It's that time again! As this day comes to an end and tomorrow begins, we mark the beginning of a new year. Time to take the old calendar off the wall and hang a fresh new one. Time for fresh clean pages in the planner. Time for a fresh start.
I don't know about you, but it seems to me that 2015 just flew by! Maybe it's a sign of getting older, but I can sometimes hardly believe how quickly time passes. Yet here we are again at the end of another year, and it's that time again - time for New Year's Resolutions. You know what I mean. It's time to make those ridiculous promises that we make at this time every year. Things like "I will lose 50 pounds by Friday" or "I will never allow anything chocolate to pass my lips ever again", or some other equally unattainable promise that will be broken before next Tuesday.
Have you ever noticed how resolutions are often so vague? I need to do better. I need to lose some weight. I need to spend less money. I need to read my Bible more. With all that vagueness, how can we ever know whether or not we have actually accomplished anything?
That's why I have stopped making New Year's resolutions. Instead, it has been my practice in recent years to set some goals for the new year, to determine a way to be accountable about those goals, and to have benchmarks that I can check periodically to mark my progress. That works much better for me than those pesky soon-to-be-forgotten resolutions.
As I have been reflecting this week on the year 2015, I looked back through my journals to the goals I set at the beginning of the year. I did pretty well in some areas and not quite so well in others. I completed the Bible reading plan I began last January. But, although I began the year doing well in the areas of healthy eating and weight loss, I didn't end the year doing very well in either of those areas. Moving and traveling played a part, but my lack of success in those areas was mostly that I didn't have a good plan.
2015 was a year of change for us, as we relocated from the mountains of North Carolina to the Upstate of South Carolina. That move was the culmination of several years of praying and waiting, and was a beautiful lesson of God's perfect timing and answered prayer. 2015 was also a year of grand adventure, as we traveled around the country on our road trip during the summer.
All that brings us to the beginning of a new year, and to a fresh opportunity to see God at work. It's time to set new goals and make a plan for reaching them.
After much thought and prayer, I have made a decision about my Bible reading plan for the year, and have a plan in place for Bible study as well. Last year, as I read through the Bible, the "word of the year" was wait. As I was reading, I marked that word in my Bible every time I came across it, and I wrote the verse in my journal, along with insights gained from each passage. The writing was an important part of the process. Writing helped me remember.
This year my focus is on prayer, and as I read my Bible this year, I'll be looking for that word, and I'll be focusing on what the Bible has to say on the subject. My goal in that process is to be a better pray-er. My prayer as I read is, Lord, teach me to pray. I'll be marking those passages in my Bible, and I'll be writing down what I learn. Because writing helps me remember. In addition, I'll be keeping a more detailed prayer journal, writing down not only a list of things to pray about and the answers I receive, but writing down my prayers as well. Because writing helps me stay focused. And writing helps me remember.
I have goals in other areas of my life as well. Healthy eating. More exercise. Continuing to get our new house in order. New writing projects. There are plans in place for those things as well, because having a plan helps me stay focused. My plans are written down, because writing helps me remember.
What about you? Have you thought about goals and plans for the new year? Having a plan in place, especially in the area of Bible reading, helps you stay focused. If you don't have a plan, there are a number of good plans available. I have given you links to some resources at the end of this post.
One of my favorite things over the last few months has been taking time each day to write the Scriptures. Several months ago I came across a Scripture writing plan developed by a sister blogger. You can find it here: http://www.swtblessings.com/2015/12/january-scripture-writing-plan.html#.VoUxR6_SnIU
I love how taking time to write down the Scripture causes you to slow down and focus on what the Scripture actually says. It only takes a few minutes each day, but has been so worth the time, and I'm so glad I have added that into my devotional time each day.
As I have been formulating my goals and plans, and as this year winds down and a new one begins in just a few hours, I have been drawn once again to the book of Philippians, as I so often am at this time of year. Drawn back to this verse that sums it all up:
".....my earnest expectation and hope that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death." (Philippians 1:20 NASB)
Beyond all the goals and resolutions and plans and dreams, this is the one that matters most. That Christ be exalted. That is my earnest expectation and hope. To honor Him in all I do. In all I say. In all I am.
To help you decide on a Bible reading plan:
http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/5-reasons-to-read-the-entire-bible-in-2016
http://blogs.thegospelcoalition.org/justintaylor/2015/12/28/reading-the-whole-bible-in-2016-an-faq/
Thursday, December 31, 2015
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Keeping Christmas
It's that time again. Time to pack away Christmas for another year.
That process has begun around here, although it's a very gradual process. We'll be enjoying the tree for a few more days, at least until the weekend. But I've begun gathering up things, one room at a time, to be packed away again until next year. It's time to put Christmas away. That sounds a little sad, doesn't it?
Have you noticed how generous people become with their time and money during the Christmas season? They drop money in the Salvation Army kettles. They donate more generously to their church. They give more freely of their time at homeless shelters and food ministries.
Then December 25 is past, and life gets back to normal. The generous Christmas spirit is put away until next year. That's a little sad, isn't it? There are still homeless people and hungry people and people with all kinds of needs who need our help, not only in December but throughout the year. How sad that we seem only to think of them at Christmas.
We often hear about random acts of kindness, particularly during the Christmas season. Then we don't seem to hear about quite so many of those kindnesses. That's sad, isn't it?
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we were generous all year long?
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we did our random acts of kindness all year long?
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we kept Christmas all year long?
Not just in December.
“I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.” (Charles Dickens in A Christmas Carol)
"And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, ye have done it unto me." (Jesus, in Matthew 25:40 KJV)
That process has begun around here, although it's a very gradual process. We'll be enjoying the tree for a few more days, at least until the weekend. But I've begun gathering up things, one room at a time, to be packed away again until next year. It's time to put Christmas away. That sounds a little sad, doesn't it?
Have you noticed how generous people become with their time and money during the Christmas season? They drop money in the Salvation Army kettles. They donate more generously to their church. They give more freely of their time at homeless shelters and food ministries.
Then December 25 is past, and life gets back to normal. The generous Christmas spirit is put away until next year. That's a little sad, isn't it? There are still homeless people and hungry people and people with all kinds of needs who need our help, not only in December but throughout the year. How sad that we seem only to think of them at Christmas.
We often hear about random acts of kindness, particularly during the Christmas season. Then we don't seem to hear about quite so many of those kindnesses. That's sad, isn't it?
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we were generous all year long?
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we did our random acts of kindness all year long?
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we kept Christmas all year long?
Not just in December.
“I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.” (Charles Dickens in A Christmas Carol)
"And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, ye have done it unto me." (Jesus, in Matthew 25:40 KJV)
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
Christmas Future. Anticipation.
Christmas Day 2015 is now a memory. Of course, at least for most of us, it's still with us because there's still the clean-up to do. But the celebrating is done and we're moving on to the next thing.
I confess that I've already given a little thought to Christmas 2016. That's because, if we stay on the same schedule that has worked for us for all these years, next year our family will all be together for Christmas. Christmas this year was a quiet event, with just the two of us here. Although I enjoyed that very much, I'm looking forward to having the house full of Feasters next year and to all the laughter and fun and chaos that goes along with that!
I'm looking forward to next Christmas, and I'm looking forward to all the Christmases to come. I love the Christmas season!
But I'm also looking forward to the day when we are no longer here on earth celebrating the birth of Jesus. To the day when we are in His presence, celebrating Him!
What a day that will be!
"Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing! To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!" (Revelation 5:12-13 ESV)
I confess that I've already given a little thought to Christmas 2016. That's because, if we stay on the same schedule that has worked for us for all these years, next year our family will all be together for Christmas. Christmas this year was a quiet event, with just the two of us here. Although I enjoyed that very much, I'm looking forward to having the house full of Feasters next year and to all the laughter and fun and chaos that goes along with that!
I'm looking forward to next Christmas, and I'm looking forward to all the Christmases to come. I love the Christmas season!
But I'm also looking forward to the day when we are no longer here on earth celebrating the birth of Jesus. To the day when we are in His presence, celebrating Him!
What a day that will be!
"Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing! To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!" (Revelation 5:12-13 ESV)
Thursday, December 24, 2015
Christmases Past. Remembering.
Christmas is such a nostalgic time, isn't it?
Every year as the season rolls around, I find myself traveling down memory lane, remembering Christmases past and the people that shared them.
It starts as I get decorations and ornaments out of their storage spaces. Remembering where I bought this ornament or who gave me that one. Remembering my mother as I get out the snowmen she made or as I hang the door decoration she quilted. Remembering travels and the ornaments purchased on those trips. Remembering.
Throughout the season, more memories flood my thinking.
Baking sugar cookies with my mother, many years ago when I was a child.
Christmas dinners with coconut cake and ambrosia and cranberry tip-tops (still my favorite!) and fruitcake cookies. I never have acquired a taste for fruit cake, but I loved my mother's fruit cake cookies!
Christmases in the living room at Grandmother Neil's house. Some children go over the river and through the woods to grandma's house. I went next door! Sometimes at Christmas all the aunts and uncles and cousins would be there as well, and we would pile into her tiny living room, which usually stayed closed off to keep the rest of the house warmer, and we would open our presents. Grandmother loved Christmas! She loved giving gifts. As did my mother. As do I.
Sending Christmas cards is a dying tradition. That quite possibly has a lot to do with the price of postage! Even so, I love receiving Christmas cards from friends and family I seldom see. I can still remember the Christmas card we sent to our friends and family on our first Christmas. It was red, with a part of the score of Handel's Messiah embossed in gold on the front of the card. And the greeting inside read "wishing you every blessing as we celebrate the birth of Christ." I don't know why I remember that, but I do.
I remember our very first Christmas tree, back in 1972, our first married Christmas. It was a beautiful tree, a scotch pine, perfectly shaped. It had hardly any ornaments on it, since we really couldn't afford any! And by the time Christmas rolled around, it had not a single gift left under it, since we had opened them all long before Christmas Day arrived!
In my childhood we always had cedar trees for Christmas, decorated with large colored lights and lots of icicles. I didn't like cedar trees then (and don't now) because of how scratchy they were and how the branches were too flimsy to hold the ornaments up. But I loved the smell, and still associate that with Christmas!
In the early days of our marriage we always spent Christmas Eve with Al's parents and Christmas Day with mine. That worked well when we only lived a couple of hours from my parents. As we began to move around the country, we still usually managed to make it back to SC at Christmastime, and so that Christmas Eve/Christmas Day tradition continued. Eventually, it became more difficult to travel back here every year, so we began trying an every-other-year visit, and that worked until we moved closer. As our sons grew up and married, the every-other-year tradition has continued, but in a little different way. We spend every-other-Christmas together, and Thanksgivings together in the alternate years, and so we alternate with the girls' families. So far that has worked out for us, and so that tradition continues.
In the years when we are spending Christmas alone, like this one, I remember the joy and laughter and fun that is part of a house full of family at Christmas time. And I look forward with great anticipation to next Christmas, when we will have that once again and will make more memories.
