what He's not

There are several similarities among the four gospel accounts of the resurrection. In all four, the resurrection was discovered by a few of Jesus' followers on the first day of the week. In each, the tomb was rolled away. However, this morning as I read each story, there was one particular detail that stood out to me. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all state, each in their own unique way, that these few disciples were searching for Jesus in the wrong place. "Why do you look for your Lord amongst the dead?" Jesus asked. They all sought Him at His tomb, they sought Him amongst the dead and He was nowhere to be found.

It's common for Hebrews to emphasize the characteristics of something or someone by pointing at what it is NOT. For example: God is loving, which means that he is NOT impersonal, He's not easily angered, He does not keep a record of wrongs, He is not unfaithful, He is not easily offended, etc. We can describe God as loving by pointing at what a loving person does NOT do.

In like mind, we are so thankful today for what each gospel says Jesus is NOT today: DEAD. In the TOMB. Jesus is NOT without life. Jesus is NOT defeated. The emphasis is that Jesus is ALIVE. This emphasis not only has the capacity, but also the NECESSITY, to define our lives. The historical fact that Jesus is not dead sets Christianity apart from all other religions, and means something utterly transforming for us.

Praise the Lord this Easter that He is not sinful, that He is not dead, that He is not far off and distant and that He is not finished with us, with Haiti, with His beautiful plan for the world!



We are thankful today, too, that we are NOT home!

We flew into Port-au-Prince yesterday to spend Easter with dear friends, Greg and Cathie, and to do some legal business in "the big city." We have had just about the perfect day! It has been full with all kinds of unexpected and rare blessings that have truly filled us up in a way we desperately needed.

Our wonderful day started with bagels and CREAM CHEESE! Then, we headed across the street to join several area missionaries, and good friends from Cap-Haitien who flew in with us, for their English fellowship. What a joy it was to be a part of an English service, to worship the Lord in our heart language with other believers, and to sing worship songs that we knew by heart!

After church, we had the most WONDERFUL Easter meal. We had HAM, scalloped potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, ambrosia salad...the WORKS. It was SO special! We felt entirely spoiled! After lunch, Matt WATCHED BASKETBALL on TV (seriously, these things are a really big deal) and we both took a nap, IN air conditioning (!!!), with Matt stretched out in a Lazy Boy!

We spent some great time with our friends, made chocolate chips and then (get this) ORDERED DOMINOES PIZZA! Only in Port-au-Prince! We had delivery pizza, cokes and cookies for dinner, got to speak to both of our families, and finished the evening with several exciting rounds of Settlers (if you don't know what this is, check it out..."Settlers of Catan").

These things might not seem like a big deal, but all of these things are things we haven't had or done for 7 months now, and it was so special. It may sound intense, but the Lord really spoke to us today through these things. We felt rest and restoration today that we haven't felt in a long time, which was such an answer to prayer for us. The Lord truly continues to provide for our every need, even needs we didn't realize we had!

Happy Happy Easter...We lift you up as we all share the full meaning of that empty tomb.