EASTER WEEKEND

THE REAL MEANING OF THIS EASTER HOLIDAY

BY HIS DEATH AND BLOODSHED OUR SINS ARE COVERED AND DEATH STAYS AWAY FROM US (EXODUS 12:13).

JESUS CHRIST HAS RISEN AS SCRIPTURE HAS SAID...GO CHECK HIS TOMB BECAUSE HE IS NO LONGER IN THERE (LUKE 24:39-43).

First and foremost I would like to wish everyone a Happy Easter Weekend.  Now I am gonna cover the real meaning of Easter Weekend in this blog and I am gonna speak the truth in our Lord Jesus Christ.  I pray everyone has a super Easter Weekend, yes spend it with family and fellowship.  Just to break it to you Easter is not about a Bunny hopping from yard to yard and setting candy and goodies in your house.  It seems all cute and that when you are a kid and getting those Easter baskets yes yes, and Easter egg hunts are fun too.  However, that's not why we celebrate Easter.  The true meaning of this holiday is that God gave us the passover meal and lamb that cleans our hearts from sin and death forever.  Let just break this down:  God is God and we are humans and as humans we are not God, thanks to what Adam and Eve did we are sinful and hateful towards God and the human flesh always will be.  God has no room in Heaven for hate and sin so yes it is scary but sin goes punished.  So God in the Old Testament offered a remedy for those sins and that is a blood sacrifice.  However, we are so sinful by nature that we can't even cover all those sins of ours and even have the heart to cover them as well.  So that is where Jesus comes in and we are gonna explore this throughout this blog.

God Created the world....I'm hoping our human blindness won't deny that.  He made EVERYTHING...and started out the human race with a man named Adam, and then took a rib out of Adam and turned it into a woman named Eve (see how cool God is, making woman from Rib).  God gave them free will and dominion over the earth.  However Satan roamed the earth in the form of the serpent.  God gave Adam and Eve a command which was stay away from that Tree of Life.  Satan lied and deceived Adam and Eve and they disobeyed God and ate from that tree of life.  So you see Humans couldn't even know to do right and recognize good (God) from evil (Satan in the serpent).  From that moment humans have been full of sin.  The flesh is dirty and can never please God.  God saw this and yes even though he is a loving God he can not allow evil into Heaven.  So the right and just thing to do is punish that evil.  We see the wrath of God many times:  The flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, and many other instances in the Old testament.  However, as a mentioned God loved us so much that he wanted to save us from his wrath against evil.  That is why God said the sacrifice and blood of an animal would cover sins.  Right when Adam and Eve sinned God slew an animal and took it's skin and covered Adam and Eve....God requires a blood sacrifice so that's why he did this.  So as you can see God will erase a sin with the sacrifice and blood of an animal.  Abraham nearly sacrificed his own son for atonement but God saw how good is faith was so he spared his son and had Abraham offer a ram to the altar instead.

So its simple...God has given us a way out of sin and a ticket into Heaven.  PROBLEM:  We are so sinful in nature that our flesh is so full of sin that not enough living creatures of earth being sacrificed would come close to covering ALL OF OUR SINS.  Also, those living creatures are sinful as well and do not have the love to give themselves for EVERY SIN EVER COMMITTED.  Yes by Passover laws stated in the Old Testament We are to do some cleaning of our sacrifice before offering it at the altar.  But too many sins exist that all that cleansing will only cover one sin at best.  We got a real problem here...our sinful nature is so big that not all the sacrifices in the world will get us to live with God in Heaven.  That's why none of those sacrifices back in Old Testament times ever rose from the dead, yes their sacrifice killed one sin but the other sins overtook it and hence they never rose up.  So lets come to this:  God saw this and keeps his law, we must be CLEAN and have a SACRIFICE for every doing we ever committed.  Now our sinful nature is so big that it just isn't working.  God saw this so he stayed faithful to us, and kept with the sacrifices in the Old Testament as by his law and as a foreshadowing of his one and only son making to ultimate sacrifice to come. 

