names one it. Next I taught them about the cross. I told them the seven final words from the cross and the deep meaning of two of them – “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” and “It is finished.”

At the end of the lesson I challenged them to take their red ribbon, representing our sin filled life, and place it on the cross. I wanted them to know that Jesus did not just die for the sins of the world but for My sins. Here is the final product.

This picture shows the cross turned red – not just red by your sins, but also by mine.

That is the reason I celebrate Good Friday.

Today is the time in the Holy Week leading up to Easter/Resurrection Sunday that we celebrate Maundy Thursday. In some traditions it is called Holy Thursday. It commemorates the final night of Jesus life before he goes to the cross. It is the night in which he washes the disciples feet and institutes what we call the Last Supper or the Lord’s Supper.

In some countries today is a public holiday, but not in America. Some Churches have special programs today, but mine does not. In my tradition we take the opportunity each week to celebrate the Lord’s Supper, or as we often call it communion. It is a time for us to focus on the fellowship we have with God through the work of Jesus on the cross. It is a time in which we fellowship together at his table being reminded that we are united as believers by his grace. For us, every week is a reminder of the sacrifice Jesus made to bring us together in communion with God and other people.

Today is the day we remember how it all started. Today we remember that Jesus humbled himself and became obedient unto death – even death on a cross. I hope that at some point through this day you will pause and think about Jesus words. Maybe with a Church somewhere or simply with other believers in a group. Maybe with your family. Maybe just in the quiet of your mind.

Matthew 26:26-29 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”
(27) Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. (28) This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. (2)9 I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

It is no secret that almost every Church will have numerous guests for their Easter services. Even the most non-religious people seem to be willing to go to Church on Easter. As a result, Easter will lead most Churches to add special programs to bring even more people to Church. They will have Sunrise Services, special breakfast, Easter pageants and extra worship programs. People who normally wouldn’t offer much help quickly volunteer to do special readings, sing special songs and help in the children’s programs with an Easter egg hunt. Churches are booming with activity and with people every day of this weekend.

The only problem is that most of the guests will not return the week after Easter. Some of them will only reappear at Christmas and others will not return until next Easter. Many of them will keep their negative attitude toward Christians and unfortunately even have them reinforced this weekend. It is my contention that all of the programs and special activities have little impact without paying attention to the small details. I believe the small things we do this weekend will have the greatest impact on our guests for the good of the gospel.

1. Park as far away from the building as you can. Save the best spots for the elderly, those with children and guests. How many of us have driven around a Wal-mart parking lot looking for that spot close to the door? Now imagine going to Wal-mart and all the spots close to the door are open. Does that change your attitude? Think about that in terms of a Church parking lot. You wrestle the kids to get ready this one day and then you get there and the only spots are a mile away. Does that change your attitude?

2. Sit at the front (and sit close together). Don’t make people who show up a little late (or even right on time) go set up near the front. If you are in Church once a year, you do not want to be right up front where the pastor can see you. If your kids might get fidgety during the sermon because they are not used to setting in worship then you do not want to set right up front. I am 100% convinced that the most selfish act that most Christians do is take the best seats at the back. If you do no other things to promote the spreading of the gospel this year, do this one thing – sit at the front and sit close together.

3. Talk kindly to strangers. Spend the majority of your morning talking nicely to people you do not know. Ask them about themselves. Ask them if they need to know where anything is located. Tell them a little about our church. Listen, listen, listen. And never say to anyone – “I haven’t seen you in a while” or “I never thought I would see you in Church” or “Are you lost?” You get the idea. Our tendency is to run and talk to the people we know and totally ignore strangers. This only reinforces the mean and negative spirit of Christians to a non-Christian world.

4. Remember the 5 minute rule. The 5 minute rule states that the first five minutes in a new location are the most important. The second most important 5 minutes are those right after the end of a program. The questions are simple, “Are these people glad I am here and willing to accept me.” The final question is something like, “That wasn’t that bad, I am going to give them one more shot to mess this up.” Thus – talk to people right before and right after. Don’t make it overly religious and don’t be self-centered. Invite people to lunch. If they say “not today, we have plans for Easter,” then say, “How about after Church next week?” Use these five minutes to show people Christians are friendly and not self-centered.

