Hello dear ones! Christ is risen! May our lives show Christ Jesus’ resurrection power daily! Enjoy this video from the Skit Guys about Peter and John going to the empty tomb. Remember email subscribers to come to my blog to see the link.
God bless & remember the High King Lives! ~Amber Dover
Skit Guys- Peter & John (Ps: sorry this is late. It’s been a busy Easter.)
Hello dear ones, if you can’t see this video, email subscribers, then please come to my blog to see it. I wanted to share with you a unique musical allegory of the Last Supper. Many years ago several Christian musicians came together to perform “!Hero: The Rock Opera”. It is a modern retelling of the gospel. Unlike some musicals of this sort it’s themes and the gospel message isn’t tainted.
The setting is New York (representing Jerusalem)
Icon, a one world government represents Rome
There is one synagogue and it represents of course the temple
The Spanish Harlem represents Samaria
The disciples are former gang members, prostitutes, and even a redneck. This representation isn’t far from the Truth as the Biblical disciples were not among what the world considered the best of society. Matthew was a tax collector and we know how they were seen. Prostitutes and fishermen did indeed follow Jesus.
So they change the scene and take poetic liberty in some of the songs but many of the songs quote scripture directly. Of course, with any artistic representation (allegory or Christian fiction) you shouldn’t base your theological beliefs upon it. Jesus Christ and the Bible should be the foundation of our faith and belief. Art is extra encouragement. I say this about my book as well.
I do however, take issue with stories that take beliefs from other religions (like goddess worship) and try to pass them off as Christian. Those are poisonous fiction and should be avoided.
Anywho, in “!Hero” the disciple Petroph (redneck Peter lol) is encouraging the others to enjoy the party during Passover and to not let the current events get them down. During the whole scene Hero (who represents Jesus) has His head down in thought. Then everyone freezes for this scene. You see “Jude” (representing Judas).
The Last Supper: In Remembrance of Me
The Crucifixion ~ the whole story is told by an anonymous Roman soldier (or Icon employee) that later goes to jail for choosing Jesus instead of Icon. Poetic liberty yes but we know that there were Roman soldiers that converted.
The Resurrection ~ I love this song. “He’s Not Here”
God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover
In this Post: What Jesus Christ did for us on the cross. Learn the meanings of some big but power packed words like justification and propitiation.
Hello dear ones, I wanted to share with you what I’ve been studying the past couple of weeks. We should always keep in our hearts and share the power of Jesus’ death & resurrection. Still, it is a special time of the year where Christians are a bit more focused on what the Lord has done. Just as we focus on his birth more so in December or some in Fall (both for us). I’m excited :). This is our second year of celebrating Easter for a month. Before we focused on mainly Passover and Christ’ resurrection was a quick celebration on Easter Sunday. Lent (a 40 day countdown to Easter) has really helped us center in on the Resurrection AND the cross.
Here is the link to our trip to Antiquity last year and all we learned about the history of the cross etc:
Passover/ Lord’s Supper post from last year:
https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2012/04/05/maundy-thursday-passover-the-lords-supper/
A post about Jesus’ death:
https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2012/04/04/inspirational-wednesday-the-day-hope-died/
Before we start I want to share with you some important words. They are big but packed with truth. They express word pictures that need to be seen.
I have heard most of these words. My Dad was a preacher who loved the King James Version. But honestly I never understood propitiation. I want to simply share with you what I’ve been learning about these words and how they relate to what Jesus did on the cross. I’ll be quoting from scripture the KJV and “The Cross of Christ” by John Stott.
May these word pictures increase your love for and awe of Jesus. 🙂
Propitiation seems foreign to Christian belief at first. Pagans propitiate (appease) false gods. One may try to appease the wrath of Zeus with a cow or something. Does the God of the Bible really have wrath that needs to be appeased? Let’s find out but you will be pleasantly surprised how God’s wrath and propitiation differs from that of pagan deities (false gods).
(PS: I’m sharing snippets of scripture to keep this from being longer than it is. Please take the time in your own studies to read the context of these verses. You can even read online at: http://bibleresources.org/ )
Romans 1:18
“18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;”
Romans 2:8
“8But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,”
So we know God hates sin and it stirs his anger. Is God one to fly off the handle like gods of Greek mythology? Are we to constantly make offerings to propitiate for our sin? NO. This is how the God of the Bible’s propitiation is different.
Psalm 145:8
“8The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.”
1 John 4:9-11
“9In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.10Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.11Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.”
Redemption
“The Greek words lytroo (usually translated “redeem”) and apolytrosis (“redemption”) are derived from lytron (“a ransom” or “price of release”), which was almost a technical term in the ancient world for the purchase or manumission of a slave. We have been “ransomed” by Christ, not merely “redeemed” or “delivered” by Him.”