Christmas is a lot about traditions. About where we always put the tree, and what we always eat, and the kind of cookies we always bake. It's about what we always do together as a family, whether always going out to look at Christmas lights on a certain night, always going to Disney, always going to Christmas Eve service. Traditions vary from family to family. But they are part of the fabric of who we are and how we celebrate.
When we lived in Florida, it was our tradition to always attend the Candlelight Christmas program at Epcot. When we lived in Minnesota, we always participated in the luminaries display in our neighborhood.
One of our Christmas Eve traditions has always been a birthday cake for Baby Jesus, and reading the Christmas Story from Luke's Gospel. It's a family tradition that continues to this day.
Christmas is about memories. And it's about traditions. But most of all, Christmas is about Jesus.
Beginning in 2010, we have had several opportunities to visit Israel either right before or right after Christmas. As Christmas rolls around each year, I find myself remembering those trips and getting a little nostalgic. Remembering Bethlehem. The Church of the Nativity. The Shepherd's Fields. Singing carols there. Worshiping there.
Thinking about Israel makes me nostalgic. Christmas music has that effect as well. There are some songs that evoke strong memories of Christmases past. Of the people and places that I associate with them. Of the times I sang them or heard them sung.
Every year as the season rolls around, I find myself traveling down memory lane, remembering Christmases past and the people that shared them.
It starts as I get decorations and ornaments out of their storage spaces. Remembering where I bought this ornament or who gave me that one. Remembering my mother as I get out the snowmen she made or as I hang the door decoration she quilted. Remembering travels and the ornaments purchased on those trips. Remembering.
Throughout the season, more memories flood my thinking.
Baking sugar cookies with my mother, many years ago when I was a child.
Christmas dinners with coconut cake and ambrosia and cranberry tip-tops (still my favorite!) and fruitcake cookies. I never have acquired a taste for fruit cake, but I loved my mother's fruit cake cookies!
Christmases in the living room at Grandmother Neil's house. Some children go over the river and through the woods to grandma's house. I went next door! Sometimes at Christmas all the aunts and uncles and cousins would be there as well, and we would pile into her tiny living room, which usually stayed closed off to keep the rest of the house warmer, and we would open our presents. Grandmother loved Christmas! She loved giving gifts. As did my mother. As do I.
Sending Christmas cards is a dying tradition. That quite possibly has a lot to do with the price of postage! Even so, I love receiving Christmas cards from friends and family I seldom see. I can still remember the Christmas card we sent to our friends and family on our first Christmas. It was red, with a part of the score of Handel's Messiah embossed in gold on the front of the card. And the greeting inside read "wishing you every blessing as we celebrate the birth of Christ." I don't know why I remember that, but I do.
I remember our very first Christmas tree, back in 1972, our first married Christmas. It was a beautiful tree, a scotch pine, perfectly shaped. It had hardly any ornaments on it, since we really couldn't afford any! And by the time Christmas rolled around, it had not a single gift left under it, since we had opened them all long before Christmas Day arrived!
In my childhood we always had cedar trees for Christmas, decorated with large colored lights and lots of icicles. I didn't like cedar trees then (and don't now) because of how scratchy they were and how the branches were too flimsy to hold the ornaments up. But I loved the smell, and still associate that with Christmas!
In the early days of our marriage we always spent Christmas Eve with Al's parents and Christmas Day with mine. That worked well when we only lived a couple of hours from my parents. As we began to move around the country, we still usually managed to make it back to SC at Christmastime, and so that Christmas Eve/Christmas Day tradition continued. Eventually, it became more difficult to travel back here every year, so we began trying an every-other-year visit, and that worked until we moved closer. As our sons grew up and married, the every-other-year tradition has continued, but in a little different way. We spend every-other-Christmas together, and Thanksgivings together in the alternate years, and so we alternate with the girls' families. So far that has worked out for us, and so that tradition continues.
In the years when we are spending Christmas alone, like this one, I remember the joy and laughter and fun that is part of a house full of family at Christmas time. And I look forward with great anticipation to next Christmas, when we will have that once again and will make more memories.
Christmas is a lot about traditions. About where we always put the tree, and what we always eat, and the kind of cookies we always bake. It's about what we always do together as a family, whether always going out to look at Christmas lights on a certain night, always going to Disney, always going to Christmas Eve service. Traditions vary from family to family. But they are part of the fabric of who we are and how we celebrate.
When we lived in Florida, it was our tradition to always attend the Candlelight Christmas program at Epcot. When we lived in Minnesota, we always participated in the luminaries display in our neighborhood.
One of our Christmas Eve traditions has always been a birthday cake for Baby Jesus, and reading the Christmas Story from Luke's Gospel. It's a family tradition that continues to this day.
Christmas is about memories. And it's about traditions. But most of all, Christmas is about Jesus.
Beginning in 2010, we have had several opportunities to visit Israel either right before or right after Christmas. As Christmas rolls around each year, I find myself remembering those trips and getting a little nostalgic. Remembering Bethlehem. The Church of the Nativity. The Shepherd's Fields. Singing carols there. Worshiping there.
Thinking about Israel makes me nostalgic. Christmas music has that effect as well. There are some songs that evoke strong memories of Christmases past. Of the people and places that I associate with them. Of the times I sang them or heard them sung.
O Holy Night is one of those kinds of songs. I love how it covers all the parts of the Christmas story. The night of Christ's birth. The angels singing. The star. The wise men. The manger. And the reason for His coming. He knows our need. To our weakness He is no stranger. In all our trials born to be our Friend. He taught us to love one another. His law is love and His gospel is peace. In His name all oppression shall cease.
Particularly in this Christmas season, this season of violence and discord and tension and murder and terrorism and persecution, we need that message more than ever.
"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace, there will be no end." (Isaiah 9:6-7a ESV)
Hear David Phelps sing O Holy Night here: https://youtu.be/AVpE8Dkr4HQ
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
Any Room?
We know that the Baby Jesus was born in a stable because "there was no room for them in the inn." (Luke 2:7)
We know that Baby Jesus grew up. That He died on a cross for the sin of all mankind, that He was buried, and that He was resurrected on the third day. We know that He ascended back to the Father, and that He will come again. The Scriptures teach us this.
We know, according to the Scriptures, that "to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." (John 1:12 ESV)
We know that this is still true.
We also know that not all people received Him in the time He was here on earth. Nor do all people receive Him today.
We know that there was "no room" for Him when He was born. And for many, there is "no room" for Him even now.
The question today is this: is there any room for Jesus in your Christmas celebrations?
In the middle of mistletoe and holly. Of Christmas trees and presents. Of Santa and elves. Of hustle and bustle. Of parades and lights. Of cookies and cake.
In the midst of all the things you are doing to celebrate, have you left any room for Jesus?
"He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, tho those who believe in His name." (John 1:12 NKJV)
We know that Baby Jesus grew up. That He died on a cross for the sin of all mankind, that He was buried, and that He was resurrected on the third day. We know that He ascended back to the Father, and that He will come again. The Scriptures teach us this.
We know, according to the Scriptures, that "to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." (John 1:12 ESV)
We know that this is still true.
We also know that not all people received Him in the time He was here on earth. Nor do all people receive Him today.
We know that there was "no room" for Him when He was born. And for many, there is "no room" for Him even now.
The question today is this: is there any room for Jesus in your Christmas celebrations?
In the middle of mistletoe and holly. Of Christmas trees and presents. Of Santa and elves. Of hustle and bustle. Of parades and lights. Of cookies and cake.
In the midst of all the things you are doing to celebrate, have you left any room for Jesus?
"He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, tho those who believe in His name." (John 1:12 NKJV)
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Behind Schedule
Christmas will be here in just three more days, and I am seriously behind schedule.
I finally finished addressing Christmas cards yesterday, and they will be in the mail today. At least that's the plan.
I'm still waiting on one last gift I ordered to be delivered. Hopefully today. Or maybe tomorrow. I would really like to gift it before Christmas, but it's not looking like that's going to happen. Besides that, there's one more gift I need to put in the mail today.
I started out this holiday season doing so well. Because we had all the family here at Thanksgiving, and because I wanted to send their Christmas gifts home with them, most of the shopping and wrapping was done prior to Thanksgiving. Most, but not all.
After Thanksgiving, I did the Christmas decorating. And a little candy making. But since then, I seem to be operating in slow motion, and I am so far behind schedule. I'm not really sure how or why this happened, but here we are.
How thankful I am that, on that very first Christmas so long ago, things didn't get so far behind schedule. In fact, everything happened right on time, just as it had been planned.
I love it when a plan comes together!
"But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons." (Galatians 4:4-5 ESV)
I finally finished addressing Christmas cards yesterday, and they will be in the mail today. At least that's the plan.
I'm still waiting on one last gift I ordered to be delivered. Hopefully today. Or maybe tomorrow. I would really like to gift it before Christmas, but it's not looking like that's going to happen. Besides that, there's one more gift I need to put in the mail today.
I started out this holiday season doing so well. Because we had all the family here at Thanksgiving, and because I wanted to send their Christmas gifts home with them, most of the shopping and wrapping was done prior to Thanksgiving. Most, but not all.
After Thanksgiving, I did the Christmas decorating. And a little candy making. But since then, I seem to be operating in slow motion, and I am so far behind schedule. I'm not really sure how or why this happened, but here we are.
How thankful I am that, on that very first Christmas so long ago, things didn't get so far behind schedule. In fact, everything happened right on time, just as it had been planned.
I love it when a plan comes together!
"But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons." (Galatians 4:4-5 ESV)
Monday, December 21, 2015
What's More Important?
It's just a few days before Christmas, and as if that weren't enough cause for excitement, there was a really big movie released just a few days ago.
People have stood in line for hours to get a seat to see the latest installment in the Star Wars saga. The level of enthusiasm for The Force Awakens is astonishing!
As I've watched all the hoopla over this movie, I find myself asking a few questions.
Here's an example. Wouldn't it be wonderful if people got this excited about celebrating Jesus? I often ask a similar question as I see people sitting in the stands at sporting events each weekend, after having paid large sums of money to watch a game, and screaming loudly in support of their particular team.
Please don't misunderstand. I'm not anti-sports. I enjoy football in particular, and I love cheering on my favorite teams. (Although in the case of my favorite college team, there really wasn't much to cheer about this year!)
Nor am I anti-Star Wars. Although I haven't seen this particular movie, and probably won't, and I haven't seen the previous few in the saga, we did take our boys to see Star Wars movies back in the day. And if one of my grandsons invited me to see The Force Awakens with him, I would do it. After all, I know about light sabers and storm troopers and R2D2 and Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader and lots of other Star Wars stuff. Besides, it's not likely that this Nana would turn down such an invitation from one of her grandsons!
Even so, as I sit back and observe the excitement about this movie, and as I listen to conversations, I have a few questions. I wonder about priorities.
Which is more important? That you teach your child all the details of Star Wars lore, or that you teach your child about Jesus? Which have you been talking about more this last week?
Which is more important? That you take your child to see The Force Awakens, or that you take your child to church? What did you and your child do together over the weekend? And about which of those activities were you most enthusiastic?
