"Decreeing the Word of God Over the News of the Day"
United We Stand Friday, April 15, 2022
In honor of Resurrection weekend, we will not publish the Daily Brief on Monday; nor will we publish the Legislative Snapshot tomorrow. On Sunday morning, we WILL release a Special Edition to honor the King of all kings: HE IS RISEN! Bless you all!
>>> Be sure to read today's thoughts on repentance by Pastor Jeff Daly | National Day of Repentance. Go Here.
Join our Bible Readathon, every night except Sunday morning, from midnight to 6:00 a.m. Call 508-924-5411 (no access code). Our moderator will welcome you and invite you to share in our reading. Praise God! His Word does NOT return to us void!
"So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it." (Isaiah 55:11)
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"Standing United Together.... Under the Cross of Christ"
TODAY'S TOP STORY
Why Is Passover Important for Believers in Christ?
Have you ever wondered how the feasts of the Old Testament, the Feasts of the Lord, described in Leviticus 23, connect to our modern-day celebration of Easter, Resurrection Day, or Holy Week?
Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” (Gen 22:7-8)
The next day he (John the Baptizer) saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (Jn 1:29)
We Gentile believers know by the Spirit that this time each year needs a solemn and a joyful commemoration, and that its significance gives hope to our cry of, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” Our very bodies and souls react in worship to our Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (Jn 1:29,36). His death, burial, and resurrection are the foundation and anchor for our assurance of salvation and eternal life. But do any other events that He took part in during the time leading up to His arrest, interrogation, crucifixion, burial, and resurrection reveal more fully the plan of God for our redemption and transformation? Let us look more closely at the tripartite Passover Feast. (Read more here)
Father God, enlarge our understanding of You, Your Word, and Your patterns fulfilled in Christ. May our lives glorify You fully!
(Prayer and article offered by Intercessors for America)
TOP STORY 2
ONE THOUSAND NEW YORK PASTORS AND LEADERS DECLARE WAR ON SATAN’S AGENDA
This is supposed to be a pleasant brunch. Instead, it is the most ferocious declaration of war I have ever witnessed.
One thousand leaders swarm here from all parts of New York. My message is simple and direct. Jesus said, “Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” (John 4:35).
I told them, “There are always excuses for holding back soul-winning. There is always something to look at that will tell us, ‘people are not open’ and, ‘it is not yet time.’ But here on these grounds, you saw the impossible. Last October, thousands came in the rain. Not only that, they came in the rain night after night. There is a profound hunger for God in Western New York. So, what, if others do not want to bring in the harvest? We do, and we will! Don’t look at the news. Pay no attention to those who are in compromise. LOOK TO THE FIELDS!”
There is a profound hunger for God in Western New York.
These leaders look like they are about to explode. Something deep is inside these preachers, businessmen and women, educators, and politicians. It is intense frustration, divine indignation, and fervor. Leftists locked them down. The media had lied about them and bullied them. Lukewarm Christian leaders had stymied them. Now their fierce passion is as hot and explosive as magma in a volcano.
THEN IT HAPPENED! They erupted. The fire of God fell. The Holy Spirit turned an audience into an army.
Yes, they were ignited for the tent crusade. But there is something far deeper happening here. Fear and hesitation have vanished. They are not just going to support the crusade—they are going to revolutionize their churches.
Let me warn you right now. This same miracle is being duplicated across America. There is an army coming, and Heaven is coming with them!
1,000 pastors and leaders declared war—irrevocable war on Satan’s agenda for America. (Mario Murillo) Read more here.
FOCUS ON ISRAEL
1. Jerusalem police on high alert ahead of Passover seder, second Friday of Ramadan - JNS
(April 13, 2022 / Israel Hayom) The Israel Police have directed hotels across the country to ramp up security ahead of the Passover seder, which this year falls on the second Friday of Ramadan. Amid the tense security situation in the country, there is concern that terrorist organizations are planning a repeat of the 2002 Passover bombing of the Park Hotel in Netanya, in which 30 people were killed and 140 wounded.
