People do not die for beliefs which they know to be false! That the disciples and early Christians died willingly is evidence that;

1. They knew Jesus was who He said He was
2. That Jesus in fact truly has been raised from the dead.

The Apostle Paul made his argument for the reality and importance of Jesus’ resurrection to the Church at Corinth. Paul wrote:

¹² Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³ But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁴ And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. ¹⁵ We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. ¹⁶ For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁷ And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. ¹⁸ Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. ¹⁹ If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. 1 Corinthians 15:12-19 (ESV)

Notice that Paul teaches that if the resurrection of Christ were ever to be disproved then Christianity would also be disproved. If Jesus’ power is not sufficient to conquer death then neither can He overcome the power of sin. Fortunately for those of us who believe, we know that Jesus did in fact rise from the dead, because we have the witness of the Holy Spirit testifying to the reality of His resurrection within our souls.

²⁰ But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹ For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 1 Corinthians 15:20-21 (ESV)

Jesus’ resurrection is not only the lynch pen concerning the reality of the claims of the Gospel writers, but it is also a fact of history, witnessed by over 500 individuals.

³ For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁵ and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. ⁶ Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷ Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. ⁸ Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 1 Corinthians 15:3–8 (ESV)

The facts of Jesus’ resurrection are presented in the Gospels in a  rather matter of fact fashion.

¹ Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. ² And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. ³ His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. ⁴ And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. ⁵ But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. ⁷ Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” ⁸ So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹ And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” ¹¹ While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. ¹² And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers ¹³ and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ ¹⁴ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” ¹⁵ So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day. Matthew 28:1–15 (ESV)

The fact that Jesus was resurrected is only helpful to us if we believe that He also is God’s Son, and died in our place for our individual sins. Easter is genuinely a celebration only for those who believe and know with absolute certainty that Jesus is who He claimed to be, was capable of accomplishing the work His Father assigned Him, and is currently interceding at the right hand of the Father on our behalf.

Easter is not about eggs, baskets, bonnets, or new clothes.  Each of these things are fine in their place, but none of these have any place in a genuine celebration of the resurrection of Christ. A more proper and authentic celebration of Easter would involve thanking God for His grace, praising God for His provision of a sacrifice capable of removing the penalty of sin from us, to worship Him and desire to live in His presence, while doing everything we can to tell others about the Good News that is found through following Jesus Christ.

Will you celebrate Easter? If so, how? Will you choose to commemorate this act that gives hope to Christians that there is forgiveness of sin and eternal life for all those who believe, or will you gather like Easter is just another excuse to celebrate without giving God His due? Remember Jesus’ teaching:

¹⁵ And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” ¹⁶ And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, ¹⁷ and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ ¹⁸ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ ²⁰ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ ²¹ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:15–21 (ESV)

Please make it your only ambition to be “rich toward God.” Happy Easter!!!

I am asking you to please go and purchase a five-gallon bucket with handle and form-fitting lid, and fill it.  The buckets must be new and unused.  Originally we were told that the buckets had to be white and could not have any company logos.  I am told by a good friend who works for the North American Mission Board that “the rules are now being relaxed, and orange Home Depot buckets (with or without a logo) are acceptable, because (State Conventions will put a Disaster Relief logo over the commercial logo).  Each bucket must have a sturdy form fitting lid.  For a list of places to purchase buckets look here. In my area the Ace Hardware bucket and lid costs $4.98 before tax with a discount after I told the store manager why I wanted it. The manager told me that if I could get 100 people to buy a bucket at the discounted price she could donate another 20 buckets to the cause. The Home Depot bucket and lid cost $3.32 before tax without any discounts, or value added donations.

The food items can and should be generic, store brand items so that you can afford to help a maximum number of Haitians. Do not substitute any items listed and do not add additional items.  (Each bucket must clear customs.  Were they to check a bucket that was not packed according to the standard your bucket could jeopardize the entire shipment).

• 2 – 5-pound bags long grain enriched rice
• 1 – 48-ounce plastic bottle cooking oil
• 2 – 2-pound bags dry black beans (can substitute with red beans)
• 1 – 5-pound bag of all-purpose flour (not self-rising)
• 1 – 20-ounce cylinder container of granulated white sugar (coffee service size)
• 2 – 1-pound boxes of spaghetti noodles
• 1 – 2-pound 8-ounce (40 oz) plastic jar of creamy peanut butter
• 1 – 2-gallon plastic ziplock storage bag (used to wrap the bottle of cooking oil)

The bucket and the food items should be able to be purchased for around $30.  When I purchased these items at my local Wal Mart the cost was $19.89. Adding the costs of the bucket from Ace Hardware the cost was approximately $25. That is not much money to feed a typical Haitian family for a week. An additional $10 is needed to ship the bucket to Haiti.

With millions homeless in Haiti there are a lot of hungry people which we need to feed.

34“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ Matthew 25:34–40 (NASB)

Please send a ‘Bucket of Hope” to the people in Haiti for $40, encourage your friends and co-workers to send a ‘Bucket of Hope” to the people in Haiti.  Have your church or civic organization send ‘Buckets of Hope” to the people in Haiti.

Visit the “Buckets of Hope” website, or log on to the SBDR Facebook page and tell them what your church or organization is doing.  You can even make a donation to SBDR via cell phone and text message by texting nambdr to 40579. A $10 donation will be charged to your cell phone account and sent to Southern Baptist Disaster Relief.

The video below shows you how to pack your bucket.  Once your bucket of hope is packed take it to your local Southern Baptist Church or Association office and they should be able to take it from there.  If not, contact me and I will assist you in finding the distribution center nearest you.

]]> http://warnersmith.org/archives/780/feed 0 http://warnersmith.org/archives/690 http://warnersmith.org/archives/690#comments Thu, 04 Feb 2010 22:27:56 +0000 Warner Smith http://warnersmith.org/?p=690 The following was originally posted on Feb 3, 2010 by Mickey Noah at Baptist Press.  I received it in an e-mail from a friend.  I have summarized and posted it here.  Please keep praying for the people of Haiti.  If you can get trained in your state and go help them.

Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) medical teams are among the first Baptists to minister in Haiti.

SBDR medical volunteers from Mississippi and Kentucky arrived on Feb 1, 2010 and treated 550 patients. The Mississippi team is operating a small hospital out of a Haitian Baptist church located on the edge of one of Port-Au-Prince. The Kentucky team is working at a clinic near the presidential palace.

An incident command team from the North American Mission Board will leave Atlanta today  Feb. 4, to serve in Haiti. They will link up with the Florida Baptist Convention, who are on the ground in Haiti for the second time since the earthquake.

This team will be busy planning logistics, lodging, transportation, feeding and communications for SBDR’s eventual “D Day” (the day dozens of Southern Baptist Disaster Relief teams will begin to be deployed to Haiti, a process that will extend over many months.

Persons who have returned from Haiti say nothing prepared them for their first drive through downtown Port-Au-Prince.   One has reported he thought he had seen it all after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, but now says “I’ve never seen anything even close to this disaster, even Katrina,”

As additional SBDR teams arrive in the Haitian capital in the days and weeks to come, they need to know why they’re going before they get there. “The mission ought to be clear,” “Folks need to be mentally, emotionally and spiritually prepared.”

Another volunteer said: “I would tell disaster relief people that they need to be prayed up before they get here, because they don’t know what they’re going into and what they’re going to be dealing with.”

Initial funding for these relief efforts will come from the International Mission Board’s disaster relief fund. Contributions can be made online, www.imb.org, or by mail, International Mission Board, P.O. Box 6767, Richmond, VA 23230.

Regardless of the SBC channel, all funds received for this purpose will go to relief efforts; none will be used for administrative costs.

Southern Baptists can contribute to “Haiti Earthquake Disaster Relief” through their local church or directly to their state convention, the North American Mission Board (www.namb.net) or the International Mission Board (www.imb.org).