If you're one of those who stood in line outside a theater this weekend, or if you're one of those who stood in line to get into a sporting event or a concert, or if you recently stood in line for hours on Black Friday to get the latest toy or electronic gadget, would you be equally willing to stand in line waiting to get into your local Sunday morning church service? I wonder.
During this Christmas season, are we talking more about Santa and about that creepy elf on the shelf and about what we want for Christmas, or are we talking about Jesus?
Are we focusing more on what we want and what we are going to get, or are we talking about ways we can give?
What's more important?
People have stood in line for hours to get a seat to see the latest installment in the Star Wars saga. The level of enthusiasm for The Force Awakens is astonishing!
As I've watched all the hoopla over this movie, I find myself asking a few questions.
Here's an example. Wouldn't it be wonderful if people got this excited about celebrating Jesus? I often ask a similar question as I see people sitting in the stands at sporting events each weekend, after having paid large sums of money to watch a game, and screaming loudly in support of their particular team.
Please don't misunderstand. I'm not anti-sports. I enjoy football in particular, and I love cheering on my favorite teams. (Although in the case of my favorite college team, there really wasn't much to cheer about this year!)
Nor am I anti-Star Wars. Although I haven't seen this particular movie, and probably won't, and I haven't seen the previous few in the saga, we did take our boys to see Star Wars movies back in the day. And if one of my grandsons invited me to see The Force Awakens with him, I would do it. After all, I know about light sabers and storm troopers and R2D2 and Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader and lots of other Star Wars stuff. Besides, it's not likely that this Nana would turn down such an invitation from one of her grandsons!
Even so, as I sit back and observe the excitement about this movie, and as I listen to conversations, I have a few questions. I wonder about priorities.
Which is more important? That you teach your child all the details of Star Wars lore, or that you teach your child about Jesus? Which have you been talking about more this last week?
Which is more important? That you take your child to see The Force Awakens, or that you take your child to church? What did you and your child do together over the weekend? And about which of those activities were you most enthusiastic?
If you're one of those who stood in line outside a theater this weekend, or if you're one of those who stood in line to get into a sporting event or a concert, or if you recently stood in line for hours on Black Friday to get the latest toy or electronic gadget, would you be equally willing to stand in line waiting to get into your local Sunday morning church service? I wonder.
During this Christmas season, are we talking more about Santa and about that creepy elf on the shelf and about what we want for Christmas, or are we talking about Jesus?
Are we focusing more on what we want and what we are going to get, or are we talking about ways we can give?
What's more important?
Saturday, December 19, 2015
The Jelly Host
Has anyone asked you lately to name your favorite Christmas carol? How do you answer that question? Can you name a favorite? Or two? Or maybe three? Or more!!!
When asked that question, I always have a hard time answering. Probably because I can't pick just one favorite!
One of my most favorite Christmas carols is "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing". I have loved that carol for as long as I can remember. Even as a small child this was a favorite carol, although back then I didn't get all the words exactly right. I have been told that, as a very young child, I sang with great enthusiasm, "with the jelly host proclaim........"
Now, in my defense, as a 3-year old I probably didn't understand much about the angelic host. And small children don't always correctly pronounce all the "big" words. Somewhere along the way, I got the words right. And in all the years since, when asked to name my favorite carol, this one has always made the list.
I love the music. No surprise there, since Mendelssohn is one of my favorite composers.
Even more I love the words of this carol. I love the clear presentation of Biblical doctrine in poetic text. And I love how Wesley has so masterfully summarized the very reason we have Christmas in just a few words......"God and sinners reconciled" and "born that man no more may die." That's the reason Jesus came in the first place! To make a way for sinful man to be reconciled to Holy God!
God and sinners reconciled - that's the whole point of Christmas!
When asked that question, I always have a hard time answering. Probably because I can't pick just one favorite!
One of my most favorite Christmas carols is "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing". I have loved that carol for as long as I can remember. Even as a small child this was a favorite carol, although back then I didn't get all the words exactly right. I have been told that, as a very young child, I sang with great enthusiasm, "with the jelly host proclaim........"
Now, in my defense, as a 3-year old I probably didn't understand much about the angelic host. And small children don't always correctly pronounce all the "big" words. Somewhere along the way, I got the words right. And in all the years since, when asked to name my favorite carol, this one has always made the list.
I love the music. No surprise there, since Mendelssohn is one of my favorite composers.
Even more I love the words of this carol. I love the clear presentation of Biblical doctrine in poetic text. And I love how Wesley has so masterfully summarized the very reason we have Christmas in just a few words......"God and sinners reconciled" and "born that man no more may die." That's the reason Jesus came in the first place! To make a way for sinful man to be reconciled to Holy God!
God and sinners reconciled - that's the whole point of Christmas!
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Hark! the herald angels sing, "Glory to the newborn King,
Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled."
Joyful, all ye nations, rise, Join the triumph of the skies,
Joyful, all ye nations, rise, Join the triumph of the skies,
With angelic hosts proclaim "Christ is born in Bethlehem."
Hark! the herald angels sing, "Glory to the newborn King."
Christ, by highest heaven adored; Christ, the everlasting Lord.
Late in time behold Him come, offspring of the virgin's womb.
Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see; Hail the incarnate Deity!
Pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus, our Immanuel.
Hark! the herald angels sing, "Glory to the newborn King."
Hail the heav'n born Prince of Peace; Hail the Son of Righteousness.
Light and life to all He brings, Risen with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by, Born that man no more may die,
Born to raise the sons of earth, Born to give them second birth.
Hark! the herald angels sing, "Glory to the newborn King."
-Charles Wesley (emphasis mine)
Friday, December 18, 2015
Tradition!
One of my favorite movies of all time is "Fiddler on the Roof". I was thinking about that movie this morning, which might seem an odd thing to be thinking about just a week before Christmas. Actually, it's one particular song in that movie that has been in my thoughts this morning......"Tradition!"
One line from the song says, "How do we keep our balance? Tradition!"
How do we keep our balance? Many find themselves looking for an answer to that question at this time of the year. With all the cookie baking and decorating and gift wrapping and parties and all the activities of the season, it is often hard to find the right balance. Factor into the mix the added stress of terrorist attacks and political rhetoric, and we are even more off balance. And when you add in strained relationships and illness and financial stress, our lives become even more off kilter.
Finding the balance is perhaps more important at this time than at any other. It's all too easy to get caught up in the commercialism of Christmas. Wanting to buy everything we see in television ads and in the mall. Wanting to bake - and eat! - everything we have seen in magazines and on Pinterest. Wanting to attend every Christmas play and every choir presentation and every party and every family get-together. Wanting to be everything to everybody. It's exhausting! And impossible!
Over the years we've established a few non-negotiable traditions in our family. One of them is that we spend every other Christmas together. In the "off" years, like this one, we spend Thanksgiving together. That has worked out well for us over the years, even though it means that at Christmases like this one, I really miss my sons and grandsons and daughters-in-love a lot. A lot!
Many years ago we began a tradition of baking a birthday cake for Jesus. That tradition continues to this day, and is one of the ways we have kept the focus on Jesus during the season. A nativity scene has always been a prominent part of our Christmas decorations. These days, it's the one we bought on our most recent trip to Israel, and it's made of olive wood from Bethlehem.
Yes, we enjoy our Santas and our snowmen, but for us, Christmas is about Jesus. About celebrating His birth. Christmas is a time to focus on Him.
Listening to carols about the birth of the Christ Child. Reading Scriptures about His birth. Especially reading from Luke's gospel on Christmas Eve. Those are just a few of the ways that we keep things in perspective during this hectic time of the year. It's how we keep the right balance.
I'm sure you have your own Christmas traditions as well. Certain things you always do for Christmas. Certain foods you always eat. Certain cookies you always bake. A favorite ornament or decoration. A favorite carol. A favorite activity. I love hearing how people celebrate Christmas, how they celebrate Jesus, every year!
Every year it seems that Christmas in our world is less about Jesus and more about everything else. Less about Jesus and more about shopping and eating and partying. Less Christmas and more Happy Holidays!
How sad that is. Because Christmas is all about Jesus!
Listen to "Tradition!" here:https://youtu.be/sWSoYCetG6A
Listen to "Why Can't Christmas Just Be Christmas" here: https://youtu.be/Tb1Gk99G-TM
One line from the song says, "How do we keep our balance? Tradition!"
How do we keep our balance? Many find themselves looking for an answer to that question at this time of the year. With all the cookie baking and decorating and gift wrapping and parties and all the activities of the season, it is often hard to find the right balance. Factor into the mix the added stress of terrorist attacks and political rhetoric, and we are even more off balance. And when you add in strained relationships and illness and financial stress, our lives become even more off kilter.
Finding the balance is perhaps more important at this time than at any other. It's all too easy to get caught up in the commercialism of Christmas. Wanting to buy everything we see in television ads and in the mall. Wanting to bake - and eat! - everything we have seen in magazines and on Pinterest. Wanting to attend every Christmas play and every choir presentation and every party and every family get-together. Wanting to be everything to everybody. It's exhausting! And impossible!
Over the years we've established a few non-negotiable traditions in our family. One of them is that we spend every other Christmas together. In the "off" years, like this one, we spend Thanksgiving together. That has worked out well for us over the years, even though it means that at Christmases like this one, I really miss my sons and grandsons and daughters-in-love a lot. A lot!
Many years ago we began a tradition of baking a birthday cake for Jesus. That tradition continues to this day, and is one of the ways we have kept the focus on Jesus during the season. A nativity scene has always been a prominent part of our Christmas decorations. These days, it's the one we bought on our most recent trip to Israel, and it's made of olive wood from Bethlehem.
Yes, we enjoy our Santas and our snowmen, but for us, Christmas is about Jesus. About celebrating His birth. Christmas is a time to focus on Him.
Listening to carols about the birth of the Christ Child. Reading Scriptures about His birth. Especially reading from Luke's gospel on Christmas Eve. Those are just a few of the ways that we keep things in perspective during this hectic time of the year. It's how we keep the right balance.
I'm sure you have your own Christmas traditions as well. Certain things you always do for Christmas. Certain foods you always eat. Certain cookies you always bake. A favorite ornament or decoration. A favorite carol. A favorite activity. I love hearing how people celebrate Christmas, how they celebrate Jesus, every year!
Every year it seems that Christmas in our world is less about Jesus and more about everything else. Less about Jesus and more about shopping and eating and partying. Less Christmas and more Happy Holidays!
How sad that is. Because Christmas is all about Jesus!
"Why can't Christmas just be Christmas?
Why must we change it so?"
(-Christine Wyrtzen)
Listen to "Tradition!" here:https://youtu.be/sWSoYCetG6A
Listen to "Why Can't Christmas Just Be Christmas" here: https://youtu.be/Tb1Gk99G-TM
Thursday, December 17, 2015
It's Beginning to Sound a Lot Like Christmas!
Have you noticed? The sounds of Christmas are everywhere!
In our churches, certainly, as we're singing the songs and carols of the season.
In malls and grocery stores, Christmas music is playing. And not just the "Jingle Bells" kind of Christmas music, but also "Silent Night" and "Joy to the World". The music of our Savior's birth is also being played. Isn't it wonderful to we get to hear our Savior's name proclaimed in places like the mall and the grocery store!