Here enters Jesus Christ.  Read first Chapter of Gospel of John...."In the beginning was the Word, The word was with God, the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning."(John 1:1-2).  So as you can see Jesus Christ is God as he was with God when the world was created and is at the Father's right hand in Heaven.  God knew WE could not ATONE for EVERY SIN EVER.  So he loved us so much he sent Jesus Christ to be born into flesh (Christmas celebration) and to walk the earth and show us true love.  He was the true teacher since he is teaching us ways of God and true Love (which is God).  However no one can ever accept this love and teaching Jesus did.  I am not just talking about the pharisees and people who killed him on the cross, but even his disciples didn't understand since Christ had not yet been glorified for us yet (I'm talking in terms of the time and place in the Bible now).  Peter disowned Jesus THREE TIMES, the others ran away scared.  Yes some fought for him and cut off the ear of a chief priest but they thought they were fighting for a political kingdom, not the kingdom of our hearts which is why God sent Jesus in the place of ALL OF OUR SINS.  Jesus Christ is God and the only one to ever be perfect in human flesh.  He would be the only one to have enough love to die for ALL OF OUR SINS.  There should be no need for the cleansing before the passover and altar since Jesus Christ is PERFECT.  However he still went through the rituals such as the Last Supper and all that because that's how much love he has in his heart, to follow all of his Father's commands.  It then happened, Jesus Christ was crucified to death and when that happened Satan was sent to Hell by a fireball forever as he and sin/death was defeated forever (Watch THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST and see that visual).  Satan has no control here anymore...yes many do not get the Grace of God in their hearts but as Jesus has said in John 3:18 "Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe in him stand condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son."  So when Jesus Christ breathed his last breathe on the cross and gave up his Spirit the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.  This signified that it has been done...he has defeated and erased every sin EVER as his blood covers them forever.  Its like that credit card that covers your purchases forever.  And that my friends is the true celebration of Good Friday.  Passover Saturday is the day Jesus laid dead in the tomb signifying the burial of Sin and Death in that tomb forever.

Now one may ask "If Jesus died to kill sin and death forever then why would he be dead?"  Here is where Easter Sunday comes into play.  As mentioned in that Exodus verse referenced at the start of this blog that the blood will be the token over the door aka our hearts that when God comes to our hearts and sees it covered in blood that he will pass over it and not judge it since no sin remains in it as the blood of the lamb (Jesus Christ) has covered it.  Jesus's loving sacrificial death has defeated Death forever.  Jesus Christ has always been Lord, Clean, Loving, everything holy, everything accounted for, and by him dieing for the forgiveness of our sins he has defeated Sin/Death forever and when Sin and Death are killed forever, Life is enabled.  John 10:17-18 says Jesus dies on his own accord...he is becoming death out of love to kill Sin/Death forever.  The Lord will never be buried forever in death.  His temporary death was to give clean hearts.  And when the heart is clean the Lord will enter it and fill it with the Power of Jesus Christ Resurrection.  JESUS CHRIST IS RISEN...therefore we live forever.  When you are free from sin forever as the blood covers it, death will pass over it (hence the Passover) and the Lord will enter it and you will live in him and he in you on earth by the Holy Spirit that Jesus Christ breathes in you (as I myself have witnessed the resurrected Christ breathing it into my heart) and then with God and his Son in Heaven when our physical bodies expire here on Earth.  If Jesus Christ did not rise from the dead then his death was not the sacrificial lamb of God.  Instead he would've been a fraud and death would've swallowed him up and still reign over the human race.  But thank God that's not true for I myself have witnessed the Risen Jesus Christ when the Holy Spirit baptized my heart the morning of FEB 17, 2001.  For any other haters out there that are gonna deny Christ, maybe that's because you have not opened your hearts for him to be poured into your hearts.  When he is poured into your hearts you receive his sacrificial death and blood and will be risen to a new holy life in the Lord.  His Death destroys Sin/Death, his resurrection opens the gates of Heaven.  If you have not opened your hearts and received this into your hearts then you are still under judgement and Sin/Death covers your body.  But if you open your heart then Satan is defeated in your life and has no control over you, as mentioned, he is destroyed through Christ sacrificial death and you live with God in your heart forever as Jesus Christ risen also rises you up to that new life in the Lord.  I just pray that you all open your hearts to this and just like in John 20:22 when the Risen Jesus Christ breathed the Holy Spirit unto his disciples (and has breathes it unto many others who opened their hearts to him as he poured his spirit into them) you will receive the most peaceful and powerful thing in your life ever (the Peace of the Crucified and Risen Christ Jesus).

