I looked up again, and there before me were four chariots coming out from between two mountains—mountains of bronze.  The first chariot had red horses, the second black,  the third white, and the fourth dappled—all of them powerful. I asked the angel who was speaking to me, “What are these, my lord?”

The angel answered me, “These are the four spirits of heaven, going out from standing in the presence of the Lord of the whole world. The one with the black horses is going toward the north country, the one with the white horses toward the west, and the one with the dappled horses toward the south.”

When the powerful horses went out, they were straining to go throughout the earth. And he said, “Go throughout the earth!” So they went throughout the earth.

Then he called to me, “Look, those going toward the north country have given my Spirit rest in the land of the north.”

Zechariah 6:1-8 NIV

The eighth and final vision for our tired prophet. Since his name means “the LORD remembers,” let’s take a brief look back at the visions.

In the first vision, God tells Zechariah through an angel how He will comfort His people. In the second we learned God would lift up the heads of our exiles again. In the third, God shows His protective, fatherly love in describing His people as the apple of His eye and Himself as a wall of fire all around them.

Zechariah’s fourth vision showed the high priest, Jeshua, being accused by Satan in filthy clothes. And in the fifth, olive trees giving oil to a lampstand proved to our prophet the work would be accomplished only by the Spirit of the God of Angel Armies.

The sixth vision is of a scroll flying over the land, representing how God’s people had disobeyed His law. And the seventh featured Wickedness as a woman in a basket, banished to Babylon, away from God’s holy city.

Today’s vision is much like the first in that horses are sent throughout the earth. God would judge the enemies of His people, particularly Babylon (the land of the north), appeasing His wrath and giving His Spirit “rest”.

How poignant I am writing this on Good Friday.

The Day Jesus defeated the enemy once and for all.

The Day He willingly bore the wrath of God so we don’t have to.

The Day God’s perfect love and perfect justice collided on a cross.

I know one Rider of a white horse Who will be coming again.

Because of what happened on the third day, He truly is KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

And I just love His head will have many crowns.

It is Final Friday time. See list of participating venues here. Support our incredible local artists and businesses.

Next WSU Jazz Series artist at Reverie is the Michael Potts Quartet. Enjoy Wednesday evenings, 6-8 pm.

I don’t feel like I’ve given the Pop Up Urban Park sufficient love on these posts. It is so charming.

You can enjoy delicious food trucks every weekday from 11-1:30. Follow @DowntownWichita on Twitter to see their nights and weekend schedule too.

This Saturday is the Sedgwick County Zoo’s Easter Extravaganza. Candy stations, a scavenger hunt, and animal encounters. Oh my.

Get your groove on at Shake, Shake, Shake – Family Disco Party at the Wichita Art Museum this Saturday from 11-4. Get your look ready during the first hours, music starts at 2:00.

You’re not going to want to miss Daniel Tiger Storytime next Tuesday at Watermark from 10:30 -11:00. One family will even go away with tickets to the upcoming Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood Live event.

Come to Naturalists in the Know at the Great Plains Nature Center every Saturday afternoon from 1-3, come and go. Each week is a different interactive experience. This Saturday is about Why Bees are Important.

Library:

Register here to learn more about how to market your small business at Central on Saturday the 26th from 1:00-2:30.

Learn all about cheese Geronimo Stilton-style this Saturday at Evergreen from 2:30-3:30.

Interested in writing your life story? Register here for Saturday’s Memoir Writing Workshop at Westlink from 2:30-4:30.

Enjoy an interactive Garden storytime at Linwood Monday at 6 pm.

And any time from 11-5 on Tuesday March 29th, come to Comotara branch to make an egg carton turtle.

The Library will be closed this Easter Sunday, March 27th.

Enjoy this Easter weekend. Have an egg hunt and take a picture with a bunny, celebrating new life. Read the eye witness accounts of the resurrection. Attend a worship service, even if it’s not your thing, and contemplate why the world still talks about what happened 2,000 years ago.

And definitely, definitely, eat Starburst jelly beans.

Camping with friends

Slingshots are awesome

The umbrella had seen better days

Dan said this was the guy version of the “Beach Toes” picture

Sunset

Sunrise

Spring glory

Your 7 Days?

