Category Archives: Uncategorized

Holy Saturday

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Holy Saturday is the last day of Lent, and commemorates the day Jesus spent in the grave.  Jesus body was taken off the cross and placed in the tomb with haste as the Sabbath approached.  The Jewish Sabbath begins on Friday at 6 p.m.  Early on the first day of the week (Sunday) the women came to the tomb to anoint the body and found that Jesus was not there.

To do justice to Good Friday, we must celebrate the crucifixion without giving away the resurrection.  Holy Saturday is a solemn occasion.  Catholic churches observe very limited sacraments, and the church remains stripped bare (since Mass on Thursday).  The Catholic altar remains stripped, while Orthodox churches may have the altar draped in black.  Protestants?   Protestant churches, in America any way, do little with Good Friday and nothing on Saturday that I’m aware of.  A growing trend on Good Friday seems to be cross carrying events, a parade of sorts with participants taking turns bearing an actual wooden cross, reenacting Jesus’ march to Calvary.

Again, if your Good Friday service keeps alluding to the resurrection the tone is wrong for the whole weekend.  Friday ends with Jesus in the tomb and his followers scattered and frightened.  Holy Saturday is practically a time of mourning.  Then Easter, like Christmas, means more after the waiting.

A vacation is what you take when you can no longer take what you’ve been taking.

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 ~Earl Wilson

It’s actually not that bad, but it is time for our annual spring break.  We will have limited (more like intermittent) internet access, so I don’t expect to get a new post out during the next 7 days.  Pray for our family while we’re on the road.  I have high hopes for using all the time normally spent Facebooking and blogging on finishing a book.  Happy Trails.

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The Read and Share File

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Let me begin Read and Share File #4 with a couple of site recommendations.  

I got a request a few months ago to write on the side for the Christian Post.  I’m busy enough doing my own stuff, and honestly did not feel well enough informed to offer a significant contribution.  I have been reading Christian Post on a regular basis, however, and find it an excellent source of current events relating to Christian culture.  You can always find them in the blog roll.

I begin each day listening to Our Daily Bread.  They are in the blog roll under “Useful Links” but I just wanted to say again how this short devotion, along with my first cup of coffee, help me get on the good foot.

Pope Benedict XVI, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams

On Saturday (March 10) Pope Benedict and the Archbishop of Canterbury will meet together for prayer.  Some are looking for the two leaders to find common ground and possibly resolve tensions between Anglicans and the RCC.  Read the full story at the Christian Post.

Sexual Sin in the Ministry, written by Harry Schaumburg at Desiring God.  Less about pornography and sexual sins than about the real problem, dealing with the mind and heart.

The 9Marks blog has a post on The Beauty of Conversion.

And finally in the news of the bizarre category: Lithuania may build the suicide roller coaster.  Several European countries have legal euthanasia, but this ride is designed to give one last thrill… before it kills you.

Tests of Faith

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It is an easy thing to say we have faith.  Some may believe they have faith, until a trial actually arises and that faith is put to the test.  Jesus, quoting Isiah, said that many people loved him with their lips but their hears were far from him.  Some of the things Jesus said or did was because he sees through our speech and knows the heart.  Consider these two examples:

When the Syrophenician woman came to Jesus his response seems pretty calloused.  Her daughter was possessed by a demon, and she was asking Jesus to cast it out.  His response is that it would not be right to cast the children’s bread to the dogs.  He was a Jewish teacher, she was basically Greek.  He literally and figuratively called her a dog.  This was a test of her faith, and she responded wisely. “Yes Lord, but even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”  Jesus tells her to go her way,  that her daughter has been healed.

Just a few chapters later is the story of the rich young man.  He is either lying to Jesus, or more likely has deceived himself, when he proclaims he has kept all the commandments since his youth.  Jesus tells him he lacks one thing: “Go, sell all that you have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”  The man left very sad for he had great possessions.  Regardless of what he said, his actions spoke louder than words.  His faith was not in Jesus but in all that he had.  He was depending on his wealth to see him through life, he could not let go and let God.  By the way, don’t miss the part were Jesus looked at him, loved him, and then told him he lacked one thing.  The testing of his faith forced him to be honest with himself and others about where his faith really was.

