In honor of Good Friday, some Christian links:

Eric from In The Agora meditates on the meaning of Jesus’s words on the cross: Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani.

Kim at the Upward Call considers suffering by design: “Not only was it suffering by design, but also by obedience. Jesus embraced the pain. He chose it – obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:8). ” Kim explains the design and its importance.

Coffee Swirls surveys the wondrous cross and Isaiah: “In the spirit of just how simple the gospel message truly is, I will let this post speak for me today, as Christians observe Good Friday to commemorate the passion (the suffering) of Jesus Christ.”

Rebecca at Rebecca Writes talks about what the resurrection proves to the world: “The Christ we take to the world is not just another prophet or teacher, and not just a humble servant, but the one whom God has shown to be the very Lord of All–the Son-of-God-in-power–by his resurrection from the dead.”

Tulip Girl notes “At this stage in my life, so much of my reading and studying is filtered through the perspective of mothering. This includes my studying of the Bible and theology. I find the deeper I dig into God’s Word, the more light it shines on my life–and how I ought to mother.” I feel the same way about fatherhood. While I stop there, Tulip Girl doesn’t and describes her thoughts on how to restore gently and carry burdens.

Mark Byron’s Edifier du Jour is from John 17. Mark’s take:

We too often look at salvation as the end of the process; our ticket’s punched for Heaven and all’s right with the world. It is the end of one process but the beginning of yet another, the process of taking that worldly soul and re-manufacturing it for godly uses. That process will sand off some of the hooks that the less-savory things of the world like to attach themselves to; the world will start to she-dog about the removal of those hooks, but let it.

Oddly enough, my Sunday School teacher said pretty much the same thing this past Sunday — too often all we seemed concerned about is salvation, for ourselves and others as if that is the finish line, when we should be just as concerned about sanctification, our spiritual growth in Christ.

And if that isn’t enough for you, then the Christian Carnival should help.