Wednesday Prayers

Good morning, and thank you so much for your continued prayers.  This work is so important.  It matters.  It makes a difference.  I love the verse in Revelation 5:9 where John describes the Elders who are each holding a harp and a bowl filled with incense.  Then John tells us that the incense is the prayers of the saints.  Think about that for a few minutes; your prayers are so important that they are kept in the bowls held by the 24 Elders!  They are so pleasing to God that they are viewed as incense (and in Heaven we won't be bothered with allergic reactions to incense!).

There are a few urgent needs this week that require our attention.  However please remember that prayer is so much more than rattling off a list of needs.  Remember to take time today and through the week to just stop the busy-ness of life and spend some quiet time with God reflecting on Who He Is. 

I have been writing about the attributes of God found in the Westminster Shorter Catechism lately. 

"God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable, in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth."

This week we come to the attribute of God's goodness.  Oh how I love to think about this one!  God's goodness is so big that we can not see the ends of it in space or in time.  It goes out and in and through all the universe, from the biggest parts to the smallest without ever stopping.  It has no beginning in time, and will never end, even when time itself ends.  It is exactly the same today as it was before He created time, and the same as it will be when time ends.  There are many questions asked about God's goodness when people look at the world we live in.  There are many really good answers.  There are many people who have suffered (and still suffer) who will eagerly share God's goodness in suffering.  But for today, rather than focus on those questions, focus instead on the truth and the limitlessness and the constancy of the goodness of God itself.  Pray through these needs, but as you do, pray that the person involved will experience and see the goodness of God.

1. Garrett is a little boy who is very ill with something the doctors can not figure out.  He is in the hospital and suffering with a great deal of pain.
2. Michelle is a young lady with cancer.  The family has called hospice and her days are short.
3. Brian is facing major back surgery in the near future.
4. Mark (not my Mr. Marvelous) will be having total knee replacement soon.
5. You all have people in your group of friends who have experienced the death of someone they love dearly.  Please remember to pray for them today.  
6. Pray for your Pastor.  Pray that he will be diligent in preparing his sermon for this week.  Pray that he will be attentive to what God is asking him to say.  Pray that he will be bold in speaking the Truth of God's word.  Pray that the Holy Spirit will pierce our hearts as we listen.  Pray too for his family!

Please feel free to leave a comment with other needs.  They will be prayed over.

God's peace to your home. 

Monday Memories: Names Project

 

In 2011 I took on a project for Advent.  I decided to read through the Gospels looking for descriptive names of Jesus (the link to the first one is here).  By Epiphany I had finished the Gospels and decided to go on and finish the New Testament.  In a cool twist of timing, I finished the book of Revelation at Easter 2012.  So I decided to go on and work through the Old Testament.  Then I decided that in addition to looking for Jesus in the Old Testament, I would also look for God the Father and the Holy Spirit.  The entire project took me until early November of 2015 ~ almost 4 years.  I was not eager to rush through this (obviously!).  I decided early on that this is a project worth taking a lifetime if necessary. 

This year, Mr. Marvelous wanted to do his Bible reading using a chronological Read Through The Bible plan.  He found this outline and shared it with me.  We are having an interesting time reading through together this year. 

I discovered something though, especially as we have been reading through Job this past week or two.  Every time I read through, I find names and descriptions of God that I missed.  Sometimes it is because the description is implicit, rather than an explicit name.  For example, consider the following from Job 37 as Elihu is speaking to Job:

“Hear this, O Job;
    stop and consider the wondrous works of God.
¹⁵ Do you know how God lays his command upon them
    and causes the lightning of his cloud to shine?
¹⁶ Do you know the balancings of the clouds,
    the wondrous works of him who is perfect in knowledge,
¹⁷ you whose garments are hot
    when the earth is still because of the south wind?

 The words in red are the obvious: God, God, Him who is perfect in knowledge.  But look again.  This time notice the words in blue:

“Hear this, O Job;
    stop and consider the wondrous works of God.
¹⁵ Do you know how God lays his command upon them
    and causes the lightning of his cloud to shine?
¹⁶ Do you know the balancings of the clouds,
    the wondrous works of him who is perfect in knowledge,
¹⁷ you whose garments are hot
    when the earth is still because of the south wind?

