Crucifixion

To the first Adam God said, “Obey Me about the Tree and I will bless you” – and Adam didn’t do it. But to the second Adam He says, “Obey…

“The salvation of man is through love and in love.”

John Wayne Gacy. Timothy McVeigh. Jeffrey Dahmer. Ted Bundy. They had a number of common traits. All of them were men. All of them were murderers. All of them were found guilty. All of them have names that will live in infamy.

But they share something else in common.

Snakes can lead to really big problems, which is why they’re best handled by experts. When ridding themselves of the slithering nuisances, do-it-yourselfers face the risk of getting bit, getting hurt, or even getting killed.

Or, like one woman in Texas, they can even cause you to burn down your house.

Nobody witnessed the crazed gunman sneak into Ford’s Theater the night Lincoln was shot, but many thousands saw the President’s body as it journeyed by train from Washington to Springfield where it was laid to final rest. The home stretch of Lincoln’s earthly travels deeply impacted the grateful people of a grieving nation.

Especially one nameless black woman from New York.

Today, Christians wear lavish, golden crosses around their necks, and decorate their homes with the same wooden icons. Almost every church in the world has this symbol displayed front and center for all to see.

But 2,000 years ago, the cross wasn’t something to display; rather, it was to be feared.

In 64 A.D., a terrible fire broke out in the grand city of Rome. It raged for almost six days, and ravaged most of the city. In the aftermath, rumors swirled like flies; some even blamed the emperor of starting the inferno! To protect himself, Nero would have to act fast.

So he did.

For the last 54 years, people from all over the world have traveled to Cutud, a township in the Philippines, to be crucified. In 2009 alone, an Australian and 29 Filipinos were crucified in different parts of the Philippines in a dark and twisted Black Friday ritual that imitates the suffering and death of Jesus Christ.