Resurrection Sunday

He's Alive

by Don Francisco

The gates and doors were barred and all the windows fastened down;

I spent the night in sleeplessness and rose at every sound
Half in hopeless sorrow and half in fear the day
Would find the soldiers breakin' thru to drag us all away

And just before the sunrise I heard something at the wall
The gate began to rattle and a voice began to call;
I hurried to the window and looked down into the street
Expecting swords and torches and the sounds of soldier's feet

There was no one there but Mary so I went down to let her in;
John stood there beside me as she'd told us where she'd been.
She said "They moved Him in the night and none of us knows where;
The stone's been rolled away and now His body isn't there!"

We both ran t'ward the garden, then John ran on ahead;
We found the stone and empty tomb just the way that Mary said.
But the winding sheet they wrapped Him in was just an empty shell;
And who or where they'd taken Him was more than I could tell.

Well, something strange had happened there,
but just what I didn't know;
John believed a miracle but I just turned to go.
Circumstance and speculation couldn't lift me very high
'Cause I'd seen them crucify Him, then I saw Him die.

Back inside the house again the guilt and anguish came;
Everything I'd promised Him just added to my shame.
When at last it came to choices, I denied I knew His name;
And even if He was alive, it wouldn't be the same

But suddenly the air was filled with a strange and sweet perfume;
Light that came from everywhere drove shadows from the room.
Jesus stood before me with His arms held open wide;
And I fell down on my knees, and just clung to Him and cried.

He raised me to my feet and as I looked into His eyes,
Love was shining out from Him like sunlight in the skies
Guilt in my confusion disappeared in sweet release
And every fear I'd ever had just melted into peace

CHORUS
He's alive! He's alive, He's alive and I'm forgiven!
Heaven's gates are open wide:
He's alive, He's alive, oh He's alive and I'm forgiven
Heaven's gates are open wide
He's alive, He's alive, hallelujah He's alive!

An Escapee

Thursday, I arrived home to find the door dead-bolted. I was mildly surprised, but Sweetie recently mastered the doorknob and I figured that the Historian needed added security. He opened the door and immediately asked if I had heard the news. Uhh, what news? There was an escaped inmate in the neighborhood. The school closest to us was on lock down. Oh. Great. There's an escaped criminal hiding near my house!?  I wanted details. The Historian had none.

I checked the local news. A 16 year old boy being taken into custody when he ran from police. He was already in handcuffs. Then I saw his name. We knew this kid. He used to be our neighbor when we first moved here. He had been to our house countless times. He played in our backyard with 3 of his older brothers. The Historian took those boys to the movies and for walks in our woods. They would show up nearly every day looking for something to eat and to see the Historian. They eventually went to church with us and attended youth nights at the Christian Youth Center.

Without going into major details, it is not surprising what happened. There was no father in the home. The mother usually looked like she was under the influence of something. An older brother was already in criminal trouble when he was 5. They moved further away about 7 years ago and we rarely saw any of that family. I haven't really thought about them in years.

Until the escape. The Historian calmly stated "I don't think he would hurt us." I don't think he would either, but he might hide near us. I don't like the thought of bumping into him under these circumstances. The command center for the search was about .5 miles from our house. As of this moment, he hasn't been caught.

I hesitate to even bring this up, but with a serious threat to homeschooling in California, I will. This kid was public-schooled from the time he was 4. The family was on public assistance. Why did all of the "professionally trained” teachers and case workers allow him to become a statistic? Shouldn't all of that supervision and oversight prevented him from turning to crime? Had this child been homeschooled...well you can imagine the headlines. I will stop now.

Please pray for this boy.  Pray that he will turn himself in.  Also pray for his soul.  I know that he has heard the Gospel. The seed was planted when he was younger. Pray that it will sprout and grow. He still has time to turn his life around.

First time parents can be so funny.

My brother-in-law will probably not be pleased that I share this, but it is too funny. My 2 month old niece has been having a lot of trouble with spitting up.  My mom and I both suggested that a little rice cereal in the bottle might help. (Before you comment about breast feeding, my sister tried for 4 weeks and her milk never came in.)  My sister would not try rice until the doctor said it was OK.  He did.  So she sent my brother-in-law to the grocery store for rice cereal.  He comes back with a huge bag of puffed rice. My sister asked, “What in the world do you have?”  Brother-in-law said, “I figured we could eat what the baby doesn't.”