~ The Cross of Christ by John Stott
Mark 10:45
“45For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”
We are helpless to redeem ourselves. Christ became our ransom and redeems us from:
Ephesians 1:7
“7In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;”
Colossians 1:14
“12Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
13Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
14In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:“
Galatians 3: 13
“13Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:14That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”
Galatians 4 :5
“3Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:4But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,5To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.6And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.7Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”
“18Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,”
But Wait! There’s more to this redemption than what we see on earth. We are freed from guilt and judgement but we await the “day of redemption” when we shall be made perfect. Now we are still sinners though we are seen as righteous because God sees the blood of Jesus covering our sins. Jesus Christ himself is our righteousness. One day we will never sin and we will have glorified bodies not tainted by the curse on this world. No more death! Hallelujah!
“Meanwhile, the indwelling Holy Spirit is Himself the seal, the guarantee, and the first fruits of our final redemption. (See Luke 21:28; Eph. 1:14; 4:30; Rom. 8:18-23)”
~The Cross of Christ by John Stott
I had told you why we have to be redeemed and what from. But what is the price of our redemption?
Scroll back up to 1 Peter 1:19 and read those lovely words, breathed (inspired) by God.
John Stott asks “If the church was worth His blood, is it not worth our labor?”
Justification
Order in the court! The human race is on trial. We are all found guilty of sin and none of us are righteous. Wait, why are some being declared “not guilty”? Their works no matter how good can not justify them? How can this be? They have trusted in Jesus and God himself justifies them. Jesus stood in the great court room on your behalf and took your death sentence.
Dear Christian, God has put His righteous standing on you. Jesus himself is your righteous standing before God! Praise Jesus!
We can not justify ourselves…neither before or after repentance. You can never be good enough to make yourself “not guilty” before God. The cross of Christ (meaning what Christ did) does this for you. Do you accept? I pray you won’t reject this great gift of God’s love.
Romans 3:20-24
“20Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.21But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;22Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:23For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;24Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:”
Romans 8:30-34
“30Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.31What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?32He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?33Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.34Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.”
Oh that’s like sweet music. I love those verses. By the way, I believe free will and predestination are both true in light of God’s omniscience. But that is a topic for another day when I have the motivation to explain something I can’t fully explain (kind of like the Trinity. It is called Faith isn’t it ) ;).
“When God justifies sinners, He is not declaring bad people to be good, or saying that they are not sinners after all; He is pronouncing them legally righteous, free from any liability to the broken law, because He Himself in His Son has borne the penalty of their law-breaking.”
~The Cross of Christ by John Stott
Romans 5:8-9
“8But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”
So we read Paul say that we are justified by Faith (Rom 5:1) but see we are also justified by Christ’ blood. How do these go together. John Stott says it well and my mind is blown a bit.
“Grace and faith belong indissolubly to one another, since faith’s only function is to receive what grace freely offers…we are justified by God’s grace and by Christ’ blood. Faith is the means by which we are united to Christ.”
~The Cross of Christ by John Stott
Whewhy! I feel my inner redneck coming out. Seriously, I’m posting all of this in one post. It took me a week to go through this study. It’s some heavy stuff!
The result of Justification is a beautiful relationship with Jesus full of benefits that we enjoy by faith!
Reconciliation
Remember what this word means? To restore a relationship. God and man were not always enemies. Once God walked with Adam and Eve in the garden. Before the curse and the fall of man, God and Man were close and man knew God. Sin wrecked that relationship. Jesus came to reconcile us to God…to restore our relationship. So the cross is about more than appeasing God’s wrath and setting us free from sin….it is to bring us to God. We must remember all of these things are important and a part of Jesus’ work on the cross.
“Justification is our legal standing before our judge in the court; reconciliation is our personal relationship with our Father in the home.”
~The Cross of Christ by John Stott
Romans 5:10
“10For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”
Blessings of reconciliation
John 1: 12-13
“12But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
Romans 8:14-17
“14For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.15For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.16The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:17And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”
Ephesians 2:17-18
“17And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.18For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.”
Hebrews 10:16-22
“16This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;17And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.18Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.19Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,20By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;21And having an high priest over the house of God;22Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.”
We see through these four words that Christ became our substitute. Everyone struggles with sin…even Christians. We see this in Paul (apostle and writer of much of the New Testament).
Romans 7:18-25
“18For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.19For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.20Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.21I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.22For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:23But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.24O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?25I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”
We also see this in many other Men of God like Moses, Abraham, the disciple Peter, and David. They were clearly sinners and sinned during their relationship with God. Still God justified them. This only makes sense in light of what we’ve learned. We know that God justifies us. He makes us “not guilty” not because we are perfect but because Christ took our punishment & his blood covers us always if we’ve accepted Him.