Also, for any more hate saying "How do you know Jesus actually rose from the dead?"  Well, go check his tomb (Archaeology confirms where is tomb is), its empty, and also the burial clothes DNA confirms it is the Son of God's clothes and tomb.  Find me his body?  I'll tell you where it is as I have been revealed it by my Heavenly Father and that it is in Heaven at the right hand of the Heavenly Father.  Also, please look at some of the links provided below and they will be testimonies, many testimonies of people who only knew other religions and either never bothered with Christianity or where like Saul, persecuting Christians, only to have the Risen Lord revealed to their hearts and for them to become born again (John 3:3 talks more about Born Again).  I wish you all a Happy Easter Weekend and may the Grace, Peace, and Love of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ cover you and be with you.  God Bless!

FORGIVING GOD

JESUS AND OLD TESTAMENT SACRIFICES

CHRISTIAN OUTLINE

TESTIMONY OF BUDDHIST, ETC COMING TO JESUS CHRIST

SAUL TO PAUL EXPERIENCES

DEION SANDERS TESTIMONY OF COMING TO JESUS CHRIST

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NCAA FINAL FOUR MEMORIES



NCAA FINAL FOUR MEMORIES

ANOTHER APRIL 2 GAME (2001&2007 PREVIOUS ONES)

Tonight at about 8:20 PM CT (Yes I live in the Central Time Zone so I'm going by there time) the two winningest College Basketball programs of all-time will compete for the 2012 National Championship.  Kansas vs Kentucky, and yes I had this matchup before the tournament started so its some silver lining in a bracket of mine that saw some early bad hits.  In all my years of watching College Basketball I always wandered when the UK and KU would hook up in the most important game of the year.  Yes I remember they met in the Second Round of the 1999 NCAA Tournament at the same place they will play tonight, The New Orleans Super Dome.  In that 1999 Game #3 seed UK needed a three pointer to send the game to overtime and eventually beat the #6 seed Kansas Jayhawks.  Kansas got a measure of revenge int hat same round but this time meeting at the United Center in Chicago as the Top seeded Jayhawks knocked off the #8 seed Wildcats.  In my lifetime Kansas has won the National Championship in 1988 and 2008 sandwiching National Title Game appearances in 1991 and 2003 and also Final Four berths in 1993 and 2002.  It should be noted that when the Final Four has been held at the Super Dome that the Jayhawks took part in 1993 and 2003 and both times failed to walk out of the Dome with the National Championship Trophy.  Kentucky did not fare so well in that 1993 final Four either, losing in Overtime to the Fab Five of Michigan.  In my lifetime Kentucky has won it all in 1996 and 1998 with appearances in 1984, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, and 2011.  Obviously both made it this year in 2012.  Kentucky has a National Championship game showing from 1997 but lost a classic game to Arizona in overtime at the RCA Dome in Indy.  Before we all sit back (or sit at edge of TV depending on your rooting interest) and watch a game that in my opinion is bigger than the Super Bowl in an event (FINAL FOUR) bigger than the Super Bowl as well, I would like to take a trip down memory lane and relive great Final Four moments in my lifetime.

