He Is Risen

“Well over three hundred verses are concerned with the subject of Jesus' resurrection in the New Testament. We are told that this event is a sign for unbelievers (Matthew 12:38-40; cf. John 20:24-29) as well as the answer for the believer's doubt (Luke 24:38-43). It serves as the guarantee that Jesus' teachings are true (Acts 2:22-24; 1 Corrinthians 15:12-20) and is the center of the gospel itself (Romans 4:24-25, 10:9; 1 Corrinthians 15:1-4). Further, the resurrection is the impetus for evangelism (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 10:39-43), the key indication of the believer's daily power to live the Christian life (Rom. 6:4-14, 8:9-11; Phil. 3:10) and the reason for the total commitment of our lives (Rom. 7:4; 1 Cor. 15:57-58). The resurrection even addresses the fear of death (John 11:25; 1 Cor. 15:54-58; cf. Hebrews 2:14-15) and is related to the second coming of Jesus (Acts 1:11; Revelation 1:7). Lastly, this event is a model of the Christian's resurrection from the dead (Acts 4:2; 1 Cor. 6:14; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) and provides a foretaste of heaven for the believer (Philippians 3:20-21; 1 Peter 1:3-5).”*

The importance of the resurrection of Christ cannot be overstated. This is the point the apostle Paul makes in 1 Corinthians 15. If Christ wasn’t raised from the dead, (1) our preaching is useless, (2) our faith is useless, (3) the apostles were false witnesses, (4) we are still in our sins (5) faithful believers who have died have perished and, (6) we are to be pitied. Sounds pretty important to me.

“The entire Bible pivots on one weekend in Jerusalem about two thousand years ago. Attempts to make sense of the Bible that do not give prolonged thought to integrating the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus are doomed to failure, at best exercises in irrelevance” (D.A. Carson).

God loves you!

Mike

*Gary R. Habermas & J.P. Moreland, Immortality - The Other Side of Death, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1992, p. 245.

Significance

“Xvxn though this typxwritxr is an old modxl, it works vxry wxll, xxcxpt for only onx kxy. You'd think that with all the othxr kxys working, onx kxy would hardly bx noticxd. But just onx kxy out of which sxxms to ruin thx wholx xffort. Havx you xvxr said to yoursxlf, “I'm only onx pxrson. No onx will noticx if I don't do my bxst.” But it doxs makx a diffxrxncx, bxcausx to bx xffxctive, a family, an organization or a businxss nxxds complxtx participation by xvxryone to the bxst of his or hxr ability. So if You'rx having onx of thosx days whxn you think you just arxn't vxry important and you'rx txmptxd to slack off, rxmxmbxr this old typxwritxr. You arx a kxy pxrson, and whxn you don't do your bxst, nothing xlsx around you works out thx way it's supposxd to.”*

Isn’t it amazing how quickly the human brain can fill in the correct letter when you begin to read the text above? We truly are “..fearfully and wonderfully made…” (Psalm 139:14). But that’s not the purpose of this article. The paragraph above makes the point that every single part of a whole is important. This is also true in the work of God. There are no insignificant parts. Esther may have felt small and insignificant but she wasn't (Esther 4:10-14). Gideon felt unqualified for the task God asked of him but God used him anyway (Judges 6:14-16). The woman Jesus met at a well had checkered past but became an effective missionary (John 4:39-42). A lad with a small lunchbox helped feed a multitude (John 6:9-13). Jael helped turn the tide of a war with a tent peg and a hammer (Judges 4:17-24)

Who’s to say that God can’t use you or me? We may feel insignificant and useless for the purposes of God. But He has shown countless times that usefulness isn’t determined by what we bring to the table. It’s determined by our willingness to be used by Him.

God loves you!