The sounds of Christmas are everywhere!
In the laughter of children.
In the sounds (and smells) that emanate from kitchens at this time of year.
Maybe you have Christmas music playing in your home throughout the season. I know I do.
As I was looking back over my Facebook memories over the last few days, I realized that, over the last several days, I have spent a lot of the holiday season having medical or dental procedures. As an example, on December 15, 2011, I had a cataract removed from my right eye. What does that have to do with the sounds of Christmas? The surgeon was listening to Handel's Messiah during the procedure!
Two years ago on this date, I had a root canal, and I noted in my Facebook post that there were Christmas carols playing in the dentist's office. And today, as I sit here icing my knee following a steroid injection this morning, I'm enjoying the sounds of Christmas.
Music is a big part of the Christmas season. This is one of my Southern Gospel Christmas favorites:
https://youtu.be/sKzi4A1ldxE
What sounds of Christmas are you experiencing today?
"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!'" (Luke 2:13-14 ESV)
In our churches, certainly, as we're singing the songs and carols of the season.
In malls and grocery stores, Christmas music is playing. And not just the "Jingle Bells" kind of Christmas music, but also "Silent Night" and "Joy to the World". The music of our Savior's birth is also being played. Isn't it wonderful to we get to hear our Savior's name proclaimed in places like the mall and the grocery store!
The sounds of Christmas are everywhere!
In the laughter of children.
In the sounds (and smells) that emanate from kitchens at this time of year.
Maybe you have Christmas music playing in your home throughout the season. I know I do.
As I was looking back over my Facebook memories over the last few days, I realized that, over the last several days, I have spent a lot of the holiday season having medical or dental procedures. As an example, on December 15, 2011, I had a cataract removed from my right eye. What does that have to do with the sounds of Christmas? The surgeon was listening to Handel's Messiah during the procedure!
Two years ago on this date, I had a root canal, and I noted in my Facebook post that there were Christmas carols playing in the dentist's office. And today, as I sit here icing my knee following a steroid injection this morning, I'm enjoying the sounds of Christmas.
Music is a big part of the Christmas season. This is one of my Southern Gospel Christmas favorites:
https://youtu.be/sKzi4A1ldxE
What sounds of Christmas are you experiencing today?
"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!'" (Luke 2:13-14 ESV)
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
What Are You Talking About This Christmas?
"And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them." (Luke 2:20 ESV)
The shepherds were told about the birth of Jesus while they were out in the fields, just doing their jobs, "keeping watch over their flocks by night." (Luke 2:8 ESV).
And when they heard that news, what did they do? Well, the Scripture doesn't say so, but I imagine that they were at least a wee bit frightened when that angelic host appeared in the sky in the middle of the night! I think I might have been. In any event, after they heard the news, what did they do? They went over to Bethlehem to check it out! "And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger." (Luke 2:16 ESV).
They saw Jesus. And then they told everybody! That's what they were talking about that first Christmas!
What about you? What are you talking about this Christmas? Are you talking about Jesus? Are you telling everybody?
Or are you talking about presents. And cookies. And shopping. And Santa. And what your elf doll has been up to. And traffic.
Or are you talking about Jesus?
Are you complaining about how busy you are. And how the stores are so crowded. And how everything costs so much. And whining about this or that or everything.
Or are you talking about Jesus?
Are you talking about your spouse? About what he/she did? Or about what he/she didn't do? Are you grumbling about your children? Or about dirty laundry? Or about clutter? Are you finding something wrong with everything?
Or are you talking about Jesus?
What are you talking about this Christmas?
"When they had seen [the baby] they made known what had been told them concerning this child." (Luke 2:17 ESV)
The shepherds were told about the birth of Jesus while they were out in the fields, just doing their jobs, "keeping watch over their flocks by night." (Luke 2:8 ESV).
And when they heard that news, what did they do? Well, the Scripture doesn't say so, but I imagine that they were at least a wee bit frightened when that angelic host appeared in the sky in the middle of the night! I think I might have been. In any event, after they heard the news, what did they do? They went over to Bethlehem to check it out! "And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger." (Luke 2:16 ESV).
They saw Jesus. And then they told everybody! That's what they were talking about that first Christmas!
What about you? What are you talking about this Christmas? Are you talking about Jesus? Are you telling everybody?
Or are you talking about presents. And cookies. And shopping. And Santa. And what your elf doll has been up to. And traffic.
Or are you talking about Jesus?
Are you complaining about how busy you are. And how the stores are so crowded. And how everything costs so much. And whining about this or that or everything.
Or are you talking about Jesus?
Are you talking about your spouse? About what he/she did? Or about what he/she didn't do? Are you grumbling about your children? Or about dirty laundry? Or about clutter? Are you finding something wrong with everything?
Or are you talking about Jesus?
What are you talking about this Christmas?
"When they had seen [the baby] they made known what had been told them concerning this child." (Luke 2:17 ESV)
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
Life-Changing
Today is an anniversary. On this date 6 years ago - December 15, 2009 - I had surgery to fuse my left ankle.
That surgery was necessary because, 4 years earlier, I took one wrong step, fell, dislocated my foot, and shattered my ankle. The ankle was repaired with multiple surgeries and lots of hardware. And after all those surgeries, and all those hours of physical therapy, it worked fine. Until it didn't.
Somewhere along the way, the hardware was no longer doing its job and the ankle joint collapsed, which made walking very painful, and sometimes nearly impossible.
Consultations with orthopedists led to the decision to fuse the ankle, and a surgery date was set. December 15, 2009. Six years ago.
And so it was that six years ago on this very morning, I was in University Hospital in Charlotte, having an ankle fusion surgery. Then came months of recovery. Another cast. Then another boot. More hopping around on one foot, since the left foot was non-weight-bearing for several months while the bones fused together.
The surgery was successful. The bones fused. The scars healed. And I can walk. But the consequences from that surgery were life-changing. Yes, I can walk, and I walk almost normally. I approach stairs differently than I did pre-fusion. I can't wear the same kinds of shoes I once wore. Definitely nothing with a heel, since my ankle no longer bends. And because it doesn't bend, my foot takes all the stress that an ankle normally absorbs, which means I now have foot "issues" to deal with.
Foot issues. Different shoes. Walking a little differently. One leg every so slightly shorter than the other.
All because, on a beautiful spring afternoon ten years ago, I took one wrong step.
Wrong steps have consequences. Often, as in my case, life-changing consequences. I write about this every year at this time because that one wrong step has had such a huge impact on my life.
Thankfully, at the time of the original break, I had a wonderful orthopedic surgeon who did a masterful job of putting me back together. And thankfully, when I needed another orthopedic surgeon, I had another great one. God certainly provided for me what I needed when I needed it, and I am forever grateful.
Wrong steps are not only physical. Often we take wrong-steps in other ways. Emotionally. Mentally. Spiritually.
We think wrong thoughts. We make bad choices. Often those can be life-changing.
We refer to those wrong steps in the spiritual arena as sin. And just as God provided help for my physical wrong steps, He also provides a solution to our spiritual wrong steps.
He sent us Jesus. Born as a baby in a manger. But the baby grew up. He became a man, and fulfilled His purpose for coming by dying a cruel death on a cross to pay the penalty for our sin. The good news is that He didn't stay dead! He rose from the grave on the third day, just as He said He would, and has now ascended back to the Father where He waits until one day He will return to earth again!
That is the life-changing message of Christmas!
"But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive adoption as sons." (Galatians 4:4-5 NASB)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Zj4vM3PM3w
That surgery was necessary because, 4 years earlier, I took one wrong step, fell, dislocated my foot, and shattered my ankle. The ankle was repaired with multiple surgeries and lots of hardware. And after all those surgeries, and all those hours of physical therapy, it worked fine. Until it didn't.
Somewhere along the way, the hardware was no longer doing its job and the ankle joint collapsed, which made walking very painful, and sometimes nearly impossible.
Consultations with orthopedists led to the decision to fuse the ankle, and a surgery date was set. December 15, 2009. Six years ago.
And so it was that six years ago on this very morning, I was in University Hospital in Charlotte, having an ankle fusion surgery. Then came months of recovery. Another cast. Then another boot. More hopping around on one foot, since the left foot was non-weight-bearing for several months while the bones fused together.
The surgery was successful. The bones fused. The scars healed. And I can walk. But the consequences from that surgery were life-changing. Yes, I can walk, and I walk almost normally. I approach stairs differently than I did pre-fusion. I can't wear the same kinds of shoes I once wore. Definitely nothing with a heel, since my ankle no longer bends. And because it doesn't bend, my foot takes all the stress that an ankle normally absorbs, which means I now have foot "issues" to deal with.
Foot issues. Different shoes. Walking a little differently. One leg every so slightly shorter than the other.
All because, on a beautiful spring afternoon ten years ago, I took one wrong step.
Wrong steps have consequences. Often, as in my case, life-changing consequences. I write about this every year at this time because that one wrong step has had such a huge impact on my life.
Thankfully, at the time of the original break, I had a wonderful orthopedic surgeon who did a masterful job of putting me back together. And thankfully, when I needed another orthopedic surgeon, I had another great one. God certainly provided for me what I needed when I needed it, and I am forever grateful.
Wrong steps are not only physical. Often we take wrong-steps in other ways. Emotionally. Mentally. Spiritually.
We think wrong thoughts. We make bad choices. Often those can be life-changing.
We refer to those wrong steps in the spiritual arena as sin. And just as God provided help for my physical wrong steps, He also provides a solution to our spiritual wrong steps.
He sent us Jesus. Born as a baby in a manger. But the baby grew up. He became a man, and fulfilled His purpose for coming by dying a cruel death on a cross to pay the penalty for our sin. The good news is that He didn't stay dead! He rose from the grave on the third day, just as He said He would, and has now ascended back to the Father where He waits until one day He will return to earth again!
That is the life-changing message of Christmas!
"But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive adoption as sons." (Galatians 4:4-5 NASB)
For Christ is born of Mary, and gathered all around,
While mortals sleep, the angels keep their watch of wond'ring love.
O morning stars together proclaim the holy birth,
And praises sing to God, the King, and peace to men on earth.
How silently, how silently, the wondrous Gift is giv'n.
So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His heav'n.
No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in.
(O Little Town of Bethlehem, stanzas 2 and 3. Words: Phillips Brooks; Music: Lewis H. Redner)
Hear David Phelps and friends sing this carol here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Zj4vM3PM3w
Monday, December 14, 2015
What's in a Name?
Do you know how - or why - you got your name?
I was told many times by my parents that, prior to my birth, my daddy wanted to name me after his grandmother. Her name was Harriett Annie. There's nothing wrong with that name, but I really don't think it suits me, which is just as well, since that name was discarded fairly early on.
Once they had agreed what I would not be named, my parents continued trying to come to an agreement on what my name would be. Daddy, who had given up his grandmother's name, began a push for me to be named after his mother. I never met my Grandmother Austin, although I understand she was a wonderful woman. I would love to have met her, but I am thankful not to carry her name. Somehow, being called Eudora doesn't suit me either. Mother finally agreed to call me Eudora if Daddy would promise to name the next child after her mother, or so the story goes.
