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Emotional Holy Week Roller Coaster

Emotional Holy Week Roller Coaster

The emotional Holy Week roller coaster starts with Palm Sunday and its sweet taste of success and popularity as the crowds cheer Jesus on as he entered Jerusalem. It follows with the bitter taste of failure and betrayal as Jesus is crucified on Good Friday. Thankfully, the ride does not end there. We finish the tour with the elated resurrection joy on Sunday. How do you deal with all this? Jesus takes all our false expectations, all our self-righteous thoughts,…

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God’s Grace from Start to Finish

God’s Grace from Start to Finish

Lent has lasted now for six weeks. Have you learned anything new? I’ve come to understand more deeply it’s all about God. My contribution to my salvation is my need to be saved. God has provided everything else. It’s God’s grace from start to finish. We all need God and his grace. There has not been, is not, and will not be a human being who does not Jesus to save him. Just think about Peter who had a fundamental…

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Blessings of Foot Washing

Blessings of Foot Washing

As Maundy Thursday approaches I’ve been pondering on blessings of foot washing. Why did Jesus wash his disciples’ feet (John 13:1-17) and how would I react to it? Would I be like Peter? First not wanting to allow Jesus to do what he wanted to do and then wanting him to wash more than necessary? I’ve always related to Peter very easily so I assume I’d be like him. Have you ever had your feet (or hands) washed as part…

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Such Love for Us

Such Love for Us

Good Friday, Holy Friday, Long Friday – whatever you call the day Jesus was crucified – leaves me always in reverent awe. Somebody died for a wretch like me. Not just any death but crucifixion, brutal torture from start to finish. And all this was prophesied hundreds of years before it happened. God knew this had to be done, that much he loved us. That much he yearned for us to be made right with him again. Such love for us….

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We Are Healed in Jesus

We Are Healed in Jesus

Sometimes we might wonder whether God can understand what’s going on in our lives. You know, how awful it feels to get rejected or be shunned from the coffee table discussions at work. How could God understand what it feels like to lose a friend, right? But then I’m reminded that Jesus is God. And Jesus went through awful things, especially during the time we call the holy week. Jesus got rejected, shunned, cast off. His friends unfriended him, he…

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Do You Wash Your Hands like Pilate?

Do You Wash Your Hands like Pilate?

Today, I was contemplating on the text on Pilate washing his hands for responsibility of Jesus’ death. I understand his dilemma: the crowd wanting Jesus dead and Pilate wanting to keep his job while (he and) his wife not finding Jesus guilty. What to do? Whom to serve? And did the hand washing work? Did he get rid of his guilt or not? How about you? Do you wash your hands like Pilate? How does that work? I’m afraid washing our hands…

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A Call to Pray with Jesus

A Call to Pray with Jesus

Jesus asked his disciples to pray with him at Gethsemane, yet they slept. Just the same way, Jesus is asking us to pray with him too. How do we respond? Do we sleepwalk through our life? Or do we obey and pray with Jesus? Because we have a call to pray with Jesus. And that’s a high calling. Then he [Jesus] said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch…

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Choosing Life over Death

Choosing Life over Death

To tell the truth, I feel inadequate to write anything on the holy week. The amazing love of God shown to us during the events of the holy week leaves me in humble awe and I am questioning whether I can do justice to that. But thankfully this is not about me but about God. So I will share a couple of observations on the awesomeness of God and our deep need of Jesus to choose life over death. On…

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Accepting Our Need for Christ

Accepting Our Need for Christ

Have you accepted the reality of your sinfulness? Are you willing to admit that because of you Jesus died on the cross? Or do you deny your need for Christ? We would like to think we are not sinners. We would like to think it’s not our fault that Jesus died on the cross. But we could not be further from the truth. If we do not accept this fact, we are living in a lie. Then we either live…

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What Can We Learn from Jesus’ Agony in Gethsemane

What Can We Learn from Jesus’ Agony in Gethsemane

On Monday of Holy week Christians traditionally read and contemplate on Jesus praying in Gethsemane. Luke concentrates on Jesus’ prayer and not on the failings of the disciples. Let’s see if there are any blessings hidden in the story. Let see what we can learn from Jesus’ agony in Gethsemane. And He came out and went, as was His habit, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples also followed Him. And when He came to the place, He said to…

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