In addition to hotels, police have also directed local authority leaders and the proprietors of recreational venues to increase security and remain on increased alert throughout the nine-day holiday. Police districts across the country will be reinforced by police academy recruits, as well as 1,300 soldiers loaned out to the police by the Israel Defense Forces to contend with the tense security situation.
Jerusalem District Police are also on high alert ahead of the gathering of thousands of worshipers at the Western Wall to attend a special priestly blessing during the Passover holiday. Christian worshippers are also expected to hold processions throughout the Old City, culminating in a pre-Easter Holy Fire ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. (Read more)
2. Israel imposes lockdown of West Bank, Gaza during 1st day of Passover - YNET News
Defense Minister Benny Gantz ordered on Thursday a closure on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip borders starting 4 pm Friday until midnight Saturday.
The directive was issued at the end of a security assessment, and on Saturday another situation assessment will be held, to consider extending the lockdown for the entire Passover holiday, subject to continued terror threats.
Israel has come under a wave of terror attacks in the past weeks, the last being one week ago in Tel Aviv when a resident of the Jenin refugee camp opened fire in the center of Tel Aviv killing three and injuring others.
The gunman escaped the scene but was later found and killed in a gunfight with troops.
The IDF has been conducting raids of the camp as well as other West Bank cities and villages, to arrest terror suspects. (Read more)
3. Major Passover terror attack thwarted - World Israel News
A major Passover eve attack was thwarted Wednesday when IDF troops captured a terrorist squad near Ramallah overnight.
In a combined operation with the Shin Bet, soldiers raided the villages of Silwad and Kobar and took four men into custody. They acted on an intelligence tip that a prisoner who had just escaped a Palestinian jail was planning to carry out an attack in Jerusalem on Friday, when the week-long holiday is set to begin after nightfall.
Mu’ad Hamed, one of the captured, was part of a cell of Hamas gunmen who fired at a car carrying four young Jewish men in 2015, murdering Kochav Hashachar resident Malachi Rosenfeld and injuring the other passengers. The Hamas operative, who hailed from Silwad, has been in Palestinian custody ever since. (Read more)
4. In ‘game changer,’ Israeli laser-based air defense shoots down drones - Times of Israel
The Defense Ministry revealed Thursday that a laser air defense system it is developing successfully shot down drones, rockets, mortars, and anti-tank missiles in a first series of tests last month.
According to the head of the ministry’s research and development team, Brig. Gen. (res.) Yaniv Rotem, the tests were conducted at “challenging” ranges and timings.
“The use of a laser is a ‘game changer’ and the technology is simple to operate and proves to be economically viable,” he said. (Read more)
5. Yesha Council launches campaign against Israeli government over silent settlement freeze - JNS
The Yesha Council, an umbrella group of municipal assemblies in Judea and Samaria, has opened a drive against Israel’s government over an unofficial building freeze, for which they hold Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz responsible.
“Given this reality, the government has no right to exist and should be toppled,” said Yesha Council chairman David Elhayani at a March 27 press conference.
The last time the Yesha Council announced an open campaign against an Israeli government was 16 years ago when Ehud Olmert was prime minister. Although Olmert hailed from the political right, this declaration of hostilities carries greater irony as the government is led by one of their own, Naftali Bennett, former CEO of the Yesha Council.
“Building for us is like the air we breathe,” current CEO of the Yesha Council, Yigal Dilmoni, told JNS. “For the Yesha Council, planning and building is a red, red line. Of all the things that we deal with, building is the most important because first we want to grow the population.” (Read more)
The Daily Brief
1.Russia Says Crippled Warship to Be Towed Back to Port, as Ukraine Claims Missile Hit- The Epoch Times
Russia’s Defense Ministry says the fire at the Moskva cruiser, the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, has been contained. It says the vessel remains afloat and will be towed to the port. The ministry said in a statement Thursday that there is no open fire at the ship anymore and explosions of the ammunitions have ceased. “The main missile weapons were not damaged,” the statement read.