The earliest Final Four I can remember was 1989 at the Seattle Kingdom.  I was on Spring Break traveling at the time to the beach in Georgia so I missed Seton Hall over Duke but I remember the thrilling Michigan over Illinois game featuring these Big Ten teams.  The score was a 83-81 victory for Big Blue in a game that featured 33-lead changes.  Two days later Michigan needed Overtime and two Rumeal Robinson Free Throws with :03 seconds left to win the 1989 National Championship over Seton hall, 80-79 in OT.  The next year UNLV killed Duke to win the 1990 National Championship and kick started the road to history.  UNLV went undefeated throughout 1990-91 and everyone said they would roll to an easy Second Straight National Title at the 1991 Final Four at the then Hoosier Dome in Indy.  However there downfall was the start of the legendary part of Duke's Basketball program.  With no one giving them a chance to win, Duke shocked the world and beat UNLV 79-77 and two days later on Monday Night took care of Kansas for the programs first National Championship...a game noted for the famous Bobby Hurley to grant Hill alley oop at the start of the National Title.  This would prompt Duke to be ranked #1 during all of the 1991-92 season and going 34-2 and winning a second straight National Championship.  They did have a scare in the Regional Finals in what everyone knows as the greatest game ever, Christian Laettner hitting the buzzer beater.  In the Final Four Duke took care of Indiana and their fair weather fans int he Semifinals despite officiating trying its best to give IU the win.  Then Duke took the Freshmen Fab Five to school and won the Title game 71-51.

1993 The Michigan Wolverines and their Fab Five were the team to beat.  They learned their lesson from 1992 Title game beat down similar to how Duke learned from 1990 beat down against UNLV and Duke came back the next season and became College Basketball Kings.  The Fab Five figured to do the same and take over the top throne.  That season with Duke having a hard time adjusting to Laettner's departure, they were ousted out in Round Two.  Another team that thought the torch would be passed to them was Kentucky.  I mean UK was a Laettner miracle shot from beating Duke in 1992 Tournament while everyone else besides IU got beat up by Duke.  Well the two teams would meet in the 1993 Final Four Semifinals at the Super Dome.  Neither team blinked.  Overtime was needed but the Wolverine's star power was too much for Kentucky and their lone star Jamal Mashburn to overcome.  That's it!  The Fab Five were gonna do what everyone expected them to do and that's become National Champions right?   Wait Wait...TIMEOUT........Oops...that's what did the fab Five in.  Trailing 73-71 under twenty seconds Michigan got a rebound off of a missed Free Throw by North Carolina and Chris Webber just panicked and had no control of the situation or himself.  First he traveled but it wasn't called and then like a deer int he headlights he dribbles to the corner in front of his bench and panicking he listens to some guys on his bench signal timeout and he calls it as well.  Problem is they had no timeouts left and North Carolina won the Atlantic Coast Conference's Third Straight National Championship.  As great as the Fab Five were, they won no Big ten Titles, got swept by an inferior Indiana team that season, and failed to win the National Championship.

