{"id":647,"date":"2019-04-21T05:00:16","date_gmt":"2019-04-21T10:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/?p=647"},"modified":"2020-04-02T10:08:43","modified_gmt":"2020-04-02T15:08:43","slug":"the-path-ends-life-begins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/?p=647","title":{"rendered":"The Path Ends; Life Begins"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<audio id=\"wp_mep_1\" src=\"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/m4a\/Journey%20Notes%2047%20The%20Path%20Ends%20-%20Life%20Begins%20Accomp.m4a\"     controls=\"controls\" preload=\"none\"  >\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t<\/audio>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\njQuery(document).ready(function($) {\r\n\t$('#wp_mep_1').mediaelementplayer({\r\n\t\tm:1\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t,features: ['playpause','current','progress','duration','volume','tracks','fullscreen']\r\n\t\t,audioWidth:,audioHeight:\r\n\t});\r\n});\r\n<\/script>\r\n\n<p>Today brings us at long last to the foot of the cross with the story of the first Easter.\u00a0 We have followed the path with a desire to encounter Christ in a life-changing way and to find a renewal of faith.\u00a0 The end of this path is not an end at all, though.\u00a0 It is a new beginning.<\/p>\n<p>New beginnings did not end on the first Easter Sunday.\u00a0 They continue to happen.\u00a0 The ministries of John and Charles Wesley provide a wonderful example.\u00a0 After completing their studies at Oxford and being ordained in the Church of England, the Wesleys set off to North America as missionaries to the colony of Georgia.\u00a0\u00a0The effort did not go as planned at all, and\u00a0each returned to England disheartened.\u00a0 By 1738 John Wesley questioned whether he had faith at all, but was encouraged by Peter Bohler to continue preaching.\u00a0 That year John had his famous experience at Aldersgate when his heart was &#8220;strangely warmed.&#8221;\u00a0 This proved to be a turning point in his ministry, but his faith journey was not at an end.\u00a0 It was just beginning!<\/p>\n<p>By 1739, the Wesleys began preaching in the &#8220;open air&#8221;&#8211;another point of beginning.\u00a0 On Easter they preached near an old foundry that had been badly damaged in an explosion.\u00a0 It was there that Charles Wesley&#8217;s hymn <em>Christ the Lord is Risen Today<\/em> was first sung&#8211;another point of beginning.\u00a0 The winter that year was bitterly cold, which did not go well with open air preaching.\u00a0 God blessed the ministry, though, and John Wesley was able to lease the foundry building itself.\u00a0 This proved to be yet another point of beginning, as the foundry would continue to serve as the base for ministries by the people called Methodists for nearly forty years.\u00a0 The Methodist church continues today from those early beginnings.<\/p>\n<p>As you arrive at the foot of the cross, rejoice in your new beginning with the words of Charles Wesley.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">1. Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!<br \/>\nEarth and heaven in chorus say, Alleluia!<br \/>\nRaise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!<br \/>\nSing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia!<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">2. Love&#8217;s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!<br \/>\nFought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!<br \/>\nDeath in vain forbids him rise, Alleluia!<br \/>\nChrist has opened paradise, Alleluia!<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">3. Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!<br \/>\nWhere, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!<br \/>\nOnce he died our souls to save, Alleluia!<br \/>\nWhere&#8217;s thy victory, boasting grave? Alleluia!<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">4. Soar we now where Christ has led, Alleluia!<br \/>\nFollowing our exalted Head, Alleluia!<br \/>\nMade like him, like him we rise, Alleluia!<br \/>\nOurs the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">5. Hail the Lord of earth and heaven, Alleluia!<br \/>\nPraise to thee by both be given, Alleluia!<br \/>\nThee we greet triumphant now, Alleluia!<br \/>\nHail the Resurrection, thou, Alleluia!<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">6. King of glory, soul of bliss, Alleluia!<br \/>\nEverlasting life is this, Alleluia!<br \/>\nThee to know, thy power to prove, Alleluia!<br \/>\nThus to sing, and thus to love, Alleluia!<\/p>\n<p>Our journey into the labyrinth is complete, but our journey of faith has only just begun.\u00a0 The path that brings us to the foot of the cross reveals Christ&#8217;s commitment to us.\u00a0 It is a commitment that continues into eternity.\u00a0 How will we respond?\u00a0 He is risen. Arise and glorify Him!<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Christ the Lord Is Risen Today (United Methodist Hymnal #302)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/yhbJ4KOt11M?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong>Follow the Path!<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/span><em><strong>CARadke<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>[Use with <em>Victory of Life<\/em>, day 47 of <a title=\"Order your copy of A Labyrinth Pilgrimage today!\" href=\"https:\/\/www.createspace.com\/3366946\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>A Labyrinth Pilgrimage<\/em><\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today brings us at long last to the foot of the cross with the story of the first Easter.\u00a0 We have followed the path with a desire to encounter Christ in a life-changing way and to find a renewal of &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/?p=647\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-thoughts-about-the-journey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=647"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1087,"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647\/revisions\/1087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}