Here is a saying that I have found true: The cross of Christ is not held by time. It is fixed in eternity. Christ’ work on the cross covers the sin of those who looked forward to the coming of messiah in faith, those who lived at the time of crucifixion, and all those after Jesus died and rose. We in 2013 look back to the cross. We must remember that God is eternal and knows all things. He and his work is not constrained by time. The power of the cross was planned before the world was made!
Revelation 13:8 (The context is end times and people worshiping the beasts but we also see that it mentions the Lamb which is Jesus, being slain before the foundation of the world)
“8And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”
1 Peter 1:19-20
“19But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:20Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,”
If God saw as a sinners then we would be toast. By the blood of Jesus we are “legally” not sinners. Just as we are “legally” adopted into God’s family and seen as sons, though we are not originally sons of God but rather of the world. So we are no longer seen as “Sinners” though we sin. We are considered Saints not because we are good enough but because we are righteous through Jesus. Without this view, our status before God would be off and on again based on our works….covered by the blood, then not covered by the blood. I tell you, you would not stay under the blood at all by your own works. God puts you there. You receive.
Does that mean that we should freely sin? Not at all. True faith is a living faith and our love for Jesus will bring about good fruit. Though some go into prodigal states, I truly believe Jesus always brings back His own whether on their knees or sadly in a box. I have seen people sin away their testimony and we see this with Ananias and Sapphira in Acts. Their “light” was physically put out. They dropped dead before they could do more damage to the body of Christ. God knew their hearts were wicked and who knows, maybe they would’ve gotten worse if left alive.
Romans 6: 14-18
14For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.15What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.16Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?17But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.18Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness”
Scroll back up to Romans 7:25. We see that Christ is also the one who helps us daily overcome sin. This is not something we can try to do on our own. It is only possible by abiding in Jesus.
John 15: 5
“5I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.“
So can we say a rote prayer and be saved? Are there certain words that will do the trick?
“44No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.”
So it seems God does everything. So are we just walking along one day as a sinner and bam we’re hit by God and forcibly made into Christians? I don’t see that in scripture at all. I see that He chooses us his foreknowledge of our willing hearts. Scripture says we must receive by Faith.
God has done all the hard work for us. We just have to receive the gift. It’s simple.
Only a true and working faith will receive all that Jesus offers. We see that the work on the cross is about more than escaping God’s judgement (that’s plenty believe me!). It is also about restoring a relationship with God. You don’t just say “Thanks Jesus for getting me out of Hell. I’ll see you in Heaven. Bye now.” When you have truly been drawn and received God’s grace your life will be flipped upside down. The Holy Spirit will come to dwell with you as proof of salvation and to seal you to God. Jesus will be with you forever and that’s going to change some things. But oh what an abundant life! Eternity is worth dying to self in this life. Think of forever and the life that awaits. Life with Jesus is beautiful in this world and the next. It can be hard for sure on this curse ridden planet but still, life with Jesus is better than life without him.
John 3:16-17
“16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.17For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”
Acts 10:42-43 (Peter speaking of Jesus)
“42And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. 43To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.”
John 1:12-13
“12But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:13Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
Some get caught up on whether they are truly believers and how can they truly know if God has drawn them.
It’s not that hard. First off, you know. There is a change and you meet a real person. The Holy Spirit comes to dwell in you and you have a relationship. This relationship is proven over and over again as you grow in God’s word and get to know Christ better. At first it may be a bit awkward and you’re not always going to feel His presence. But the more you abide with Jesus the more you discern His Spirit.
Romans 8:16
“16The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:”
What is that fruit?
Galatians 5:22-25
“22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,23Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.24And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.25If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”
Matthew 7:20-23 In this verse we see that our fruit is evidence we are saved but it is not what saves us. Knowing Jesus saves us.
“20Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.21Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.22Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?23And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
So to put this practically. The Lord introduces Himself to us and show us we’ve got a death sentence for being sinners. We’ve broken His law. We’re also slaves to sin and orphans. We have no relationship with God but He wants one with us.
2 Peter 3:9
“9The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
Jesus through the Holy Spirit shows us that He has paid the penalty and has made us free of all charges. He has bought us back from the devil and we don’t have to be slaves. God, the Father has chosen to adopt us into His family. Do we accept? Do we believe all He has said and will we acknowledge it before the world (confess it)?
If our faith in Him is true then we are sealed by the Spirit and we are born again (changed from the inside out). We have a new master but also friend. We are led by the Spirit. He is a gentleman that leads us (doesn’t force us) and He can be grieved when we choose sin over Him. Jesus has done all this for you. Do you accept Him? Do you Love him?