In any event, I was eventually named Susan Elizabeth. I'm not sure where the "Susan" came from, except that it was a very popular name for baby girls in the year I was born. My middle name is also my mother's middle name, a name now belonging to my niece and my great-niece as well. I'm happy to report that my brother was not named for my Grandmother, but rather carries our daddy's name, John Samuel. Samuel was our grandfather's name, as well as belonging to our great-great grandfather, and is a name that is also the middle name of my brother's first grandson.
Maybe you were named for one of your parents. Or you carry the name of a grandparent or some other relative. Or maybe, as is true for our sons, your parents just picked names they really liked.
However you got your name, choosing a name for child is a big deal. There are numbers of books on the market to give assistance if the choice becomes too stressful. Prospective parents often agonize over the choice.
I don't think there were any of those kinds of discussions about what Mary and Joseph were to name the baby they were expecting. It had already been determined.
"And the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus." (Luke 1:30-31 ESV)
"An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:20-21 ESV)
That settled it. The baby's name would be Jesus, a name that means "savior", because "He will save his people from their sins." That's why He came. To be our Savior.
Matthew's Gospel goes on to give one more detail about the baby's name, as he quotes from Isaiah's prophecy.
"Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name 'Immanuel' (which means God with us)." (Matthew 1:22 ESV)
Commenting on this verse, John MacArthur had this to say: If we could condense all the truths of Christmas into only three words, these would be the words: “God with us.”
Jesus. Savior.
Immanuel. God with us.
Here in the hustle-bustle of the Christmas season, as we're rushing here and hurrying there; as we are cookie-baking and decorating; as we're setting out our nativity sets and thinking about that Baby in a manger; as we are pushing ourselves into exhaustion with our celebrations, we would do well to remember those names. To remember why He came.
And we would do well to remember that He is no longer a baby in a manger.
On that holy night so long ago, Christ Jesus came to earth to be God with us. To be our Savior. To live a sinless life. To die on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. And to one day rule as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Hallelujah! What a Savior!
"Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:5-10 NASB, emphasis mine)
I was told many times by my parents that, prior to my birth, my daddy wanted to name me after his grandmother. Her name was Harriett Annie. There's nothing wrong with that name, but I really don't think it suits me, which is just as well, since that name was discarded fairly early on.
Once they had agreed what I would not be named, my parents continued trying to come to an agreement on what my name would be. Daddy, who had given up his grandmother's name, began a push for me to be named after his mother. I never met my Grandmother Austin, although I understand she was a wonderful woman. I would love to have met her, but I am thankful not to carry her name. Somehow, being called Eudora doesn't suit me either. Mother finally agreed to call me Eudora if Daddy would promise to name the next child after her mother, or so the story goes.
In any event, I was eventually named Susan Elizabeth. I'm not sure where the "Susan" came from, except that it was a very popular name for baby girls in the year I was born. My middle name is also my mother's middle name, a name now belonging to my niece and my great-niece as well. I'm happy to report that my brother was not named for my Grandmother, but rather carries our daddy's name, John Samuel. Samuel was our grandfather's name, as well as belonging to our great-great grandfather, and is a name that is also the middle name of my brother's first grandson.
Maybe you were named for one of your parents. Or you carry the name of a grandparent or some other relative. Or maybe, as is true for our sons, your parents just picked names they really liked.
However you got your name, choosing a name for child is a big deal. There are numbers of books on the market to give assistance if the choice becomes too stressful. Prospective parents often agonize over the choice.
I don't think there were any of those kinds of discussions about what Mary and Joseph were to name the baby they were expecting. It had already been determined.
"And the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus." (Luke 1:30-31 ESV)
"An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:20-21 ESV)
That settled it. The baby's name would be Jesus, a name that means "savior", because "He will save his people from their sins." That's why He came. To be our Savior.
Matthew's Gospel goes on to give one more detail about the baby's name, as he quotes from Isaiah's prophecy.
"Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name 'Immanuel' (which means God with us)." (Matthew 1:22 ESV)
Commenting on this verse, John MacArthur had this to say: If we could condense all the truths of Christmas into only three words, these would be the words: “God with us.”
Jesus. Savior.
Immanuel. God with us.
Here in the hustle-bustle of the Christmas season, as we're rushing here and hurrying there; as we are cookie-baking and decorating; as we're setting out our nativity sets and thinking about that Baby in a manger; as we are pushing ourselves into exhaustion with our celebrations, we would do well to remember those names. To remember why He came.
And we would do well to remember that He is no longer a baby in a manger.
On that holy night so long ago, Christ Jesus came to earth to be God with us. To be our Savior. To live a sinless life. To die on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. And to one day rule as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Hallelujah! What a Savior!
"Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:5-10 NASB, emphasis mine)
Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever,
His power and glory evermore proclaim.
(-from "O Holy Night")
His power and glory evermore proclaim.
(-from "O Holy Night")
Saturday, December 12, 2015
The Main Thing
One week ago at this time I was finishing up my preparations to teach our Life Group lesson last Sunday morning. I had spent a lot of time the previous week studying the Scripture passage and preparing the lesson, and I've spent a lot of time this week reflecting on what I learned in that time of study.
Last Sunday our lesson was about the fulfillment of prophecy. We didn't talk about how Old Testament prophecies are fulfilled in Jesus, but instead our focus last week was on John the Baptist, who also fulfilled prophecy.
John the Baptist, or John the Baptizer, was a fulfillment of a prophecy of Isaiah.
The voice of him that cries in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God." (Isaiah 40:3)
Fast-forward from Isaiah and from John to our lives here in the twenty-first century, many years after Isaiah prophesied and John lived. Even all these years later, there's quite a lot we can learn from John.
The main thing about John the Baptist was that he was always pointing to Jesus!
Even though John was well-known and even though crowds were coming to hear him preach and to be baptized by him, John's life was not about John. John's life was all about Jesus! John always made it very clear that his ministry was to point to someone greater than himself.
John had a purpose. A mission. A commission. His purpose was to "prepare the way", to point people to Jesus.
What does all that have to do with us, especially here in this Christmas season?
John has set an example for us. John pointed to Jesus, and so should we. Here at Christmas especially, we need to keep the main thing the main thing!
For those of us who are Christian, life is not about us, but is all about Jesus!
No matter what the circumstances of life. When things are going well, and when they aren't. When life is good, and when it isn't. When we're happy. And when we're irritated. Whether with our children or with our spouse, or with our parents, or our best friend, or the neighbors, or the politicians. In every circumstance of life, our mission is the same.
To point people to Jesus.
Let's keep pointing people to Jesus at the forefront of our Christmas celebrations.
That was John's mission.
And it's ours as well.
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20 NASB)
Last Sunday our lesson was about the fulfillment of prophecy. We didn't talk about how Old Testament prophecies are fulfilled in Jesus, but instead our focus last week was on John the Baptist, who also fulfilled prophecy.
John the Baptist, or John the Baptizer, was a fulfillment of a prophecy of Isaiah.
The voice of him that cries in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God." (Isaiah 40:3)
Fast-forward from Isaiah and from John to our lives here in the twenty-first century, many years after Isaiah prophesied and John lived. Even all these years later, there's quite a lot we can learn from John.
The main thing about John the Baptist was that he was always pointing to Jesus!
Even though John was well-known and even though crowds were coming to hear him preach and to be baptized by him, John's life was not about John. John's life was all about Jesus! John always made it very clear that his ministry was to point to someone greater than himself.
John had a purpose. A mission. A commission. His purpose was to "prepare the way", to point people to Jesus.
What does all that have to do with us, especially here in this Christmas season?
John has set an example for us. John pointed to Jesus, and so should we. Here at Christmas especially, we need to keep the main thing the main thing!
For those of us who are Christian, life is not about us, but is all about Jesus!
No matter what the circumstances of life. When things are going well, and when they aren't. When life is good, and when it isn't. When we're happy. And when we're irritated. Whether with our children or with our spouse, or with our parents, or our best friend, or the neighbors, or the politicians. In every circumstance of life, our mission is the same.
To point people to Jesus.
Let's keep pointing people to Jesus at the forefront of our Christmas celebrations.
That was John's mission.
And it's ours as well.
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20 NASB)
Friday, December 11, 2015
Spectators Lined the Streets
The headline in our local newspaper on the day after the city's Christmas parade was "Spectators Line Streets for Christmas Parade".
I'm glad that in our city, unlike many across this great nation, this is still referred to as a Christmas Parade.
As I read that headline, I thought about how different things were on that first Christmas. Certainly Bethlehem was crowded, as people were coming from across Judea because of the required census. Homes were full as families gave shelter to their relatives who had traveled great distances.
But on the night that Christ was born, there was no parade. There were no spectators hovering about, waiting for the miraculous news that the Messiah had been born.
It was a night much like any other, except that a very special Baby was born.
We sing about the "silent night". We sing about "how silently the wondrous Gift is given."
While those lines are beautifully poetic, and we love to sing those songs, I'm not sure it was a silent night. As families crowded in to their relatives' homes, there was probably an extra level of noise. As Mary and Joseph were settled in with the animals, I doubt it was particularly quiet. Animals are not always silent. And childbirth is rarely a silent affair.
But there is a sense in which we can consider that this Wondrous Gift was given silently. No crowds were lining up to see the newborn baby. There was no announcement in the daily newspaper. No fanfare to announce the arrival of a King. Just a tiny Baby born, surrounded by animals and his parents, and placed in a manger, a feeding trough, instead of a crib.
You will probably recall that when Prince George and Princess Charlotte were born in England, there were throngs of people gathered outside the hospital awaiting news of the royal birth. On both occasions, proclamations were read and headlines across the United Kingdom and around the world hailed the birth of a royal baby.
Not so when Christ came.
No spectators lining the streets. No headlines. No television cameras.
Yet on an ordinary night in some very not-ordinary circumstances, the extraordinary happened. Jesus, our Savior, was born.
Years later, after this Baby grew to adulthood, crowds would come to hear Him speak. On a Palm Sunday, crowds would follow Him into Jerusalem, shouting their Hosannas. And only a few days later, those same crowds would be clamoring for His crucifixion.
Not so on the night He was born.
No crowds. No fanfare. No parades. No press.
In that sense, He came quietly. Silently.
One night, in Bethlehem, the greatest of gifts, slipped quietly into our world. God Himself with us, Immanuel. He was born to us that night. And the world has never been the same!
I'm glad that in our city, unlike many across this great nation, this is still referred to as a Christmas Parade.
As I read that headline, I thought about how different things were on that first Christmas. Certainly Bethlehem was crowded, as people were coming from across Judea because of the required census. Homes were full as families gave shelter to their relatives who had traveled great distances.
But on the night that Christ was born, there was no parade. There were no spectators hovering about, waiting for the miraculous news that the Messiah had been born.
It was a night much like any other, except that a very special Baby was born.
We sing about the "silent night". We sing about "how silently the wondrous Gift is given."
