salvation

The Message of the Cross

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For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18 NIV

As I write this I am just one day away from returning to in-person singing with my friends at Watermark Assisted Living and another week from two other facilities. I can hardly wait to hear everyone’s voice and see their faces! Sometimes I joke about God’s top ten hits and I would wager dollars to donuts that “The Old Rugged Cross” is in the top five of everyone’s favorites.  It has a special power to touch our hearts because it carries transforming God’s message to our hearts.

I sometimes wonder why Paul didn’t preach about the resurrection or the great life we could experience as Christians. But, God doesn’t change lives, by demanding that we be good or by amazing us with miracles. Instead He sent His Son Jesus to the cross to die in our place. People in Paul’s day thought that his preaching about the crucifixion of Jesus was foolish. Today is no different. Our society looks to the politically powerful, or the talented of Hollywood as examples of what life is all about. But the truth is that yesterday’s politicians are forgotten quicker than an ice cube on the sidewalk in July and that the beauty of the movie stars fades with the years. But the cross of Jesus and the message of His blood that was shed for us are still remembered after 2,000 years. Every time we receive the cup and the bread, they remind us that true change begins by only by confession of our sins and that lasting change starts by faith in the cross of Christ. As we start a new phase of life coming back from 13 months of Covid-19 shutdown, let’s go back to where it all began: the message of the cross of Jesus Christ! God bless you and maybe I’ll see you soon!

Considering the power and holiness of the Cross of Jesus I am sharing here a simple rendering from Lor of the song Holy Holy Holy and How Great Thou Art. I love the simplicity of her style. It slows me downs and helps me to remember all the words of these familiar hymns.

So Much More

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So Much More!

Much more was the grace
 That cried Father forgive
On that long ago dark afternoon
When with His last strength our Lord Jesus cried out
These people know not what they do

First was Judas who sold His Lord out
And there was Pilate who bowed to the crowd
And Herod who mocked Him and had him bound
And the High Priests who rejected His word

And the throng who were shouting “Crucify Him!”
Then the soldiers who nailed Him hard to the wood
And one thief who still refused to believe
And the one whose spear drew His last blood

These all were His enemies much more forgiven
But there is one more I finally found 
That guy was the man who ran from God’s love
Till His grace so much more tracked me down!

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. Romans 5:10 ESV

So Much More by Peter Caligiuri copyright 2021 all rights reserved

My Easter Miracle

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It seems that this year in particular I have a new group of readers so it may be that my testimony is new to you. I have also trimmed it back considerably trying to keep to my own rule of less is better. So here goes the 2021 re-telling of my Easter Miracle. I am forever grateful to God that He could have worked out such a crazy plan at the cost of His only Son’s life so that I could be His child.

 I realise that I was the worst of them all, and that because of this very fact God was particularly merciful to me. It was a kind of demonstration of the extent of Christ’s patience towards the worst of men, to serve as an example to all who in the future should trust him for eternal life. 1 Timothy 1:16 Phillips

In 1971 I was just another 19 year old hippie trying to figure life out. One night I found myself along a lonely stretch of desert highway between L.A. and Phoenix. All that day I had hitch-hiked with my last ride dropping me off at a rest area.  As night began to fall I reasoned that the top of one of the picnic tables was the safest refuge from snakes and scorpions. So I rolled out my sleeping bag and struggled into it trying not to fall off the edge of the table. There I lay looking up into a vast sky filled with stars wondering where I belonged and fell asleep.

How in the world I ended up 3,000 miles from home was a tangle of events beginning with parents who seemed more confused about life than I was. So I moved out on my own at age seventeen about began a wandering that brought me that Easter morning to a highway rest stop where I met a family who invited me to church. It took a miracle to break through my fears and excuses and regrets; but it was Easter morning and on Easter miracles happen. So with the added bonus of a promised free meal I eagerly agreed to go with them.

Their church was different than anything I expected. There were many young people there my own age who were singing with smiles that showed me they knew something about Easter I had missed. More importantly that day, I felt for the first time that God might be real and actually care about me. It felt to me as if I had been running all my life and I couldn’t run any more. It took an amazing chain of miracles to bring me to God. But it was Easter and on Easter miracles happen!