I hope so. You don’t have to be a slave to sin any longer. If the Spirit is drawing you and convicting you please don’t reject Him. My prayers are with you dear ones.
1 John 2:1-2
“1My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:2And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for our’s only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”
2 Thessalonians 2:13
“13But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:”
And I end with another big word: Sanctification.
To be made Holy. Dear Christian, you are now a Saint because Christ has sanctified you. You are Holy before God because you are in Christ. And we are continually being sanctified because we are still in the flesh, this cursed physical body. One day we will meet Jesus in the air and even these fleshly bodies will be sanctified as they are completely changed. I can’t wait to see you there!
Well, what a night….it’s almost 5 am. I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to write all this. It’s a lot to chew. I hope you haven’t choked. If so go back later and take it in slow bites ;).
God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover
Hello dear ones, some of you may not care and others of you may truly want to know why my opinion of Easter changed. How I went from thinking it was pagan to being fine with egg hunts etc. I was going to include this with my message today (oops yesterday. Sorry I write best after midnight lol!) but I don’t want to take away the focus from the message of the cross. So this post will be separate and I’ll eventually add it to my “about me” page with my beliefs and such (yeah working on that too). This post may also help my relatives who wondered why I snarled at them for trying to give Michael an Easter basket…tehehehe I wasn’t that bad and why the last two years I’ve been okay with Easter.
You may know (if not well it’s out now lol) that I was once a part of the Hebraic Roots Movement. I still love Hebraic music and dances. I still have a deep love for Israel and always will. I still enjoy celebrating Biblical feasts but not because I feel I must and I no longer celebrate Hanukkah or have a Seder. They are fun celebrations but now I enjoy Advent and Lent. I was once vehemently (whew big word) against Easter celebrations like egg hunts and even the word “Easter” itself. I believed it was pagan and came from the name of a pagan goddess. PS: I believed some of these things before the HR movement because of Chic tracts but my belief was deepened when I was in the HR Movement. After research and coming out of the Hebrew Roots Movement I have completely changed my view and believe these things are harmless unless we idolize them. Anything we idolize can be harmful…even our family. We don’t celebrate the Easter bunny. You know we often play pretend (like on our Leprechaun hunt) but Michael knows the difference between reality & fantasy. A majority of what we do in our household centers around the Bible (except like our Wizard of Oz party…yep it’s pagan 😉 Just kidding..being snarky…sorry).
After leaving the movement I found this blogger and she had tons of research in one place. She is much better at apologetics than me. So if you have questions please ask her. I spend most of my day wandering around trying to remember what I’ve forgotten. I am not the one to argue with ;). Here are her two posts on the history of Easter:
http://fortheloveoftruth.wordpress.com/2013/02/06/easter/
She puts where she gets her info in this post:
http://fortheloveoftruth.wordpress.com/2010/03/26/611/
She’s blunt and I believe probably frustrated with what she was put through in the HR movement. I know I spent lots of time hearing how other Christians were so evil for dying eggs and attending church on Sundays. I hated that cause the body of Christ shouldn’t be about making ourselves elite above others. I don’t agree with the HR movement but I still have friends that I love dearly in it. We may end up agreeing to disagree but this is my journey with Easter and I wanted to share it with you.
Also I heard constantly in the HR movement that the name “Jesus” is pagan. For the Love of Truth has a long and detailed post on the etymology of the name “Jesus”. At the beginning she quotes what is being said in the HR movement (what I heard often) and then she gets into where we get “Jesus” from.
http://fortheloveoftruth.wordpress.com/who-is-yahshua/
God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover
PS: part two that’s centered on the cross is in the works. I think my cookie dough (eggless) dessert is distracting me…
Hello dear ones, I now have a place where you can see most of my posts with a picture to show the main subject and it’s link. Now you won’t have to search through pages of my blog to find say, all the Bug study posts. I have certain projects that are unique to my blog, like the Time Machine Unit. You’re not going to find that anywhere else and if you do well it was here first ;). Now you can find all four of the links to the Time Machine study in one place. I made a special Pinterest just for my blog. I have Crafty Monday, My Family Rocks! Sunday, and Virtual Friday posts all pinned neat and pretty :).
I hope you can take advantage of this. I’ve got several themes pinned with tons of ideas: space study, bugs study, holiday studies, The Human Body study, and much more.
Also you can browse through the Virtual Friday posts by picture. I’m excited about that because I have found few blogs that take you on tour through Second Life and fewer that are still up and running. I’ve yet to meet anyone else that looks for family friendly places and reports back to you.
Remember email subscribers to come directly to my blog to see this link :).
Pins from my blog:
You can also see all of my links on the right hand side of my blog. I’ve moved them closer to the top so they are easier for you to see :).
