Christ is Risen!

Alleluia!

We finally get to say it and sing it again. I am looking forward to a joyous day today.

It's been a strange Lent for me though, I must say. I felt like I've been behind and trying to catch up the whole season, and so didn't get to soak it in as much as usual.

Also bidding farewell to a founding member of the church. We'll meet again. But her long struggle is over. She is at rest in Christ and I look forward to joining her in the resurrection.

Today the whole family is over for Easter dinner. That will be nice. Then golf tomorrow afternoon! That's kind of a tradition for me, though one that doesn't always happen. Take the afternoon after Easter to get out and walk around, get some fresh air, enjoy, decompress.

My father seemed to take another step down these past few weeks. He's 95 now. Wow. Will this be his last Easter with us? What other changes will this year bring?

Sometimes I forget how fortunate I am. Which is really silly. Incredible wife, wonderful family, good health.

Hope you have a wonderful celebration today of our Lord's resurrection!

Good Name for a Church

So I was thinking . . . I have a church in my circuit named Saint Stephen's. I wonder why they decided to name their church that? I am going to ask them tomorrow when I am with them. I am interested to hear their answer. They might not know why it was named that back in the day, but it will be interesting to think about and think up reasons why that is a good name for them today.

So I got to thinking about church names . . . Some churches are named after two people, for example, Sts. Peter and Paul. A quick Google search shows a bunch of them. They are put together because although they had a disagreement (see the book of Galatians), they also reconciled with one another. So why not a St. Paul and St. Stephen Lutheran Church? (A Google search showed only one church with this name, in Gloucester, England.) Why that name? Well, Paul was there while Stephen was being stoned, watching the clothes of those doing the deed and approving of it all. And yet while he was being stoned, Stephen look up to heaven and said with his dying breath: Lord, do not hold this sin against them (Acts 7:60). Against Paul. So what would naming a church with that name testify? That we are all about forgiveness.

Seems pretty good to me.