This is our journal of what we pray is our sojourn of life (Hebrews 11:8-10) along the narrow way (Matthew 7:14), even the old paths (Jeremiah 6:16), submitting to the Bible as a light unto both (Psalms 119:105). It is our prayer that these documented moments in our earthly time benefit whom God might choose to edify, but ultimately that God glorifies Himself through them.

Category: Passover

Passover 2016

As we do each year, we gathered together yesterday as a fellowship to commemorate the Passover, studying the types and shadows of the events in the Old Testament, foreshadowing Christ and the salvation of His people!

Here we are gathering:

Gathering for Passover
More Gathering for Passover

This is our seder plate, and we also have a cup of wine/juice. The lamb represents Christ, the Lamb of God; the bitter herbs (horseradish here) represent the bitterness of bondage; the “matzah” is unleavened, representing how quickly the Israelites had to leave Egypt; and the “haroset,” a mixture of apples, nuts, grape juice and cinnamon, represents the mortar the Israelites used to build the Egyptian cities, and the sweetness of a better world. And there are four cups — the cups of sanctification, judgement, redemption, the kingdom; Christ drank only the first two, and we drink only the first and third, skipping the second cup because Christ took God’s judgement on Himself, and the fourth cup in waiting for joining with Christ in glory one day, we pray:

Passover Ceder Plate

Here Mrs. Bunker lights the Passover candles as we ask God to bring light into our hearts, and honor and remember Christ, the Light of the world:

Lighting the Passover Candles

Mr. Bunker washes his hands as God commanded Aaron to wash his hands and feet before approaching the alter of the Lord. This is a token of our desire to live a clean life of acceptable service to the Lord God Almighty:

Washing Hands

The “karpas” (parsley here) symbolizes the new life for the Jewish people and the hyssop used to sprinkle the blood on the door posts, and is dipped into salt water representing the tears of slavery:

Dipping Karpas

Here, Elijah reads the four questions that are answered during the seder:

  1. Why do we eat unleavened bread on this night when all other nights we eat leavened bread?
  2. Why do we eat only bitter herbs on this night when all other nights we eat all kinds of vegetables?
  3. Why do we dip our vegetables twice on this night when we do not dip our vegetables even once all other nights?
  4. Why do we eat our meals reclining on this night when on all other nights we eat our meals sitting

Child Reading Passover Questions

We dip our fingers in the cup and place a drop on the seder plate, one for each plague brought down on Egypt:

10 Drops for 10 Plagues

This is during the ceremony, where the Passover story is recounted and compared to Christ and His redemptive work. We also sing Psalms 113-118, psalms of praise and thanksgiving referred to as “Hallel”:

Passover Ceder

And here are the finely prepared food provisions the Lord granted us for dinner:

Passover Dinner

More Passover Dinner

This is just a sampling of the seder event, but we are thankful for the opportunity to remember these things, together as a group, and we pray the Lord glorify Himself and teach us all, especially the young ones, through this means of grace!

— David

Passover 2015

The other night, we once again gathered together to celebrate the Lord God’s mighty temporal and spiritual works represented in the Passover!

Here we are getting ready to start the Passover seder:

Getting Ready for the Passover Seder

Here, Sarah reads the four questions that are answered during the seder?

  1. Why do we eat unleavened bread on this night when all other nights we eat leavened bread?
  2. Why do we eat only bitter herbs on this night when all other nights we eat all kinds of vegetables?
  3. Why do we dip our vegetables twice on this night when we do not dip our vegetables even once all other nights?
  4. Why do we eat our meals reclining on this night when on all other nights we eat our meals sitting

Child Reading the Seder Questions

This is our seder plate and the cup of wine. The lamb represents Christ, the Lamb of God; the bitter herbs (horseradish here) represent the bitterness of bondage; the “matzah” is unleavened, representing how quickly the Israelites had to leave Egypt; and the “haroset,” a mixture of apples, nuts, grape juice and cinnamon, represents the mortar the Israelites used to build the Egyptian cities, and the sweetness of a better world. And there are four cups — the cups of sanctification, judgement, redemption, the kingdom; Christ drank only the first two, and we drink only the first and third, skipping the second cup because Christ took God’s judgement on Himself, and the fourth cup in waiting for joining with Christ in glory one day, we pray:

Passover Seder Plan & Cup of Wine

The “karpas” (celery here) symbolizes the new life for the Jewish people and the hyssop used to sprinkle the blood on the door posts, and is dipped into salt water representing the tears of slavery:

Dipping Bigger Herbs in Salt Water

These are all “types” or shadows of the spiritual realities of being set free from the bondage of sin and its rule in one’s life (where now one also has the freedom to obey in matter and manner of God’s commands), and set free from the penal death for sin and from the law as a covenant of works and from the ceremonial law. And again, these are only made possible by the sacrificial Lamb, the Lord Christ Jesus, who also brings sweetness in obeying Him and to the tears of sorrow for sin in forgiveness with repentance.