While those lines are beautifully poetic, and we love to sing those songs, I'm not sure it was a silent night. As families crowded in to their relatives' homes, there was probably an extra level of noise. As Mary and Joseph were settled in with the animals, I doubt it was particularly quiet. Animals are not always silent. And childbirth is rarely a silent affair.
But there is a sense in which we can consider that this Wondrous Gift was given silently. No crowds were lining up to see the newborn baby. There was no announcement in the daily newspaper. No fanfare to announce the arrival of a King. Just a tiny Baby born, surrounded by animals and his parents, and placed in a manger, a feeding trough, instead of a crib.
You will probably recall that when Prince George and Princess Charlotte were born in England, there were throngs of people gathered outside the hospital awaiting news of the royal birth. On both occasions, proclamations were read and headlines across the United Kingdom and around the world hailed the birth of a royal baby.
Not so when Christ came.
No spectators lining the streets. No headlines. No television cameras.
Yet on an ordinary night in some very not-ordinary circumstances, the extraordinary happened. Jesus, our Savior, was born.
Years later, after this Baby grew to adulthood, crowds would come to hear Him speak. On a Palm Sunday, crowds would follow Him into Jerusalem, shouting their Hosannas. And only a few days later, those same crowds would be clamoring for His crucifixion.
Not so on the night He was born.
No crowds. No fanfare. No parades. No press.
In that sense, He came quietly. Silently.
One night, in Bethlehem, the greatest of gifts, slipped quietly into our world. God Himself with us, Immanuel. He was born to us that night. And the world has never been the same!
How silently, how silently
The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His heaven.
No ear may hear His coming,
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him still,
The dear Christ enters in.
The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His heaven.
No ear may hear His coming,
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him still,
The dear Christ enters in.
("O Little Town of Bethlehem", 3rd verse, text by Phillips Brooks)
Listen to a non-traditional version of this carol, sung by Point of Grace, here:
Thursday, December 10, 2015
Oh, Pickle Tree, Oh, Pickle Tree......
Oh, Pickle Tree, Oh, Pickle Tree,
How lovely are your branches......
Wait a minute! That's not how the song goes, is it?
But on Tuesday, that was the song I was singing!
Maybe it's a sign that I spend too much time on Pinterest, but when I began thinking about what appetizer I could take to our Life Group Christmas Dinner, the appetizer tree I had seen there seemed a perfect solution. And also a perfect way to use up the leftover pickles and olives from our family Thanksgiving dinner.
This photo was my inspiration:
My pickle tree, which was rather hurriedly assembled, did not look nearly so perfect. I wish I had thought to take a picture of my tree, as I was rather pleased with it in spite of its imperfections.
What we really needed a photo/video of was getting that pickle tree from my kitchen to the church dining hall. After we had loaded the car with all the other things we were needing for the party, Cathy (my un-biological sister - more on that another day) drove while I very carefully held the pickle tree. We were thinking it quite likely that the next day's newspaper headline might read "Coroner Called to the Scene: Woman Impaled By Pickle Tree"! Thankfully, we and the pickle tree arrived at the church safely!
After all that, I should have thought to include O Pickle Tree, O Pickle Tree....oops, I mean O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree....in our after-dinner carol sing. But it didn't even occur to me until after the fact.
Trees have been a part of our Christmas celebrations for hundreds of years. Historians tell us that trees, typically not made from pickles, were first part of Christmas as much as a thousand years ago. The first person to bring a Christmas tree into a house, in the way we know it today, may have been Martin Luther in the 16th century. Tradition says that one night before Christmas, he was walking through the forest and looked up to see the stars shining through the tree branches. He thought it was so beautiful that he went home and told his children what he had seen and that it reminded him of Jesus, who left the stars of heaven to come to earth at Christmas.
Decorated trees have become an important part of our Christmases. Typically these trees, whether real trees or artificial ones, are of the evergreen variety. We decorate them with lights, whether white or colored, twinkling or not. We hang ornaments, whether they are handmade or store-bought, elaborate or very simple. But the important feature is that the tree is an evergreen. It is an evergreen to remind us of the everlasting love the Father has for us.
It was His love for us that caused Him to send Jesus. So this Christmas, when you look at your tree, think about that. Whether it is a real tree or an artificial tree. Whether it is spruce or pine or fir or a Charlie Brown tree. Whether it is on a table-top or it reaches from floor to ceiling. Even if it's a pickle tree!
Let that tree remind you how deep the Father's love is for you. Let it remind you that His love is an everlasting love. Let it remind you that He expressed His love for you in the Gift of Jesus.
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16 KJV)
How lovely are your branches......
Wait a minute! That's not how the song goes, is it?
But on Tuesday, that was the song I was singing!
Maybe it's a sign that I spend too much time on Pinterest, but when I began thinking about what appetizer I could take to our Life Group Christmas Dinner, the appetizer tree I had seen there seemed a perfect solution. And also a perfect way to use up the leftover pickles and olives from our family Thanksgiving dinner.
This photo was my inspiration:
My pickle tree, which was rather hurriedly assembled, did not look nearly so perfect. I wish I had thought to take a picture of my tree, as I was rather pleased with it in spite of its imperfections.
What we really needed a photo/video of was getting that pickle tree from my kitchen to the church dining hall. After we had loaded the car with all the other things we were needing for the party, Cathy (my un-biological sister - more on that another day) drove while I very carefully held the pickle tree. We were thinking it quite likely that the next day's newspaper headline might read "Coroner Called to the Scene: Woman Impaled By Pickle Tree"! Thankfully, we and the pickle tree arrived at the church safely!
After all that, I should have thought to include O Pickle Tree, O Pickle Tree....oops, I mean O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree....in our after-dinner carol sing. But it didn't even occur to me until after the fact.
Trees have been a part of our Christmas celebrations for hundreds of years. Historians tell us that trees, typically not made from pickles, were first part of Christmas as much as a thousand years ago. The first person to bring a Christmas tree into a house, in the way we know it today, may have been Martin Luther in the 16th century. Tradition says that one night before Christmas, he was walking through the forest and looked up to see the stars shining through the tree branches. He thought it was so beautiful that he went home and told his children what he had seen and that it reminded him of Jesus, who left the stars of heaven to come to earth at Christmas.
Decorated trees have become an important part of our Christmases. Typically these trees, whether real trees or artificial ones, are of the evergreen variety. We decorate them with lights, whether white or colored, twinkling or not. We hang ornaments, whether they are handmade or store-bought, elaborate or very simple. But the important feature is that the tree is an evergreen. It is an evergreen to remind us of the everlasting love the Father has for us.
It was His love for us that caused Him to send Jesus. So this Christmas, when you look at your tree, think about that. Whether it is a real tree or an artificial tree. Whether it is spruce or pine or fir or a Charlie Brown tree. Whether it is on a table-top or it reaches from floor to ceiling. Even if it's a pickle tree!
Let that tree remind you how deep the Father's love is for you. Let it remind you that His love is an everlasting love. Let it remind you that He expressed His love for you in the Gift of Jesus.
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16 KJV)
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
'Tis the Season
Deck the halls with boughs of holly, Fa la la la la la la la la.
'Tis the season to be jolly, Fa la la la la la la la la.
So begins a familiar traditional Christmas carol, sung to a peppy Welsh tune. We often hear this carol in the malls and on the radio at this time of year, and perhaps sing it at our Christmas gatherings or when we go caroling.
We're in the season of Christmas songs.
The season of holly and mistletoe.
The season of wreaths and red bows.
The season of candles and carols.
We're in the season of Advent.
Advent can be defined as a season of expectant waiting and preparation for celebrating the birth of Christ. Many of the songs we sing at this time of year reflect that, particularly those we sing in our church services. We sing about a Silent Night in a Little Town of Bethlehem when Angels from the Realms of Glory came to announce the nativity to a group of shepherds who were Watching Their Flocks by Night.
In addition those songs about the birth of the Christ Child, we sing about Santa Claus Coming to Town and about Frosty the Snowman and about Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. And we sing about Decking the Halls because "'tis the season to be jolly."
However, for many this season is anything but jolly. There are those who are grieving the loss of a loved one. Many are in the midst of health challenges. Battling cancer. Enduring chemotherapy. Waiting for the biopsy to be scheduled and wondering what the results will be. Besides the grief and the health issues, there are many facing serious economic challenges. Downsizing at the work place. Wondering if there will be enough money to give any Christmas gifts this year. Facing the reality that there's more month than money. Top it off with political upheaval and terrorism around the world, and we're in a season that is anything but jolly.
The world in which we are living is not all that different from the world into which Jesus came. The Roman Empire, not particularly known for their kindness and compassion, was in control of most of the known world. Mary and Joseph, and the rest of their countrymen, found their lives disrupted by a government-required census, so that they had to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem in order to be counted. Mary and Joseph had already seen their lives turned upside down by the angel's announcement to Mary, and by seeing what the angel foretold fulfilled in Mary's pregnancy. Life was not easy for Mary and Joseph, or for any one else, in those days. It was not a particularly jolly time.
Yet into that world, Jesus was born. Just as the angel Gabriel had told Mary it would happen. Just as the prophets had foretold hundreds of years before. Because "no word from God will ever fail." (Luke 1:37 NIV)
That's what we celebrate in this season of Advent. That "no word from God will ever fail." That Jesus came just as God had promised. That all the prophecies concerning the birth of Jesus the Messiah have come true, just as God spoke them through the prophets.
We celebrate that "no word from God will ever fail" as we face our health crises and economic challenges and our bereavement and terrorism in the world and all the other difficulties that come our way.
And even as we celebrate this season of Advent, remembering Christ's coming to earth as a baby, to live a sinless life and then to die on a cruel Roman cross in order to pay the penalty for sin, for yours and mine and the sin of all the world, we also celebrate that there will be a second Advent. Just as the prophets have foretold.
Because "no word of God will ever fail."
'Tis the season for celebrating the first Advent. 'Tis also the season of anticipation and expectancy for the second Advent, as we await the return of our Lord to earth, as we are "looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ." (Titus 2:13 KJV)
"This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven." (Acts 1:11 NASB)
"In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives....." (Zechariah 14:4 NASB)
"And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True....and on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, 'KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS." (Revelation 19:11, 16 NASB)
"Even so, come, Lord Jesus." (Revelation 22:20 KJV)
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Not That Far
"And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger." (Luke 2:4-7 ESV)
If your church has an Advent wreath, or if you have one in your home, perhaps this was the week you lit the Bethlehem candle. Bethlehem figures prominently in our celebrations of Christmas as the birthplace of the Christ Child. We read the prophecies. We sing about the "little town of Bethlehem." We picture a sleepy little village in the Judean Hills, which it likely was in those days. Modern day Bethlehem is something altogether different, with traffic and crowds and tall buildings. Not exactly what we picture when we sing our carols.