God is the one who does wondrous works (which of course implies that He is Himself wondrous).  God is the Commander (I love that one!).  God causes the lightning of his clouds to shine.  God is the one who balances the clouds.  And again, God is the doer of wondrous works.  

There is so much depth and richness to this study.  

When I started the book of Genesis, I was talking with a young friend and explaining to her just what I was doing.  I showed her my jar that held the New Testament names and descriptions of Jesus.  Her eyes got a little big and she said, "Mrs. Virginia, I think you are going to need a very big aquarium to finish this!".

Yes Kaleigh, I probably will!  When I undertook this project I told myself (and a few others) that there was no deadline and no rush.  It was a project of a lifetime, so it was permissible to take a lifetime to complete it.  As the project expands, I will probably be looking for an old, cracked fish tank as Mr. Marvelous and I wander through yard sales.  I hope that if I live to be 93, I will still be putting Names and descriptions into that with my Grandchildren.  And sharing what I find with the people who come to visit.

May the Truth of these descriptions pierce our hearts.  

His peace to your homes.

Sunday!

Look what God did!

“For you shall go out in joy
    and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
    shall break forth into singing,
    and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. 

Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
    instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall make a name for the Lord,
    an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

       Isaiah 55:12,13        

Friday

Find a cool place to hang out this weekend.

And remember to honor the One who created it!

His peace to your hearts and homes.

Thirty Years

Thirty-one years ago ~ I know, but I'm giving you the back-story, so hang in there with me for a paragraph or two ~ thirty-one years ago I was student teaching in Bristol, Tennessee.  I was assigned to a third grade classroom with a delightful master-teacher.  Mrs. Burke was the kind of woman every one wished they could be assigned to.  There was another teacher in the school, a young man who was fascinated with space.  He desperately wanted to explore and when the Teachers In Space program was initiated he began the application process.  He made it all the way to the final selection for the state of Tennessee before being eliminated.  I learned a lot about the Space Shuttle program that year, just from sitting quietly grading papers and listening to him talk to the other teachers. 

After graduation I landed a job in Gainseville, Georgia.  It was a small church-school with atrocious pay.  I was hired to teach the 6th and 7th combined classroom.  I was teaching 11 subjects a day (we combined the Bible class).  The second semester we had someone who came in and taught PE and another volunteer who handled music, so that I would have some time to catch my breath. 

On January 28th I wanted my students to be able to watch the Challenger launch.  Like many other class-rooms around the country, we had been talking about space a lot leading up to this historic launch.  We were all excited about it.  Then I got the word that the PE teacher had to have that time slot for PE that day.  There was no getting around it.  We were disappointed, but since the only television available was a very, very small portable unit in the church secretary's office, and since I was sure that the news channels would be re-running the launch that evening, I assigned the kids to watch the news that night and go on to PE during that hour.

I walked over to the church office and stuck my head into the secretary's office.  She invited me to come on in and watch the launch with her and the pastor.  We huddled around that tiny little television just in time to catch the final minute or two of the countdown.  And the blast-off.  And the rockets going in two different directions. 

Wait a minute, was it supposed to look like that??

Photo from CBS news

No.   No it was not.  

Word about the disaster spread quickly through the school.  I thought the PE teacher was going to hit the floor when she heard the news.  My students were understandably shaken up, distressed, disbelieving.  There were a few tears from some of the young ladies.  But these kids knew what their responsibility was in the face of this disaster.  So we bowed our heads together and began to pray. 

Several years later we took a family vacation to Ft. Lauderdale, FL to visit my sister and her family.  On the way home we stopped at Kennedy Space Center where Junior and I went and saw the Challenger Memorial.  I shared with him my memories of the day.  He slipped his little hand into mine and stood there with me as we looked at the names. 

Photo from NASA

They are remembered today.  

May the peace of God ~ not of man but of God Himself ~ shelter their families as they work through yet another anniversary of the tragedy.  May those who have rejected Him be drawn to His love and grace.  May those who know Him be drawn even closer to His comfort and peace.

Wednesday Prayers

Between slow internet, illness, and the stuff of life that has been going on I have not been very consistent about writing in the past six weeks or so.  The internet is now changed, I am just about over the crud, and life seems to be settling down, so I am getting back into the habit of daily writing.  I miss it when I am not doing it!

There are plenty of needs that need to be taken to God today.  There are a lot of things for which we need to thank Him.  However this week rather than focus on intercessory prayer, I want to focus on God.  I want to challenge you to take a day to pray to God without a request list.

Back in November I posted this about prayer.  Today I want to pick back up with that.  The next attribute in the list I have is justice.  We crave justice in our world, don't we?  We read about the Grand Jury who instead of bringing an indictment against Planned Parenthood for the horror of not only killing unborn babies but also selling their body parts, chose to indict the makers of the video that exposed this heinous practice.  We hear about the atrocities of ISIS murdering Christians.  We read of high-ranking politicians who blithely engage in criminal activities, knowing that they will never be brought to justice over these things.  We yearn for justice and cry out about injustice.  We even go so far sometimes as to ask God, "WHERE ARE YOU???!!!".

He is right here beside us.  He alone is perfectly just. 

Because of the sin that entangles all of us, our justice is perverted.  Sometimes that is easier to see than at other times.  But God.  God alone is perfectly Just.  His justice is infinite, having no limits or boundaries in space ~ it extends to the farthest reaches of the universe that HE created.  His justice is eternal.  It has no beginning point and no ending point.  His justice is unchangeable.  It is the same today that it was before time was created.  It is the same today that it will be after time ceases.  That is a comforting thought.  It is also a little frightening.  Think about your life this morning.  Has there been any sin of injustice in your life today?  Not just actions, but thoughts?  Were you irritable with your child, your spouse, your co-worker?  Did you take credit for something someone else accomplished?  Did you blame someone else for your own mistakes?  Do you desire God's justice for your own sin? 

God's justice is perfect.  It is unlimited.  He will right the wrongs that you have suffered in your life.  He will "take care of things". 

In your prayers today, think about God's justice.  Think about what it really means for Him to be perfectly and completely just.  Remember that you are charged with reflecting Him to the world around you.  You are called to show Him to the world in the way you live your life; the things you say, the way you treat the people around you, the things you do.  Be thankful that His justice is tempered with mercy; that our Saviour Jesus Christ accepted the consequences of God's justice for us.

Pray today for God's justice.  Pray that you will reflect His true and perfect justice. 

“The Rock, his work is perfect,
    for all his ways are justice.
A God of faithfulness and without iniquity,
    just and upright is he.

They have dealt corruptly with him;
    they are no longer his children because they are blemished;

 they are a crooked and twisted generation. 

Deuteronomy 32:4-5    

May His peace fill your heart and home.  May you reflect His justice to the world around you.

Monday Morning Memories....on Tuesday

Once upon a time there was a little family who lived in the country on a little hill.  They loved country life.  They had chickens, rabbits, a garden, and they even tried raising bees until Mama got stung and swelled up like a monster.  They loved their little country home and life. 

They realized that while country life was the life for them, they did still need a few modern conveniences.  They could do without television service, and managed for a while without trash pick-up.  But they did find that having internet service made it possible for Papa to keep his job, and Mama to stay connected to the world (for better or worse).

Therefore, when they moved onto their little hill, they called around to find a company who could provide internet service up their little hill.  They were surprised to find that in this day and age that was not as easy as one might expect  However they finally found a company who said that they could provide internet and phone service, so they signed the contract and were happy. 

Over time a few problem cropped up.  If a check was not mailed 2 weeks before it was due, they would claim that they did not receive it by the due date and charge a penalty fee.  Because if they did not receive the mail that Mama sent, it was Mama's fault.  A few times the bill did not arrive at the little house until the day it was due.  Mama sent the payment in with a note about when the bill was received and the next month she discovered a late fee on the bill because last month's payment had been late.  It seems that if Mama does not receive her mail in time that is also Mama's fault.  For a while Mama paid her bills in person at the office, but then the company decided to close that office down to "save costs".  Mama had to resort to paying her bill on-line.  Until that became a problem.

