"Easter -- A Season For God And Family" By Rev. Barbara Sexton Dear Ones Healing Ministry

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Dear Ones:

     We live in a hustling, bustling 'work-a-day' world...And it's not always easy to take time to 'smell the daffodils and tulips'.

     But today is a special day.  Today is the most important day for Christians all over the world, because it heralds the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus.

     We take time out from our busy lives today to worship and spend the day with family and friends.

     We pray, we hunt for eggs, have fun with the children, enjoy a wonderful Easter meal together....And, more likely than not, eat way more chocolate than we ought to!

     Yet, amid all this 'fun', there are times when true 'spiritual breakthroughs' occur, for the very fabric of this day lends itself to discussions and meditations of all that is God-breathed.

     In fact, Easter is a time when some may even decide that they wish to be baptized.
     And here I have some interesting information for you:  Did you know that any baptized Christian may baptize another with 'full authority'?  It's true.
  (Disclaimer: I realize that certain denominations do not consider laity to be 'qualified' in this regard, except in emergencies, and that certain denominations and individuals do not feel that a 'woman' (myself) is qualified to be clergy and speak as I do, but for those who are other-minded, please read on.)
 

The Great Commission

¹⁶ Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. ¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Mt 28:16-20 (NIV)

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+28&version=NIV

 

     My message to you is this:  one need not necessarily use 'Jordon River water' to baptize a person seized by the Spirit of the Lord and asking for a fellow Believer to baptize them.

     Any Believer may take pure water and 'bless it' for Holy use and then proceed to use it to 'baptize'.

     ALL Christian Believers are qualified and, are indeed, 'commanded' to GO FORTH and baptize others in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit!

     From a 'private baptism' in a family bathroom on Easter Day to a heart-wrenching, yet life-affirming one performed in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) on a precious infant in an 'Isolette' (using sterile water and a sterile eye-dropper), one never knows when the need to baptize may appear.

     So, dear ones, if someone should ever ask you to baptize them, proudly proclaim your 'authority' as a Believer and do it!

     Whether it be a 'normal day', at an 'accident scene' or other disaster or when clergy are simply unavailable, step up and fulfill that request.

       Do it and live, so that the person you baptize can 'live', just as Christ lives and bids us to be his 'hands, feet and hearts' on this earth.

May Your Easter Be Especially Blessed,

Rev. Barb

www.DearOnesHealingMinistry.blogspot.com 

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"It's Easter And We Are Blessed" By Rev. Barbara Sexton Dear Ones Healing Ministry

It's Easter and we know we are blessed...
for Christ has arisen!



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"Today Is Good Friday" By Rev. Barbara Sexton Dear Ones Healing Ministry

courtesy www.witnessed.wordpress.com

courtesy www.theChristianwallpapers.com

courtesy www.theChristianwallpapers.com

           But before the Glory, there shall be pain...

"Christians Are Still Being Crucified This Holy Thursday" By Rev. Barbara Sexton Dear Ones Healing Ministry

courtesy http://hiswordinpictures.blogspot.com.au

 Dear Ones:

     Tonight is the night we celebrate 'The Last Supper', and we do this in remembrance of Christ on the night before he is arrested, prosecuted, sentenced and crucified. 
     For those who live in a place where they are free to practice Christianity in relative peace and safety, let us give thanks that they are free to worship. 
     Yet, as we reflect this Easter-tide, may we also be acutely aware of and remember Christians in parts of the world where they are persecuted, tortured, reviled and literally crucified, themselves, to this day. 
     And so we pray:

  
Dear Heavenly Father:
      We come to you this Holy Thursday with heavy hearts, as we remember what befell our beloved Jesus. 
     Yet we can't help wondering how different our lives would be, had you not allowed your Son to be sacrificed for us.  Who would 'lead' us?  Who would sustain us and give us hope in the world today? 
     We thank you, Father and are very grateful for this day of remembrance and humility, even though this night anoints us with great sadness. 
     Please reconcile this for us, Lord, so that we can best serve you.
Please give our hearts more courage and understanding as we celebrate today's Last Supper in remembrance of our Lord. 
     It grieves us that in this day and age, there are those who are yet so very persecuted for worshiping our Savior and that Christians are still being crucified.

courtesy www.GospelGifs.com  God Bless Jim Sutton

     Thus, we pray for all Christians, near and far.  God, shield them and frustrate their tormentors.      Remembering that our brother Jesus will return, we are at peace as we await upon this. 
     We pray these things in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
AMEN
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 Brothers & Sisters:
     I believe that those who die at the hands of Christianophobes all over the globe shall receive a special place in Heaven.
     They shall be close to our Heavenly Father, Jesus, Mary, and all the Saints and with kith and kin through the ages who, also, fought and died for that 'carpenter's boy'.
     So let us be fearless today and ever more, as we await the final return and a joyous reunion. 
     Be of good cheer this holy night, dear ones, even in the darkness of this night.

