GOOD FRIDAY - April 10th 2020

Today is Good Friday, a very special day for Christianity, a prelude before Easter Day that commemorates the victory of Jesus Christ against death. It is a tradition for Christians to attend mass and churches to remember what the founder of Christianity represents and the covenant with God.

"Adore God. Reverence and cherish your parents. Love your neighbor as yourself, and your country more than yourself. Be just. Be true. Murmur not at the ways of Providence." --- Thomas Jefferson

Those who are not Christians use the day to gather with family for a traditional feast enjoying the unity of the family nucleus, an entity that has slowly disintegrated in the society of the United States. It is a celebration of the ushering in of Spring. 
In a speech given by Ronald Reagan, he stated:

I have said that we must be cautious claiming that God is on our side. I think the real question we must answer is: Are we on His side?

On the day of resurrection [John 20:1-9] …

Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, 'They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.' So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead.

Our nation was founded by the Judean-Christian principles that have lasted over thousands of years, Christianity being the newcomer of Judean religious doctrine. Our founders believed that all should be afforded the opportunity and the right to practice their faith and beliefs, and that government shall not interfere. However, it has not been so in recent times. Government, those in government and those who have influence upon those in government have made it their crusade to push Christianity into the shadows, making it illegal to publicly display traditions and beliefs; while at the same time turning their heads when it comes to another religion that preaches hatred and practices violence and intolerance against all other religions. The same religion that cries out for acceptance and continued tolerance does not practice what they ask for. Instead their agenda is to subvert and destroy all that is not Islam, their global agenda of conquest no different from when their prophet had gathered followers.
Christ focused upon his fellow Jews as he went among them to preach; yet his message was clearly meant for all human kind. And his influence spanned across centuries, as Ronald Reagan stated years ago …

I still can't help wondering how we can explain away what to me is the greatest miracle of all and which is recorded in history. No one denies there was such a man, that he lived and that he was put to death by crucifixion. Where ... is the miracle I spoke of? Well consider this and let your imagination translate the story into our own time -- possibly to your own home town. A young man whose father is a carpenter grows up working in his father's shop. One day he puts down his tools and walks out of his father's shop. He starts preaching on street corners and in the nearby countryside, walking from place to place, preaching all the while, even though he is not an ordained minister. He never gets farther than an area perhaps 100 miles wide at the most. He does this for three years. Then he is arrested, tried and convicted. There is no court of appeal, so he is executed at age 33 along with two common thieves. Those in charge of his execution roll dice to see who gets his clothing -- the only possessions he has. His family cannot afford a burial-place for him so he is interred in a borrowed tomb. End of story? No, this uneducated, property-less young man has, for 2,000 years, had a greater effect on the world than all the rulers, kings, emperors; all the conquerors, generals and admirals, all the scholars, scientists and philosophers who have ever lived -- all of them put together. How do we explain that -- unless He really was what He said He was?

To all Christians I wish you a blessed Good Friday with hope that this virus pandemic will end soon. 
Contemplate this Easter how you can make a difference, beginning with your life, your family, your community, and become a part that stands against the onslaught of progressive socialism that will surely take away not only rights and liberties, but the soul of a once great nation.
Do not be disheartened, but stand and meet the challenge. Let us unite from all walks of life, from all ethnic backgrounds, from all religious beliefs or no religious beliefs, as one People, one flag, one language, and the purpose to restore the constitutional republic; identifying ourselves as Americans with no hyphens, but unified as a People.

Further reading ....
Phenomenology of World Religion, Keith Allen Lehman