Whew 90 pins! That’s a lot of posts to sift through and the wordpress categories on the side don’t make it easy enough. Enjoy the simplicity!
God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover
Hello dear ones! You may remember that I took the NaNoWriMo challenge back in November to write 50,000 words in 30 days. I didn’t reach the target word count but I did come close to finishing my book. This April you can join Camp NaNoWriMo, set your own word count, and have cabin mates for the journey. I’m finishing up my first book this week and I’ll start the second book in camp. I’ll also be working on editing the first and Chris is going to help me create covers with photo shop. I’m so excited! Lord willing, you will be able to read the first book this year and who knows? maybe the second as well!
Please let me know if you join. They already picked random cabin mates for me but I can message other campers. Hmmm….should I set the tent up in the living room and go there to write? lol
God bless & remember the High King lives!~Amber Dover
In this Post: Charlotte’s Web, our Lent tree & blown out egg ornaments, several Easter crafts (cardboard chapel), and the neatest music site. Also homeschool freebies and online clubs/classes for homeschoolers!
Happy Crafty Monday friends! I’m going to start with the end of the week first since I’m so excited about it. Friday we had a small movie themed party centered around Charlotte’s Web. Yes, I actually kept this one simple. Below you can see we had pig cookies for “Wilbur” and a spider paper craft for Charlotte. I put our popcorn in these nifty popcorn bags that went with our circus party during the Time Machine study. I’ll put my Pinterest link at the end.
Michael finished reading Charlotte’s Web first. Yaaa Michael!
Spider craft:
Then we baked sugar cookies for the movie.
Thankfully we had several animal cookie cutters and therefore we had pigs. I added red food coloring, sugar, & cinnamon to cream cheese spread and frosted the cookies with it. We added a chocolate chip for the eye. Maybe it’s silly but I was almost in tears at the end of the movie….even if I hate spiders. I liked Charlotte.
Now hold on to your horses. 🙂 I’ve got a ton of Easter crafts!
Art
Blown out Eggs ~ I had not done this since high school but it’s super fun and literally…umm breath taking.
Clean off the outside of your egg with soap. Take a pin and poke a hole on the top and bottom of the egg. Make the bottom hole bigger because that’s where the egg yolk comes from. Blow through the top hole. You want to blow all of the yolk out.
Then I ran water through the eggs and blew it out. After that I boiled the eggs to kill any bacteria and when it cooled blew that water out. I strained the egg yolks for shells.
Then made egg patties to keep in the freezer. I couldn’t stand wasting a dozen eggs.
We painted eggs on and off.
Nana came over Tuesday and painted a few herself.
One of Nana’s (Mom’s) masterpieces.
One of mine.
I used rubber bands to make a striped egg.
This was neat because later I put one of our Lent symbols on it. It was a symbol for Jesus being beat by the whip (cat of nine tails). He bore stripes for our sin. I didn’t realize the egg had whip marks until the day we read it. That was completely unplanned by me…a God thing.
12 eggs for the 12 days leading up to Easter. This goes with our Resurrection Egg lapbook.
I then printed off the Ressurrection egg symbols and modge podged them onto the eggs. I ran thread through the holes to make them ornaments.
We hung them on our Lent tree, a simple branch painted white. I never covered the coffee can it’s in but oh well….adds character ;).
Resurrection Egg Lapbook
Link for this:
http://teachingheart.net/blog/2011/03/resurrection-eggs-idea-with-printables/
Inside the lapbook. Flip up eggs with Lent symbols and scriptures.
Tape Resist Art: Easter Cross
First, we made a cross out of tape, on the paper. Then Michael painted a hill scene over it.
A blue sky then pink rays to outline the cross.
After it dried it came out like this…
Empty Tomb Paper Craft
Easter Wreathe…sans wreathe. We just pinned this to our board.
Cardboard Box Stained Glass Chapel
I cut out windows and doors in an empty Goldfish box. Michael painted the box white.
We made windows with bits of colored tissue paper and contact paper cut to shape. We taped them inside and then taped a construction paper cross.
We put a real candle in it for these pictures but later found a batter operated candle.
Cooking
Rock Candy
I don’t have an after picture because this has yet to work for us. The crystals just form on the top. But Michael and Chris attempted to make rock candy together. They boiled sugar and added food coloring. They dipped the sticks into sugar so the crystals would have something to grow on.
They sit in our window a week later…still doing nothing. Sigh…not sure why this never works for us.
I forgot to tell you but last week we read this book on wegivebooks.org about rocks. It was very interesting. It’s from an evolutionary view but Michael and I just talked about how it differed from our beliefs.