With Love in Christ,
Rev. Barbara Sexton
www.DearOnesHealingMinistry.blogspot.com

"Maundy Thursday Blessings To You" From Rev. Barbara Sexton Dear Ones Healing Ministry

courtesy http://www.thechristianwallpapers.com

courtesy http://hiswordinpictures.blogspot.com.au

"A Blessed Palm Sunday Healing Message For You" From Rev. Barbara Sexton Dear Ones Healing Ministry

above courtesy http://www.praytherosaryapostolate.com/palmsunday.htm

Dear Ones:
     I relay to you a most heartfelt Palm Sunday greeting with a message of healing for you during this Holy Week.
     Palm Sunday is, traditionally, a day of 'triumph'.  It heralds a joyous reception of our Savior Jesus, replete with cheers and shouts of joy as he passes by the crowd.
     But, even with all the happiness this day brings, there is an undercurrent of not only sadness, but of anticipation and even 'dread', as well.
     Those who know this Gospel story, know that Jesus will soon be arrested, sentenced and crucified before long.
     So, too, do our modern day Christian celebrations sometimes become 'marred' and mired in sadness as relatives and friends, of different denominations (or of no denomination at all, meaning agnostics and atheists) gather for holidays like Easter and Christmas.
     We know that no matter how much 'joyous fun' we are supposed to have, there is bound to be a 'thing or two' that sets our loved ones 'on edge' and causes strife during the holidays.
     Sometimes, the controversial subject causing discord is interpersonal in nature.
     But, sometimes, religious and denominational differences also rear their heads and this is where my message comes in.
     It is this:  when loved ones debate about 'interdenominational differences', remember that, in Christ, there is only one way.
     And that is the Way of Jesus!
¹⁹ Do not quench the Spirit. ²⁰ Do not treat prophecies with contempt ²¹ but test them all; hold on to what is good, ²² reject every kind of evil."   1Thessalonians 5:19-22  (NIV)
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Thessalonians+5&version=NIV 
     So my suggestion for you this Easter, however you choose, as a Christian, to celebrate it with family and friends is this:
     Celebrate that which you hold sacred in common.  Cast aside that which divides you.  And, above all, remember to 'celebrate the good' this Easter.
     Yes, Holy Week is rift with agonizing sadness.
     But, like a spring bulb hunkering just below the surface of sweet dirt, we know that we are on the brink of 'witnessing' the amazing Resurrection of Christ.
     It's spectacular, it's a wonderment and we stand in awe of spring life, and in awe of eternal life.
With Love in Christ,
Rev. Barbara Sexton
www.DearOnesHealingMinistry.blogspot.com

courtesy www.GospelGifs.com

"Praying For You This Ash Wednesday" By Rev. Barbara Sexton Dear Ones Healing Ministry

Praying for you and your loved ones this Ash Wednesday...


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Dear Ones:

     On this Ash Wednesday, we remember that 'it is dust from which we came....and that it is to dust we shall return.'

     On this Holy day, let us each remember the somber truth of our very existence-in-Christ.

God Bless You,

Rev. Barbara Sexton

www.DearOnesHealingMinistry.blogspot.com

"The Biblical Biochemist-Where Science Meets the Cross"  O

"Happy Shrove Tuesday & Mardi Gras To You!" From Rev. Barbara Sexton Dear Ones Healing Ministry

courtesy http://hipish.free.fr/graphics/holiday_comments/mardi_gras/?p=2

"Christian Consolation For Those Affected By The Journal News Gun Map Controversy" By Rev. Barbara Sexton Dear Ones Healing Ministry

CHRISTIAN CONSOLATION FOR THOSE AFFECTED BY THE JOURNAL NEWS GUN MAP CONTROVERSY

by Rev. Barbara Sexton

Stamford, CT

Dear Ones Healing Ministry

www.DearOnesHealingMinistry.blogspot.com

Jan. 5, 2013

 Dear Ones:
     The next time someone asks if you, a Christian, are a gun-owner, I want you to repeat after me and say:
     "YOU BET I AM ARMED!"
     And say this 'loud and proud'...because you ARE!
     In this day and age, where pundits think nothing of pejoratively taunting Christians with 'well-what-would-'your'-Jesus-do?' queries falling off their tongues, we need to pay heed to old advice which is as valid today as it was over 2000 years ago.
      Make no mistake about it; when Jesus sent out the twelve, he warned them that it would be no picnic.
     In fact, what he said shocked and astonished them with his dire predictions!
 ³⁴ “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵ For I have come to turn
“‘a man against his father,
    a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
³⁶     a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’^[c]                                                                                                Matthew 10:34-36  (NIV)
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+10&version=NIV