Mr. Bunker holds up the matzah, or unleavened bread, as representing Christ, which he eventually breaks and wraps in linen, as Christ was broken and wrapped in linen:

Holding Up the Matzah Bread

Here, we’ve dipped our finger in the wine 10 times, representing the 10 plagues brought down on Egypt:

10 Dips of Wine for the 10 Egypt Plagues

And then it was time to eat the Passover meal:

The Passover Meal

Eating the Passover Meal

More Eating the Passover Meal

It was a blessed time of fellowship and remembrance of the Lord Christ Himself and His great works!

We pray the light of His glory in the work of His graces in worthless vessels shine forth from us, for the glory of His name, even if it’s just for the heavenly realms to see:

Passover Lit Candles

We’re grateful to the Lord for His infinite graces and mercies and condescension in providing and becoming the sacrifice for His people. May His name be praised forever!

— David

Passover 2014

This past Tuesday, we celebrated the Passover as a group. Each year we observe this, mostly as a teaching tool for the children, although we pray for spiritual blessings and benefits from it as well, in greater worship of the Lord Christ.

Here are the tables prepared for the evening:

Passover Table Preparation

And we began the Passover seder. We use the Passover section from the book, “A Family Guide to Biblical Holidays“:

Beginning the Passover Seder

Part of the seder involves singing of Psalms 113-118:

During the Passover Seder Psalm Singing

Here is the seder plate. The lamb represents Christ, the Lamb of God; the bitter herbs (horseradish here) represent the bitterness of bondage; the “matzah” is unleavened, representing how quickly the Israelites had to leave Egypt; the “karpas” (celery here) symbolizes the new life for the Jewish people and the hyssop used to sprinkle the blood on the door posts, and is dipped into salt water representing the tears of slavery; and the “haroset,” a mixture of apples, nuts, grape juice and cinnamon, represents the mortar the Israelites used to build the Egyptian cities, and the sweetness of a better world:

Passover Seder Plate

The seder continues:

During the Passover Seder

And then we partake of the Passover meal, the meat even from one of the Bunkers’ sheep they graciously offered for the seder:

The Passover Meal

With drinks and dessert, the wine and grape juice being for the various cups to be drunk or not during the seder:

The Passover Drinks and Desserts

And meal time. It was all very yummy!

During the Passover Meal

And a final Psalm sung:

During Final Passover Psalms Singing

It was a very nice time of fellowshipping together in remembrance of God’s mighty works! We are thankful for the time, pray the Lord glorified Himself through the time, and we pray for His continued light and heat in our lives, and may we be a light to the world for His glory.

Passover Candles Lit

— David

Passover 2013

Each year we celebrate the Passover as a group, and this year we met last Monday evening. We do this to remember Christ and His sacrifice, and to teach the children about His great work.

Here is the group before the celebration:

Passover 2013 Before the Seder

And as the seder began:

Passover 2013 At the Start of the Seder

Here, Mrs. Bunker lights the candles to start the seder, in memory of Christ, the Light of the world:

Passover 2013 Lighting the Candles

This is the seder plate. The lamb represents Christ, the Lamb of God; the bitter herbs (horseradish here) represent the bitterness of bondage; the “matzah” is unleavened, representing how quickly the Israelites had to leave Egypt; the “karpas” (parsley here) symbolizes the new life for the Jewish people and the hyssop used to sprinkle the blood on the door posts; and the “haroset,” a mixture of apples, nuts, grape juice and cinnamon, represents the mortar the Israelites used to build the Egyptian cities, and the sweetness of a better world:

Passover 2013 Seder Plate

Here the karpas is dipped into salt water representing the tears of slavery:

Passover 2013 Dipping the Herbs

A a part of tradition, a child reads four questions about why this night is different from all other nights:

Passover 2013 Questions Reading

And here we dip our fingers in one of the cups, setting a drop of wine on the plate 10 times to represent the 10 plagues brought on Egypt:

Passover 2013 Dipping to Represent the Egyptian Plagues

The seder also involves Psalms singing, and then the meal:

Passover 2013 Meal
Passover 2013 Fellowshipping Around the Table

We are grateful to the Lord for this opportunity to remember Christ, His atoning work, and the freedom from the penalty and bondage to sin, Satan, and the world and the freedom to obey Him, all provided for by His great loving and condescending sacrifice. May this remembrance and thankfulness be in our hearts for eternity!

— David

Spring Ranchfest 2012

Twice a year we gather as a community for a week to work on projects for our teacher, Mr. Bunker, and his family; and to provide an opportunity for guests to come by and help out and meet the folks here, etc.

And so, it was that time again for “Ranchfest” — Spring 2012!

The men had two projects they were working on throughout the week: building a cabin for Mr. Contra and Miss Tracy, who are betrothed; and doing finishing work on the inside of Mr. Bunker’s cottage.

The Cabin

For the Contra cabin, we started on Friday with a concrete slab pour. This was the group’s first real concrete pour on the land, and the guys did a lot of study and prep work in getting things ready. Here is the area formed with the rebar:

Spring Ranchfest 2012 Cabin Foundation Forms and Rebar

And here begins the concrete pour:

Spring Ranchfest 2012 Beginning Pouring the Concrete

And more of the pouring and after “screeding” (or spreading) it out with the long 2×4 that spanned the whole width:

Spring Ranchfest 2012 Continuing Pouring the Concrete

Here the concrete is tamped lightly by what they call a “jitterbug”, and a “bull float” is used to smooth out the concrete surface:

Spring Ranchfest 2012 Floating and Tamping the Concrete

And then it was edged so the edges are rounded, to help keep them from chipping. One fellow also went around the sides with a hammer, lightly tapping the forms to help keep the concrete from “honeycombing”:

Spring Ranchfest 2012 Edging the Concrete

Here’s Mr. Contra and his improvised concrete texturizer:

Spring Ranchfest 2012 Texturizing the Concrete

And finally, the betrothed couple thought they’d mark a memory of the event:

Spring Ranchfest 2012 Betrothed Couple Making Handprints in Concrete of Their Eventual Cabin
Spring Ranchfest 2012 Betrothed Couple's Handprints in the Concrete

Friday Night Sermon

On Friday evenings, Mr. Bunker is going through in an in-depth way the last chapters he included in his book “Modern Religious Idols,” which was an article series he wrote called “What is the Gospel?”:

Spring Ranchfest 2012 Sermon

Passover

Ranchfest times are often planned around the Passover time, which we observe as a teaching method for the children (and as a memorial for the adults) of the types and shadows used in the Passover feast representing Christ.

Here is the Passover “ceremony” time:

Spring Ranchfest 2012 Passover Seder

And the seder plate, with each food element representing some part of the event of the Passover time of the Hebrew people in and leaving Egypt:

Spring Ranchfest 2012 Passover Seder Plate

We also sang Psalms 113-118 from our psalters, and here is a video of a few of those psalms being sung:

The Cottage

As I mentioned, the other project was working on the internals of Mr. Bunker’s cottage, putting up insulation and siding.

And here is some of the completed work:

Spring Ranchfest 2012 Cottage Insulation and Siding
Spring Ranchfest 2012 More Cottage Internal Siding Completed

Here are the men cutting the siding:

Spring Ranchfest 2012 Cutting the Cottage Internal Siding
Spring Ranchfest 2012 More Cutting the Cottage Internal Siding

And here is some staining work of the siding being done:

Spring Ranchfest 2012 Staining the Cottage Internal Siding

More Cabin

Once the concrete slab was completed, it was time to build and raise the walls. Here’s the cabin with two of the walls raised:

Spring Ranchfest 2012 Two Walls of Cabin Raised
Spring Ranchfest 2012 Two Walls of Cabin Raised - Inside View

And then with all four walls in place:

Spring Ranchfest 2012 All Four Walls of Cabin Raised

Apparently, the plan is to have a second story; and so, they are using a 10 inch I-beam spanning the width, which will be the support for the upper level floor:

Spring Ranchfest 2012 Second Floor I-Beam in Place

More Cottage

Back at the cottage, after the siding was in place and stained or painted, the window sills and trim were cut, installed and painted with a clear wood protector:

Spring Ranchfest 2012 Coating the Cottage Window Sills

And here are a couple of final pictures of the cottage work for the week:

Spring Ranchfest 2012 Cottage Internal Siding and Trim in Place
Spring Ranchfest 2012 More Work Done in the Cottage

Ladies Work

Besides all of the group meal preparations the ladies did for the week, they also had other projects, which this Ranchfest included sewing for the Bunkers and snapping mesquite pods, which they use for their mesquite coffee.

The main sewing project was for curtains for the cottage, although there was some clothing-making worked on. Here are some sewing preparations being done for some clothing:

Spring Ranchfest 2012 Preparing Sewing Patterns

And here, even the younger ones helped:

Spring Ranchfest 2012 Sewing
Spring Ranchfest 2012 More Sewing

Seems to be a fun time too!

Spring Ranchfest 2012 Young Ones Smiling

And here, Mrs. Sustaire is functioning as a seamstress and a lounge chair:

Spring Ranchfest 2012 Sewing with Sleeping Baby

And finally, here are some of the ladies and children helping with the mesquite pods:

Spring Ranchfest 2012 Ladies and Children Helping Snap Mesquite Pods
Spring Ranchfest 2012 Snapping Mesquite Pods
Spring Ranchfest 2012 Snapping More Mesquite Pods

All in all, it was a very nice time of fellowship, community and work. It’s tiring, but rewarding as well. We did have a few guest families that visited this year, and it was a pleasure to see them again or meet them, and we thank them for the help and work they provided.

We are grateful to the Lord for the opportunity to gather in His name to work together, and we’re thankful for the teacher He has granted us.

— David