Over time, the speed of the internet became slower and slower.  Papa got a new job that required him to work from home ~ using the internet ~ periodically.  As time went on, the internet became slower and slower.  If Papa were home working, Mama could not use the internet.  In the afternoons when the neighbors came home from work and their children came home from school, they needed the internet and sometimes Papa and Mama could not use it at all. 

One day Papa received a letter in the mail from the company saying that if he would call them right away he could sign up for new, faster service and lock into a low rate for that service for a life-time.  Papa was VERY happy to get this news!  He called the company right away and said he wanted to take advantage of this wonderful offer.  As he talked to the helpful person on the phone, he realized that they sounded a little hesitant about the wonderful offer.  Finally they admitted, "Sir, we can not provide that service where you live" ????  It seemed that not only could they not guarantee that new, faster, better service where Papa and Mama lived, they admitted that they could not even guarantee the service for which Papa and Mama were paying a hefty fee each month. 

Papa began to look around at other companies to see who could provide internet service to the little house on the hill.  Sadly, no one was able to. 

One day a neighbor called Papa to tell him that a lawyer was coming!  The lawyer was going to talk to the neighborhood about getting better service!  Maybe even getting what they were paying for!!  Papa and Mama talked and decided to go to the meeting.  After listening to the lawyer, Papa and Mama were sad to realize that the lawyer was not living in the same world that they were, but in some alternate reality universe where the internet company would listen to the lawyer and do what the lawyer thought they should do.  And pay the lawyer a lot of money.

The months went on.  Internet service became worse and worse with each month.  Mama was sad because every month she had to pay the company lots of money.  Every month the service was worse and worse.  Sometimes just for fun, Papa or Mama would call the company and ask if there was a problem in their area making their service so poor.  The helpful irritated people at the company never really seemed to be able to answer that question. 

Finally one month Papa did a speed test.  He discovered that even though he was paying for one speed, he was really only getting speeds 1/12th as fast as what he was buying.  That day Papa, who was supposed to work from home because it was Christmas Eve, had to go to the office to work.  Papa was NOT HAPPY.  The next week, Papa called a nice man at a brand-new company.  The nice man said he could help!  The nice man said that he would be happy to give Papa new service with faster internet for a better price.  The nice man made it very easy to get the new service.

Papa called Mama.  They were afraid to be too hopeful because the old, big company had made so many promises.  But they decided to go ahead and see if the nice man was telling the truth.  Within just a few days, there were more nice men at their little house on the little hill.  The next day another nice man came to the little house on the little hill.  That evening Papa and Mama had NEW INTERNET SERVICE.   THAT WORKED!!  Papa tested the speed of the new internet service.  He could hardly believe his eyes; it was FAST!  Papa discovered that every single time he checked, the internet service was still just as fast as the nice man had promised it would be.  Papa called Windstream the old, tired, sad internet service provider and told them that he would not need them any more.  The woman at Windstream the old, tired, sad internet service provider asked if Papa would still use them if they gave Papa a faster speed?  Papa said that he had been told he could not get that speed at the little house on the little hill.  The woman at Windstream the old, tired, sad company said, "Oh". 

And that, boys and girls, is how Papa and Mama wound up at USA Cable network the nice, new internet service provider instead of Windstream the old, tired, sad company.

Monday Morning

I am getting the happy hat ready and practicing the dance of joy.  Tomorrow our new internet company is coming over to get us all installed.  The blog WILL return....!

Christmas Eve!

Lion of Judah

(with apologies to those who have read this before)

Lion of Judah, Lamb of God,

On this night the Creator of all things

          seen and unseen,

Humbled Himself to be born

          in a lowly condition,

And accepted for Himself a limited human body.

He who spoke the universe into existence

          Must now learn to talk.

He who taught cheetahs and gazelles to run

          Must now learn to walk.

He who fashioned whole galaxies with His hand

          Can barely grasp His mother's finger

          with His weak, tiny, human fist.