This week is it.

This is what our entire faith rests on: Jesus let Himself be murdered, then rose from the dead.

And if that is not true – historically, factually true – no one should still be talking about it.

But if it’s true – if it really happened – it is everything.

This week I want to better love the Man Who turned over tables yet refused the sword. Who taught with authority yet endured his friend’s kiss for 30 pieces of silver.

Who took the wrath that should have been ours.

These 7 days are all.

May we worship anew.

Then the angel who was talking with me came forward and said, “Look up and see what’s coming.”

“What is it?” I asked.

He replied, “It is a basket for measuring grain, and it’s filled with the sins of everyone throughout the land.”

Then the heavy lead cover was lifted off the basket, and there was a woman sitting inside it.  The angel said, “The woman’s name is Wickedness,” and he pushed her back into the basket and closed the heavy lid again.

Then I looked up and saw two women flying toward us, gliding on the wind. They had wings like a stork, and they picked up the basket and flew into the sky.

“Where are they taking the basket?” I asked the angel.

He replied, “To the land of Babylonia, where they will build a temple for the basket. And when the temple is ready, they will set the basket there on its pedestal.”

Zechariah 5:5-11 (NLT)

Another shorter vision for our prophet.

This time he sees Wickedness personified as a woman and carried off to Babylon. The word used in verse 11 is actually Shinar, the same place the Tower of Babel occurred.

Throughout the Bible, Babylon is used to represent a land of idolatry. Idolatry that is not appropriate for God’s people or the place He chose to dwell among them. He is banishing such wickedness as He continues to prepare His people to worship Him again in Temple.

Any time the One Who baptizes with the Holy Spirit and fire burns away dross in our lives, it is a mercy. He is making us more moldable vessels with a purified faith.

I’m grateful our Potter is gentle. And though, as a Silversmith, He must use fire to refine, it is for our good.

But ultimately I’m grateful He chooses to use broken people to display His infinite worth.

Enjoy St Patrick’s Day at The Gnome tonight – The Route will be playing Irish tunes.

Join the fun on Saturday the 19th at 5:30 at Reverie’s Game Night.

The Central & Rock Chick-fil-A will be sharing samples of their new Frosted Coffee daily through the 19th from 11:30-1:30. Also, don’t miss their Action Hero Night next Wednesday March 23rd. Dress like your favorite hero and receive a free Icedream. Plus games and prizes.

I’m not sure if this is true at every Y location, but the West Y is featuring their Fun Fit in the gym from 9-10:30 through Friday. Free energetic activities for ages 6-12 while you workout!

Thinking about some Spring painting around your place? Right now until Monday the 21st, you can get Valspar Optimus paint gallons Buy One, Get One Free at ACE Hardware. Great deal on quality paint.

Tomorrow the 18th marks the beginning of Johnson’s Gardens Spring Open House. Great opportunity to stock up on gardening supplies including $.99 pansies.

Don’t miss Kayt Sukel’s reading and book signing at Watermark tonight at 6:00 for her book The Art of Risk.

Start Up Wichita has several events coming up. Their goal is to get the tech, design, and business communities in the same room and see what happens.

If you are interested in learning how to grow food, register for the Sedgwick County Extention Office’s series of Gardening Classes. Incredible deal for a wide variety of information.

And do you know about Walk Kansas? A friend alerted me to this team-based program that encourages healthier lifestyles. You can set a goal to get as much physical activity as it would take to walk across Kansas (or more) from April 3-May 28. Grab some friends, make a team, and register here.

This Saturday the 19th is the Bunny Blast and Egg Hunt at Watson Park. Beginning at 10 am, for $5 a carload, kids can hunt eggs then enjoy other activities like Inflatables and Egg Foosball.

Library:

Spring Break programs are still on for the next several days. Add something different to your schedule and meet new friends.

Are you a teen interested in giving back to your community? How about becoming a summer library volunteer? Register for more information here.

This Saturday the 19th, come to Alford Branch to learn how to identify and date your mystery 19th century photos.

Also, register here to learn more about security for your computer and internet scams at Evergreen on March 22nd from 6:00-7:30 pm.

Have a great weekend and Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

 Connect 4 at the Y

Helping

One of our favorites

Friends

Go!