Ukrainian officials claimed however that the ship has sunk, saying it’s a “resounding slap in the face” to Moscow’s forces. The conflicting accounts couldn’t be immediately reconciled. Oleksiy Arestovych, adviser to Ukrainian president’s office, said in a Facebook post that 510 crew were onboard the Moskva cruiser as it sank in the Black Sea, following serious damage from a Ukrainian missile strike. (Read more)
- Lord God, we ask that this increase in the level of military danger between Russia and Ukraine be toned down. We ask for a miracle of divine intervention in Your Mighty Name, amen and amen.
- "For nothing will be impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37)
2. Retired generals and admirals warn of dangers of current nuclear negotiations with Iran - Fox News
In an open letter to President Biden Wednesday, 46 retired U.S. generals and admirals voiced their opposition to the ongoing negotiations with Iran on striking a nuclear deal.
"In Ukraine, we are bearing witness to the horrors of a country ruthlessly attacking its neighbor and, by brandishing its nuclear weapons, forcing the rest of the world largely to stand on the sidelines," the letter, penned in coordination with the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), said. "The new Iran deal currently being negotiated, which Russia has played a central role in crafting, will enable the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism to cast its own nuclear shadow over the Middle East."
Top military officials expressed concern that the Biden administration’s determination to re-enter a nuclear deal with Tehran could weaken the U.S.’s position to hold Iran accountable. (Read more)
- Father God, we cry out that Joe Biden WILL listen to the wise counsel of these generals. We say NO to the signing of this nuclear treaty with Iran - NO. Amen.
- "Let your yes be yes, and your no be no." (Matthew 5:37)
3. The Inflation Crisis Of 2022 Is Now Worse Than Anything That We Experienced During The 1970s – TheEconomicCollapseBlog
Most Americans don’t realize this, but we truly have entered historic territory. As you will see below, the inflation crisis of 2022 has now escalated to a level that is beyond anything that we experienced during the horrible Jimmy Carter era of the 1970s. If you are old enough to have been alive back then, you probably remember the constant headlines about inflation. And you also probably remember that it seemed like the impotent administration in power in Washington was powerless to do anything about it. In other words, it was a lot like what we are going through today. Unfortunately for us, this new economic crisis is still only in the very early chapters.
Of course the mainstream media would like us to believe that what we are experiencing today is not even close to what Americans went through in the late 1970s and early 1980s. According to CNN, the U.S. inflation rate hit a peak of 14.6 percent in the first half of 1980…
The inflation rate hit a record high of 14.6% in March and April of 1980. It helped to lead to Carter’s defeat in that fall’s election. It also led to some significant changes in the US economy. Compared to that, the numbers we have been given in early 2022 seem rather tame. On Tuesday, we learned that the official rate of inflation in the U.S. hit 8.5 percent in the month of March… (Read more)
- It's nice to hear an honest comparison of inflation then and now. Dear Lord, we know You hear our prayers to have the wicked removed from office and the righteous placed there instead. Gracious Lord, we repent of not placing You first in our lives and just following our own desires. We look to You to sustain us through the controlling misjudgments of the current administration and to provide for Your own people who love You so dearly.
- "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him to a wise man, which built his house upon a rock." (Matthew 7:24)
4. How far has America gone down the path to totalitarianism? – Lifesite News
When the State determines what you own, what you say, what you may believe, and where you may go, then you have become a slave to total State control
Does anybody still think totalitarianism can’t happen here in America? Ask yourself how many of these steps we’ve already galloped past?
(1) Destruction of religion
(2) Gun confiscation
(3) Control over energy
(4) Control over communication
[To read the details of each of these four points,please go here.]