Blogversary

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The Master’s Table turns four!  Some call it a birthday, I like to think of it as an anniversary of blogging.  Blog + anniversary = blogversary.

There have been some good times and bad, so as we celebrate we need to remember some people as well.  I blog because of Michael Spencer.  The post linked explains how and why.  Before I ever read Internet Monk I worked with Michael every day in real life.

2010 was a rough year.  Michael passed in April, my father Lewis Bunch lost his short battle with melanoma in June.  If you read the post, make sure to follow the link there for pictures.

It hasn’t all been bad news.  Equal Time is about being blessed, and was written shortly after our daughter Johannah was born.  The picture of our family on the About page was taken last Easter.  She turned two in August.

The articles linked above are very personal.  Most of the posts at The Master’s Table have been about sharing the Gospel and following the examples left by Jesus.  We have also debated the value of science and argued with the occasional atheist.  I’ve made a few Christian blog friends over the years, even a couple in Israel and Australia.  I try not to obsess over stats, but here’s a few as we celebrate:

4 years, 457 posts, 1,249 comments.  Total views = 355,152. 

Here is the very first post, from March 4, 2008.

This blog started out as Clark Bunch’s Weblog.  Everything from March and April moved to The Master’s Table in May of 2008.  This post explains the creation of My Other Blog.  I never meant to have two, but there’s also 564 posts and another 330,000+ views over there.

Here’s to another year.  Long live the blog.

NECEP 2012 Pastors’ Conference

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NECEP is the New England Center for Expository Preaching.  The 2012 Pastors’ Conference will take place May 7-8 in Hampstead, New Hampshire.  That’s a little out of my range, but click here for all the info. The theme for this year’s conference is 2 Timothy, and features Al Mohler among others.

Sexperiment

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Chaplain Mike at Internetmonk was listing reasons the other day that he would not be reading Mark Driscoll’s new book on Christian sexuality.  Real Marriage is co-authored by Mark and Grace Driscoll, and promises an intimate look into their intimate relationship.  Here’s Mike’s post, noting that this book epitamizes all that’s wrong in the evangelical circus.  (Here’s an actual review, if you want one.)  Mark Driscoll has developed a reputation for speaking with a certain style.  It’s all about being frank and in your face.  Real Marriage will seem tame in comparison to what Ed and Lisa Young are about to come out with.  Chaplain Mike, you ain’t seen noting yet.

Sexperiment: 7 Days to Lasting Intimacy with your Spouse is due out on Tuesday.  To promote the book Ed and Lisa will spend 24 hours in bed on the roof of their Texas church.   Continue reading →

Here Comes 2012

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I haven’t posted anything in a few days, and there needs to something on the front page besides that Coffee with Jesus comic strip that’s been up since Monday.  That’s what this is really about.

Okay, we have one calendar year before the Mayan calendar ends in December 2012.  My first question is always this: if the Mayans couldn’t see the Spanish coming, why take their word for the end of the world?  It turns out their calendar had about 400 years they didn’t even need.  Their civilization had already collapsed and they were living in small farming villages when the first Spanish Conquistadors arrived.  If they could not hold their civilization together, nor predict the collapse of every South American civilization to European conquerors, why do we suppose they could predict the apocalypse?  They did some wicked math, but it’s leap in logic to assume they’re experts on the cosmos. Continue reading →

Twenty and Counting

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Congratulations Duggar family on child number 20.  I guess.

Are any of us in the place to say this is right, wrong or otherwise?  They’ve made themselves a spectacle by putting their lives on television, does that give us the right to judge?  Melissa Duggar is 45 years old and her kids range in age from 23 months to 23 years.  Everyone has an opinion, including those that keep telling me we have no right to have one.  What do you think?