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Poems
and writings by Michael Travaglia
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- a solumn salute
- "Why The empty Cross?"
- "Are You Saved?"
- A testimony:
"Make A Choice For Christ."
a
solumn salute
gray-blue water colored sky
sweat-tear stained uniforms
the world on fire smoke rises
where the brave stand
dust blows the staunch air bristles
death walks
freely.
patriots patiently wait freedoms dawn
uncluttered by strife toiling
a smokeless sky guns drawn silence
victory restfully sighs
soldiers rest quiet in the earth
our tears salute
‘good-bye.’
dawns hope enlightens America
united as one for peace
standing strong unmoveable
unconquerable indivisible
strenghtened by the soldiers courage
dedication selflessness
held together by the soldiers blood.
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“Why
The Empty Cross?”
The Cross that is displayed in a church usually reveals the theology of that particular church.
The “crucifix” (which is a Cross with Christ still hanging on it) is displayed in churches that emphasize the the death of Christ and fail to emphasize the ressurection of Christ. There are a number of denominations today who still display the crucifix.
At all time the crucifix implies that Jesus Christ is continually dying for our sins, whereas the Scriptures declare to us that Christ died once and for all and is now seated at the right hand of God in Heaven (Hebrews 10: 10-12).
Declared in the Scriptures is the indisputable Truth that the crucifixion of Christ is one half of the Gospel message.
After our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ died on the Cross He was “buried”. Then He was raised from the dead, which is the second part of the Gospel. To leave Christ hanging on the Cross as in the case with the crucifix, is to present a distorted and partial view of the complete Gospel message as follows:
“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
And that he was burried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”
(1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
The Apostle Paul declares in 1 Corinthians 15 that the Gospel which saves fallen man centers on the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. A bare cross, just like the empty tomb unequivocally states the glorious Truth that Christ did “Finish” the work of our salvation. The work of Christ is “complete”.
Another reason for the barren Cross is that it stresses the victory that Christ achieved in His death and resurrection from the dead.
The crucifix displaying the limp, bloody figure of the dead Christ hanging helplessley on the Cross, fails in all points to represent the victory that Christ “won” over sin and death.
We would never know what the message of Calvary was if it was not for the barren cross, the empty tomb, and the resurrection of Christ:
“Who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification.”
(Romans 4:25)
God the Father who saw the travail of His only begotten Son on the Cross (John 3:16), was sattisfied (Isaiah 53:11; 1 John 2:2; 4:10).
The resurrection of Christ proves this and thus makes possible a right standing before God.
To see Christ hanging on the Cross does help us to remember that He was nailed to the Cross for our sins. But unless Christ is taken down from the Cross, placed in a tomb, and then resurrected from the dead, we can never fully understand all that took place.
Moreover, to leave Christ on the Cross is to do two things:
1. Limit Christ’s present ministry (Matthew16:38) of “edifying” His churches; and
2. ignores His ongoing minitry of intercession from His Throne (Hebrews 7:24-25), as our Great High Priest (1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 9: 24-25; 1 John 2:1).
Jesus purged our sins (Hebrews 1:3), passed into the heavens (Hebrews 4:14), and sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on High (Hebrews 1:3).
It is at the right hand of God that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ever lives to make intercession for those who have trusted Him as their Saviour. The barren Cross heralds the wonderful fact that Christ is rissen from the dead and that He is our ever living Great High Priest (Hebrews 4:14).
A Cross without the dead Christ hanging from it testifies of what kind of salvation is preached in that church where the empty cross is found.
The barren Cross of Christ testifies and stresses the grace of God, and that salvation is by grace through faith in the resurrected Son of God, Jesus Christ (Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-7).
The empty Cross testifies that the whole Gospel , including the resurrection of Christ, is being proclaimed. The victory of Christ in vanquishing sin and death is indisputably proven by Christ’s resurrection.
The empty Cross amphasizes what our redemption is all about. It further honors our Risen Lord by reminding us of His present mediatorial ministry as our “Great High Priest” to whom we confess our sins and from whom we receive forgiveness.
Finally, the empty Cross aliminates the tendency for idolatry often prevalent in the churches that have human likenesses therein, who claim to be a mediatory priest when Scriptures declares that only the “risen” Christ sits at the right hand of God and makes intercession before God on behalf of all believers (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25; Acts 16:31).
The empty Cross stands as the “Only Truth” concerning salvation testifying that Christ is risen from the dead and that only through Christ can man have
salvation. top "Are
You Saved?"
God longs to give you forgiveness and everlasting life in heaven.
All that you need to do is to be sure of heaven is to recognize that you are a lost sinner under condemnation. That Jesus Christ died on the Cross to pay you sin debt, and that He rose from the dead to clear your guilt of sin. Then simply trust Him to save you from the penalty of sin which is eternal seperation from God (death).
Please come to God with words similar to these from your heart:
“Dear God, I know that I am a sinner. I believe Jesus Christ died and that He rose again from the dead. Here and now I trust Him to save me from eternal death (Romans 6:23).
Thank you for loving me and sending Your Son to die on the Cross for me and inviting me to come to You.
In Jesus Name.”
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A
testimony: "Make A Choice For Christ."
I have spent the last 25 years and 5 months of my life in prison on death row in the State of Pennsylvania. I was in my early twenties when I came to prison on four charges of criminal homicide. Today I am in my late forties.
I have watched the young man that I used to be turn gray and partially bald. Injuries sustained in my youth have now become aches and pains that limit my physical mobility minutely. I often wonder when I turn 53 or 53 what manner of health I will have. Will I even live that long is another question that I ask myself. I even wonder if I want to live that long in a State prison.