It was five years ago this month that I first traveled to Bethlehem. That I first visited the Church of the Nativity. That I first saw this very special place:
You can listen to We're Not That Far From Bethlehem here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfI2x2krjGA
If your church has an Advent wreath, or if you have one in your home, perhaps this was the week you lit the Bethlehem candle. Bethlehem figures prominently in our celebrations of Christmas as the birthplace of the Christ Child. We read the prophecies. We sing about the "little town of Bethlehem." We picture a sleepy little village in the Judean Hills, which it likely was in those days. Modern day Bethlehem is something altogether different, with traffic and crowds and tall buildings. Not exactly what we picture when we sing our carols.
It was five years ago this month that I first traveled to Bethlehem. That I first visited the Church of the Nativity. That I first saw this very special place:
Inside the Church of the Nativity, the oldest church in Christendom (built about 326 AD), this silver star marks the traditional birthplace of Jesus. It is inscribed, in Latin, "Here of the Virgin Mary, Christ was born."
That may or may not be the exact spot where Christ was born. But Christ was born. In Bethlehem. Just as it had been foretold by the prophets long before.
That may or may not be the exact spot where Christ was born. But Christ was born. In Bethlehem. Just as it had been foretold by the prophets long before.
Bethlehem seems very far away to most of us. If you've traveled there, as I have, you realize that it is quite a long distance to travel. Our journey to Bethlehem does not involve travel by donkey, as it did for Mary and Joseph. But even with modern jet planes, it's a long trip, flying from the U.S. into Tel Aviv, and then traveling by car or bus on to Bethlehem.
It's a long trip. Or is it?
Several years ago, the singing group Point of Grace recorded a song titled We're Not That Far From Bethlehem. One of my favorite lines in that song says When our hearts still cherish Him, we're not that far from Bethlehem.
As I have been thinking about that song, and about that particular line, I've been remembering the times I traveled to Bethlehem. The times I knelt at this place of Jesus' birth. The times I worshipped there. The times we sang the songs of the Savior's birth. The times I sat in awe and wonder, reflecting on what happened in Bethlehem so long ago.
It's a long trip. Or is it?
Several years ago, the singing group Point of Grace recorded a song titled We're Not That Far From Bethlehem. One of my favorite lines in that song says When our hearts still cherish Him, we're not that far from Bethlehem.
As I have been thinking about that song, and about that particular line, I've been remembering the times I traveled to Bethlehem. The times I knelt at this place of Jesus' birth. The times I worshipped there. The times we sang the songs of the Savior's birth. The times I sat in awe and wonder, reflecting on what happened in Bethlehem so long ago.
There are times when that seems very long ago. And times when Bethlehem seems very far away.
But it isn't. Not really.
That song, We're Not That Far From Bethlehem, offers us a profound truth. When we cherish the Savior in our hearts, when we remember His birth, when we remember why He was born when and where He was......when we remember. And when we cherish.
Then we're never very far from Bethlehem.
Underneath the stars
Just a simple man and wife.
Somewhere in the dark
His words cut the silent night.
Take my hand, for the child
That you carry is God's own.
And though it seems the road is long,
We're not that far from Bethlehem,
Where all our hope and joy began.
For in our arms, we'll cherish Him.
We're not that far, from Bethlehem.
Let us celebrate
As the Christmases go by;
Learn to live our days
With our hearts near to the child.
Ever drawn, ever close
To the only love that lasts,
And though 2000 years have passed
We're not that far from Bethlehem
Where all our hope and joy began.
For when our hearts still cherish Him
We're not that far,
We're not that far from Bethlehem
Where all our hope and joy began.
For when our hearts still cherish Him,
We're not that far
We're not that far from Bethlehem.
(Songwriters: Lowell Talmadge Alexander Jr., Gayla Hester Borders, Jeff A. Borders)
You can listen to We're Not That Far From Bethlehem here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfI2x2krjGA
Monday, December 7, 2015
Perspective
We had some cold weather here in the Upstate over the weekend. Well, cold weather for us South Carolinians.
Yesterday morning our pastor mentioned that he had greeted some guests prior to the service. In their conversation he told them he hoped they were warm enough, to which they replied that they were from Minnesota. As a former resident of the frozen north, I can vouch for the fact that mid-30s is not cold to a Minnesotan! Remembering winters in Minnesota puts some perspective on what cold really is!
Last evening I had planned to bake a cake. I assembled all the ingredients. But there was a disaster in the kitchen, so no cake was baked. As I was pulling the mixer out from its corner, I knocked over the milk. My carefully measured buttermilk then went all over the counter and the floor and down in that narrow gap between the stove and the cabinets. The stove had to be pulled out of its place in order to clean up the mess. I confess that I did, in fact, cry over that spilled milk. I had quite a meltdown, truth be told, completely out of proportion to the situation. Thankfully, the light of day has given me better perspective, and no more meltdowns have ensued!
You may have been having a meltdown or two of your own during this holiday season. We get ourselves worked up over all sorts of things at this time of year. Cakes that don't get baked. Cookies that don't turn out right. Maybe you haven't done all the decorating you really wanted to do. Or you haven't done any at all. Maybe the neighbors have better decorations than yours and you're feeling a little envious. Maybe your calendar is too full, leaving not enough time to do what needs doing. Or to relax and spend time with your family. Or just to get enough rest.
Whatever your particular "issue" may be, we all have our issues. There are plenty of things in this holiday season that can rob us of our joy.
"And she gave birth to her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger." (Luke 2:7 ESV)
Yesterday morning our pastor mentioned that he had greeted some guests prior to the service. In their conversation he told them he hoped they were warm enough, to which they replied that they were from Minnesota. As a former resident of the frozen north, I can vouch for the fact that mid-30s is not cold to a Minnesotan! Remembering winters in Minnesota puts some perspective on what cold really is!
Last evening I had planned to bake a cake. I assembled all the ingredients. But there was a disaster in the kitchen, so no cake was baked. As I was pulling the mixer out from its corner, I knocked over the milk. My carefully measured buttermilk then went all over the counter and the floor and down in that narrow gap between the stove and the cabinets. The stove had to be pulled out of its place in order to clean up the mess. I confess that I did, in fact, cry over that spilled milk. I had quite a meltdown, truth be told, completely out of proportion to the situation. Thankfully, the light of day has given me better perspective, and no more meltdowns have ensued!
You may have been having a meltdown or two of your own during this holiday season. We get ourselves worked up over all sorts of things at this time of year. Cakes that don't get baked. Cookies that don't turn out right. Maybe you haven't done all the decorating you really wanted to do. Or you haven't done any at all. Maybe the neighbors have better decorations than yours and you're feeling a little envious. Maybe your calendar is too full, leaving not enough time to do what needs doing. Or to relax and spend time with your family. Or just to get enough rest.
Whatever your particular "issue" may be, we all have our issues. There are plenty of things in this holiday season that can rob us of our joy.
Maybe you're feeling some of that today. Maybe you aren't feeling much "Christmas spirit". Maybe you "need a little Christmas", as the song says. That may be true for all of us at one time or another.
What do we do when we need a little Christmas? When we find ourselves feeling stressed and pressured by what should be a joyful holiday, it's time to refocus. To find a quiet place alone and refocus our thinking. We just need to step back and take a deep breath. Or perhaps two. We just need to get some proper perspective on what this is all about anyway!
What do we do when we need a little Christmas? When we find ourselves feeling stressed and pressured by what should be a joyful holiday, it's time to refocus. To find a quiet place alone and refocus our thinking. We just need to step back and take a deep breath. Or perhaps two. We just need to get some proper perspective on what this is all about anyway!
Forget, at least for a while, the mistletoe and holly, the fruitcake and tinsel, the hustle-bustle, the cookie-baking-decorating-got-so-much-to-do. Forget, at least for a while, the things that are causing you financial stress or emotional stress or any other kind of stress. Set all that aside for a while. And remember.
- Remember why we are celebrating in the first place!
- Remember Who we are celebrating!
- Read the Christmas story from Luke's gospel.
- Listen to some Christmas music, particularly some carols about the Birth of the Christ Child. (Save the Jingle Bells for another time!)
- Reflect on all the reasons you have for joy and thanksgiving at this season of the year. Make a list!
- Talk to God about how you are feeling. If your Christmas spirit has gone missing, tell Him about it! Ask Him to help you get it back!
"And she gave birth to her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger." (Luke 2:7 ESV)
Saturday, December 5, 2015
What's on Your List?
What's on your to-do list for today? Is it Christmas shopping? Or perhaps a Christmas parade? Maybe you're planning to wrap gifts. Or bake some Christmas cookies. Could it be that you have some decorating to finish or that you need to do some tidying up?
Our Christmas celebrations often involve all these things. We have lists of things to do. Often we need a master list to organize our lists!
In the midst of all this hustle-bustle, it's easy to lose sight of why we are doing all this in the first place.
Christmas is about celebrating Jesus!
We enjoy our cookies and our elves and our snowmen and our Santas. It's all great fun!
But how much time and energy are we spending actually celebrating Jesus?
How much time are we spending thinking about Him?
How much time have we spent reading the Bible?
How much time have we spent talking to someone about Jesus?
Did any of those things make it to our lists?
Something to think about!
Our Christmas celebrations often involve all these things. We have lists of things to do. Often we need a master list to organize our lists!
In the midst of all this hustle-bustle, it's easy to lose sight of why we are doing all this in the first place.
Christmas is about celebrating Jesus!
We enjoy our cookies and our elves and our snowmen and our Santas. It's all great fun!
But how much time and energy are we spending actually celebrating Jesus?
How much time are we spending thinking about Him?
How much time have we spent reading the Bible?
How much time have we spent talking to someone about Jesus?
Did any of those things make it to our lists?
Something to think about!
Friday, December 4, 2015
God Rest Ye Merry.....Let Nothing You Dismay
God rest ye merry, gentlemen,
Let nothing you dismay.
Remember Christ our Savior
Was born on Christmas Day.
So begins the well-known carol God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen. And no, I didn't put the comma in the wrong place. This is not a carol about some merry gentlemen! This carol, in its archaic language from many years ago, is calling gentlemen (and gentlewomen as well!) to remember the birth of Christ.
Because this is an older carol, and because words and phrases don't always mean the same thing today that they did originally, there's some disagreement about exactly what the phrase God rest ye merry actually means. Taking everything I've read about that phrase and putting it all together, it seems that the best way we can understand the phrase is to consider it to be roughly equivalent to our saying God bless you!
Because this is an older carol, and because words and phrases don't always mean the same thing today that they did originally, there's some disagreement about exactly what the phrase God rest ye merry actually means. Taking everything I've read about that phrase and putting it all together, it seems that the best way we can understand the phrase is to consider it to be roughly equivalent to our saying God bless you!
I've written about this before, in previous Christmas seasons. Perhaps it has become a tradition for me to wax eloquent about this carol. Actually, truth be told, I don't think I have ever waxed eloquent about anything! Or perhaps the reason I write every year about this particular line in this particular carol is that at this time every year there always is something going on that causes us dismay. A terror attack. Another shooting. Yet another economic disaster. Always something. In any event, here I am again to share a few thoughts about this carol.