Mike

*from “Communicating at Work” by Ronald Adler

Superbloom

A March 5, 2026 article by Matt Growcoot on PetaPixel.com had the following title: “Photographer Drives 1,000 Miles to Death Valley for Spectacular Superbloom.” The pictures included with the article were incredible. Here’s part of the story:

“A wildflower superbloom has swept Death Valley for the first time in 10 years and photographer Elliot McGucken made the long drive from Yellowstone to California to see the rare phenomenon. He swapped the frigid temperatures of Montana, where it was minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 23 Celsius), and made the 12-hour drive south to Death Valley. “As Death Valley had experienced record rainfalls over the past few months, I knew that a desert superbloom was likely this year, and so I drove on down,” McGucken tells PetaPixel. “The desert superblooms often appear earliest in Death Valley, as it is the hottest, driest place not only in California, but on Earth.”...

“Superblooms are not simply heavy-flowering seasons; they require sustained rainfall that penetrates deep into desert soils, activating seeds that can remain dormant for years or even decades. Moderate temperatures and minimal destructive wind must then follow that moisture. That’s why superblooms in arid landscapes are so rare — the last one was in 2016.”

Dry spells can happen in our spiritual lives as well. We’ve endeavored to faithfully serve God but there have been few flowers to show for it. We’ve prayed for moisture but, for one reason or another, the soil of our hearts has remained dry and cracked. We begin to think that perhaps it will always be this way.

But don’t give up! Tiny seeds of fruitfulness that have remained dormant in a long stretch of dryness may suddenly sprout in beautiful ways. I’m reminded of God’s promise to Israel in a time of dryness: “For I will pour out water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring and My blessing on your descendants…” (Isaiah 44:3). Hang on during the dry times. A superbloom may be just around the corner.

God loves you!

Mike

Communication

“Today (3-10-26 MJA) marks 150 years since Alexander Graham Bell made the first telephone call from his Boston lab to his assistant in a nearby room. The breakthrough came just days after Bell received a patent for telephone technology, four days after his 29th birthday. His successful prototype used acidified water to convert acoustic oscillations created by the human voice into electrical, voice-mimicking oscillations that could travel to a receiver. The design closely resembled that of American electrical engineer Elisha Gray, who unsuccessfully contested Bell's patent in court. Bell went on to commercialize his telephone by founding the Bell Telephone Co., which eventually became the American Telephone and Telegraph Co., or AT&T.”*

Communication has come a long way in a century and a half. Wouldn’t Mr. Bell be amazed if he were alive today? What a struggle it had been for him just to speak with someone in the same building. Now nearly everyone carries a small wireless device that allows them to communicate around the world almost instantly. And yet, for all the advances in technology, it seems like the ability to really communicate with each other hasn’t improved. In fact, the problem may have become worse.

Instant communication can make it more difficult for me to practice being quick to hear and slow to speak (James 1:19). A readily available keyboard can easily turn my words into rashly spoken thrusts of a sword (Proverbs 12:18). The world wide web allows me to multiply my words to an unlimited audience when restraint would likely have been wiser (Proverbs 10:19).

Am I against the advances made in communication? No. I’m grateful to have easy ways to stay in touch with family, friends, and the world. It’s much easier to call for help in times of distress or emergency. But I must be careful. The prayer of the Psalmist should be my prayer: “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth. Keep watch over the door of my lips.” (Psalm 141:3).

God loves you!

Mike

*1440 Daily Digest, 3-10-26

Buttermilk, Lard, And Raw White Flour

“A pastor asked an older farmer, decked out in bib overalls, to say grace for the morning breakfast. "Lord, I hate buttermilk", the farmer began. The pastor opened one eye to glance at the farmer and wonder where this was going. The farmer loudly proclaimed, "Lord, I hate lard." Now the pastor was growing concerned. Without missing a beat, the farmer continued, "And Lord, you know I don't much care for raw white flour". The pastor once again opened an eye to glance around the room and saw that he wasn't the only one to feel uncomfortable.