My future is uncertain to me. Only God knows when I will die. God knows me from eternity past to eternity future. He knows my comings and my goings. He knows when I wander away and when I abide close to Him. He knows my every thought, word, deed and action.
When I am weak. He is strong and from Him I gain the strength that I need to live victoriously for Him.
I know Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and on January 24, 1982 in the confines of a 5' X 7' prison cell in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, I read the account of why Jesus Christ died for me on the Cross.
I was a sinner. We are all sinners (Ps. 51:1). We are born into this world with a fallen nature called a sin nature and with the promise of spending an eternity in hell. It is only through confessing to God that we are sinners in need of his salvation that we are saved and will then possess eternal life in His Son, Jesus Christ. (Acts 15:31; Rom. 10:9-13; Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-7).
I was a sinner and I lived to feed my sinful lifestyle and I loved my sinful ways and my sin put me in prison. It is that simple.
What is "sin"? Sin is everything that is wholly against the Immutable Character of God. Sin is everything that offends God and brings His Divine Chastisement. Sin is every vice and illegal habit and activity that we participate in. Sin leads to one final conclusion: separation from a loving God and sentenced to spend an eternity in "hell", (Rev. 20:11-15).
Drug use. Promiscuity. Alcohol. Crime. Abortion. Lyinq. Cheating. Stealing. Envy. Greed. Selling drugs. The list is endless and it is all sin.
I could tell you everything that I did from drug abuse and alcohol abuse and claim it as a reason to excuse my actions and crimes and why I am in prison. But it would be another lie in my life and when I accepted Jesus Christ into my heart as my Lord and Savior, I quit living a life of lies and self-deception. I faced the very awful truth that every human being faces: I am a sinner and destined to an eternity in hell unless I am saved.
I came before God and I confessed to Him my sins and that I was a sinner. I repented of my sins. God forgave me that day and saved my hell bound soul and now I am a child of Jesus Christ with the promise of eternal life in heaven.
I heard this message before I came to prison on January 3, 1930. I heard it and I rejected it. I did not want Jesus Chris t in my life. To have Christ was to turn away from my sinful ways. I loved my sinfulness more that I loved Jesus Christ back then.
Sin ruled my life prior to my arrest and sin ruined my life and the lives of so many others.
My mother died on September 27, 1997. I was not permitted to attend her funeral. My mother was a Christian and she is in heaven now with Jesus waiting for the day that I will arrive. Had I not chosen a life of crime, I could have been by her side until she left for heaven. But I had to hear of her passing away from my wife who came and told me the next day.
I have lost all of my family members. My father and brother have turned their backs on me. I hurt them. I embarrassed them. I destroyed my future with them. I took myself away from them and I put myself behind prison walls away from them for life.
I have deprived them of myself. Grandchildren. Being there when they need me. I have stolen from them that which is most precious to them -- myself.
I visit behind a sheet of bullet proof glass in a single visiting booth. I cannot touch my wife. I cannot kiss her.
I cannot hug her. I cannot hold her hand when I pray with her. In the fall l of 2004 my wife had cancer for the second time. She had to undergo major surgery and chemo therapy. I could not be with her. I could not hold her hand before and after her surgery. I could not take care of her. She was without me. Had my wife died, I could not have been there. My wife is a Christian and I would have seen her later in heaven, still, I could not have been there for her.
Do you see what my sins have done in the lives of those who were innocent? Do you see what my sins have done in the lives of those who love me? Do you see what my sins have done to my life?
My "choice" to live selfishly unto myself and to live a life of sinfulness has reaped destruction unto the innocent and unto my family and unto myself.
Every freedom that you can possibly think of I have lost as a result of my "choice" to live a life of sin. I took what you have for granted and now I wish I had back what you still possess. Can you see where my sins have led me?
The biggest thief of all is the person who does not esteem the lives of others equal in value to their own and selfishly and heartlessly, takes that life. That is a thief for they stole their future away. They robbed their family members of the love and happiness and future they would have with that person...their loved one. Father or mother. Wife or husband. Brother or sister. Selfishly and heartlessly, innocent life was stolen away by the actions of a sinner.
How do you want to lose your freedom? How do you want to lose your future? How do you want to die?
What are you willing to continue to sacrifice to sin? Are you ready to come to prison for a few years to life and endure the hardships and punishments that your sins led you to? Is sin so important in your life that you have to choose it over “life?”
You are young. I am getting old. You have a second change to “choose” to not come to prison. I made my choice and I am in prison.
You have the “choice” to not allow sin to rule over your life. You have the “choice” to “choose” Jesus Christ as you Lord and Savior and to be set free from the lifestyle you have “chosen” up to now and to follow Him and live a life free from prison, drugs, alcohol and unto Him if you "choose" Christ to save your hell bound soul.
You have the "choice". I have been telling you this. It's all a matter of your personal "choice". It does not rest on your parents or your friends. "You" have to take the "choice".
Either sin will rule your life and you will live a life of sinfulness and sinful behavior, or you will "choose" to be saved by receiving Jesus Christ as your Savior and live a life of freedom in Christ.
It's your "choice." I cannot make it for you. You have to do that. I have tried to show you where my "choices” led me and here I sit on death row as a result of “choosing” sin over Jesus Christ.
Now what will it be? Sin and destruction? Or Jesus Christ as your Savior and eternal life in Him?
Make a choice!
"...behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. "
(2 Corinthians 5:2)
By Michael Travaglia
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