And He who abhors even the concept of evil,

          Must become my sin,

                    Suffer my guilt,

                              Bear my punishment

                                        For my redemption.

My praises, my worship, my exultation

          Will transcend even that of angels.

My song will rise and spread to fill heaven.

          I am no longer captive!

This earth can not hold me, for

          This baby so tender,

                    This man of compassion,

                              My victorious Savior,

                                        My risen Lord,

                                                  Lion of Judah,

                                                            Lamb of God

                      Has made me His very own.

copyright Virginia Akin 2002

May the Lord bless you and keep you,

And give you the strength, courage, and grace,
and peace,

That you need each day

During this Christmas Season

And the coming year 

Little Christmas Eve: Guest Post

Today we have a guest post from my favorite writer: my Dad!  I know a number of people who are struggling this Christmas with burdens and heart-break.  Here is one of my favorite of his articles.

It's Okay To Cry At Christmas

 

Many years ago, just two days before Christmas, a young woman lay in her bed weeping uncontrollably.  This last incident which devastated her so might seem so trivial it was hardly worth a single tear; but wait before you make rash judgment on her, and listen to her story.  You may find yourself crying with her.

In many ways her life had been one tragedy after another, with only a relatively few happy days to remember.  While still a very little girl just starting second grade, her mother died suddenly at the age of 29.  For her grief stricken father this was the second wife he had lost to early death.  Because his work carried him far from home, his daughter went to live with her favorite aunt.  But that was not a very happy time, for her uncle by marriage was a scoundrel and stole the little girl's meager heritage from her dead mother.  Within two more years this aunt, her foster mother, died too.  Then her Father became ill, and after a lingering illness, he died.  This made three parents she had lost in six years.  Again she went to live with another Aunt who was good to her, and whose husband also was as a second father.  

However, the sorrow of death of her dear parents still haunted her.  She felt as if she really didn't belong to anyone.  She finished high school and college before she reached the age of twenty and then went to work supporting herself.  She still longed for a family of her own, which she thought she would never have.  Life went on for several more years until one summer she went to visit the Aunt who had taken her in after her parents and foster mother had died.  There was a handsome young man in that town just back from the war in Europe who caught her eye, and whose eyes bugged wide open when he saw her. 

Within a few months they were married.

At long last it seemed that life was going to be much better, and it was.  Soon they were expecting their first child and she could hardly wait for the coming birth.  Tragedy struck again, and the little boy ~ perfectly formed and beautiful ~ died in the trauma of birth.  She had never known such grief as this.  But before too long she was pregnant again, and this time a sweet little girl was born alive and healthy, to be followed in the next few years by three more children.  Life was good again.  Her husband's business was growing and prospering.  They built a new home.  He was elected to the city council, and all was well.  

Then dark clouds once more closed in on her life.  The Great Depression which devastated this country in the 1930's wiped out their business almost overnight.  Soon the new house had to go and on top of that, just after moving into a dingy little two room apartment with four children, she discovered she was pregnant once more. 

It got worse.  As the depression deepened, and no work could be found by her husband, they were forced to sell many of their possessions to buy food and pay rent.

Shortly after the fifth and last baby was born, her husband found work; a thousand miles away from home!  There was no choice; he had to go or the family would starve.  He was gone almost two years.  From his meager salary, he was able to send home a little money and even baskets of food from time to time.  In that dismal time, a few days before Christmas, he sent her the usual monthly check for the bare necessities of life.  From that pittance she managed to save back seven dollar bills to provide a meager Christmas for her children.  Then once more, like the straw that broke the camel's back, tragedy struck.  She was only out of the room for a few moments, but while she was gone the baby boy, now a little over two years old, found the pretty pieces of paper lying on the table.  He managed to drag them down, and merrily tossed them into the fire.  When she came back into the room she saw the last of her Christmas dinner and her hopes going up in smoke.  

It was too much.  This was the low point of a very sad life.  It couldn't get any worse.  All night she wept and prayed and longed for her husband, but sleep would not come.  Finally, at day break, she arose wearily from her bed to face the day before Christmas with little hope, and no joy at all.  It would take a miracle even to have a meal on Christmas day.  Still she prayed.  When the mail man came that last day before Christmas she found a letter from her best friend from college days whom she had not seen for years.  She opened the letter, and the miracle happened.  Inside the note was a crisp new ten dollar bill, and a wish for a Merry Christmas.  Later that day a box of toys for the children came from the same dear friend.

