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?
I love the new praise songs. I love the rhythm and the flow of the music. Many times, the words are ancillary to the song—they are there to create a feeling, not so much poetry as simple praise.
Some of the modern hymns also have wonderful lyrics—words that touch our hearts.
So, I am not diminishing the current praise songs and hymns when I say that I think the church body loses a great deal when we set our old hymnals completely aside. It is a loss to the Christian body when we throw away such a key component of our past.
An example of one of the old hymns that we should not lose is “Ninety and Nine.”
Don’t you find that your “favorite passage of Scripture” changes and is often dependent on what is going on in your life?
I do.
As the foundations of my country are shifting quickly, I find myself more and more comforted by the Scripture passages that affirm the stability of God, the constant presence of God, the Scripture passages that declare that nothing happens without the knowledge and consent of God.
So, in turbulent time, here are a few of the Scripture passages we can turn to:
Familiar prayers are like warm blankets. The bring comfort. They connect us.
Several weeks ago, I blogged on favorite hymns. Recently, when my family and I said our traditional “grace” before our meal, I realized that communal prayers, like hymns, bring us together as Christians—as families—in worship. Other than in church, hymns and prayers offer the only time we “worship” together.
When I was young, my family said this prayer:
