Today is Good Friday. Why is it good? As a child I used to think it was good because we had hot cross buns for breakfast - lovely and spicey, warmed in the oven, butter melting and dripping down our chins. And it was a day off school. Perfect! But apart from that, I thought it was pretty bad that Jesus was crucified - that anyone could be crucified. How was that good? It should really be Bad Friday instead.

On the radio news this morning I heard that the Muslims in Auckland were complaining that all the shops had to stay closed today. It wasn’t fair on them since they were being penalized by having to observe a holy day from a religion which wasn’t their own. Well, tough! They knew before they came here that New Zealand is a country whose traditions are founded on Christianity, not Islam. If they don’t like it, they are free to leave and live in an Islamic country where Easter means nothing. I have no sympathy with such a complaint. Also, I am not asking them to attend Church. But if they can’t go shopping, they might like to pick up a Bible and spend that time reading the true story about the historical Jesus. As I have written about in a previous post, they are thinking He is someone else instead. Not so. The Biblical account of the historical Jesus predates their own version by a good 600 years, and is the actual eye-witness accounts of those who knew Him, lived with Him, listened to Him, and in many cases died for their belief in Him. To read about Him, it is to the Bible that one really must turn.

So on Good Friday our shops remain closed. I know that is an imposition on those who are not believers. They have to give up one day of shopping, a day of consumerism, a day of letting the moths fly their wallets. But to a child’s eyes, that is a small price to pay for those wonderful hot cross buns for breakfast!

It is Easter Sunday, the day we celebrate the real goodness of Easter, that makes sense of the Friday beforehand. Do you believe it was possible, that it could really have happened, that Jesus rose alive from His death? There is some incredibly strong evidence to support that it happened. If you don’t believe that it did, on what basis don’t you believe it? Have you actually investigated the evidence before making a judgement? Or are you simply prejudiced by your own uninformed scepticism? If you have not looked into the evidence, then do be honest about it. And think about this… that if Jesus did indeed rise alive from such a hideous and certain death, then that is something that needs to be taken pretty seriously indeed. There is far more to the story than just a plain simple response. If you have not already done so, then start checking out some of the evidence which can be found from here on. You could be in for surprises!

It has been some time since my last entry although I may go back and add a few retrospectively to February - ones that were started back then but not finished. Now it is Easter weekend, already March, and Autumn as well. What happened? I simply ran out of steam. Family “stuff” has siphoned off much of my energy, and catching up with “the chores” taken much of my time. Friends have been hinting, encouraging, and some wondering where I have got to. Nope, I’ve not fallen off the face of the earth… or let go from clinging by my little bat-feet to the underbelly of the planet, as one Northern Hemisphere friend likes to think of me doing!

This morning an email “from a Judah’s Journal visitor” popped into my Inbox. It was sent by Tom and was short and sweet, but great encouragement. He wrote “Your site is wonderful, keep it going.” Thank you Tom. I will keep it going, and it is messages like yours that certainly helps when going through one of those times that are tough.

Judah’s Journal is part of my greater website, Judah’s Site. In case you have not already done so, check out where those clickable little buttons right at the very bottom of this page will take you. As well as adding more entries to my Journal, my intention over the next few weeks is to update and refresh all those other pages as well. There is much to be added to all of them.

I have a number of friends who share my interests in crafts, and just recently a few of them have taken up blogging as well. There is a new group of links added over to the left of here - “Crafty Blogs and Websites”. Do check them out if you have an interest in craft things as well. These are very talented people who have been online friends of mine for several years now.

Right, that is my “what’s up in here” update for now. With Tom’s encouragement, and that of other friends as well, I will be back soon with more entries to Judah’s Journal… and more on those other pages as well.