There were many long hard years ahead, but in spite of everything, Christmas was very special that year.  Before the next one rolled around, her husband found work in the town where they lived, and life slowly improved in every way.  She had many years to enjoy life and the family God had given her.

You see, the young woman was my dear mother, and the baby boy who tried to ruin her Christmas was me.

Yes, my mother cried all night just before Christmas Eve, as she had many times before and after but that was okay.  She had plenty of reason for her tears.  I am confident she will never cry again, for she is with the Lord, who promised He would wipe away every tear from her eyes, and He has done just that.

Many of you who read this during this Christmas season have plenty of reasons for tears too.  God has never told us not to cry, just that one day He will wipe away all our tears.  What tears were shed in Bethlehem that terrible day when Herod's butchers killed all the little baby boys from two years old and under, a tragedy difficult to even imagine.  Listen to that lament in Matthew's Gospel as he quoted from Jeremiah the Prophet.  "A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted because they are no more."

But the path our Savior would walk in His short life was tear-strewn too.  Despised and forsaken, betrayed and abused, tortured and finally killed, Jesus wept.  He wept when His best friend died.  He wept when He saw the people of Jerusalem reject Him and seal their own fate.  He wept in the bitter garden of Gethsemane.  He wept when His Beloved Father forsook Him on the cross.

All the sorrows, disappointments and failures which wring tears from your broken heart, He understands, for He endured them all and far more.  

I know for some of you this Christmas is especially difficult.  It may be the first one you have faced since that dear one died, or your marriage was torn apart, or your life just seemed to cave in.  You feel destitute, lonely, and forsaken.  Like my poor mother so many years ago you have endured what seems to be the straw that broke the camel's back, and your heart.  I can not tell you that things in this world will get better for you; they may or may not.  I can't tell you the worst is over, or even that there will be a ten dollar bill and a box of toys in the next days' mail.  But what I can and do tell you is that our God has told us that when all the final effects of Christmas have taken place there will never again be a reason to cry, except for sheer, unending joy.  For "There will be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, nor pain, nor curse, for all these former things will pass away.  And His servants will serve Him, and they shall see His face, and there shall be no night there, for the Lord God gives them light, and they shall reign forever and ever."

Yes, it's okay to cry at Christmas if your heart is sad.  Tears are God's gift for now.  But He has better things in store for you in heaven where you'll never weep again or have any reason for tears.  No doubt many of you will be participating in a Christmas Eve communion service.  The supper displayed before you will remind you of that night long ago when Jesus was eating the Passover with His disciples.  The Word tells us He was deeply grieved and troubled at heart, saying, "One of you will betray me, and all of you will forsake me."  A little later when alone in the garden, He fell on His face and wept sorely with a breaking heart.  But though weeping may endure for a night, joy comes in the morning; and so it did on that morning we call Easter, and so it shall on that morning we will call Glory.

If you have tears to shed over the sorrows of your broken heart and shattered dreams, then let them flow freely with no shame.  But never forget that God will wipe away all tears from your eyes and heart.

Years after I had burned up the family Christmas, my mother told me that she had taken me to bed with her, and both of us cried most of the night.  But before she got up she had hugged and kissed away my tears.  I think that is exactly what God plans to do with you and me when the time comes, for He said, "Even as a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you, and you will be comforted."  

So if you can't dry your tears tonight, it's okay.  God will.

That's what Christmas, and the Christmas Eve communion are all about.  It's okay if your tears mingle with His when you drink the cup, for after His tears and yours, joy comes because of Christmas.  Believe this.  Go ahead and shed your tears on Christmas.  Then wait in faith for Him to dry your tears; and He will wipe away all tears from your eyes forever and ever.  That will be the fulfillment of all our hopes and dreams, and that glorious Christmas will last forever and ever.

