Hiatus

Life is too busy at the moment for me to be posting here.

My final Prac is looming, I have 8000+ words of assignments due in the next two weeks, I have a 3 year old son and a 1 year old daughter and a wife who is also a full time student.

I hope to be back once that is settled, but who knows.

I'll leave with two snippets to tide any one who comes by over.

The Bible in 50 words:

God made;
Adam bit;
Noah Arked;
Abraham split;
Jacob fooled;
Joseph ruled;
Bush talked;
Moses balked;
Pharoh plagued;
People wlaked;
Sea divided;
Tablets guided;
Promise landed;
Saul freaked;
David peaked;
Prophets warned;
Jesus born;
God walked;
Love talked;
Anger crucified;
Hope died;
Love rose;
Spirit flamed;
Word spread;
God remained.

What (or rather who) the Bible is all about:

In Genesis, He's the breath of Life;
In Exodus, the passover Lamb;
In Leviticus, He's our high priest;
Numbers, the fire by night;
Deuteronomy, He's Moses' voice;
In Joshua, He is salvation's choice;
Judges, Law giver;
In Ruth, the kinsman redeemer;
First and Second Samuel, our trusted prophet;
In Kings and Chronicles, He's sovereign;
Ezra, true and faithful scribe;
Nehemiah, He's the rebuilder of broken walls and lives;
In Esther, He's Mordecai's courage;
In Job, the timeless redeemer;
In Psalms, He is our morning song;
In Proverbs, wisdom's cry;
Ecclesiastes, the time and season;
In the Song of Solomon, He is the lover's dream;

In Isaiah, He's Prince of Peace;
Jeremiah, the weeping prophet;
In Lamentations, the cry for Israel;
Ezekiel, He's the call from sin;
In Daniel, the stranger in the fire;
In Hosea, He is forever faithful;
In Joel, He's the Spirits power;
In Amos, the arms that carry us;

In Obadiah, He's the Lord our Savior;
In Jonah, He's the great missionary;
In Micah, the promise of peace;
In Nahum, He is our strength and our shield;
In Habakkuk and Zephaniah, He's pleading for revival;
In Haggai, He restores a lost heritage;
In Zechariah, our fountain;
In Malachi, He is the son of righteousness rising with healing in His wings;

In Matthew, Mark, Luke and John;
He is God, Man, Messiah;
In the book of Acts, He is fire from heaven;
In Romans, He's the grace of God;
In Corinthians, the power of love;
In Galatians, He is freedom from the curse of sin;
Ephesians, our glorious treasure;
Philippians, the servants heart;
In Colossians, He's the Godhead trinity;
Thessalonians, our coming King;
In Timothy, Titus, Philemon He's our mediator and our faithful Pastor;
In Hebrews, the everlasting covenant;
In James, the one who heals the sick;
In First and Second Peter, he is our Shepherd;
In John and in Jude, He is the lover coming for His bride;
In the Revelation, He is King of Kings and the Lord of Lords;

The prince of peace;
The Son of man;
The Lamb of God;
The great I Am;
He's the alpha and omega;
Our God and our Savior;
He is Jesus Christ, Lord and when time is no more He is.

Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, Messiah, Creator and God, is in the Old Testament concealed, and is in the New Testament revealed.

MDM

David Gemmell

David Gemmell is my favorite author. Being introduced to Legend at the tender age of 13, greatly contributed to my love of reading, and that reading has become a large part of my recreation time over the last decade.

David first got the idea for Legend in 1976. He was being tested for cancer, and to take his mind off it he tried writing a book, which he called The Siege of Dros Delnoch. The fortress and its attackers, the Nadir, were metaphors for him and the cancer. In the end, he was found not to have cancer after all and he forgot about the book, which he claims wasn't very good anyway. However, in 1980, a friend of Gemmell's read the manuscript and told him that the story had potential. Encouraged, Gemmell set to work rewriting the book that would become known as Legend. It was accepted by Century Hutchinson late in 1982.

