Resurrection Day: My Sins or Yours?

 

Its Easter weekend.

Many years ago Charlton Heston opened my eyes to the truth of Jesus’ death and resurrection in the movie, “The Ten Commandments.”  I know, a movie? Yes. Having blogged about it before, it will always be a reminder of how God used an actor and a film to help me understand Him better.

Friday has passed. It’s now Saturday. The day after the crucifixion.

I’ve always wondered what went on from Friday after Jesus spoke those famous words, and Sunday after He had risen.

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”

Gospel of Luke 23:34

 

Where was He? Was He still in pain? What was He doing for those hours between His death and resurrection?

 

I have a confession to make.

I have never watched the Passion of the Christ. A few parts of it, but very little.

I can’t.

It is too painful.

Every year at this time I pray and thank God for all Jesus suffered for me, for everyone. I am thankful God didn’t allow me to be alive and living near Golgotha when the actual event occurred.

I can’t imagine how the Roman soldiers handled throwing people to die on those filthy crosses; much less our Savior.

It’s sheer brutality at its worst.

Had I been around during that time and known what Jesus suffered, I can’t say what I would have done to those who physically nailed him. Thinking about it makes my blood boil.

I guess I should thank God I wasn’t there to murder one of them myself.

The truth is I am no better than they were.

I put Jesus on that cross, nailed his hands and feet just as much as any Roman soldier did. Their sins are no worse than mine.

That’s what makes Resurrection Day the most important day in history.

As I look around flowers are blooming with a beauty all their own.

The trees are bursting forth with green leaves.

The birds sing as they fly to our feeder.

New life is everywhere.

And so is Jesus.

He marched out of a stone cold tomb giving every living thing a fresh start.

He left behind death as a warrant for the enemy.

He brought life to a fallen world so that we, His children could shine.

Resurrection Day is total forgiveness.

How AWESOME is our God.

 

 

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Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth ….and you know the rest (Part 3)

 

Civil cases do not require evidence to be handed over to either party prior to the trial. The judge made note to the jury that these types of lawsuits are not under the scrutiny of more serious cases. The atmosphere was much more relaxed than even I expected.

As I was called to the witness stand, our attorney began to question me about my years of Property Management experience and then into the timeline of the case in question.

He then came forth with the 83 pages of emails which caused the defendant’s attorney to stop everything demanding he and his client have the opportunity read over them before the case went forward.

The entire court room was at a quiet standstill for the next 15-20 minutes waiting on them to finish. It was apparent the jury was getting fidgety.  The juror at the end closest to me looked over at me as if to say, “I can’t believe they are making us wait like this.” One juror who looked to be barely 18, was obviously not interested in being there much less what was going on with the case. I had a clear view of the judge. She sat there working, writing, looking at her computer, drinking water and at times texting on her phone.

My own opinion at this point was the jury wasn’t happy and without any further testimony would have voted against the defendant anyway due to their inconsideration of everyone else.

Finally we proceeded.

Our attorney had me turn to certain pages of the emails and read aloud to the court what the defendant had written. As he questioned me the timeline of events was his purpose. The reason being was the lease was signed on Sept. 15, 2011 but she was expected to pay rent as of October 1, 2011 whether she had moved in or not. My reasoning for this was at that point she had tied up this property since August not wanting me to rent it to anyone else. If I did receive a qualified tenant she wanted me to call her first so she would have the opportunity to rent it first. She couldn’t make up her mind what to do so I had to give her an ultimatum which I did.

The kicker to signing the lease was a list of repairs/requests she demanded be done to rent the house. Needed repairs are one thing but to demand the owner buy a new refrigerator and have the house cleaned again was another. He agreed out of the kindness of his heart and she signed.

Taking this into account, only 2 weeks before October 1^st wasn’t enough time to get all she wanted done which was fine with her since her furniture wouldn’t arrive until the middle of October. I made arrangements in order for the repairs, the refrigerator to be delivered and installed and the cleaning after that. The house was professionally cleaned on October 7, and the carpets shampooed October 10^th.  

These dates were the core of the case. Why?

Her attorney would use them against us. His argument over and over was

“The lease was signed on Sept. 15 and she paid rent October 1^st but the house was filthy so she couldn’t move in.” Duh………

To be continued…..

Be still before the Lord
and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Psalm 37:7 |

 

 

 

 

 

Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth ….and you know the rest (Part 2)

 

In a world of disillusioned, misguided and unhappy people it is not a far-fetched idea to have one go to the lengths of a court case to prove their innocence when it is clear they aren’t. How dare anyone believe an officer of the military would totally ignore the law?

I am not being judgmental. This is however representative of the mindset plaguing our nation. Evil becomes good and good becomes evil. Tell a lie so much that the liar begins to truly believe it themselves.

Since the onset of this case God gave me a verse, Luke 21:15 which says,

  “For I will give you [skillful] words and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute.”

I clung to this verse until the day of the trial. Over 4 years.

From the beginning the lawyer for the plaintiff requested any information I had concerning the case including, receipts, contracts, and emails.

About 2 weeks prior to March 3, the court date I receive a phone call from a man who slowly asked if I was in deed who I am, and owner of Guardian Property Management LLC. The defendant’s lawyer proceeded to ask me questions about the case of which I quickly replied,
“Nope. Not giving you any information without my lawyer.”

His quick retort was, “Fine! I’ll subpoena you then!” His threat was stopped when

I responded, “You don’t have to. I will be there in support of our friend and my client.”

