He Has Risen!

He has risen indeed!

Easter is finally here, and I think that this verse really applies to what Easter is all about. It is from John 11:25-26: Jesus said to her, "I am the ressurection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die." I think that this bible verse clearly depicts eternal life because Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins and that we may have eternal life in Heaven. As long as we believe, like the verse says, we will live forever with Jesus.

I really liked the video that was shown at the service because it showed the true meaning of Easter. I also liked how it was narrated by little kids, because it clearly depicted whole story of Easter in kid-friendly terms and they were able to relate to it. After all, according to 1 Timothy 4:12, don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, set an example for the believer. Children were so important to Jesus.

I think that Easter is the happiest service in the whole entire year because everyone knows that God sent His only son to come and save us from our sins. I don't know about you guys, but I know that it makes me feel really special that He cared so much about us. Here is one of my personal favorite traditional Easter hymns:



Easter is by far my favorite holiday and my favorite church service to go to (other than Pet Sunday) because it is the time that I feel closest to God.

Good Friday

The Good Friday church service is most definitely the most somber service out of the whole year. Here is a visual representation of what went on from the time Jesus was arrested from the time he was buried. (Note that this is a continuous slideshow and the first picture is Jesus being arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane.)

Passover at the Wagman's

Last night marked the first night of Passover, an eight day holiday in which the Jewish faith celebrates the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. The term Passover comes from the fact that the Israelites marked their doors with lamb's blood so the Angel of Death would "pass over" their houses, and this is one of their faith's most important festivals. The Death of the Firstborn was the tenth plague sent by God through Moses so the Egyptian pharaoh would have no choice but to free the Israelites. The first nine plagues are as followed and the tenth will be illustrated through a brief clip from Disney's The Prince of Egypt:

1.) Blood

2.) Frogs

3.) Gnats

4.) Wild Beast

5.) Pestilence

6.) Boils

7.) Hail

8.) Locusts

9.) Darkness

My friend, Allison, invited me and four of her other friends to her house last night to participate in the first of the two Passover Seders. Since this falls during the time of Lent, I thought I would share my experience with my readers. Traditionally, Seders are a few hours long, but she told me that many Jewish families condense it using the 30 Minute Seder: That Blends Brevity with Tradition. Passover (Pesach in Hebrew) begins on the fifteenth day fo the Jewish month of Nissan. The exact date changes every year, but is usually in March or April, depending on the Jewish lunar calendar.

The Seder begins with the lighting of the festival (Yom Tov) candles, which signifies the beginning of the holiday. Then the festival Kiddush is chanted over the first cup of wine (we used grape juice), and throughout the meal there are four cups of wine. After this, each person took a bitter herb (we used celery) and dipped it into a bowl of salt water, and the salt water reminds us of the bitter tears shed by the Israelites when they were slaves. Then, Allison took the middle of the three covered Matzah bread and broke it in half, wrapping the larger of the two and hiding it (this is called the Afikomen, which means dessert). Then the four questions were asked in Hebrew:

1.) Why tonight?
2.) Why bitter herbs?
3.) Why dip the herbs in the salt water twice?
4.) Why do we eat reclining?

After this, the second cup of wine was blessed, and a lamb shank was presented on the Seder plate as a symbol of the original passover lamb. Next, the Afikomen was broken and passed around and the third glass of wine was blessed. Lastly, the final cup of wine was blessed, which was the conclusion of the Seder meal. I really enjoyed attending a Passover Seder, and it was really neat to experience another religion's holiday. Also, Mrs. Wagman makes REALLY delicious brisket!

Here is a picture of a Seder plate: