CSN Easter Sunday - LightWing Messages for 4/17/2022
Peter Declares That Jesus Is the Messiah
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
Jesus Predicts His Death
From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.
Matthew 16:13-27 (NIV)
Jesus Predicts His Death a Third Time
Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!” Matthew 20:17-19 (NIV)
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Happy Easter Everyone!
For the last three Easter celebrations, we offered Easter messages or sermons from ministers from the past and from the present. They had much to share, and it was good. However, over the past three years in America and in the world, much has transpired that seems to portend even more difficult days ahead for humanity. One of those messages on past Easters was from
excerpts from a book written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer entitled “The Cost of Discipleship.” It is this message that I am resurrecting today as it is evident that it is quite appropriate for our time, as he was reflecting upon Jesus’ words and applying it to his time. In “The Cost of Discipleship,” Bonhoeffer compared “Costly Grace” to “Cheap Grace.”
Bonhoeffer’s works are quite challenging, as were the words of Jesus. Bonhoeffer’s words do not just challenge one to think, but to take action against evil. His words resonate with me and this year, I am offering the message of light based upon reflecting on the challenge of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. It is titled, “The Challenge of Practicing Faith.” It is offered in addition to “Cheap Grace vs. Costly Grace,” which Bonhoeffer had offered to the world in 1938. Both messages are offered for your deeper understanding on this special Christian holiday - a celebration of the resurrection.
We also hope our readers will enjoy both of our messages today. Read, absorb and share, and practice what is within you.
God’s blessings to all of our readers on this Resurrection Sunday.
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The “Message of Light” endeavor had been part of the “David Project” that originated as a genuine inspiration from our Heavenly Father, initiated to bring Light into the dark in this time. The project developed from 2018, and as we approach our third anniversary of existence, we have formally elevated the “David Project” to the more formal “LightWing Mission,” my personal ministry, which I had announced in previous messages.
These messages are freely offered and sent to you as part of the “LightWing Mission.” Please receive today’s messages as a gift from those who care. They are only words being offered, freely; yet, some contain a deep message of faith, or a much deeper expression of heart that readers can hopefully receive into their lives. As it has been written: “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” Proverbs 29:18 - KJV
May we, who are called by His name, humble ourselves (place ourselves daily in His presence with genuine humility) and truly appreciate with deepest gratitude His Mercy and His loving Grace. In return, may we truly seek His Kingdom and His righteousness in all the days we are allotted in such a time as this.
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May we humble yourselves, seek His face, repent, and turn from wickedness - even if that may mean one’s failure to receive what our Heavenly Father has continually given to us, or our own failure to mount a crusade to self-correct, and to return His love as Jesus asked.
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“The Challenge of Practicing Faith”
By Dennis Jamison
April 15, 2022
Prior to Easter in 2019, I offered a message regarding repentance. It was written in reflection upon Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s “Costly Grace vs. Cheap Grace.” The memory of Bonhoeffer was revived last week as the anniversary of his execution was on April 9, 1945. It was less than a month before Hitler’s Nazi government in Germany surrendered to the Allied forces, Bonhoeffer was hung with six other dissenting ‘depoloarbles.’
Bonhoeffer delivered his message on costly Grace in 1938, and it is a testimony to why he was willing to give up his life in the fight for freedom. Today, the world is in dire need of more Dietrich Bonhoeffers. Indeed, there needs to be a critical mass of Christians like Bonhoeffer. I do not believe Jesus would have rebuked him or called him a stumbling block.
But what of us? Do we have in mind the concerns of God – or only human concerns? As we are taking account of the world as it is today, not what it once was, or what we wish it to be, we need to make time to take inventory of our souls. As we are taking account of the world at this time of Easter, not bunnies and eggs, and not the Easter celebrations of what was; truly we need to self-examine - take personal inventory of our owndimensions of faith.
At the time Jesus rebuked Peter, he had just told his disciples of what the future held for him. The disciples must have been in shock. His words may not have aligned with what their basic expectations were of the coming Kingdom that Jesus had been preaching about in earlier years of his ministry. Peter’s response was the only one recorded. But, it also must be realized that this response came just after Jesus told Peter that he was going to be given the “keys to the kingdom.” Yet in the next moments, Jesus rebuked Peter and likened him to Satan and stated that “you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
Peter requires correction from Jesus several times according to the Gospels.And, Peter will ultimately betray Jesus three times before morning arrives after the night of the arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane. As we reflect on this, as we take inventory of our spiritual lives, our souls, how much like this Peter, are we? It is not a question regarding St. Peter, but the one who is just beginning his journey of faith. Who rebukes us when we do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns? Who is watching as we may deny our linkage to Christ? Who corrects us as we cannot deny ourselves and make sacrifices for our family or friends, or communities?
The genuine meaning of Easter is that God’s son was willing to obey his Heavenly Father and do the most difficult task of laying down his precious life for the sake of God’s other children, and he was given life back in the Resurrection. Christianity would not have commenced upon the cross. It commenced from the Resurrection based upon his own teachings.
It is Jesus’ magnificent faith that he demonstrates in refusing to yield to the lies of the world that he demonstrates total obedience to God’s Will. This needs to be compared with the refusal of Adam and Eve to live by God’s Word and the Commandment in the Gard e, who demonstrate willingness to go against God’s Will by doing exactly what their Heavenly Father asked them not to do. Jesus, the Second Adam, is able to reverse this practice of faithlessness in the Garden of Eden through his suffering and sacrifice on Golgotha.
Where then, do Christians fit in within such a framework? [595]
Christians may rely on whatever part of the Bible they choose to use to justify their faith, but the words and actions of Jesus provide the genuine measuring stick – not much else. Those who were disciples had an incredibly high standard to follow. Faith is only the foundation upon which we put our faith into action. A complete manifestation of faith is what Jesus taught:
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.
Faith is only the foundation upon which we exercise our belief. Faith is the belief; what we have done” is how we have practiced our faith. Jesus gives many examples, but those who choose to do nothing with their faith are rewarded accordingly.
Adam and Eve knew God before they fell. Adam and Eve knew they were God’s children before they fell. Adam and Eve knew God’s word before they fell, they knew His Will. Yet, they did not do what their Heavenly Father asked. They were rewarded accordingly.
Jesus held on to God’s Word and followed God’s Will to the point of denying himself and giving his life for the sake of all who choose to become disciples. This is what Dietrich Bonhoeffer gets at in his explanation of the difference between what he viewed as cheap Grace vs. costly Grace. It is God’s Grace that came at great cost for those of us who realize how precious that forfeit of his life was for Jesus. He truly understood the value of life more than anyone. Physical life is precious. Yet, the point is that one’s spiritual life is even more important. One’s soul is more precious than the whole world. This is the point.
What was it that Lucifer told Eve? “You will not surely die...” “For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” But, Adam and Eve did die - the spirit in them died. They had the name of being alive - though they were dead. They chose to not obey the “concerns of God” and they put into practice the opposite of God’s Will.
Bonhoeffer was just a man, but he chose to obey the concerns of God and chose his course of self-denial. He gave up his life for truth and what he sincerely believed as he followed his conscience and not the lies of the secular world that were being propagated by the ministers of propaganda in Nazi Germany. Bonhoeffer enlightened us on his point of costly grace: “Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: "ye were bought at a price," and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us.” Bonhoeffer practiced his faith in a dramatic and most memorable way.
Jesus, not his disciples, gave future Christians the clearest blueprint for us all to practice faith:
“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it…”
This Resurrection Sunday could spark a resurrection of the conviction for us all to reject Satan’s lies and Satan’s ways and to embrace the Word of God and allow Him to live in us and to work through us.
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“Cheap Grace vs. Costly Grace”
By Dietrich Bonhoeffer
1938
The following is an excerpt from a book originally entitled “Nachfolge” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The book title, which literally means “succession” in German, was translated as “The Cost of Discipleship” in the English version.
Cheap grace means grace sold on the market like cheapjacks' (seller of cheap goods, a “huckster”) wares. The sacraments, the forgiveness of sin, and the consolations of religion are thrown away at cut prices. Grace is represented as the Church's inexhaustible treasury, from which she showers blessings with generous hands, without asking questions or fixing limits. Grace without price; grace without cost! The essence of grace, we suppose, is that the account has been paid in advance; and, because it has been paid, everything can be had for nothing. Since the cost was infinite, the possibilities of using and spending it are infinite. What would grace be if it were not cheap?...
Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.
Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.
Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock.
Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: "ye were bought at a price," and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor and theologian who took part in resisting the Nazi government during World War II. He became a modern Christian martyr known for opposing Nazi ideologies, conspiring to overthrow Hitler, and helping Jews escape Germany. Bonhoeffer was eventually hanged as a war criminal in the German concentration camp at Flossenburg. His best-known work is the Christian classic The Cost of Discipleship.
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Onward and Upward!
From Greenfield Baptist Church: Easter Hallelujah - Kelly Mooney version performed by sisters Cassandra & Callahan Star with clips from The Passion of the Christ - 4/4/21
From YouTube: “The Storm is Upon Us” A truly inspirational and powerful speech by Jim Caviezel - 10/27/21
From Casting Crowns: Praise You In This Storm (Live from YouTube Space New York) -
9/10/19
From The Chosen movie: The Chosen impact of the scene portraying John 3:16 - 7/11/20
From Lucy Thomas Music: The Prayer - Celine Dion & Andrea Bocelli - by Lucy & Martha Thomas - 4/13/22
From Dutch Sheets Ministries: Passion Week: The Agony of Gethsemane | Give Him 15: Daily Prayer with Dutch | April 14, 2022
From The God Tube: 2 Sisters Sing Chilling Easter 'Hallelujah' Duet - 3/23/21
From Huckabee: IMPORTANT Message: Sunday is Coming! | Monologue - 4/16/22
From Shawna Edwards: RISEN - An Easter song by Shawna Edward - 3/31/2019
From Jonathan Cahn: The Power of Spring Time [From The Passover Communion Mystery (Message 2382)]
From Steve Winwoiod: Now The Green Blade Riseth - 4/29/2020
From Timothy Flood: Jim Caviezel's 'Be Saints' Speech - 7/26/20
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From Mario Murillo: What just happened in California its not what you think - 4/5/22
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Podcast - From Pursuit of Meaning: "Something" Inside You Can MASTER The Infinite | Jordan Peterson's EPIC Speech - 4/13/22
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Recommended Reading…
From Canada Free Press: “He is Risen!” - 4/17/22
From Christianity Daily: Jesus Christ Rose From The Dead And That's A Fact : Church : Christianity Daily - 4/15/22
From Christianity Today: Jesus Is Risen! Now What? (A book review of The Resurrection of Jesus Christ: Exploring Its Theological Significance and Ongoing Relevance by W. Ross Hastings - 3/21/22
From The Christian Post: 3 Easter truths for a weary world - 4/17/22
From The Christian Post: 10 reasons why socialism, Marxism are antithetical to biblical Christianity - 4/16/22
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What affects one, can affect all!
* News From The Growing Free Union -
From WND: 1,000 'woke' companies unite against election-integrity laws -m 4/6/22
From KTLA 5 - People's Convoy news: Trucker convoy brings crowds, traffic to downtown Los Angeles - 4/10/22
* News From Our Canadian Neighbors -
From Canada Free Press: Canada's Digital Dictator Strikes Again - 4/15/22
News From California -
From CENTERPOINT: Sean Feucht - Disney Protest on CENTERPOINT - 4/12/22
From TBN: Kevin Sorbo: A Conversation About Christianity and Hollywood | FULL INTERVIEW | Kirk Cameron - 3/26/22
From The Unity Project: Take Action - The Unity Project: One-click campaign to easily oppose 10 California bills - April 2022
News From Colorado -
From Apologia Studios: Powerful! Pastor Confronts Colorado Lawmakers With Truth - 3/3/22
News From Florida -
From WND: 'Predators': Disney employees arrested in human-trafficking sting - 4/17/22
From The Christian Post: DeSantis signs bill providing $25 million to help foster parents | Politics News - 4/16/22
News From Maryland -
From The Heartland Institute - Daily News: Maryland Schools Spend $1 Million on Anti-Racism Consultants - 4/15/22
News From New York -
From New York Post:
WWII Navy ship partially sinks in Buffalo, dewatering efforts continue - 4/15/22
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Recommended Resources - follow the links…
Excellent Election Education Resource: US 2020 Election Fraud at a Glance
Excellent Non-Partisan Election Resource: Election Integrity Project California
Excellent Citizen-Patriot News Resource: Steve Bannon's War Room
Excellent Citizen-Patriot News Resource: From Frank Speech - the Home of Free Speech
Excellent Citizen Comprehensive Resource: David Horowitz Freedom Center
Excellent Citizen Activist Resource: Precinct Strategy: Home
Excellent Christian Homeschool Resource:
https://ed-exit.com/
Excellent Guide to Protecting Families: A Guide to Protecting Your Family From the Coming
Insurrection and Violence 1 ARE YOU SAFE?
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