 1994 Duke looked to make it 3 out of 4 as they had Home State Advantage.  A great come from behind victory over Florida set up a matchup with another SEC team, the Arkansas Razorbacks.  Duke took control of the game with a ten point lead in the second half and looked well on their way.  Arkansas stormed back and tied it.  With about a minute left Scotty Thurman hit a fluke three pointer, if it would've missed Duke gets the rebound and has numbers on the other end to score and take the lead, but instead it went in and Coach K's squad never recovered.  Arkansas made Bill Clinton proud and took home the 1994 National Championship Trophy.  The next season they almost made it Back-to-Back but fell short to an overwhelming UCLA favorite int he National Championship Game at the King Dome.  Duke returned to the Final Four in 1999.  In the 1998-99 season this roster may be the greatest College Basketball Team ever:  William Avery at Point, Alaskan Assassin Trajan Langdon at the two, Chris Carawell at the three, Shane Battier Power Forward, and the best player in 1999 and maybe the most powerful one we have ever seen in a longtime in Elton Brand playing Center.  I haven't even named the great talent off of their bench.  Brand was nothing but power, averaging near 18 and 10 (would've been 28 and 15 if he didn't play on a College All-Star team practically), and was projected to be Number One in the upcoming NBA Draft and be a megastar in the NBA.  Except for one slip up on a great end of game play in the Great Alaska Shootout by Cincinnati earlier that season, Duke never lost a game and blew everyone out (except needing Double OT to win at the Garden vs. St. John's).  They would win the National Championship and have the most wins in a College Basketball Season and be the greatest team ever.  They held off a fiery Michigan State team in the Final Four Semifinals at the Sun Dome in Tampa/St. Pete's.  The would win the Natio.......Wait a second UConn was their opponents and had Superstar Richard "Rip" Hamilton, and a 33-2 record.  This game was one for the ages and UConn never backed down.  In my opinion this was the biggest shocker since Duke over UNLV in 1991.  UConn pulled off the shocker in the best National Championship Game I have witnessed in my lifetime (view it here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naVDW1CAm0U). 

The 2000 NCAA Final Four was very weird.  Held at the RCA Dome in Indy you had two eight seeds (UNC and Wisconsin) there and a five seed (Florida).  Michigan State was the lone one seed and they would beat Wisconsin in the ugliest Final Four game ever int he semifinals and then beat the very deep Gator team to win it all, seeing Mateen Cleaves play with heart and through injury.  The Spartans returned to the Final Four in 2001 at the Metro Dome in Minneapolis, MN, but this time the rest of the field was by far superior.  Top overall seed Duke, Maryland, and a team in Arizona that many thought was the most talented team in 2000-01 from top to bottom.  Arizona easily beat the inferior MSU Spartans and then the next semifinal saw two teams that battled adversity all year.  Maryland blew a ten point lead with less than a minute to play at home vs Duke on Saturday Night, January 27, 2001.  They went depressed after losing that game and it took until one month later to comeback stronger than ever.  They beat Duke at Cameron on Tuesday Night, February 27, 2001, as Duke lost Carlos Boozer to injury.  That injury propelled Duke to play faster and with more pressure and no fear.  They rolled through and to the Final Four as they got Boozer back as well.  The two teams also played the greatest non-NCAA Tournament game ever at the Georgia Dome in the ATL for the ACC Tournament Semifinals on Saturday Afternoon, March 10, 2001, a thrilling Duke win.  In this National Semifinal game Maryland came out on fire and jumped out to a 39-17 lead.  Duke recovered and won the game 95-84.  Their National Championship opponent also faced adversity that season.  The Arizona Wildcats lost Lute Olson's Wife as she passed away on New Year's Day, Monday, January 1, 2001 (I can relate as part of me died that day but the best part of me became alive for that year).  The Wildcats had a slump due to the depression of it but they regained themselves late regular season and looked to be unstoppable.  They may have played Duke evenly but a barrage of Mike Dunleavy Jr. Three Pointers was probably the difference as Duke sent College Basketball's best class act ever Shane Battier out with a National Championship.

Maryland returned to the Final Four in 2002 at the Georgia Dome, beating fellow heavyweight Kansas, and then beat an inferior but scrappy Indiana University team, 64-52, for their redemption and National Championship.  Duke would return in 2004 as well as fellow ACC school Georgia Tech, a Final Four held at the Alamo Dome in San Antonio, TX.  Georgia Tech won a classic game over Oklahoma State with a Will Bynum game winner in final seconds.  Just being at Final Four was big for Oklahoma State as they honored the fallen ones in a team plane crash from Saturday, January 27, 2001.  UConn beat Duke by one Point int he other semifinal and then Emeka Okafor and Ben Gordon catapulted into the NBA with a National Championship win, completing the ACC Sweep to do it.  The next season the ACC would send North Carolina to the Final Four and they beat Illinois in the National Championship game.  That Illinois team had the same chance that Duke had in 1998-99..a win would have given them most wins in an NCAA Season ever, but this Illinois team was no where near the talent of that Duke roster in 1998-99.  For the 2006 Final Four at RCA Dome in Indy I had pleasure of attending the Friday practices.  I was really impressed with Florida and when I went to the National Championship game on Monday Night, April 3, 2006, Joakim Noah was a monster and his Gators romped to the National Championship as they pounded historical powerhouse UCLA.  The Gators would return to the 2007 Final Four at the Georgia Dome and would win it all on the same date Duke won it all over Arizona in 2001...April 2, 2007.  The Gators beat Ohio State but Greg Oden of the Buckeyes proved that he was the best player in the nation that season and a force to be reckoned with in the NBA (obviously it didn't pan out but that's another story for another day). 

