Cordon Bleu Bakeware

I love this bright colored bakeware that goes from oven to table...
on sale {here}

Psalm 96

Psalm 96:11-13

"Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; 

let the sea resound, and all that is in it;

let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. 

Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy;

they will sing before the LORD, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth.

He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his truth."

September First

Welcome September.
Tonight I will light my pumpkin pie candle in honor of you.
So glad you finally arrived.

"The breezes taste

Of apple peel.

The air is full

Of smells to feel-

Ripe fruit, old footballs,

Burning brush,

New books, erasers,

Chalk, and such.

The bee, his hive,

Well-honeyed hum,

And Mother cuts

Chrysanthemums.

Like plates washed clean

With suds, the days

Are polished with

A morning haze."

-   John Updike, September

Room of the Last Supper

The Upper Room is called the Cenacle which is a derivative of the Latin word cena, meaning dinner.  The Cenacle was the site of the Last Supper and most likely where the Apostles stayed in Jerusalem starting the Church.

Mark 14:12-17

On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb was being sacrificed, His disciples said to Him, "Where do You want us to go and prepare for You to eat the Passover?"  And He sent two of His disciples and said to them, "Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him; and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, 'The Teacher says, "Where is My guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?" 

"And he himself will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; prepare for us there." 

The disciples went out and came to the city, and found it just as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover.  When it was evening He came with the twelve.

Acts 1:12-14

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away.  When they had entered the city, they went up to the upper room where they were staying; that is, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James.  These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.

Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu

Just outside the city of Jerusalem, the Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu is located on the eastern slope of Mount Zion.  This church commemorates Peter's denial of Christ, his repentance, and his reconciliation with Christ after the Resurrection. 

Beautiful gardens surround the church and a golden rooster sits atop a black cross on the roof.  Galli-cantu actually means "cockcrow" in Latin referring to Matthew 26:34:

"Jesus said to him, "Truly I say to you that this very night, 

before a rooster crows, you will deny me three times."

All four Gospels note Peter's denial and three of the Gospels also record his bitter tears of remorse in the courtyard of the high priest Caiaphas.  The Church of St. Peter was built over the ruins of a Byzantine basilica, which is believed to be on the site of the Caiaphas' house.

Matthew 26:69-75

Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a servant-girl came to him and said, "You too were with Jesus the Galilean."  But he denied it before them all, saying, "I do not know what you are talking about."  When he had gone out to the gateway, another servant-girl saw him and said to those who were there, "This man was with Jesus of Nazareth."  And again he denied it with an oath, "I do not know the man."  A little later the bystanders came up and said to Peter, "Surely you too are one of them; for even the way you talk gives you away."  Then he began to curse and swear, "I do not know the man!" And immediately a rooster crowed.  And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, "Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times." And he went out and wept bitterly.

There is a dungeon underneath the church where many believe Jesus was detained the night before he was crucified.  The prisoner's cell was shaped out of bedrock and the guardroom contains fixtures to attach prisoners' chains to the wall.  As you can see in the picture below, holes in the stone would have been used to hold a prisoner's hands and feet while he was flogged.  The prisoner would have been lowered/raised into the cell through a shaft above by using a rope harness.  There is a mosaic on the side of the church that depicts Jesus in this type of harness.  

The Empty Tomb

Remember in this post {here} when I shared about the Church of the Holy Sepulchre... and how there is another location that claims to be "Golgatha" and the site of the empty tomb.  This is it.  Now whether or not this is the location of Christ's death, burial and resurrection, I do not know, but this is where I was able to visualize walking through the garden with the women, peering into the tomb and finding it empty.  The guides at this site were respectful and the garden, peaceful.  Quite the opposite in comparison to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the guides made known that a written prayer left in the tomb would quietly be removed because a prayer in this location is not any more effective... and bouquets of flowers or other tokens of respect should not be left, because we are NOT mourning the dead.  While sitting here, singing in worship with our group, I was overwhelmed at the impact of Christ's resurrection and how He conquered the grave. 

I do not want to cloud this post with ramblings or emotions, but instead Scripture.  So, in some way, your heart will be comforted with the hope of eternal life... convicted by the truth of the resurrection... and overwhelmed with thankfulness for the Risen Lord.  

2 Corinthians 5:14-15

For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.

Luke 23:50-56

Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea and he was waiting for the kingdom of God. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.

 The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. 

Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. 

But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.

Matthew 27:62-66

The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. "Sir," they said, "we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise again.' So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first."

 "Take a guard," Pilate answered. 

"Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how." 

So they went and made the tomb secure by putting 

a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

Luke 24:1-8

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? 

He is not here; he has risen! 

Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ⁷'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' " Then they remembered his words.

                                       John 11:25-26  

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; 

he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 

and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.  

Do you believe this?

1 Peter 1:3-4

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! 

In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope 

through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 

and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—

kept in heaven for you.

Acts 4:33

With great power the apostles continued to testify 

to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, 

and much grace was upon them all.