FOOTBALL
By Reuters | April 4th 2021
Manchester City s Benjamin Mendy scores his side s opening goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Leicester City and Manchester City at the King Power Stadium in Leicester, England, Saturday, April 3, 2021. [Michael Regan/Pool via AP]
Manchester City extended their lead at the top of the Premier League to 17 points as Benjamin Mendy and Gabriel Jesus fired them to a 2-0 win at third-placed Leicester City on Saturday.
City now need, at most, 11 points from their remaining seven matches to secure their third Premier League title in four seasons.
The effects of the international break were barely noticeable on Pep Guardiola s side, who dominated from the outset, having a Fernandinho strike ruled out for offside before Kevin De Bruyne crashed a free kick against the bar.
For many years, scholars and skeptics and psychologists and sociologists have told us that the disciples experienced a form of cognitive dissonance after Jesus died. It so rocked their world and crushed their expectations that they went into deep denial to the point of believing that Jesus really rose from the dead.
To be sure, other scholars have attacked this theory from a number of powerful and persuasive angles, but my book Resurrection tackles it from a different angle. Specifically, I focus on a modern-day, parallel test case that completely demolishes this argument.
To give the relevant background, in 1994, a leading rabbi, one of the most influential Jews of the 20th century, died at the age of 92. His name was Menachem Mendel Schneerson and he was known as the Lubavitcher Rebbe. But this rabbi had become so influential that, before his death, his followers began to proclaim that he was the long-awaited Messiah. Redemption had come for Israel!
Easter in Lent: a homily for 2021
Today is the day to remember that even when other things are taken from us, the Resurrection is not taken out of our lives
Pope Francis celebrates the Easter Vigil on April 3 at St. Peter s Basilica in the Vatican. (Photo: Vatican Media/AFP)
The calendar says that today is Easter. I find that hard to believe. Don’t you? Are we going to believe a piece of paper, or are we going to believe our experience?
As far as I can tell, today is actually the 376th day of a Lent that started on Ash Wednesday in 2020. It’s more than nine times as long as the old-fashioned Lent. The calendar tells us that today is Easter, but we know that the Lent that started a year ago will last until the end of this year or beyond.
âWhat does âhe ascendedâ mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions?â (Ephesians 4:9)
Dr. Luke tells us that Jesus died around 3:00 on a Friday afternoon, just a few hours before the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath.
Funerals were prohibited on the Sabbath, so Jesusâ supporters didnât have the luxury of time with which to plan a service. They had to hustle just to bury him before sunset. In fact, the Bible notes that since they didnât even have time to secure a tomb in which to lay him, they placed him in a borrowed one located in a nearby garden.
Apr 4, 2021
Different people did different things to cope with COVID. I wrote a book. We Beheld His Glory, A Novel will be launched this week on Amazon.com, free as an eBook April 1 through 5. It was a great way to spend the days huddled at home during the pandemic.
I have studied, preached, taught and pondered the stories in the Gospels all my life. My mother first told the stories to me when I was a toddler. I heard them in Sunday School and at church growing up. I was called to preach and became pastor of a church when I was 19; 55 years later, I am still mesmerized by âThe Story.â The story of Jesus has shaped my life and my world view. It has shaped me.