5. Pray. This is last but certainly not least. Pray before the program. Pray during the program. Pray after the program. Pray for those involved in the program for Sunday. Pray for those thinking about attending. Pray for those that attended. Pray for the people you met that day (by name). Pray, pray and pray. Ask God to do things that you may never see or know about. I firmly believe God can do great things if we ask Him to.

I know that each of these are seemingly very little things, but each one can have a great impact for eternity. It is one thing for people to invite someone to join them for Easter. It may be an even better thing that this guest then gets treated in a wonderful manner. Guests are great, but return guests can become believers and eventually disciples. One small action can change a life.

As you might imagine I am working full-time putting the finishing touches on all of my material for Holy Week. Last week I taught the teenagers a lesson on the cross and this week I am teaching about the resurrection. Friday night I am part of a local community Good Friday program and I am working on my sermon for Resurrection morning. Lately I am in this constant tension between teaching on the cross and on the resurrection. It is nothing new for anyone in ministry, but this year I have noticed something that I think is worth pointing out.

I think the reason I noticed this idea this year was because of a question from our Churches Children’s Church teacher. A few weeks ago he sent me an email asking if it was okay to teach on the resurrection on Easter morning and not talk about the cross. Not long after he asked me this question I was working on the Church website and looking for a good image to post online for our Easter program. As I searched the web I realized that almost every Church image for Easter morning contained a picture of a cross or of three crosses. Then this idea hit me, “We need to be very clear on the message of Easter.” Easter is not about the crucifixion of Jesus. Easter is about the resurrection of Jesus.

I think that over time the Church wanted some image to go with the resurrection of Jesus and they realized an empty tomb is a tough image to capture. So people took a step back and started using the cross as an Easter image. In some ways I suppose that it is okay, but in other ways it misses the point. Very early on in my ministry I was talking to a worship leader about our Easter Sunday morning program and he looked at me and said, “Be sure you kill and bury Jesus on Friday and have him resurrected on Sunday.” It was as simple statement that has guided my thinking, planning and preaching every sense that day.

Let me be clear, I do not think it is wrong to preach on the cross of Jesus on Easter or even to wear a cross as a religious image that day. I get the idea that everyone wants some image to show their faith and a cross is the most common. I 110% believe in the atoning death of Jesus on the cross. I also believe 110% that Jesus defeated the grave by his resurrection. The reason I celebrate his death is because he rose to life again. The Apostle Paul said, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile” (1 Corinthians 15:17).

Easter is not a time to focus on the death of Jesus other than to be the context for a resurrection. Jesus was dead and buried on Friday but on Sunday the story is changed forever. I celebrate the cross but only because it was not the final word on Jesus. The empty tomb is what sets Jesus apart from all other religious leaders and Christianity from all other faiths. But that is a hard image to put on a necklace, earrings or even a Church website.

Dear Church Family,

Can you believe it? Easter is only a few days away!

I’m looking forward to the Resurrection Celebration we have planned for you and the friends you’ll bring with you this year. The message is the final part of the sermon series about Following the Master to “The Empty Tomb.” I am going to try and explain the basic Christian message that is rooted in our Easter celebration. The sermon series that will follow Easter is entitled “Let it Go” and is all about forgiveness. All of us need to know what it means to be forgiven and to be forgiving. I hope you will come as we look at the work of Christ these Sundays!

Here are some specific things that you can do as we prepare to celebrate Easter this year:

1. Join us yourself! Some of you attend every week, but some of you we have not seen in a while. If you have not been here lately we pray that everything is alright. We also invite you back to join us this Easter season. Easter will mean so much more if it is not limited to one day.

2. Bring your family! I would like to see all of you join us for our worship program this Sunday. It would be even better if you could bring all of your family for this time of celebration.