- Dear Lord, we are grieved to see that our own dear country is well down the path to total control by those who have evil intentions. We pray for an awakening by our citizens to what is happening and that many people will bring this situation before You for Your intervention. May prayer, coupled with hearing from You, bring actions that are guided by You to change this situation for future generations. Forgive us for letting this slip by us.
-"They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations." (Isaiah 61:4)
5. As Ukraine holds the line, US sends more weapons – The Hill
Russia’s war with Ukraine is in a different place in President Biden’s thinking than it was seven weeks ago. The United States has shifted from its early assessment that Ukraine would likely fall to its mighty neighbor to a conviction that Russia must be defeated with muscular help and U.S. weapons — short of fighter jets and a no-fly zone.
On Wednesday, Biden again responded to appeals from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, now widely praised as a savvy and persuasive advocate for bringing Moscow to its knees and saving Ukrainians’ freedom. One day after taunting Russian PresidentVladimir Putin as guilty of “genocide,” Biden told Zelensky that Ukraine will get $800 million more in “sophisticated” U.S. weapons, including artillery systems, artillery rounds and armored personnel carriers, and he said the U.S. would “transfer” more helicopters to Ukraine and continue providing strategic intelligence to its forces fighting in the east (Read more)
- Father God, we so very much lean on You to give our leaders wisdom, above their natural ability, to make the right decisions in this highly destructive war being waged against the Ukrainians. Dear Lord, protect the innocent and give provision for all their needs as the citizens shelter from the conflict. We pray that our country will only be involved as far as You Yourself have determined. May the Gospel spread widely and strongly among those whose lives have been so torn up. As evil is defeated, may it be a strong message to other world leaders who would want to take advantage of a weaker nation.
- "For the Lord will rise up as at Mount Perazim, He will be angry as in the valley of Gibeon--that He may do His work, His awesome work, and bring to pass His act, His unusual act." (Isaiah 28:21)
6. University Study Reveals Google’s Gmail System in 2020 Election Had Anti-Conservative Bias that Got Worse as Election Approached – The Gateway Pundit
Now a study performed by the Department of Computer Science at North Carolina State University shows evidence of Google’s liberal bias. The study reports that Gmail “retained the majority of left-wing candidate emails in inbox while sent the majority of right-wing candidate emails to the spam folder.” And, this got worse as the election approached.
This is not surprising in this day of Big Tech and Big Media fascism where conservatives are constantly censored and their free speech rights destroyed and ignored by Big Tech. It is long past due that these entities be held accountable for their damage to the country and to people’s individual rights. This is just one more example of their unconstitutional actions. Read more)
- Lord God, as we read this report, we ask ourselves, "Why are we not surprised?"
And as the months go on since our last Presidential election, we can see that, indeed, more and more is being revealed to prove that either fraud or other means of deception were used to sway voters' opinions away from voting for Donald Trump. Let justice prevail in these matters we pray, amen and amen!
- "God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day." (Psalm 7:11)
7. 769 Athletes have Collapsed While Competing Over The Past Year – “Avg. Age of Players Suffering Cardiac Arrest is JUST 23” – The Gateway Pundit
Over the past year-plus, athletes across the world have been dropping like flies as they compete in games. If they aren’t passed out cold, they are seen gripping their chests in agony, unable to breathe due to sudden cardiac events that hit in the heat of the competition.
This wave of heart issues is unprecedented, to say the least. Never before have we seen young, healthy, world-class athletes experiencing heart issues en masse like this. It has never happened, ever. Furthermore, the timing of this sweeping phenomenon could not be more relevant, coinciding perfectly with the rollout of the experimental Covid-19 vaccines.
In December nearly 300 athletes reportedly collapsed or suffered cardiac arrests after taking the COVID vaccines.
But it gets worse. Thanks to a new explosive report by OAN that pegs the number of affected athletes in the hundreds.