“Then the farmer added, "But Lord, when you mix them all together and bake them, I do love warm fresh biscuits. So Lord, when things come up that we don't like, when life gets hard, when we don't understand what you're saying to us, help us to just relax and wait until you are done mixing. It will probably be even better than biscuits. Amen.””*

I doubt that Abraham enjoyed all of the problems he encountered as God was working in his life so that he would become a blessing to all the nations. The patriarch had his own faith tested on the way to becoming the father of the faithful. I imagine that Naomi and Ruth would have much preferred to skip the deaths of their husbands and the trials that came with their passing. How much easier it would have been just to jump to the part where Boaz intervenes and blesses them. I’m fairly certain young Joseph would have chosen to avoid being sold into slavery and cast into prison. But God was doing a work in his life he couldn’t see until later.

Perhaps God is doing something incredible in our lives in the midst of our own trials. In the heat of the moment, it can be so hard to see. But even if we can’t see it now, we must trust Him to help us reach the point where we can look back and see it.

God loves you!

Mike

*https://www.facebook.com/healtheworld0/

Someone Else

“We are all saddened to learn this week of the death of one of our church’s most valuable members, Someone Else. Someone’s passing created a vacancy that will be difficult to fill. Someone Else has been with us for many years, and for every one of those years, Someone did far more than a normal person’s share of the work. Whenever leadership was mentioned, this wonderful person was looked to for inspiration as well as results: “Someone Else can work with that group.” Whenever there was a job to do, a class to teach, or a meeting to attend, one name was on everyone’s list - Someone Else. “Let Someone Else do it” was a common refrain heard throughout the church. It was common knowledge that Someone Else was among the largest givers in the church. Whenever there was a financial need, everyone just assumed Someone Else would make up the difference. Someone Else was a wonderful person, sometimes appearing superhuman; but a person can only do so much. Were the truth known, everybody expected too much of Someone Else. Now Someone Else is gone! We wonder what we are going to do. Someone Else left a wonderful example to follow, but who is going to follow it? Who is going to do the things Someone Else did? Remember - we can’t depend on Someone Else anymore!”*

Even the great leader Moses was afflicted with this malady. After trying to evade God’s call with several other excuses, it was his final plea that aroused the anger of God. “But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else” (Exodus 4:13 ESV). Moses was the one God wanted for the job, not someone else! And with God’s help, Moses did the job instead of someone else.

It’s so easy to assume that someone else will do what needs to be done. It’s so easy to leave the work for someone else to do. But maybe it's time for you or I to be “Someone Else.”

God loves you!

Mike

*https://saltforsermons.org.uk/category/christian-character/

Change

“When the shopping cart was first introduced in 1937, shoppers absolutely hated it. Men thought pushing a cart made them look weak. Women were put off by how much it resembled a baby carriage. It was one of the most practical inventions of the 20th century, yet it nearly flopped due to social norms and pride.

“But one man’s determination and clever marketing completely changed how the world shops. That man was Sylvan Goldman, owner of the Humpty Dumpty supermarket chain in Oklahoma. He noticed that shoppers with hand-held baskets would stop shopping once their arms got tired. To keep people buying more, he came up with a simple but revolutionary idea: a metal frame on wheels that held two wire baskets, which he called the "Basket Carriage for Self-Service Stores." It was the birth of the modern shopping cart.

“Still, customers were resistant. Men didn’t want to be seen using them, and women felt the design was too similar to a pram. Instead of giving up, Goldman went bold. He hired male and female models to stroll through his stores, confidently using the carts and making it look fashionable. He even trained store greeters to offer carts with a smile and explain how they worked. Slowly but surely, the stigma faded.

“The result? The shopping cart caught on like wildfire. Shoppers could now buy more without fatigue, and supermarkets saw a boost in sales. Goldman became a multimillionaire and changed the retail experience forever. Today, it's hard to picture a grocery store without rows of metal carts lined up at the entrance.”*

Change can be difficult for everyone. That attitude can be helpful when it keeps us from making changes that are detrimental to us. But some changes are good, even necessary. In such cases, we need to fight the urge to dig in and refuse to even consider the possible benefits. Just because we have always done something a certain way doesn’t make it the only way. If you are God’s child, He is trying to change you. Learn to work with Him on it.

God loves you!

Mike

*https://www.facebook.com/historicalfactsss