Stephen K. Ray's Blog, page 479

"Crossing the Tiber" on Holy Saturday in Rome

Crossing the Tiber is the title of my book so I decided to Cross the Tiber literally again today in Rome. I also saw the bigger-than-life Stations of the Cross at the Vatican. Hope you enjoy!

"Crossing the Tiber" in Rome on Holy Thursday

Running through Rome and "Crossing the Tiber" on Holy Saturday.
This morning I went out running and I crossed the Tiber River (my book is "Crossing the Tiber").
I also gave my thoughts on my conversion at St. Peter's, viewed the magnificent larger-than-life Stations of the Cross in front of St. Peter's, and showed the implements of Christ's torture on the Bridge of the Angels.
God is good! Buona Pasqua (Happy Easter)!
See the map and videos and pictures of my run here (if you are interested): http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1053534

After the Death of Christ – On Drew Mariani Show Good Friday

I will be on Drew Mariani's Relevant Radio Show starting at 5:00 or 5:10 PM Eastern –  talking about events following Jesus' death. You can listen on-line at www.RelevantRadio.com.

Holy Thursday Running; Good Friday Walking

Before I left Jerusalem yesterday, I ran through the Old City following the events of Holy Thursday. Thought people would like to see it with their own eyes :-)

I also just made a video of our group walking the Via Dolorosa from the Trial of Jesus by Pilate to Calvary and the Tomb – on location.

I made each video in a half hour on my iPhone this morning. I added illustrations and pictures, sound effects and music. Hope you enjoy them. Happy Easter.

Running through Holy Thursday

Walking through Good Friday

How Long Was Jesus in the Tomb?

Because we will discuss this on Drew Mariani's Show (www.RelevantRadio.com), I've posted my article for easy access.

"For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth"

(Matt. 12:38-40)

Skeptics claim to have discovered an error in the New Testament —claiming Jesus was not in the tomb for three full 24-hour periods like he prophesied.

He was buried Friday afternoon and rose early Sunday morning.being only one full day and two nights. Has the sceptic found an error in the Bible? How does one respond?

To read my whole article, click here.

How Long was Jesus on the Cross?

Do the Gospels Conflict?

How Long was Jesus on the Cross?

The question intrigued me sufficiently enough that I spent the best part of a day working on it. There seems to be a contradiction in the Gospels, mentioning different times for the crucifixion. Maybe someone forgot to check their watch!

Mark says Jesus was crucified at the third hour and John tells us the crucifixion took place after the sixth hour. So, what are we to make of this seeming contradiction? And how long was he actually hanging on the cross?

For the whole story, click here.

By the way, isn't this a COOL picture? I took it several years ago at the Cross in the Woods Shrine in Indian River Michigan. It is the largest crucifix in the world and right across the street from my wife's parents' summer home.

Where was Jesus on Holy Saturday?

He was in the tomb, of course. Soldiers guarded the tomb and a seal had been placed on the stone. His dead and bloodied body lay wrapped in the shroud of burial.

But in 1 Peter 3:18 we are told that while his body lay cold in the tomb, he was moving around preaching the Gospel!

For Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit; in which he went and preached to the spirits in prison.

1 Peter 4:6 says that the gospel was preached to the dead:

For this is why the gospel was preached even to the dead, that though judged in the flesh like men, they might live in the spirit like God.

Paragraph 632 of the Catechism says,

The frequent New Testament affirmations that Jesus was "raised from the dead" presuppose that the crucified one sojourned in the realm of the dead prior to his resurrection. This was the first meaning given in the apostolic preaching to Christ's descent into hell: that Jesus, like all men, experienced death and in his soul joined the others in the realm of the dead. But he descended there as Savior, proclaiming the Good News to the spirits imprisoned there. Paragraphs 633 and 634 add more light on Jesus' descent into hell.

Remember the story of Lazarus and the rich man (Luke 16:19-31)? Jesus tells of those in the afterlife. The Bible does not tell us everything, but what it tells us is true and gives us a glimpse into the unseen world. Jesus will return from the underworld, his body and soul will be reunited and he will rise from the grave–Easter morning is right around the corner. If a video camera had been set up inside the tomb 2000 years ago we would have seen a cold lifeless body rise up and walk out of the tomb.

He is RISEN! He is risen indeed! And because HE has risen, we will rise too!

Abortion: Where are the Men?

Letters to the Editor, www.LifeSiteNews.com

Thursday, April 21, 2011,

Where are all the men? Is there no nobility or integrity left?

Several weeks ago, one of my friends from Vancouver contacted me to ask for advice. A girl she knew was planning to have an abortion, and my friend needed advice on what to say. Over the next two weeks, I and another one of my pro-life friends from Vancouver, attempted to help her to convince this young woman not to abort her child.

The girl, initially open to discussion, had her phone taken away by her boyfriend, and was eventually coerced into having an abortion by a man who saw his own future as more important than the offspring he had fathered.

This is when a question struck me: what has manhood in today's culture become when two girls in Vancouver are fighting harder for the life of a child than the baby's own father? …

…One of my friends who regularly pickets abortion clinics has informed me that we would be shocked to see how many sobbing girls are pushed into abortion clinics by their angry boyfriends and fathers. Perhaps more women would stop being "pro-choice" about killing pre-born children if the fathers of these children would stop being "pro-choice" about actually shouldering their responsibilities, as has been the tradition of true manhood in the past.

That men think that sex is purely recreational and has no consequences is imbecilic and delusional.

That men would send their girlfriends, sisters, and wives to have their bodies violated in an absurd crime against nature and have their offspring dismembered is the most disgusting abrogation of responsibility by males in this century….

Holy Thursday "on the Run"

Before I left Jerusalem yesterday, I ran through the Old City following the events of Holy Thursday. Thought people would like to see it with their own eyes :-)

I made this video in a half hour on my iPhone this morning. I added illustrations and pictures, sound effects and music. Hope you enjoy it. Happy Easter.

Preparing for JPII's Beatificatin

Made it to Rome with St. Peters behind us. Early to prepare for JPII's Beatification.