AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 22, 2000
OPINION
The Prophet’s Easter Story
WHO hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed?
For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out
of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see
him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquaint
ed with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despis
ed, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did
esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our
iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his
stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his
own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth;
he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her
shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
He was taken from prison and from judgment; and who shall declare
his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living; for the
transgression of my people was he stricken.
And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his
death; because he had done no violence, neither, was any deceit in his
mouth.
Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief; when
thou shalt make his soul and offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he
shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his
hand.
He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied; by his
knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear
their iniquities.
Therefore will 1 divide him a portion with the great, and he shall di
vide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto
death; and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bore the sin
of many: and made intercession for the transgressors.
—lsaiah 53, Holy Bible.
Ws / *
Tour to Ohio, departs from
Mercer County extension,
7:15 a.m.
Earth Day Picnic, Hill Creek
Eastej^hmdav^^”'""^^^™
Fond ManagementSemman
Lehigh County Ag Center, 7
p.m.-9 p.m.
Sheep Shearing School, Carl
Gadsby Farm, Kilgore/Wes
ley, 9 a.m.
Lancaster County Family Living
and Consumer Sciences
Teachers Banquet, Farm and
Home Center, Lancaster, 4:30
p.m.-7:30 p.m.
Tractor Safety
ion Extension Office, 7 p.m.-
9:30 p.m.
York County Conservation Dis
trict Pasture Walk, Jeff
Wolfs Farm, McSherrystown,
10 a.m.
York County Beekeeper’s Asso
ciation April meeting, exten
sion office, Pleasant Acres, 7
p.m.
Regional FFA Public Speaking
Contest, Mill Creek Lutheran
Church, Newmanstown, 9
a.m.
Penn State PouitryScienceCluD
Awards Banquet, Ramada
Inn, State College, 6:30 p.m.
Farm and Natural Land Trust
annual breakfast, Aldersgate
♦ Farm Calendar ♦
-'i
Wayne County Fairgrounds,
Honesdale, 12 p.m.
Sheep and Wool Day, Springton
Manor Farm, Downingtown,
10 a.m.-2 p.m.
4-H Forestry Field Day,
Rockspring, 10 a.m.
International Highland Pen
Sale, Empire Livestock barns,
Bath, N.Y.
Regional Alpaca Show, Pa.
Farm Show Complex, Harris-
burg, thru April 30.
Spring Garden Kickoff, Penn
State Master Gardeners, Do
nohoe Center, Greensburg, 9
a.m.-12:45 p.m.
Del Val College “A-Day,” col
lege campus, Doylestown, 9
a.m.-5 p.m.
4-H Capitol days, thru May 2.
Wissahickon Day Parade,
begins at Northwestern
Equestrian Facility, Harpers
Meadow, near Phila.
Solar Pump Demo Day, Rocky
Acres Polled Hereford Farm,
demo at Fisher Farm, near
Green Lane Park, tours 10
a.m.. 2 p.m., and 6 p.m.
Methodist Church, York, 7:30
University of Delaware Ag Day
2000, Newark, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Sheep Foot Trimming Clinic,
Buffalo Mountain
Hampshires, Buffalo Mills,
1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m.
Wayne County Holstein Sale,
To Develop A Learning
and Quality Initiative
To be successful in business
today you need to develop a cul
ture for your business. Recently, I
came across several initiatives one
of the county’s leading agribusi
nesses has developed for their
company. I believe these initia
tives should be the part of the cul
ture of all farms.
The Learning Initiative states
“We must continually increase
our learning ability as individuals
and as an organization. We need
to develop leaders to take our ex
pertise to the next level of excel
lence. Our success depends upon
individuals with high emotional
A MYSTERY!
April 23,2000
1 Background Scripture:
1 Corinthians IS.
Devotional Reading:
Romans 1 Corinthians
15:12-19,50-57
If there had been a television
crew standing by on the first Eas
ter, we would probably not have
any clearer picture of what hap
pened than we do now. The four
Gospel writers each describe this
experience differently as far as de
tails are concerned. As I have said
before, there is much confusion as
to just what kind of body with
which Jesus was resurrected—the
same physical body as before? a
different kind of body? a spiritual
rather than physical presence?
How can we decide what was the
nature of the resurrected Lord
when we get such different pic
tures? He walked with two disci
ples and they didn’t recognize him
until he broke bread with them—
and then he disappeared before
their eyes (Lk 24:13-32). “They
took hold of his feet and wor
shipped him” (Mt. 28:9). When he
came to the disciples in Galilee,
“they worshipped him; but some
doubted” (Mt. 28:17). When she
first saw him in the Garden, “she
did not know that it was Jesus”
(Jn 20:14) and he told her not to
touch him (20:17). Eight days
after Easter, he appeared to the
disciples in a room in which the
doors were secured and then in
vited doubting Thomas to touch
quotients (EQ) working and shar
ing together. EQ are individuals
who make sound decisions, admit
their mistakes and put what is
best for their peers and the organ
ization ahead of their personal
agendas.”
