"Monday 5 Things" with D. Paul Graham
Monday 5 Things…. Risen…..
A spur of the moment decision to get out of the city for the weekend afforded time to not only wind down and decompress, but also the opportunity to sit around a fire pit until the wee hours of the next morning and make some new friends whom I was blessed to have met. Ambling, strolling, and wandering under canopies of oak trees from centuries past released tension from neck, shoulders and back. Time seemed to slow down as deep sumptuous leather chairs in front of fireplaces beckoned one to not simply pass by, but to sit, rest, and ponder the history and decisions made on these very grounds that literally impacted a nation for generations. In all, a respite that allowed moments of reflection of what is truly important in life; to marvel at divine appointments, and to delight in God’s creation and the revivification on this Easter weekend. Today’s M5T shares some profound thoughts from some of the greatest thinkers on faith, death, life, and the Resurrection.
1. Frederick Buechner, The Magnificent Defeat
“Our Father. We have killed Him, and we will kill Him again, and our world will kill Him. And yet He is there. It is He who listens at the door. It is He who is coming.”
2. Reverend Billy Graham
“No man ever loved like Jesus. He taught the blind to see and the dumb to speak. He died on the cross to save us. He bore our sins. And now God says, ‘Because He did, I can forgive you.’”
3. Oswald Chambers
The Cross of Jesus is the revelation of God’s judgment on sin. Never tolerate the idea of martyrdom about the Cross of Jesus Christ. The Cross was a superb triumph in which the foundations of hell were shaken. There is nothing more certain in Time or Eternity than what Jesus Christ did on the Cross: He switched the whole of the human race back into a right relationship with God. He made Redemption the basis of human life, that is, He made a way for every son of man to get into communion with God. The Cross did not happen to Jesus: He came on purpose for it. He is “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”
4. Phillips Brooks
"Let every man and woman count himself immortal. Let him catch the revelation of Jesus in his resurrection. Let him say not merely, 'Christ is risen,' but ' I shall rise.'"
5. John the Baptist
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. John 11:25-26
Here’s to a week of knowing where we have come from, where we are going, and to marvel at all the blessings, grace and forgiveness granted and received in between.
© 2019 D. Paul Graham, all rights reserved.
D. Paul Graham is passionate about people, culture, photography and business. He has embraced his wanderlust with his travels around the globe and is at peace with his need for spirited drives in all things automotive.
You can find M5T each Monday here on www.southmag.com and by friending D. Paul Graham on Facebook. Paul is also a contributing photographer to South Magazine. His photographic work can be found on Instagram @dpgraham and at www.imageGRAHAM.com. Your feedback is always welcome. Email Paul at dpg@imagegraham.com
