The Suffering of Christ gives Meaning to our Lives

God loved us so much, that he gave us his only begotten son. He didn’t just love us theoretically, but he came and expressed that love by suffering and dying for us on a cross and then rising again from the dead. And some of you might ask, “why did he do it that way and not some easier way?” And the answer to that is, “I don’t know,” other than to say that that is the way he wanted show the full expression of his love.

Did Jesus promise a “Cross” or “Earthly Prosperity?”

What do preachers such as Joel Osteen, Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagin and Oral Roberts have in common? Well, they all preach some form of a Gospel message known as “prosperity”, “health and wealth” or “name it and claim it.” Take a look at Joel Osteen for instance. He professes that “as children of God, we are over-comers and more than conquerors and God intends for each of us to experience the abundant life he has in store for us.” He, along with many other well known televangelist, teach that if we are a believer in Christ and his follower, then we are promised to have wealth and good health in our time spent on earth. In other words, a Christian is promised worldly prosperity and deliverance from sickness in this lifetime. All we must do is go out and claim it for ourselves. But, is this true?

Stations of the Cross

If you walk into just about any Catholic Church today, you will probably see an artistic display of “The Stations of the Cross.” The Stations may be made of stone, wood, or metal, sculptured or carved, or they may be merely paintings or engravings. They are usually placed at certain intervals around the walls of a church, though sometimes they are to be found in the open air, especially on roads leading to a church or shrine.

Why do Catholics wear crucifixes and most other Christians wear just plain crosses?

If you have ever watched movies about vampires, demons and devils, you may have seen that a crucifix was used to ward them off. The assumption was that the power of the cross destroys the power of evil. Well, the death of Jesus on the cross does just that — it enables believers to overcome sin. No wonder the demons run!

Easter Sunday is almost here, when we celebrate the resurrection of our “Lord and Savior” Jesus Christ. All of us as Christians, particularly during Easter, rejoice in the fact that Jesus rose from the dead. We see crosses in churches, on walls, and as jewelry. Some have an empty cross; some have the body (Corpus) of Jesus on them. The latter are called crucifixes.