In all, their investigation found a jaw-dropping 769 men and women who collapsed with heart issues during competition over the past year (between March 2021 and March 2022). Most shockingly, the average age of those who experienced full-blown cardiac arrest was just 23. Considering the timing of this never-before-seen issue in healthy athletes, and the universal push for Covid jabs, all signs point to one culprit: the experimental vaccine. (Read more)
- Father God, we are aghast over the number of adverse reactions to the ‘jabs’, especially when they take down our young, fit and healthy children in highly statistically significant numbers. In the past, other vaccines have been pulled immediately when far fewer people have died or been injured. Lord, cause our government to cancel these pseudo-vaccines and the insane (evil) mandates. Have mercy, especially on our greatest resource—our precious children. Supernaturally protect and heal those who have received the shot(s) from any resulting health issues. May we suddenly see story after story in the mainstream media printing/speaking the truth about covid and the perils of the jabs.
- But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and frolic like calves from the stall. (Malachi 4:2)
8. Google is creating an AI GOD, whistleblower Zach Vorhies warns – BrighteonTV
Former Google software engineer turned whistleblower Zach Vorhies joined the April 11, 2022 edition of “Thrive Time Show” on Brighteon.TV. He warned program host and Reawaken America Tour founder Clay Clark that Google and its parent company Alphabet is creating God using artificial intelligence (AI).
“There’s been a surprising amount of advancements in [the] AI space. It turns out that if you take this intelligence [and] just scale it up all the way, then you basically get a generally intelligent AI system that can solve math problems and do all these things,” said Vorhies, who handled YouTube during his time in Alphabet. “What Google found out is that they could scale it to orders of magnitude more than what it was. We used to have eight billion parameters, but then they’ve been able to get it to 540 billion. Right now, what this is able to do is to perform as well as a human at the lower end of the general intelligence scale.”
Vorhies continued: “But the next iteration – which I think they might already [have made] for themselves – is going to be beyond human capacity. What we’re seeing right now is the creation of an AI with essentially, for lack of a better term, a god-like intelligence that’s going to span across all of human history.” (Read more)
- Father God, this report is so evil and so wicked, we can only loose our tongues in
warfare against this plot. Thank You, O Lord, that when we know not how to pray,
You can pray through us as we yield our tongues to You. Amen.
- "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." (Romans 8:26)
9. 2nd Bus Carrying Illegal Immigrants Arrives Near US Capitol – The Epoch Times
A second bus carrying illegal immigrants from Texas arrived in Washington on April 14.
The bus arrived at approximately 4:30 a.m., according to footage captured by Fox News, about 28 hours after the first one. The second bus stopped on First Street, one block from Union Station, to let the passengers off. U.S. Capitol Police officers asked questions of the immigrants, who were allowed to walk to Union Station several minutes later.
It remains unclear which authorities have been processing them after they arrive in Washington, though the Catholic Charities group has been providing them with food and bus tickets after they’re processed.
“It’s nice the state of Texas is helping them get to their final destination as they await the outcome of their immigration proceedings,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters during a briefing hours after the first bus arrived. There’s been no indications that any White House officials have met with the immigrants, many of whom planned to travel from Washington to other parts of the United States. (Read more)
- Lord, may this strategy of bussing illegals from Texas (and FL) to D.C. soon have a powerful effect upon the elected and those of influence in our capital city. May the presence of the aliens cause them to wake up to the realities of an open border and then to wield their authority to lawfully correct the problems and close the borders.
-First of all, then, I urge that requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made in behalf of all people,for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.(I Timothy 2:1-2)
10. DeSantis Warns Illegal Immigrants Arriving in DC Not to Go to Florida – The Epoch Times
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on April 13 warned illegal aliens not to try and travel to the Sunshine State after a group of illegal immigrants who were placed on a bus from Texas to Washington, D.C. said that they planned to travel to Miami.
The bus carrying a group of 23 illegal immigrants from Colombia, Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, had been chartered by the Texas Department of Emergency Management under the orders of the state’s governor, Greg Abbott, as part of the Republican’s strategy in response to the Biden administration’s decision to end Title 42 expulsions.
