Royal Wedding

The other day I was cleaning out one of our closets and I came upon my 30-year-old wedding dress stored in a box and shunned by all my girls as too old fashioned.  The girls have all smiled kindly at me and said, “Thanks, but no thanks.”

So I had a great chuckle this morning after all the hoopla about the royal dress for the wedding in London today.  For there, it appears, Kate was wearing my dress – or very similar.  The only difference is I married the better guy!

Confusion of Tongues

We live in a world where many people have relegated the Bible to the sphere of ancient myths, mostly in an effort to discredit the Bible’s power and its truth within.  The Bible is the very word of God.  And as a result, it does not require the consent of man to deem it anything more or less.  Its Truth cannot be so easily dismissed.  Indeed, in the Psalms, it even says, “Truth will spring up from the ground.”  Dismiss it as myth, but it is still the Truth.  And as such cannot be hidden.

So I chuckled last week, when I read in the Wall Street Journal (Friday, April 15, page A4), an article entitled “The Mother of All Languages” about the evolution of spoken and written words.  Researchers have now “discovered” that all languages have come from a single language somewhere near or in Africa, a startling revelation based on distinct units of sound, called phonemes.  The study points to a catalyst that researchers have pinpointed to have caused migration of humans from Africa to all parts of the globe.  That unexplained catalyst was indicated by a “a sudden and marked shift in how modern humans behaved…likely caused by a key innovation:  complex language…”   Furthermore, the researchers point out that “Only humans have the biological capacity to communicate with a rich language based on symbols and rules.  Without language, culture as we know it wouldn’t exist, so scientists are keen to pin down its origins.” 

Note the words “sudden and marked shift.”  Hmmmm, well, let’s try Genesis 11. 1-10.  “And the LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; and nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.  Come, let us go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”  So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.” (Genesis 11. 6-8)

They would discount the Tower of Babel as a myth, but flaunt their own theories as startling discoveries.  The Truth is there.  They are not discovering truth as much as they are uncovering it…  even if they slap their own names on what was revealed in Scripture thousands of years ago.

Boiled eggs, a handful of jelly beans, and another ham sandwich

This morning, the reality of Easter stood before me. Ham sandwiches are on our lunch menu all week, a handful of jelly beans that somehow escaped yesterday will be gone by noon, and I am searching for a recipe that will use a dozen colored hard-boiled eggs smashed on each end from our family tradition of “egg wars.” Yesterday, we celebrated the resurrection of Christ.
I am convinced of the resurrection. Not just by the historical fact of Christ’s resurrection, but from what happened afterwards. The disciples were sure that Jesus Christ was the Messiah. Indeed, the word Christos is the Greek word for Messiah, or Anointed One. And here, their leader had just been killed in a horribly painful and humiliating death. This was not at all what His disciples expected. And so, they huddled behind locked doors, terrified that they would be next. The disciples thought that was it. Let’s hide until things settle down. At this point, the missing body had caused quite a stir in Jerusalem, to the point that in an effort at damage control, the Pharisees spread a rumor that the disciples had stolen it (Matthew 28. 11-15), further imperiling the disciples.
But that was not the end of the story. The tomb was empty, the grave clothes cast aside, a huge stone rolled away, and the Roman centurions guarding it were shaking in their boots. And Jesus appeared. Over and over and over again. He was alive. He had risen from the dead. Christ was who He said He was. Nothing would ever be the same. And this raggedy group of cowards were empowered and transformed from a state of fearfulness and despair into those who were fearless and bold. In the ensuing years, with one exception, each one died a martyr’s death after spreading the love of Christ like wild-fire to the uttermost parts of the world. The disciples were changed. These men who cowered behind locked doors now stood before kings and tormentors. They were transformed. Men will not die for what they know is a lie. But they will give their lives for what they KNOW is Truth. They were eyewitnesses. And nothing could stop them.
What makes the difference is that God is supernatural and life is eternal and Jesus is alive. Death is not “game over.”
That, to me, is the reality of the Resurrection: transformed lives. It still is. I see it all the time. Lives are turned right-side up with no other explanation than realizing the amazing grace that we know as Easter.
He is not here, for He has risen,
as He said.
Matthew 28.6

Posterity

…from generation to generation

                 we will recount Your praise.

                                    Psalm 79.13

Twelve days ago, our second grandbaby was born.

My cup overflows.