Carpet picnic

Let’s create

Helping Dad

Fix something

Peeling taters

On the driveway, naturally.

The list

Glory

Your 7 days?

I am not abandoning our discussion. However, this week is Spring Break for us and I need some lightness. Sharing some Spring joy and boredom survival strategies today.

First, current entryway design. I like it. (The Tolkien book is in Russian, not Elvish)

Making activity books readily available

Same with craft supplies. Does everyone else’s stuff multiply?

Especially the crayons?

Color

Our pretty tree makes me smile.

Youngest’s Sunflower plant from school. It’s loving the rain.

Garage sales. For us this means $3 rollerblades and a new hobby. They will regularly get shooed outside this week. But the good news is neighbor kids.

Tulips. Spring flowers make me happy.

Also in the arsenal: free roller skating passes, swimming at the Y, play dates, chores, cooking & baking, and camping with friends. Memories and fun, with a bit of work and limited electronics. Bring it on.

Is this week Break for you, too? How is your Spring going?

I looked up again and saw a scroll flying through the air.

“What do you see?” the angel asked.

“I see a flying scroll,” I replied. “It appears to be about 30 feet long and 15 feet wide.”

 Then he said to me, “This scroll contains the curse that is going out over the entire land. One side of the scroll says that those who steal will be banished from the land; the other side says that those who swear falsely will be banished from the land. And this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says:

I am sending this curse into the house of every thief and into the house of everyone who swears falsely using my name. And my curse will remain in that house and completely destroy it—even its timbers and stones.”

(Zechariah 5:1-4 NLT)

Stealing and lying.

In the sixth vision God gives Zechariah, these are the two sins chosen to represent how God’s people have disobeyed His law.

And the consequence of disobedience is no joke.

source

One of the reasons God is having the exiles rebuild the temple and reinstate the sacrificial system is to bring His people back to an awareness of His Law. Our pastor talked on Sunday about how every moral, ritual, and civil law included was, at its heart, a more thorough working out of Love of God and neighbor.

And stealing and lying are two very direct violations toward our neighbor.

I’ve been heartbroken these past several weeks over sin: from our nation’s to my own. The thing I keep coming back to is asking God to make hearts, mine included, tender to Him and His Word. It seems like this could be the difference between worldly guilt and godly sorrow that brings repentance.

I’m so grateful that Jesus took the curse for us. If He hadn’t, where would we be? But because we who trust in Him stand before the God of heaven and earth justified, we can rest in that sacrifice and cooperate with Him as He makes us more like His Son.

And fortunately no one who encounters Him remains the same.

Are you going to shop Second Saturday? You should.

Mug by We Are Wichita

Do you know about Reverie’s Caffeinated Lab Classes? This Saturday the 12th is Espresso Tasting.

City Arts will be hosting another top-notch Professional Development Workshop on Saturday about grants for individual artists. Come learn and network.

Also Saturday the 12th check out Watermarks’ Local Literary Festival, featuring four local authors from 2-4 pm. And don’t miss a reading and signing of CJ Box‘s Off the Grid on Tuesday March 15th at 6 pm.

Don’t miss the Sedgwick County Zoo’s Sheep Shearing on Saturday from 10 – 1. Visitors will be able to feel the wool and see how it can be used.

The Wichita Symphony is featuring Natasha Paremski on the piano this Saturday and Sunday. Hear work by Russian composer greats Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff. Tickets available here.

Interested in learning how to become a Backyard Beekeeper? Johnson’s Garden is hosting a free seminar this Saturday the 12th beginning at 10:00 am at their 13th street store. Sign up here.

Library:

I just love the library. They’ve got a great line up of activities for kids of all ages during Spring Break.

Need help with your taxes? The Library’s got you covered there, too.

If you or someone you know could benefit from a beginner computer class, register here for the one at Central coming up this Saturday from 10:30-12:00.

Likewise, register here for a tech demo on how to use popular social media sites, like Pinterest and Twitter, on Wednesday the 16th beginning at 6:00 pm.

And don’t forget our weekly Hook & Needle Friends group at Alford 10 – noon on Wednesday mornings. No knitting/quilting/crocheting experience required. Come and learn and make friends.

Have a great weekend!