Calling my lawyer he reported the defendant’s lawyer had just called him. My lawyer told me I didn’t have to speak to him so I didn’t. I am convinced his call was to try to coerce me to get the plaintiff to change his mind and drop the case. He found out that wasn’t an option. 

2 days before the trial 2 young girls ring our doorbell and ask me if I was Cathy Neil. Handing me a subpoena they left. It’s a good thing I didn’t have plans but as I found out later the servers never signed or dated the subpoena making it invalid.

Meeting with the lawyer, we discussed what he would ask and what we were to respond with. After 4 years I was concerned about what I wouldn’t remember. But God…..

The lawyer expressed to us that he and her lawyer met with the judge on Monday, Feb. 29 to pick jurors.  He discovered the defendant’s attorney was basing their case on certain dates of cleaning the house opposed to the date of signing the lease.

As it was, 6 jurors were chosen and 5 out of the 6 were women. The choice being made by the opposing lawyer hoping to sway the women jurors to support the defendant.  In other words, he played the “gender card.”

 

So much time had passed since this began we didn’t know what they had as far as evidence, but then they didn’t know what we had either.

While speaking to his lawyer, he came up with the emails made between me and the defendant from the end of August until October 18, 2011 when she declared herself free of the lease completely. Altogether it was 83 pages; mostly emails from her to me.

I had no idea that those emails would be the words and wisdom of Luke 21: 15 that God would display for everyone in that courtroom to hear.

To be continued……

 

 

 

Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth ….and you know the rest

 

Do you? In a court of law?

I always thought if you didn’t it was perjury.

If you’ve never testified in court it’s quite an experience.

Recently I was the lead/main witness to a landlord/tenant lawsuit. Believe me, I pray I never have to do this again, but as I ponder the events now, I see God’s hand was all over it.

Let me back up with the history of this case.

This lawsuit began in the fall of 2011. Since that time the plaintiff and defendant have been going back and forth with their lawyers trying to settle. Due to the nature of involving military personnel the courts are more lenient when it comes to a trial. The reason for that is deployments. If one is overseas the judge will put it off until both or all parties involved can be present.

Personally I question the truth behind so many deployments but that is only my opinion.

The case consisted of the defendant signing a 3 year lease only to back out and demand her security deposit and the (1) month’s rent she paid. What she didn’t see coming was the owner/plaintiff sued for rent unpaid. The agreement was she would be let out of the lease as soon as I could get the house rented, but until then she was responsible for paying the rent whether she was there or not.

She didn’t like that idea. Or came up with all kinds of ways to help me re-rent it until it wasn’t fast enough so she came to my house and made it clear she wasn’t going to live there and would sue the owner for what she had already paid.

Never mind that she signed a 3 year lease and held the house hostage for over 6 weeks while we accommodated her petty demands.

Most of the military service men and women we know here are making sacrifices the rest of us never have to make. They are the real heroes of our nation along with their families who are often left behind while they go overseas to fight for our country. They have my total respect for their difficult jobs and years of active duty. However, that doesn’t allow them the right to break the law.

November and December of 2011 no one had rented the house so she was expected to pay the rent. That never happened. I finally found a qualified couple who leased the house as of January 1, 2012 which set her free from any further obligation.  

South Carolina law is very clear with contractual agreements. You don’t break them simply because you want to. Some circumstances are allowable; one being military personnel receiving orders to move to another base which is quite common here. Most landlords will work with the tenants if necessary to provide a way out if they are civilians but a new agreement must be reached.  A basic truth is to try to reach a happy compromise. But then beware of those who are never happy.

To be continued……

 

 

 

Frantic or Panicked? (Part 3)

John 14:27 

Peace I leave with you; My [perfect] peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid. [Let My perfect peace calm you in every circumstance and give you courage and strength for every challenge.]

 

No doubt we live in a rat raced world. Let me refrain that.

Many live in a rat raced world; not me. At least not anymore.

The years I spent climbing the “ladder of success” were defined by what I thought was expected of me. If you’re climbing that ladder then get off of it right now.  That isn’t God’s hierarchy.

Either God will allow us to stop on our own, or He will do it for us.

Why?

There is no peace in it.

It crowds God out and opens the door to the devil.

It’s a fast lane waiting to crash.

Watching a “Hallmark” movie lately the girl in the story had grown up and lived in a very large city. Climbing the ladder to becoming a great lawyer, her life was full with a cup running over with busyness. Feeling overwhelmed her and a friend took a trip to the mountains of Colorado. Once there, her perspective changed. A good dose of that cold mountain air and the peace and quiet that surrounded it she said, “I can hear myself think, here.”

Is this you?

Can you hear yourself think?

Are you so wrapped up in the hectic and demanding world of busyness you can’t hear your own voice?

If that’s the case, you aren’t hearing God’s voice either. And His voice is the most important sound out there.

The louder life gets, the easier it is to lose our way becoming frantic or panicked.

Stop. Get alone with God every day.

Ask Him to guide you into His desires for you and which battles He wants you to get involved in.

Ask Him to fill you with His calm, relaxed atmosphere.

Learn how to walk in His effortless grace.

Follow Him into His heavenly peace.

Once you find yourself in the rhythm of His merciful favor you won’t be able to live any other way.

In fact, from my own perspective I do everything possible now to remain as close to God as I can. Whether it’s communicating with Him by prayer or reading His word, writing about Him or reading about Him, I am connected to Him in one form or another all day long.

We were created to completely lean on God. The ladders of success break under the strain of worldly demands unless we depend solely on God to hold it up.

What kind of ladder are you climbing?