3. Invite your friends! It’s always amazed me that although I know many of my friends are LOOKING for a church to attend on Easter, I still feel nervous when inviting them. Maybe it’s the fact that we all feel a bit nervous when talking about things that are important to us. The truth is, when you invite a friend to join you for church on Easter they very often will come, and even if they cannot, they’ll appreciate the fact that you thought of them.

Please come and join us this Sunday. We will have a special free breakfast at 8:00 am. Then our worship program will be at 9:30 a.m. here at the Adrian Christian Church building on Old Highway 71.

I’m looking forward to seeing you soon!!

My third son is 168 months old today. That is 5113 days or 730 weeks plus 3 days for leap years. He was born my pudgy little boy who liked to suck on his fingers and has turned into my tall, skinny teenage boy. He is my Coda, Cuda, Cuda-Bug and Dakotay. He is my buddy and Mini-Me (same chin and all). Today I want you to know a few things:

1. I am proud of the man you are becoming. I pray you stay strong in your faith. I hope you are always my independent little boy who make his own decisions in his own time.

2. Mom and Dad are your biggest fans. We only want the best for you. We only see the good. We want you to succeed in all you do.

3. Keep Your Faith (even when you friends have none). Be the influence and not the influenced. I know that is hard at your age, but try to be a man of faith as you get older. Your God will never leave you or forsake you, but don’t do those things to Him.

4. Your Brothers Love You, that is why they pick on you. Being ignored is worse than being the brunt of their jokes. Your brothers may seem like enemies at times but I promise you they will stand by your side long after your friends have gone.

5. Enjoy Each Moment. Enjoy today. Enjoy each day God gives you on this earth with family, friends and people who care about you. You will not understand this until you reach midlife and probably not live it out until you are a senior citizen. But if you can learn to do this now you life will be full of rich memories that are worth more than gold.

I love you my son. I hope you have a wonderful day. May God bless you with many more and us with many more together.

One of my college professors told my class that the best way to learn about your spiritual life was to tend a garden. He contended that gardens are the best metaphor for the human soul. They both require water, sunshine, pulling weeds before there can be a harvest. You cannot just say you are going to have a garden and the rest will take care of itself. It is a summer long process that makes a garden grow and produce year after year.

I think I know what he meant. I feel this in part because I grew up helping my parents keep a large garden for our family. Growing up in the Harris’ house included several hours of working in the garden every summer. Long hours of planting, weeding, hoeing and harvesting were just accepted as part of our normal routine. Now, as an adult, I have honestly only kept one garden for a couple of years since I entered the ministry and they was not by choice. The Church had a “community garden” that was kept by one family in the Church and by the pastor’s family. With the garden right beside the Church and my parsonage I really didn’t have a choice. Once again the hours of work mounted as the summer wore on, but there was an abundant harvest that blessed my family beyond the work it involved.

Planting season is coming quickly upon us here in Missouri and we have decided to keep a small garden at the house of one of my elders. I am looking forward to the harvest but I know there will be a lot of work between here and there. Which leads me back to my professor. I think he had a keen insight about living a life for Christ or a spiritual life as it is called. All of us want a great harvest. We want to be blessed and be a blessing to others, but those things do not come without the work of planting, watering and weeding.

A great spiritual life full of God’s blessings can only come through reading the Bible, worshiping, adding Godly things and removing the evil from my life. It requires hours of thought and discussion. It requires Sunday after Sunday of learning and leading. It involves year after year of hard work away from the public eye. The great men and women of God are formed liked a bountiful harvest over a lifetime of constant tending.

Author and preacher George McDonald once wrote, “Show me the condition of the inside of your car and I will tell you the condition of your spiritual life.” My professor said the same concept a different way, “Show me the condition of your garden and I can tell you the condition of your soul.” I think they both are right.

