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April 21, 2019

Pastor Steve’s Blog Happy Easter April 21, 2019 I want to begin my blog by wishing everyone a HAPPY EASTER. Easter is the high point of our Christian year and it is no exception this year. I am writing my blog on Monday, April 15. As I sit here in my church office, there are three things that I am struck by from this past weekend: The first one for me is Palm Sunday and Holy Week. The other two are Tiger Woods and Game of Thrones. I can pretty much bet that the world is focused on Tiger Woods and Game of Thrones rather than it being Holy Week. I have a few thoughts on these three. First, for us golf fans, the Masters Tournament will be celebrated in the decades to come as one of the greatest comebacks, not just in golf, but in sports history. Americans love a great comeback story, particularly when there was a great deal of doubt that Tiger could ever win again, let alone win a major golf tournament again. The nay-sayers kept nay-saying right up until the conclusion of the 18th hole in the final round on Sunday. Then the expression was, “I can’t believe this happened…even though Tiger Woods has been saying “I’m going to win again” for a while now. The golf analysts put up all the stats yesterday: 15 Majors, 5 Masters Titles, and 81 Tour Victories. Quite the golf and sports resume. But as I was celebrating all of this Sunday afternoon, along with so many others, the Holy Spirit began speaking to me and drawing parallels with Jesus and Holy Week. The greatest comeback story for us as Christians is certainly Jesus Christ after what happened to Him on Friday and the outcome on Sunday morning. Holy Week weekend will be remembered eternally. Let a golf tournament top that. After Good Friday, many doubted Jesus would rise from the dead, even though Jesus had been saying for a while that He would. And even after Sunday morning, the nay-sayers said, “I can’t believe this happened.” Sound familiar. And these included those closest to Him, His disciples. As for stats. Check these out two. The greatest of all time. One Crucifixion. One Resurrection. Now, as for all the hub-bub around HBO’s television series “Game of Thrones,” there is much gossip and speculation as to who will win the “Iron Throne” in the final season. There was a big article about all of it in the Life Section of the Sunday edition of the Jacksonville Times-Union paper. I must confess that I have not watched the series, but according to the paper, here is what I missed: Andrew Dalton writes “Living in Westeros can really change a person. Those who survived the first seven seasons of ‘Game of Thrones’ have seen their parents, children, and even pets stabbed, disemboweled and beheaded. They’ve been burned and frozen. They’ve lost essential body parts. Some have been through death and back, others suffered the horrors of puberty. Occasionally, they’ve been allowed some triumph.” After reading all of that and thinking…humorously…just what I want on my mind when I am getting ready for bed, the Holy Spirit turned my mind away from all the human imaginations and intrigue of which we are capable and back to Holy Week and the reality of the true King of Kings and Lord of Lords. As Christians, we don’t have to speculate about who will sit on the Throne of Heaven in the end. We know. But I must say…it was quite a weekend…and I can share all the spiritual stuff…however, on a human level, I really enjoyed the golf.