I have read, thoroughly enjoyed and re-read all of David Gemmell's books except for White Knight, Black Swan which he wrote under the psudonim, Ross Harding.

I own 22 of his 31 (1 yet to be released) novels, and plan to continue collecting.

I was told today that David Gemmell is no longer writing. He died of coronary artery disease, on Friday 28th July, 2006, two weeks after undergoing heart bypass surgery. In his words "I tried to quit smoking and found that the years of polluting my brain with nicotine meant that I couldn't string a reasonable sentence together without filling my lungs with smoke. I went three months without a drag, took a good look at the #### I was writing and lit up."

If I may take liberty with some of David's words from the mouths of Regnak and Druss the Legend:

"And you, David. I never met a better author."
"Sure you did, boy. Hundreds! But it's nice of you to say it. However I didn't come here to exchange compliments..."

Many of the themes and ideals of some of the characters in his work leads me to believe that David either knew a lot about Christianity or had experienced saving Grace. I pray it was the latter.

Either way I will miss receiving a new Gemmell novel for my birthday each year. My wife will probably miss having such an easy choice of gift.

Friday or Wednesday?

The following is from an e-mail I received.

The observances of Good Friday and Easter Sunday have perpetuated the traditional chronology that the crucifixion took place on a Friday, and that the Lord's body was buried on that day at about 6:00 p.m., and that he rose from the dead early on the following Sunday morning.

There are some, however, that feel this tradition is at variance with the Scriptural record. One of the problems is reckoning "three days" between Friday evening and Sunday morning. Our Lord's definitive statement is one of the problems:

"For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." (Matthew 12:40)

The mention of nights, as well as the number of days, makes it hard to render this as simply an idiomatic rhetorical device rather than a statement of fact.

The Sabbaths

Nowhere in the Gospels does it assert that Christ was crucified on a Friday. In Mark 15:42, it refers to "...the day before the sabbath." This may be the root of the misunderstanding.

The Jews had other sabbaths in addition to the weekly shabbat (Saturday). In addition to the weekly sabbaths, there were seven "high sabbaths" each year, and the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the 15th of Nisan, was one of them. Further, Matthew 28:1 should read, "At the end of the sabbaths," (which is plural in the Greek), implying there was a plurality of sabbaths that week.

If Passover, the 14th of Nisan, fell earlier in the week, the 15th could have been any day prior to Saturday, the weekly Sabbath. "When the sabbaths were past" would, of course, be Sunday (actually, Saturday after sundown), in accordance to the Feast of First Fruits. (Some hold to a Thursday crucifixion on a similar basis.)

The 17th of Nisan

Jesus had declared that He would be in the grave three days, and yet was to be resurrected "on the morrow after the sabbath," on the day of the Feast of First Fruits. It is interesting that the authorities, anxious to get the body off the cross before sundown, unknowingly were fulfilling God's predetermined plan, "according to the Scriptures."

Noah's flood ended on the 17th day of the 7th month. This month becomes the 1st month at the institution of the Passover. Our new beginning in Christ was on the anniversary of the Earth's "new beginning" under Noah!

Israel's new beginning, the crossing of the Red Sea, is believed to have been on the 17th of Nisan. Also, in their flight after Passover, Israel retrieved the body of Joseph from his tomb. After Passover, Jesus was retrieved from another Joseph's tomb on this date.

The Jericho Journey

Another problem with a Friday crucifixion is John 12:1: "Then Jesus six days before the Passover came to Bethany..." (from Jericho). If the Friday view can be accepted, then six days earlier was the weekly shabbat, and on this day such a journey was legally out of the question for a devout Jew.

Summary

As for the Friday or Wednesday issue, there are many good scholars on each side of this controversy. I personally have become rather cynical toward any tradition that is not supported by Scripture.

Good Friday is the "traditional" view. The Wednesday crucifixion is known as the "reconstructed view." This article is intended to stimulate study and constructive conversation during this precious season. However the important thing is that the tomb was empty. The authorities made sure that this was indisputable. Indeed, He is risen!

Happy Easter!