The last two days Adrian Missouri has been hit by hail. On Tuesday the storm didn’t last long but the ice was about the size of a golf ball. It was the largest hail stones I have ever seen personally. On Wednesday the storm lasted several minutes but it was only about the size of a pea. Thousands of ice pellets covered the ground like a winter snow. Both storms have done some damage to homes and vehicles. As a result the last two days the roofing companies are out in full force. One stopped by the Church, I saw one parked on the road side, I was with a person who received a phone call from one and then when I got home there was a flyer hanging on my door. Last night at the Church I was talking to several families and the conversation about possible damage came into each discussion along with which company they had talked with about it.

As with all situations there are two types of people out in these situations. One group is concerned about people. They really do care if the roof is damaged or if there is any way they can help. The other group is only concerned about making a buck. A bad storm is their opportunity to get some insurance money as they drum up business. To me it seems like every bad situation brings out the best people and the worst people at the exact same time. This is not just true of a hail storm in small town USA, it is true everywhere. Any emergency call will have people interested who want to help and another group of people who have less than pure motives. It is ugly, but true.

All this has me thinking about myself this morning. Am I the kind of person people are happy to see when something bad happens? Or am I the kind of person that people hope does not show up? Am I a help or hindrance? Do I bring hope and joy or further people’s pain and suffering? Are people glad to see my car after the damage has happened or do they shake their heads in frustration as I show up? As a follower of Christ, I want to be a part of the damage control team and not the damage spreading team.

I have a list of ideas I am working on for blog posts on my computer. I have another list that I just keep in my head. Unfortunately many of them have never developed into complete articles for my blog. So today I thought I would share some random insights and ideas that I have been carrying around for a while.

1) Music is one of the most powerful tools in the world. It may shape more young people’s minds than books…or anything else. We need to be careful what our kids listen to. Dialog with them about what they listen to. And try and harness music for good. How do we do that exactly?

2) Today’s young people are very interested in social action. My fear is that we are neglecting solid bible teaching to do something for God. There must be a balance between learning, doing and being.

3) I love the quote – “Criticism is easy, kindness is hard.” If you don’t believe me, read the comment section on almost any internet site.

4) Pornography poses more of a threat to the Church than gay marriage. I have worked with 3 people struggling with pornography in the last month. I have worked with 3 homosexuals in the last 20 years. Satan has a way of tricking us into taking our eyes off of bigger issues.

5) Why do Churches worry so much about gay marriage anyway? Especially when people living together is far more damaging to the institution of marriage. Isn’t all sin an offense to God?

6) I have received more criticism for comments I have made about pets than any other statements I have made in my ministry. Even so, I do think we will have to answer to God for the amount of money we spend on animals to the neglect of people.

7) I hate the comment, “You changed too much too fast.” I love the analogy – If you have cancer in your leg would you rather they take your leg off in one surgery or take it off 3 inches at a time over the next 10 years? Either way, you lose your leg – so which is the better choice?

8) The song by the Rolling Stones entitled “Its only Rock N Roll” has some lyrics that connect with me about preaching. The song starts by saying, “If I could stick a knife in my heart. Suicide right on the stage” and then asks, “Would that be enough?” I know it sounds strange but some weeks I share things so intimate to my life it is like I am pouring myself out on the stage. (Cutting myself open, so to speak) I do it so that people will react to the gospel, but it never seems to be enough.

9) Don’t complain about what you get paid to do. If you are a janitor, you should not complain if the kids make a mess you have to clean up. If you are a teacher, you should not complain that the kids are not getting it. And so on. If you are not happy, find another job. I have often wondered why people do this and then one day a guy told me “some people are not happy unless they are unhappy.”

10) THIS POST of 25 pieces of advice for leaders is a great read.

Like I said, these are totally random and very undeveloped thoughts. You may agree or they may upset you, either way I thought they are worth sharing. Maybe you can add to their development or help clarify my thoughts through your comments. Maybe these will eventually become full thoughts and articles that will make more sense. Or maybe I can just hit the delete button and they will be gone after today. Who knows? Thanks for reading my random ideas today anyway.