Link here: http://www.wegivebooks.org/books/rocks-and-minerals
This week I read “The Story of Me”. It’s the first in a series of books that teaches God’s design for sex. Each book is for a different age level. The next book is for 6 to 8 year olds but I may wait til Michael’s 9. “The Story of Me” is about a little boy asking to hear how he was born. The baby making process is explained as a special part of Mommy and a special part of Daddy to make a baby. It’s explains the story nicely and goes on to name personal parts and gives a talk about good touch bad touch. Because the word “sex” is on the cover, I explained that sex is how people have babies. I also explained to Michael that certain words in the book were special and should be kept to ourselves. This book presents sex (they don’t use the exact word) as God’s beautiful plan for marriage. I think it’s great for little ones and especially those expecting siblings. It also talks about breast feeding.
Nana visited Tuesday. Michael wanted to be a doctor this week so Nana got out her blood pressure machine. She’s a CNA.
Mom (Nana) explaining how to use it. Later I became the patient, Nana the nurse, and Michael the doctor.
Michael reading on the trampoline while Mom and I watched all the animals enjoy the outdoors.
Under the trampoline. The guinea pig doesn’t like the mouse.
Science
Newton’s First Law Egg Experiment ~ http://www.ordinarylifemagic.com/2010/01/newtons-first-with-raw-eggs.html
All you need is a glass or vase of water, an egg, a toilet paper tube, and a pan. Line the egg and tube up directly over the vase.
Pull out the pan and the egg drops in the water!
Voila! Michael and Nana both tried it too.
Our new Lifepac Science work book~ this booklet is about colors and this week Michael learned how certain holidays are represented by different colors.
Music
Wednesday our homeschool group went to see “Seussical”, a musical based on Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who. It was fantastic and interesting.
We had an easy day. I found these wonderful Easter themed worksheets for music on:
I absolutely love her site! There are worksheets for everything. Even composing! Michael composed his first song by putting the notes on whatever lines or spaces he wanted. The bunny song had a very interesting melody lol.
Michael solved bunny code by writing the note names and he also colored an egg by coloring the notes according to the color code. They also teach bass and treble Cleff. We’ve been slow with piano but Michael practices his scale and intervals each day.
I also found several musical apps on google play for android: Note flashcards, a guitar, and one that teaches piano scales.
Math ~ math apps and games
We’ve been blessed to have this little birdie sing to us most days. I think maybe he’s a Brown Thrasher.
Geography
Continent mobile ~ Michael colored the continents and stapled them to the ribbon. I’m still working on a felt globe. Michael also colored coloring pages for the 4 oceans. We watched and sang a song about the continents and oceans.
At our place there’s always a buddy to listen…sometimes that buddy is a dog :).
Creation studies
The life cycle of a chicken. We made this simple craft and watched a video of a chick hatching. I want a chicken now.
Health and Safety
Traffic signs ~ Popsicle sticks in bottle caps. You can print the signs here:
http://www.doodlesandjots.com/2012/05/04/all-signs-point-to-fun/
These went well with Michael’s race he had Saturday.
I brought the responsibility chart out again and Michael checks it off every day. I have to remind him often but he did good last week. He got a prize for his diligence.
Now for the awesome homeschool freebies site I told you about. You can find free homeschool materials (lapbooks, Ebooks, etc…) at https://www.currclick.com/
Currclick also offers classes and clubs for homeschoolers. We joined a free Lego club where we got to see the teacher online in real time. Michael was able to chat with other homeschoolers as they made a Lego project.
They have many clubs so check them out :).
They also have great classes for good prices. They range from 5 bucks to 50. It depends on how long the course is. We may take a one day class on subtraction tricks. I’m excited about their summer classes. Some require books and others give you the resources you need.
When you go to the site look on the left and click Live Classes to see what they offer.
Here is my Pinterest link for the crafts. Remember email subscribers to come to my blog to see the links.
Easter Crafts on Pinterest:
God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover
In this Post: The importance of one on one time with your kids (our special times with our son), actual St. Patty’s came & we had a fun leprechaun hunt at the park (also Lucky Charms pancakes!), and lastly our pets got a not so professional photo shoot (looks good for an amateur).
Hello dear ones! I hope you’ve had a lovely weekend. It has been chilly here with crazy weather. We had hail last week and that is extremely unusual for March in this area. I’m praying it’ll be sunny and warm on Easter and Michael’s upcoming birthday party. I think everyone is sick of this long winter.
Well, here is a taste of the pet parade pics at the end of this post. Here is Snowball, our guinea pig, in all her glory. She’s enjoying clovers under the trampoline. We have a dog, a cat, a guinea pig, and a mouse. I’d like a chicken but Chris needs convincing. We will see ;). More pics to come but on to the dates with our son.
Sometimes special memories just happen and we may have a camera to capture them. But I find often, that magic takes a bit of planning. Romance may start with a spark and friendships may pop up over night but it takes effort to sustain these things. It seems the longer people live with each other the harder it is to connect. I blog some amazing memories but our life isn’t always like the pictures. There are days that we all sit in the living room on laptops and other electronics and never look each other in the eye. And that’s okay because we don’t let it become our norm…though it easily could become that.
We have to set a standard in our home to eat together and to cherish each other….to look at more than a TV screen. Chris and I have to put aside our selfishness and put each other first. We have a date and focus only on each other. I am with our son, Michael, every day and since we homeschool I (Lord willing) will be with him many more days. Chris works and goes to school. Sometimes we struggle to get by financially and sometimes we struggle for our sanity because life is BUSY. My husband is a vet and war changed us both. We live with that daily though Chris is retired. Chris and I both deal with physical disabilities and pain. Homeschooling takes work and a ton of patience. Some days our heads are barely above water. We live on one income. I say all this not for a pity party because I believe we truly have a beautiful and blessed life…that’s what I capture with my camera…the silver linings of life. I say this because we could choose to focus on the hard parts of life and maybe we do sometimes. We get lost in our own pain but we don’t stay there.
Our family has survived all our hardship (taking care of parents, losing my Dad, deployments to Iraq, infertility etc…) because Jesus lifts our heads out of the sand. He tells us to love when we’d rather be angry and selfish. One of the ways He does this is by family time and special one on one time. Just as Chris and I set aside the pain of life to “live” in the moment together, so we must do that with our son. Because Michael will only be little once. Like I said, I’m with Michael all the time. So often I just want to be alone. But there is a difference between teacher time and just Mommy and Michael time. So Michael and I have date nights where we don’t focus on school and just treasure having fun together. We do this once a month and then Chris has guy time with Michael once a month. We do many family things together in between and Chris and I have date night twice a month. I believe a good marriage is needed for a healthy child. So after the Lord comes my husband and then my son.
I share these memories with you, in hopes that you will be inspired to create memories with your family. You may have to set some things aside to make this happen. Maybe you need to get rid of a few activities that tear you apart. We all have busy lives but we make time for what’s important to us. I learned early in marriage that love and beautiful moments can happen even when you’re thousands of miles from your loved one. It can also happen late at night in a nursing home when your loved one is confined to a bed. You can make memories as long as that person is alive and there is some way of connecting. So enjoy these pics and make your own memories:)!
My date with Michael began early that day. It extended into the afternoon so Chris could have alone time. We spent the day at a fun place that has laser tag and skating. Here’s a pic of Michael skating with a bit of help. He was scared to try at first and he fell a lot. I was proud that with a bit of encouragement he wiped his tears and kept trying.
Laser tag was great. I had never done it before. Normally you hide behind things and shoot at each other. Well, we were the only people there (benefits of homeschool lol) so Michael just chased me in circles for seven minutes! He kept shooting me in the back. Thankfully he got wore out a few times and we stopped to breathe. We finished the day with a dollar movie and a trip to Nana’s.
A couple of weeks later Chris and Michael had there Father-Son time. Chris decided to camp out which was completely free and just as fun as dates that cost money.
Michael helped Chris set up the tent.
They roasted hot dogs over the fire pit. I “encouraged” them to stay outside to eat so I could have the house to myself. They played “worm” with the sleeping bags and went to sleep.
They were nice enough to share a hot dog with me though I didn’t roast it myself. I decided to camp in the living room and set up a nice pallet. I enjoyed some Mommy time and then some time with the Lord. It was nice. I got woke up super early though and Chris climbed under the covers and froze me to death. I sent both of my freezing guys to the bedroom so I could get some sleep and stay warm lol.
I’ve done several posts gearing up for St. Patty’s. Well, it finally came and we had a lovely day with some humorous memories (to Chris: flying ticks he he he). Our morning started with green pancakes with lucky charms added to them. I used my Dad’s blue ribbon pancake recipe found here at the end of this post:
I just added food coloring and the Lucky Charms.
Michael wore his leprechaun beard.
Remember the leprechaun trap in my Crafty Monday post? Well, it worked! This toilet paper tube leprechaun has been with our family for a year or two. Michael knows it’s all pretend but we have fun with it.
We’ve got into the tradition of watching “Behind the Waterfall” during St. Patty’s. It’s a lovely family film about a “leprechaun” or angel (you decide) and how he helps three troubled children. Michael also made this pot of gold that says “Who is worth more to you than gold?” He drew a pic of his friend Liam :).
Michael made this pic at church as a reminder to store his treasure in heaven. Cute!