2008 Final Four in the Alamo Dome saw all four Number One seeds make it.  Memphis defeated UCLA in the Semifinals as their star Derrick Rose led the way, giving Memphis win number 38, the most in a season by any College Hoops team.  Kansas defeated former coach Roy Williams and his North Carolina Tar Heels, setting the stage for a National Championship game as thrilling as the 1999 game.  Rose had two Free Throws with about :10 seconds left.  If he hits both its over but one miss and Kansas has a shot at it.  Rose, A Champion from Chicago, should have this, but he missed the first.  He made the second, giving the Tigers a three point lead, setting the stage for Kansas to come down and toss the ball to Mario Chalmers who hit a three pointer with :02.1 left and forced overtime.  Kansas dominated overtime winning the National Championship in a game for the ages.  (Watch the game here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7Ydt3he3G4&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PLF18CA65083E0B5E0).

A game that may have topped that one or come close to topping it...2010 National Championship Game Butler vs Duke.  Butler was this season's Cinderella just like George Mason was in 2006...those Patriots made the Final Four at RCA Dome in Indy before the eventual Champion Gators Knocked them out.  Butler was a five seed in this tournament as they had a great regular season and dominating one as a mid-major.  Lets also not forget this Final Four was held in their hometown of Indy as the games would be played at Lucas Oil Stadium.  The Bulldogs knocked off powerhouse Michigan State in a close Semifinal game.  Duke was a One seed and won the ACC Regular Season and Tournament Titles.  Many said "We have seen Duke do this but choke before Final Four just like they have since 2004".  Also Duke was not as dominate as other one seeds such as Kentucky, Kansas, and Syracuse.  Well Kansas choked against inferior Northern Iowa in RD 2, Syracuse was ousted by Butler in Sweet Sixteen, and Kentucky, a team full of lottery picks, lost in the Elite Eight to West Virginia.  Duke handled their business, winning a good game in Baylor's back yard in the Elite Eight to secure the Final Four berth and then blowing out West Virginia in the Final Four Semis.  This National Championship game was back and forth.  Duke made a great defensive stop in the final seconds with a one point lead.  They hit one free throw but intentionally missed the second one with :03.6 seconds left (I personally would've tried to make it as you will soon find out why) and Butler's Gordon Hayward got the rebound and dribbled it to half court putting up a shot at the buzzer.  I thought it was in, but it hit the backboard, bounce off front of rim and bounced away (Missing).  Duke won the National Championship and gave Jon Scheyer a ride into the sunset for his hard work in his four years at Duke.  Butler would return to the National Title game the next yr as an eight seed, along with fellow Cinderella VCU (an 11 seed) and Butler beat them in the semis at Reliant Stadium in Houston, TX.  However in the National Championship game UConn beat them in maybe the ugliest and worse National Championship game ever, one year after one of the best National Championship games ever.

So for 2012 here is to hoping Kansas and Kentucky can give us another Shining Moment.  Before the tournament started I picked Kansas to win over Kentucky.  I will be honest that is a stretch as Kentucky is by far the better team...but so was Michigan in 1993, Duke in 1999, Memphis in 2008, and a handful of other teams.

2010 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ENDING

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