The Death and Resurrection of Jesus: Three Days that Changed the World

Today is Good Friday. The day when Jesus Christ, falsely accused, took up his cross and died for you and me, as related in all the Gospels (Matthew 26:30–27:66, Mark 14:26–15:47, Luke 22:39–23:56, and John 18:1–19:42). 

But Good Friday only lasts so long. On Sunday, we celebrate that Jesus Christ did not stay in the tomb. It could not hold him! We celebrate what happened when the disciples came to Christ's empty tomb:

“Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.”
So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Matthew 28:5-9

Jesus Christ's resurrection demonstrates his victory over death for all who believe in him, his power at work in us who believe, and the promise of eternal life in him! Praise God, our Savior lives!

Remember that Christ is always now alive and intercedes with the Father for us. He delights to show His love for us. Turn to Him and He will give you rest!

Our team at Minnesota Family Council is praying that you and your family will experience deep joy and encouragement in the Lord as you celebrate his resurrection and your life in him! Christ is risen--He is risen indeed!

New Lawsuit Threatens Existence of Christian Universities

Thirty-three students and former students of religious colleges and universities are suing the Department of Education in an effort to strong-arm religious schools into accepting and promoting the LGBT agenda. Although the Department of Education is technically the plaintiff, the real targets are religious colleges and universities. The complaint lists 25 religious colleges and universities and has serious implications for all religious schools that receive federal funds. The students, all of whom identify as LGBT, are alleging discrimination because the religious colleges and universities that they attended or applied for prohibited sexual activity outside of marriage between one man and one woman and did not allow pro-LGBT student groups that were at odds with the school’s religious beliefs to be established on campus.

Most of the targeted colleges and universities are Christian schools, and all of them maintain these policies based on their deeply held and clearly stated religious beliefs concerning human sexuality. There is no reason whatsoever that these policies should have come as a surprise to these students. Each of these colleges and universities have made their stance on sexuality public for years. The students filing this lawsuit could easily have chosen to attend one of the myriads of schools that embrace the LGBT agenda. Demanding that religious colleges and universities either submit to the LGBT agenda or lose their funding is nothing other than a bully tactic to silence any and all disagreement.

Behind this lawsuit is an organization called the Religious Exemption Accountability Project (REAP) — an organization that is open about the fact that its goal is to end religious freedom protections for colleges and universities.

In the words of Al Mohler, “this is a direct threat to the very existence of Christian education.” Mohler goes on to say,

[W]hat we see here is not just an issue of federal funding. It's not just the Title IV funding issue. It's not just Title IX exemptions. What you see here is a deliberate effort by a major means of coercion to bring an end to institutions of Christian conviction, that operate as colleges and universities and seminaries.