Habits
Lisa Schnedler
They Did What Was Right in Their Own Eyes

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.

They Did What Was Right in Their Own Eyes
Lisa Schnedler
What Passover Means to Christians

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,

What Passover Means to Christians
New/Renew
Lisa Schnedler
The Days After Easter...

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?

The Days After Easter...
Lisa Schnedler
Holy Week

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?

Holy Week
New/Renew
Lisa Schnedler
An Irish Blessing

My mother is Irish—which makes me Irish as well!

One of my favorite blessings is The Irish Blessing, which is a favorite benediction of my forefathers—and so appropriate for St. Patrick’s Day!

It is a great blessing for everyone—even if you aren’t Irish!

An Irish Blessing

Why and How to Celebrate Palm Sunday!

Why and How to Celebrate Palm Sunday!

I find the story of Palm Sunday to be a series of lessons—hard lessons—of the fickleness of people and of the forgiving and loving nature of God.

Jesus knew—He knew—that the people who were celebrating His entrance into Jerusalem would, within days, cry out for Him to be crucified. Imagine that for a moment. It is one thing to have an event in which you feel valued and appreciated – and then have people snub you. It is quite another to be at the event where people express appreciation for you and to know, right there in that moment, that those same people are going to call for your death.

How would you react?

The Prayer Meeting--that Lasted 100 Years

The Prayer Meeting--that Lasted 100 Years

In my last blog, I wrote about Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf and the influence he had on denominations’ focus on having a personal relationship with Christ and a more emotional experience of salvation, and on mission work/ evangelization.

But Zinzendorf also was part of a movement that many Christians today don’t know about. Zinzendorf was part of a prayer meeting that—through hundreds of men and women who took turns praying—continued twenty-four hours every day for more than one hundred years.

Yes, a prayer meeting that lasted for more than 100 years.

A Lesson in Overcoming--and the Beauty of Simplicity, Family, and Light

A Lesson in Overcoming--and the Beauty of Simplicity, Family, and Light

Carl Larsson was born on May 28, 1853 in the Gamia Stan neighborhood of Stockholm, Sweden. His parents were extremely poor, and his childhood was not happy.

According to Renate Puvogel, in the biography she authored in 1994 Larsson, “His mother was thrown out of the house, together with Carl and his brother, Johna. After enduring a series of temporary dwellings, the family move to present-day Ostermalm. As a rule, each room was home to three families.”

Who Was Count Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf? (And why you should want to know…)

Who Was Count Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf? (And why you should want to know…)

There are many amazing men and women of the Christian faith who leave us with tremendous legacies and examples. I wish I had time to study them all—to learn what they learned—the bad so as not to repeat it—the good so as to emulate and grow from it.

Too often, these lives are buried in the dust of history.

Today, let me share with you the life of one such powerful Christian—Count Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf.

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Finding Contentment in Good Times and Times of Need

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Finding Contentment in Good Times and Times of Need

The internet is an amazing place.

At the press of a button and just a few clicks, images from our family and friends, from our church and our community, from our nation and the entire world, flood in.

Happy images of babies and grandmas, of puppies and cows, of rich food and lovely sunsets.

Those have not been the images on display this week.

War.

Unprovoked war.

Fear.

Death.