Each year, I listen to a daily audio Bible podcast—and complete the Bible in one year. This year marks my sixth year through the Bible.
Why don’t I stop?
Every year, I learn new aspects of the Bible because each year, I am in a different place in my life, and the Holy Spirit speaks to me where I am.
The Bible is always fresh! It is always alive!
It is the only book that has a Living Spirit within it.
Each year, when I get to Judges in the Old Testament, I say, “Oh boy!” because I know what is ahead.
Passover begins this evening.
It is one of the most significant Jewish Holidays, commemorating when the angels of God “passed over” the Hebrews as the firstborn children and animals of the Egyptians were killed—all because Pharoah would not set the Hebrews free as God commanded.
With this final plague on Egypt, Pharoah agreed to free the Hebrews so they might begin their journey to the promised land.
God instructed the Jews to commemorate the first Passover, when they had marked their houses with blood, alerting the angels to “pass over” their homes.
Christians draw parallels in their faith,
This week, I was listening to a minister on the radio who noted that in the days after His resurrection, Jesus did not appear to Pilate to tell him that he had been wrong in ordering His crucifixion.
Jesus did not appear to the Jewish leaders and chastise them for not believing and demanding His death.
He did not appear to the Roman soldiers who nailed Him on the cross.
Why?
Today, I was drinking in the beautiful hymns of Psalm Sunday. They are majestic, powerful, and inspirational!
Among my very favorites is All Glory, Laud and Honor. When I close my eyes and listen to the lyrics, I can feel all the emotions I imagine those present at Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. The hope. The joy. The expectation.
As Christians, we carry the hope, joy, and expectation at our Lord’s second coming. Feel this excitement. Play this song and sing along. It is a wonderful way to enter into the spirit of Holy Week.
What are some of your favorite Holy Week Hymns/ song?
Often, when those who do not believe in the God, we serve look at our lives, they question the very existence of God.
“If this God truly loves His people, why does He allow them the same pains and sufferings as those who don’t believe?”
Christians, too, have asked this question.
I have asked it myself.
But when I do,
I was listening to an interesting discussion on a podcast this week. Amid the discussion, one of the guests stated that Christians often view nonbelievers as under the influence of the anti-Christ. The guest said that perhaps we, instead, should view non-believers as Pre-Christ. In other words, they are on their way to Christ—they just haven’t fully encountered or embraced Him yet.
I love this perspective! Truly, we don’t know who will be drawn in by Christ and will ultimately become a believer. We just don’t know. It is much healthier for us as Christians to view nonbelievers as pre-Christians who will eventually embrace Christ fully than to see them as under the control of the anti-Christ.
Why is this the better perspective?
Two weeks before Christmas, I heard a very thoughtful sermon preached by Pastor Kendell Harger of the Spring Green Community Church in Spring Green, Wisconsin. The sermon was part of a series on
“Hope Because..” and this one focused on Mary.
One of the key takeaways I had from the message is that because Mary trusted God, much was entrusted to her.
Svea Flood.
You’ve never heard of her.
I hadn’t either.
So often, we look at our lives and wonder if we have made, are making, or ever really will make a difference for Christ. Will Jesus look at us and say “Well done.”?
The answer for all but a few is that we simply do not know the impact our lives have on others.
Lent is one of my favorite seasons of the church.
It is the quiet season, the reflective season. Lent parallels the time of year perfectly in this hemisphere, where, in many places, nature is dormant and all life is driven inward.
Lent begins with Ash Wednesday and lasts for 40-days. It is marked by reflection, fasting, repentance. It concludes in the celebration of the most holy day, Easter.
The forty days of Lent are meant to remind us of the number of days Christ…