Fox News reported that the illegal immigrants had said they planned to travel onward to Miami, Florida, likely via train, after arriving in Washington, D.C.; a plan that DeSantis opposed. (Read more)
- Thank you, Lord, that Gov. DeSantis has decreed that he/Florida will not enable any illegal aliens that make their way into his state. Bless all state officials across the U.S. that choose to uphold our immigration laws. May pressure from U.S. citizens and from You cause the Biden Administration to to seal our borders. We ask for a government that cares about the welfare of our citizens and works to prevent entry of drugs, disease, terrorists, members of gangs and cartels, human trafficking and other crimes as well causing a great drain on our police and border officials plus health, education and welfare systems. Lord, we ask for Your outcomes for each person that has crossed illegally into our nation. May they discover the Good Shepherd who will lead them to cross over into life eternal.
- The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came so that they would have life, and have it abundantly. “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. (John 10:10-11)
The Daily Jot
Truth Perishes While Lies Flourish
The Daily Jot, Bill Wilson, April 14, 2022
China has been hit with an onslaught of some variant of COVID and has ruthlessly locked down people reportedly without food and water. This is the type of thing that we Americans can look at as if we were looking in a mirror. Overarching government authority is a threat to everyone’s freedom. It’s the truth. Truth is the only weapon against the misinformation and political decision making by governments that flies in the face of common sense. Here, back in America, Joe Biden has “extended” for two weeks the mask mandate for public travel, even though his COVID Czar Dr. Anthony Fauci has told us on and off again that masks are ineffective. I guess it makes people feel like they are doing something.
Just to take a peek inside Fauci’s head, and some of the nonsense that fills his policymaking, we can examine a Fauci quote from a Wednesday interview with MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports.” Fauci said, “The problem is the vaccines they’ve been using are not nearly as effective as the vaccines used in the United States, UK, EU, and other places. So, they don’t have the degree of protection that’s optimal. Also, they have a lot of their older population, which are the most vulnerable among us, and so, there’s a double negative there. One, they don’t have people who are protected, and B, the people who need it most, are not getting the vaccination. That’s the source of the problem in China.” Read More
Russia Threatens to Deploy Nuclear Weapons If Sweden, Finland Join NATO
Russian Security Council Deputy Chair Dmitry Medvedev
Russia is warning that Finland and Sweden joining NATO would mean new deployments of nuclear weapons to the Baltic Sea region.
The warning came in a Thursday posting on Telegram from Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of the Kremlin’s Security Council, who is also the former president of Russia.
"If Sweden and Finland join NATO, the length of the land borders of the alliance with the Russian Federation will more than double," Medvedev said. "Naturally, these boundaries will have to be strengthened. Seriously strengthen the grouping of ground forces and air defense, deploy significant naval forces in the waters of the Gulf of Finland.
"In this case, it will no longer be possible to talk about any non-nuclear status of the Baltic — the balance must be restored.
"It makes no sense to argue that if it were not for the special operation in Ukraine, then the question of these countries joining NATO would not have arisen at all and the situation would have been easier for Russia. This is not true."
The Associated Press reported that Finland and Sweden reached key stages Wednesday on their way to possible NATO membership. According to the AP Finnish government issued a security report to lawmakers and Sweden’s ruling party initiated a review of security policy options. (Newsmax) Read more
- Lord God, we cancel these threatening words by the Blood of the Lamb.
Any talk of the use of nuclear weapons, by any of the nations that now have them
in their arsenals, must STOP. Lord God, You have come that we might have LIFE,
and that more abundantly. We cling to the hem of Your garment, trusting You to
turn the hearts of these leaders towards peace, and not war. In Your Name, amen.
- "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will." (Proverbs 21:1)
Signs & Wonders
Enduring mystery: Do these photos show the iceberg
that sank the Titanic?