A little research reveals that the composer of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen is unknown, and that there is record of it being sung within the Christian Church since the 15th century. The hymn was first put into print for the general public when William B. Sandy included a version of it in his publication Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern (1833), and it was subsequently added to various hymnals and carol books. In 1843 Charles Dickens included the song in his famous novel A Christmas Carol. That's reason enough for me to like it, since I'm a Dickens fan from way back!
But rather than dwelling on the carol's history, it's the second line of the carol that I am focusing on today. Let nothing you dismay.
Nothing.
Have you noticed how many people in our world today are dismayed? There's sadness and dismay and stress all around. And with good reason. There's busyness. And illness. And terrorism. And persecution. There's San Bernardino. And Paris. And other similar spots all around the globe. There are all sorts of valid reasons for being dismayed. For being fearful.
Have you also noticed how many times in the biblical account of Christ's birth the phrase "fear not" appears? Depending on your translation, fear not may read as don't be afraid. In other words, let nothing you dismay.
Nothing.
Many years ago I directed a children's choir musical titled Three Wise Men and a Baby. With a title like that you won't be surprised to learn that this was a humorous retelling of the Christmas story. One of my favorite scenes in this story involves the angel's announcement to the shepherds, which in this musical went something like this:
Angel (in a very deep voice from off stage): Fear not.
Shepherds: (screaming with fright)
Angel: Fear not.
Shepherds: (more frightful screaming)
Angel: I said 'Fear not.' What part of 'Fear not' are you not understanding?
I sometimes wonder if God might not like to ask us that question. What part of 'fear not' are you not understanding?
Without delving into all the other parts of Scripture where we are told not to be afraid, let's just consider these examples from the Christmas story:
A little research reveals that the composer of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen is unknown, and that there is record of it being sung within the Christian Church since the 15th century. The hymn was first put into print for the general public when William B. Sandy included a version of it in his publication Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern (1833), and it was subsequently added to various hymnals and carol books. In 1843 Charles Dickens included the song in his famous novel A Christmas Carol. That's reason enough for me to like it, since I'm a Dickens fan from way back!
But rather than dwelling on the carol's history, it's the second line of the carol that I am focusing on today. Let nothing you dismay.
Nothing.
Have you noticed how many people in our world today are dismayed? There's sadness and dismay and stress all around. And with good reason. There's busyness. And illness. And terrorism. And persecution. There's San Bernardino. And Paris. And other similar spots all around the globe. There are all sorts of valid reasons for being dismayed. For being fearful.
Have you also noticed how many times in the biblical account of Christ's birth the phrase "fear not" appears? Depending on your translation, fear not may read as don't be afraid. In other words, let nothing you dismay.
Nothing.
Many years ago I directed a children's choir musical titled Three Wise Men and a Baby. With a title like that you won't be surprised to learn that this was a humorous retelling of the Christmas story. One of my favorite scenes in this story involves the angel's announcement to the shepherds, which in this musical went something like this:
Angel (in a very deep voice from off stage): Fear not.
Shepherds: (screaming with fright)
Angel: Fear not.
Shepherds: (more frightful screaming)
Angel: I said 'Fear not.' What part of 'Fear not' are you not understanding?
I sometimes wonder if God might not like to ask us that question. What part of 'fear not' are you not understanding?
Without delving into all the other parts of Scripture where we are told not to be afraid, let's just consider these examples from the Christmas story:
"Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.'" (Matthew 1:20 ESV)
"But the angel said to him, 'Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.'" (Luke 1:13 ESV)
"And the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.'" (Luke 1:30 ESV)
"And the angel said to them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.'" (Luke 2:10 ESV)
Did these people have reason to fear? Sure they did. When was the last time an angel appeared and started talking to you? Don't you think you would be afraid? Think about the shepherds, out in the Judean hills in the darkness of night. Then suddenly the sky is bright with a host of angels, and as if that weren't frightening enough, one of the angels starts talking to them! I know that would frighten me a bit!
All of these people had a reason to be dismayed. And perhaps you do too. But the advice to each of them, and to each of us as well, is don't be afraid. Do not fear. Fear not.
However you say it, the message is the same. That's the message we get from this carol. Let nothing you dismay. Remember.
Remember that Christ has come. Remember why He came. Remember that God has a plan and a purpose for all things. Remember that God has it all under control. Remember.
God rest ye merry, gentlemen,
Let nothing you dismay,
Remember Christ our Savior
Was born on Christmas Day;
To save us all from Satan's power
When we were gone astray.
Let nothing you dismay,
Remember Christ our Savior
Was born on Christmas Day;
To save us all from Satan's power
When we were gone astray.
From God our heavenly Father
A blessed angel came;
And unto certain shepherds
Brought tiding of the same;
How that in Bethlehem was born
The Son of God by name.
"Fear not, then," said the angel,
"Let nothing you affright;
This day is born a Savior
Of a pure virgin bright,
To free all those who trust in him
From Satan's power and might."
Now to the Lord sing praises,
All you within this place,
And with true love and brotherhood
Each other now embrace;
this holy tide of Christmas
Doth bring redeeming grace.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy,
O tidings of comfort and joy!
Listen to God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Obc_Rro7zg8
Thursday, December 3, 2015
No Peace on Earth
"There is no peace on earth."
This line, from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, "Christmas Bells", may be a line ringing through many hearts and minds these days. Yesterday's shootings in San Bernadino, California, just adds to the lists of tragedies and terror attacks that fill our news feeds day after day. From Paris to Mali, across these United States, and all around our world, it seems there is no peace to be found.
When Longfellow penned these words in the mid-1860s, the United States was in the midst of civil war. Longfellow's wife had died, and one of his sons had been seriously injured in the war. Originally the poem had seven stanzas, with two of them referring specifically to the war. Eventually those two stanzas were removed, giving us the five stanzas that comprise the Christmas carol "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day".
Longfellow's dilemma mirrors our own in these difficult days. We sing Christmas carols about peace on earth. We read the Christmas story with the angelic proclamation of "Peace on earth, good will to men." Yet we look around us and see no peace. That was Longfellow's world, just as it is ours.
"Hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will to men."
Longfellow's bells proclaimed a truth we would do well to remember in these troublesome times. The bells pealed "loud and deep" that "God is not dead, nor doth He sleep." The Psalmist proclaimed the same truth when he told us in Psalm 121 that God neither slumbers nor sleeps.
Longfellow affirmed another powerful truth of Scripture when he wrote, "The wrong shall fail, the right prevail." These words echo Daniel 9:24: "to finish the transgression, to make and end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness."
Just as Longfellow did, we live in a world where there is no peace. A world where violence is increasing. We life in challenging times, both politically and personally.
Even so, we can be at peace, in spite of the turmoil around us. In spite of financial stress and difficult relationships. In spite of loss. In spite of shootings and terror attacks.
That's why Jesus came.
To bring us peace..
Because He is the Prince of Peace.
"For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:7 NASB, emphasis mine)
"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts." (Colossians 3:13a NASB)
Do you know this kind of peace? Do you know the Prince of Peace? If not, why not turn to Him today?
When Longfellow penned these words in the mid-1860s, the United States was in the midst of civil war. Longfellow's wife had died, and one of his sons had been seriously injured in the war. Originally the poem had seven stanzas, with two of them referring specifically to the war. Eventually those two stanzas were removed, giving us the five stanzas that comprise the Christmas carol "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day".
Longfellow's dilemma mirrors our own in these difficult days. We sing Christmas carols about peace on earth. We read the Christmas story with the angelic proclamation of "Peace on earth, good will to men." Yet we look around us and see no peace. That was Longfellow's world, just as it is ours.
"Hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will to men."
Longfellow's bells proclaimed a truth we would do well to remember in these troublesome times. The bells pealed "loud and deep" that "God is not dead, nor doth He sleep." The Psalmist proclaimed the same truth when he told us in Psalm 121 that God neither slumbers nor sleeps.
Longfellow affirmed another powerful truth of Scripture when he wrote, "The wrong shall fail, the right prevail." These words echo Daniel 9:24: "to finish the transgression, to make and end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness."
Just as Longfellow did, we live in a world where there is no peace. A world where violence is increasing. We life in challenging times, both politically and personally.
Even so, we can be at peace, in spite of the turmoil around us. In spite of financial stress and difficult relationships. In spite of loss. In spite of shootings and terror attacks.
That's why Jesus came.
To bring us peace..
Because He is the Prince of Peace.
"For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:7 NASB, emphasis mine)
"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts." (Colossians 3:13a NASB)
Do you know this kind of peace? Do you know the Prince of Peace? If not, why not turn to Him today?
I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
And in despair I bowed my head:
"There is no peace on earth," I said,
"For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men."
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men."
Till, ringing singing, on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
Of peace on earth, good will to men!
(-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)
Listen to the Gaither Vocal Band sing this carol here:
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Silence
Silence. It's a hard thing to come by at this time of year.
Everywhere we go, there's noise. Everywhere we go, people are in a hurry.
Have you noticed how many more car horns you are hearing these days?
Have you noticed how people always seem to be rushing about?
Have you noticed the noise in the malls and the shops?
Have you noticed the stress on people's faces?
All that may well be similar to what the world was like when Christ was born. Without the malls and automobile horns, of course. People were likely busy with their lives, hustling and bustling about with the activities of daily living. Their world was not unlike ours in that regard.
And into that world, with its busyness and its noise and its daily routines, Jesus came.
No one even noticed.
It's still the same, isn't it? We're busy and our world is full of noise. Even though we hear and sing carols about Christ the Savior being born, not many are really paying that much attention. We put out our nativity sets and we sing our carols and we send our Christmas cards, but far too often all that is only done out of a sense of habit. It's December. Christmas is here, and this is what we do.
We buy candy hearts for Valentine's Day. And we wave our flags in July. We buy pumpkins in October. And we talk about Jesus in December. It's what we do.
How sad it is that in all our busyness and routines and noise, we too often lose sight of the reason we are doing all these things.
One of the carols we seldom sing, with words dating back to the 3rd century, says "Let all mortal flesh keep silence."
Silence. It's what's often missing at Christmas time.
How much better might we understand the magnitude of the Gift we have been given and the reason for our celebrating, if we would take some time for silence. Some time to be still. Some time to ponder. Some time to worship.
It may be challenging to find time for silence.
But it will be worth the effort.
How sad it is that in all our busyness and routines and noise, we too often lose sight of the reason we are doing all these things.
One of the carols we seldom sing, with words dating back to the 3rd century, says "Let all mortal flesh keep silence."
Silence. It's what's often missing at Christmas time.
How much better might we understand the magnitude of the Gift we have been given and the reason for our celebrating, if we would take some time for silence. Some time to be still. Some time to ponder. Some time to worship.
It may be challenging to find time for silence.
But it will be worth the effort.
Let all mortal flesh keep silence,
and with fear and trembling stand;
ponder nothing earthly-minded,
for with blessing in his hand,
Christ our God to earth descendeth,
our full homage to demand.
Text: Liturgy of St. James; trans. by Gerard Moultrie
Music: French carol melody; harm. from The English Hymnal
Tune: PICARDY
Music: French carol melody; harm. from The English Hymnal
Tune: PICARDY
Click here to listen to Fernando Ortega sing this carol: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wl4u8lnDQs
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