The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
Greetings to ever one in western Illinois and all readers of The Quill.
It did not rain around these parts on Easter Sunday so farmers can safely see to it their planters and field equipment is properly prepared to go to the field.
There is sure to be more foul weather yet this spring but, chances are good accord'n to folklore, we won't have seven more Sundays of rain. We'll just have to wait and see.
CORN MARKETS
The government report last Thursday shore broke the corn market down the limit (40¢/bu.) fer the day.
Don't let it get your shorts up tight fer the government loves play'n those tricks. It only works if'n ya falls fer their gig!
It has been said "Common sense is not so common".
Also, I have heard said "Do well and you will have no need for ancestors".
What does all of that mean regard'n crop prices?
Well, "Each player must accept the cards life deals him or her: but once they are in hand, he or she alone must decide how to play the cards in order to win the game".
In the reference to last weeks government report I would suggest "in the case of news, we should always wait fer the sacrament of confirmation". No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking. Don't let a government wee-gee board prediction spook you over the cliff in your marketing, one way or the other.
CRUCIFIXION
With Easter over this past weekend it might be well to review the (scientific) death of Jesus:
At the age of 33, Jesus was condemned to death. At the time crucifixion was the "worst" death. Only the worst criminals were condemned to be crucified.
Yet, it was even more dreadful for Jesus, unlike other criminals condemned to death by crucifixion Jesus was to be nailed to the cross by His hands and feet.
Each nail was 6 to 8 inches long. The nails were driven into His wrist. Not into His palms as is commonly portrayed.
There's a tendon in the wrist that extends to the shoulder.
The Roman guards knew that when the nails were being hammered into the wrist that tendon would tear and break, forcing Jesus to use his back muscles to support Himself so that He could breath.
Both of His feet were nailed together. Thus He was forced to support Himself on the single nail that impaled His feet to the cross. Jesus could not support Himself with His legs because of the pain so He was forced to alternate between arching His back and then using His legs just to continue to breath. Imagine the struggle, the pain, the suffering, the courage.
Jesus endured the reality for over 3 hours. Yes, over 3 hours! Can you imagine this kind of suffering?
A few minutes before He died, Jesus stopped bleeding. He was simply pouring water from his wounds.
From common images we see wounds to His hands and feet and even the spear wound to His side...but do we realize His wounds were actually made in his body.
A hammer driving large nails through the wrist, the feet overlapped and an even large nail hammered through the arches, then a Roman guard piercing His side with a spear. But before the nails and the spear Jesus was whipped and beaten.
The whipping was so severe that it tore the flesh from His body.
The beating so horrific that his face was torn and his beard ripped from his face. The crown of thorns cut deeply into His scalp.
Most men would not have survived this torture. He had no more blood to bleed out, only water poured from His wounds.
The human adult body contains about 3.5 liters (just less than a gallon) of blood. Jesus poured all 3.5 liters of His blood;
He had three nails hammered into His members; a crown of thorns on His head and, beyond that, a Roman soldier who stabbed a spear into His chest...all these without mentioning the humiliation He suffered after carrying His own cross for almost 2 kilometers, while the crowed spat in His face and threw stones (the cross was almost 30 kg of weight, only for its higher part, where His hands were nailed).
Jesus had to endure this experience, to open the Gates of Heaven, so that you can have free access to God. So that your sins could be "washed" away. All of them, with no exception!
THE APOSTLES
And what became of Jesus' apostles?
Matthew:
Suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia, killed by a sword wound.
Mark:
Died in Alexandria, Egypt, after being dragged by horses through the streets until he was dead.
Luke:
Was hanged in Greece as a result of his tremendous preaching to the lost.
John:
Faced martyrdom when he was boiled in a huge basin of boiling oil during a wave of persecution in Rome.
However, he was miraculously delivered from death. John was then sentenced to the mines on the prison Island of Patmos. He wrote his prophetic book of Revelation on Patmos.
The apostle John was later freed and returned to serve as Bishop of Edessa in modern Turkey. He died an old man, the only apostle to die peacefully.
Peter:
He was crucified upside down on an x-shaped cross, because he told his tormentors that he felt unworthy to die in the same way that Jesus Christ had died.
James:
The leader of the church in Jerusalem, was thrown over a hundred feet down from the southeast pinnacle of the temple when he refused to deny his faith in Christ. When they discovered that he survived the fall, his enemies beat James to death with a fuller's club. (This was the same pinnacle where Satan had taken Jesus during the temptation).
James the Great:
Son of Zebedee, was a fisherman by trade when Jesus called him to a lifetime of ministry. As a strong leader of the church, James was ultimately beheaded at Jerusalem.
The Roman officer who guarded James watched amazed as James defended his faith at his trial.
Later, the officer walked beside James to the place of execution. Overcome by conviction, he declared his new faith to the judge and knelt beside James to accept beheading as a christian.
Bartholomew:
Also known as Nathaniel was a missionary to Asia. He witnessed for our Lord in present day Turkey. Bartholomew was martyred for his preaching in Armenia where he was flayed to death by a whip.
Andrew:
Was crucified on an x-shaped cross in Patras Greece. After being whipped severely by seven soldiers they tied his body to the cross with cords to prolong his agony.
His followers reported that, when he was led toward the cross, Andrew saluted it in these words: "I have long desired and expected this happy hour. The cross has been consecrated by the body of Christ hanging on it." He continued to preach to his tormentors for two days until he expired.
Thomas:
Was stabbed with a spear in India during one of his missionary trips to establish the church in the sub-continent.
Jude:
Was killed with arrows when he refused to deny his faith in Christ.
Mathias:
The apostle chosen to replace the traitor Judas Iscariot, was stoned and then beheaded.
Paul:
Was tortured and then beheaded by the evil Emperor Nero at Rome in A.D.67. Paul endured a lengthy imprisonment, which allowed him to write his many epistles to the churches he had formed throughout the Roman Empire.
These letters, which taught many of the foundational doctrines of christianity, form a large portion of the New Testament.
Well, there ya has it then - our sufferings today are minor compared to the intense persecution and cruelty faced by the apostles and disciples during their times for the sake of the faith.
HATED OF ALL MEN
"And ye shall be hated of all men for my names sake: But he that endureth to the end shall be saved" (Matthew).
KEEPERS OF THE FLAME
Is the sacrifice too high or the cost out of reach for us today to maintain the vision of our Christian faith? It's good to stop and ask ourselves three questions.
Were did we come from? Where are we now? Where are we going? Keep in mind that we, today, are the link betwixt the past and the future.
Where are we heading? Are we going to let our forefathers labor in vain?
Are we going to be the ones guilty of steering the ship off course?
Are we going to keep the flame burning brightly? Are we willing to take up the challenge and be a keeper of the flame"?
Hope'n ta see you's in church the come'n weekend. Where ever ya is, what ever ya be a do'n, BE A GOOD ONE!
Keep on Smile'n
Catch ya later
BARNYARD BRUKE