We explored a bit and picnicked in a place off the beaten path. That’s where the “flying ticks” came in to play. No worries…no harm done. Then we headed to what’s becoming a favorite spot. You may recognize this park from other posts I’ve done.
We took Tessa, our dog, with us. I printed out St. Patty’s facts and fun sayings and hid them (along with foam shamrocks) so they would make a path to the pot of gold near the waterfall.
We usually do some sort of treasure hunt. You may remember that one year the “gold” was at the end of an obstacle course and Michael had to drive out the “snakes” like St. Patty did out of Ireland. We also had a pretty kewl paper chain rainbow. Post here: https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2012/03/17/happy-st-patricks-day/
Michael finding the shamrocks…
Chris wanted me to take this “awesome” picture of his jeep lol :). My guy… *rolling eyes*
This paper was about a fun one about tricky leprechauns.
Tessa says the water is too tempting!
We found the leprechaun and his pot of gold!
And he has cookies! Woot!
The guys had some fun…
Skipping rocks
Now, for the pet parade 🙂. Sometimes our pets need one on one time too and that’s hard when you have so many. Tessa (dog) and Chester (cat) force themselves on us. Snowball (guinea pig) and Cinderella (mouse) have to be taken out or we may forget they are there.
Snowball is fat. She can’t even wear a guinea pig harness. I worry about her obesity so I’m trying to get her outside where she can walk a bit. The trampoline is a great place because it has barely any ants under it, it’s shaded, and I can keep her within the circle. Snowball enjoys being outside but mainly so she can eat clover…sigh.
Snowball giving us her best side.
Cinderella is super timid and you can tell she was bred in a cage. I’m trying to get her to use her brain because mice are smart. She needs a challenging obstacle course. The poor mouse has a terrible anxiety disorder and often shivers, grooms herself like she has ocd, and has an upset tummy when she’s held. I was able to get her to do some climbing but she preferred the safety of my hand.
“What’s this green stuff?” ~Cinderella
“This is WAY too high up! Maybe if I wash my hands I’ll feel better…”
Tessa is spoiled and gets away with everything. She’s super sweet but hiding the cats food is not beneath her. She gets very jealous which we realized when she pooped in Michael’s nursery when we brought him home. She still treats Michael like a pup and groans when she’s annoyed.
Chester is our crazy black cat who acts bipolar since he was fixed. One minute he is overly affectionate and very vocal (he’s part Siamese). The next minute he’s attacking us and destroying things. He seriously needs a psychologist. Now that he’s fixed and an indoor kitty we have to put him on a leash to go outside. He hates the leash but the nearby road is too dangerous.
One day Nana came over (Mom in the swing) and Michael read his book on the trampoline. We took all the animals outside. We hooked the kitty’s leash to the trampoline and he watched the guinea pig romp about.
Zoom in on this pic. You can see both the guinea pig and the mouse. The cat is so wishing he was free to eat the mouse. Chester has broken things trying to get into the mouse’s cage. Interesting note: Chester (cat) will eat a salad if it has Ranch dressing on it. I’m finding he will eat many things…that are on my plate. I set Cinderella on Snowball’s back just to see what would happen. Snowball freaked out a bit. She is just as annoyed with the mouse as Tessa is annoyed with all the other animals and child (she was hear first right? lol).
Will Snowball lose some pounds? Will Cinderella become an Olympic mouse? Will Chester and Tessa ever get over their psychological issues? Tune in to my blog and maybe we will find out.
Well, God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover
PS: Thanks for reading and the sweet comments and likes. They make my day.
Prepping for St. Patty’s:
St. Patty’s Celebration with Homeschool group:
It’s not Inspirational Wednesday but I had to share this reblog from J.S. Park. Email subscribers please come to my blog to see the post if it doesn’t show up right in email. I have met rotten tomato Christians and sadly I have even been one. There is such a fine line and I’ve been asking God for balance. I wonder about watchman ministries and the balance. Certain watchman ministries have helped me out of dangerous theology and others have put such a fearful spirit on me that I lost all joy. Where is the balance? I praise God for the fellow believers that accept me when I take off the mask. I’d love it if it was that way with every believer. God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover
Hello dear ones! Enjoy these videos about the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Remember email subscribers to come to my blog to see the links. God bless & remember the High King lives!~Amber Dover
Easter Changed my Day: One Time Blind video
I’m Alive: Onetime Blind video
Welcome! My name is Amber Dover. I am a homeschooling mom, happy wife, and a devout follower of Jesus Christ. I am also a writer. I am currently working on "The Truth Seeker's Chronicles" (an inspirational fantasy/allegory). You will find everything from craft ideas to writing tips on my blog. So please pull up a chair and hang out :)
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