     Yes, certainly we gasp at the thought of Christian believers being told that their Lord and Savior promises them not 'peace', but quite the opposite.  The going was rough and it's going to be rough, for us.
     So Christian brothers and sisters reading this today, take heed!:

Jesus continued (to his disciples):
     ¹⁶ “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. ¹⁷ Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. ¹⁸ On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. ¹⁹ But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, ²⁰ for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you."
                                                                                  Matthew 10:16-20  (NIV)
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+10&version=NIV  

     The above is sometimes misinterpreted by those who seek to justify 'violence-in-Christ'.  We look to the Crusades as an example of this.
     The fact is that while there may be times when 'violence' IS justified' for a Christian in/from the United States today (such as for those in law enforcement, the military, etc.), this is not commonly the case for civilian Christian Americans living stateside.
     Unless they have the misfortune of encountering a mentally ill, drug-crazed, criminally-oriented violent individual of some kind, that is.
     Jesus clearly did not send out a bunch of 'wimps'.  And he is quite clear that when violence is 'necessary', such as when a defenseless person is being attacked, it is never to be 'glorified'.
     In fact, when read in the context of other Scripture, Jesus's tough words above clearly emphasize that 'the sword' (or, more appropriately today, 'the firearm') is to be used sparingly and only in the most dire of circumstances in self-defense.
     He even counseled his disciples to flee rather than face potentially threatening people, advice which holds its wisdom today.

^"12 As you enter the home, give it your greeting. ¹³ If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. ¹⁴ If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet."                                           Matthew 10:12-14  (NIV)
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+10&version=NIV 

     Tragically, we cannot always 'flee' when we must.  Nancy Lanza could not and was killed by her son.  And the blessed little Sandy Hook Elementary precious children and their teachers and protectors could not escape that very same madman.
     Yet...we were 'generically warned': 

²¹ “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. ²² You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. ²³ When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another.
                                                                               Matthew 10:21-23  (NIV)
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+10&version=NIV
     Every so often in the modern U.S., Christians attempt to use some passage in the Bible to justify their own violence.
     But we have the beautiful and fiercely-worded advice from Jesus himself to his disciples whom he loved so much, just as he does us!
     Christ prepared them, as he prepares us, for what they and we will undoubtedly encounter.  He was 'hardening' them verbally, guiding them and emboldening them.  This much is certain--we will suffer, but (and this is a big one) true Believers will be fortified, protected and filled with the Holy Spirit.
     In a word, we will be 'armed', yes, with a 'sword' (or a gun in today's parlance), but also with much more.
     Challenges about 'gun control' vs. gun/Second Amendment rights and opportunists seeking to take advantage of a progressive liberal newspaper's indiscretions are not the only 'challenges' we have.
     We have a challenge not to 'hate' Peter Lanza.  We have a challenge to not hate 'journalists'.  We have a challenge to not 'hate' those who paint with a 'broad brush'--be they liberal or conservative.

²⁶ “So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. ²⁷ What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. ²⁸ Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
                                                                                              Matthew 10:26-28  (NIV)
     As Christians, we realize that the physical body is perishable and will not endure.  Morally and ethically, we are challenged to live the best lives that we can. So...
     We WILL have difficult times..
     We WILL have difficult decisions...
     We WILL be treated unfairly...and sometimes 'cruelly', if recent 'The Journal News' rhetoric is something to judge by.
     I know that my words here do not apply to those Christians--especially here in progressive-liberal Connecticut--who do not agree that the Second Amendment is worth fighting for.
     I understand that opinions vary, and that tempers may fly. But mark this:  If we Christians properly tow the line, we will see God.
     We will see God and then we can ask him 'why?' for the many sorrowful sorrows that we must witness.
     Until then, I pray that your days are wonderful, your nights restorative and that everything in your life be blessed and fully vetted to the Will of God, our Father through our Christ Jesus.

God Bless you,
Rev. Barbara Sexton
Dear Ones Healing Ministry
www.DearOnesHealingMinistry.blogspot.com