The Quality Initiative states
“We must embrace quality in all
that we do. We believe our cus
tomers have two perceptions. We
have a quality product and quali
ty permeates our organization.
However, quality and efficiency
must go hand in hand. Greater
accuracy and accountability, as
required by the customer, will re
sult in the need for higher levels
of quality control.
To Understand
The Food Chain
Developing alliances with cus
tomers and suppliers that form a
food chain will be one of the most
important decisions farmers will
have to make over the next couple
of years. Farms will need to be an
integral part of the food supply
chain. We will need to challenge
ourselves to understand the needs
of our suppliers and our suppliers’
suppliers, our customers and our
customers’ customers. Farmers
will need to partner with those
who enhance the strategic advan
tage for the entire food chain of
which they are a part. Then and
only then will value be added to
the entire food chain and enhanc
ing the bottom line of that chain.
In the process, farmers must
align themselves with suppliers
his wounds (20:27). In 1 Corinthi
ans 9:1, Paul testifies, “Have I not
seen Jesus our Lord?” and in 15:8,
“Last of all, as to one untimely
bom, he appeared also to me.”
Yet in Acts 9:3-6, that experience
on the Damascus Road is de
scribed as “a light from heaven”
and the voice of Jesus. ESSEN
TIALLY A MYSTERY I have
never felt that I had to choose be
tween any of the above, for the
resurrection of Christ, I believe, is
essentially a mystery that is relat
ed to the faith with which it is re
ceived by us. It cannot be reduced
to a documentary, a formula or a
repeatable laboratory experiment.
Although all the witnesses to the
resurrection give us different de
tails, they are one in assuring us
that the tomb was empty and they
experienced the risen Lord! In 1
Corinthians IS Paul is speaking of
that witness to the resurrected
Lord as the assurance of our own
resurrection. Paul raises the very
question raised above: “But some
one will ask, ’How are the dead
raised? With what kind of body
do they come?”’ (15:35). Unlike
the Pharisees who believed that
God would resurrect the actual
physical bodies, Paul teaches us
that the resurrected body will re
semble the physical body, but be
different—spiritual. “So it is with
the resurrection of the dead. What
is sown is perishable; what is
raised is imperishable. It is sown
in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It
is sown in weakness; it is raised in
power. It is sown a physical body,
it is raised a spiritual body”
(15:42-44). A SPIRITUAL
BODY? But what is a “spiritual
body I —the two words together
are a contradiction in terms! If it
is a body it is not spiritual and if it
is spiritual it cannot be a body.
Paul does not leave us in doubt as
to whether this is a resuscitated
physical body: “I tell you this,
brethren: flesh and blood cannot
and customers who think the way
they think and focus on the same
core values they do. The business
of tomorrow must be able to as
semble the strengths of many
partners to become far more nim
ble and responsive.
To Develop An
Environmental Initiative
One of the county’s leading ag
ribusinesses has established an
initiative to be the leader in meet
ing environmental concerns.
Stewardship is the individual’s re
sponsibility to manage his life and
property with proper regard to
the rights of others. They recog
nize the need to accept the re
sponsibility and ownership for
providing solutions to environ
mental problems.
Science is on our side. Through
research and future discoveries,
we will find different methods
which will help solve the environ
mental challenges at hand. At the
same time we, as an industry,
need to do a better job educating
the consumer of our stewardship
efforts and our desire to improve
the land and the environment. We
will need to document our efforts
in order to demonstrate our ef
forts are real and scientifically
sound. Good stewardship is a
commitment, a commitment
which will lead us to the inevita
ble conclusion that one must de
velop and promote sustainable ag
riculture.
Feather Prof, ’s Footnote:
“Together we can accomplish
the unimaginable. ”
inherit the kingdom of God, nor
does the perishable inherit the im
perishable” (15:50). Whatever it
is, the “body” is not “flesh and
blood.”
So where does that leave us?
Paul’s “spiritual body” sounds
like the best description of the in
definable experiences of the resur
rected Christ. The victory over
death that we share with Christ is
not in a physical body, such as we
inhabit today, nor in a spiritual
mirage, but in a form or state
which guarantees a continuity of
consciousness and identity. So the
power of the resurrection of Christ
and ours is not in our ability to
comprehend it, but to experience
it here and hereafter. It can nei
ther be proven nor disproven, but
it is a reality which can be grasped
by faith.
“Lo! I tell you a mystery,” Paul
tells us, a mystery that permits us
to confess with him, “Death is
swallowed up in victory...thanks
be to God who gives us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ”
(15:54,57).
Note: In the Steps of Paul to
Rome & Greece, an 18-day tour
conducted by Larry & Valere Al
thouse, is scheduled for April,
2001. If interested, please contact
us: 4412 Shenandoah Ave, Dallas
TX 75205/e-mail: althouse
s@aol.com; fax: (214) 52109312.
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St.
Ephrata, PA 17522
—by—
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Stemman Enterprise
William J. Burgess General Manager
Everett R. Newswanger Editor
Copyright 2000 by Lancaster Farming