One resembled the Rock of Gibraltar and matched the eyewitness accounts of a crew member, but which iceberg do experts say brought down the mighty Titanic in 1912?
It riveted the world more than a century ago, yet photographs depicting the iceberg that may have caused the greatest nautical disaster in history continue to fascinate.
One such photo showing an iceberg that, experts say, the massive Titanic ocean liner may have likely struck before sinking to the bottom of the Atlantic, is the first one believed to be taken by a passenger on the S.S. Carpathia, a passenger ship re-routed to help to the sinking Titanic.
After departing Southampton, England, on April 10, 1912, for its maiden voyage to New York, the "unsinkable" Titanic struck an iceberg just before midnight on April 14. The much smaller S.S. Carpathia was sailing to Italy and had departed New York on April 11. According to Encyclopedia Titanica, "the early days of the voyage were uneventful, but for the intense cold, remarked upon by both passengers and crew."
News that the Titanic, the largest passenger steamship at the time, was sinking was received by Carpathia's wireless operator, shortly after midnight. The captain of the Carpathia, Arthur Rostron, ordered his ship to be turned around and directed the ship’s crew to make preparations for the rescue of more than 2,000 people. Carpathia passenger Howard Chapin later noted that the night was "bitterly cold." Read More
The Good News Corner
What’s So Good about Good Friday?
What is Good Friday and why do we call Good Friday “good” when it is such a dark and bleak event commemorating a day of suffering and death for Jesus? Good Friday, the Friday before Easter, is the Christian holy day to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus and His death at Calvary. It is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday, and Black Friday.
For Christians, Good Friday is a crucial day of the year because it celebrates what we believe to be the most momentous weekend in the history of the world. Ever since Jesus died and was raised, Christians have proclaimed the cross and resurrection of Jesus to be the decisive turning point for all creation. Paul considered it to be “of first importance” that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and was raised to life on the third day, all in accordance with what God had promised all along in the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3).
On Good Friday we remember the day Jesus willingly suffered and died by crucifixion as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins (1 John 1:10). It is followed by Easter, the glorious celebration of the day Jesus was raised from the dead, heralding his victory over sin and death and pointing ahead to a future resurrection for all who are united to him by faith (Romans 6:5).
In order for the good news of the gospel to have meaning for us, we first have to understand the bad news of our condition as sinful people under condemnation. The good news of deliverance only makes sense once we see how we are enslaved. Another way of saying this is that it is important to understand and distinguish between law and gospel in Scripture. We need the law first to show us how hopeless our condition is; then the gospel of Jesus’ grace comes and brings us relief and salvation. (Christianity.com) Read more.
Holy Week: Walking with Jesus
FRIDAY
by Anne Graham Lotz
Friday was horrific! The only reason it could be called good is because it was on this day that the Lamb of God was sacrificed to make atonement for your sin and for mine. Hebrews 9:22 states emphatically: Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
It was on Friday that Jesus shed His blood for our forgiveness. On His way to the Cross, He was subjected to three religious trials: one before Annas the former High Priest, one before Caiaphas the acting High Priest, and one before the full Sanhedrin. He then was put through three Roman trials; one before Pilate the Roman Governor, one before Herod the Galilean king, then back to Pilate.
After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
As you reflect on Good Friday, take time today to thank God for giving us Jesus
Scripture References: [1] Matthew 26:69-75 [2] Mark 15:1-22 [3] Luke 23:32-43
[4] John 19:25-27 [5] Luke 23:44-45 [6] John 19:28-30[7] Luke 23:46-47
[8] John 19:38-42 [9] Luke 23:55-56 [10] Isaiah 53
To read all of Anne's devotional for today, please go here.
Classic Hymns
When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
Lyrics by Isaac Watts, 1674-1748
From a Gregorian Chant
When I survey the wondrous Cross, on which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss and pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, save in the death of Christ my God.
All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to His blood.
See from His head, His hands, His feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown.
Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were a present far too small.
Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.
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