 

May the light of Christmas,

the hope of the resurrection,

the assurance of the Saviour's glorious return,

and His peace,

surround your hearts and homes

with comfort this Christmas. 

The Twenty Four Days of Christmas: Day Eighteen

Looks like my cat is ready for Christmas....

The Twenty Four Days of Christmas

Forty seven years ago our country was in the middle of the Vietnam War.  The USSR was still a frightening power-house, and we still had fears of nuclear holocaust.  We often look back with nostalgia to the 50's and 60's, but those years had their own challenges.  The world has been a tragic, difficult place since Adam and Eve sinned.  I will agree that what church-people label "common grace" seems to be diminishing over time, but awfulness and evil have been around for a long, long time. 

Forty-seven years ago my Preacher-Father looked at the world in which he was trying to raise five children and shepherd two-hundred or so church members.  He recognized that the world was indeed a tragic place.  He thought and prayed and worked over a sermon series that would acknowledge the tragedy of our world, and point to the hope of a Saviour.  He began writing a four-sermon series about the tragedy of the world, pointing out that the world was a fairly tragic and frightening place back around the time of the Roman conquest of Israel. 

Mary's pregnancy was glorious, but it brought the potential that she would be stoned to death.

Joseph's dreams for his upcoming wedding and a quiet, peaceful life with Mary were shattered when she came to him and said, "I'm pregnant". 

Rome was not a kind and gentle conqueror.  Herod was no beneficent magnate.  A seventy mile journey by foot or donkey was no pleasure jaunt.  There were no excuses accepted for one's very pregnant wife. 

King David had many, many descendants.  His city was crowded, leaving no inn rooms available. 

Have you been inside a stable lately?  Even when it has been mucked out, it is not exactly a pleasant place.  No anti-microbial soap, no sterile drapes. 

The world was not a fairy-tale place back when Jesus was born. 

Then consider the need for his birth.  It wasn't just Adam and Eve who sinned; we add to the burden of human sin every hour of every day.  In yesterday's post I talked a little about the holiness of God and how His perfect holiness makes our sinfulness something that can not be in His presence. 

There you have it.  We are unacceptable to God.  The Romans have invaded.  A young woman is pregnant.  She and her husband are forced to travel by foot in the last days of her pregnancy to a crowded village where there is no quiet, private place for her to give birth. 

And we think our world is a mess??

All those factors would seem overwhelming, wouldn't they?  Except.

Except that a baby was born into this frightening, tragic, miserable place.  A treasure.  A king.  A redeemer.  A saviour.  He grew up.  He worked hard.  He had compassion.  He taught.  He healed.  He prayed.  He forgave.  He was innocent.  He was accused.  He suffered separation from God.  He died.  He conquered.  He came back to life.

Dad's sermons became a book which is my favorite Christmas book. 

If you read this book, you will find the following at the very beginning:

The following sermon was preached on Christmas day, 1968 at the annual Christmas communion service.  Just two days before, on December 23rd, word was received of the tragic death of First Lt. L. Curis Wuestenberg.  Curt was one of the fine young members of Second Church, who gave his life for his country in the Viet Nam conflict.  He was the son and grandson of some of our most devoted church members.  Although the sermon was prepared several days before news came of Curt's death, it seemed even more urgent that this message be delivered to a sorrowing congregation whose feeling towards each of its members is one of intesne love and filial devotion.  The pastor shared in these feelings of sorrow and hurt no less than any others, but the God of all comfort spoke to his own heart through the message he was commissioned to deliver.  It is my prayer that this message may bring comfort and true Christian hope to all who sorrow, but especially at Christmas time.  

The pastor penned these words as a tribute to Curt in the Women of the Church newsletter which went out to the congregation shortly after Christmas.  With these word, this sermon is lovingly dedicated to the Glory of God and to the memory of Curt with whom there was a strong bond of deep affection and mutual esteem.

"When Abraham Lincoln breathed his last breath, the attending physician was heard to murmur, 'Now he belongs to history'.  So Curt Wuestenberg, who so recently laid down his life for his country and for freedom, now belongs in the long line of those who have gone before him in giving the last full measure of devotion.  Just as Curt won a special place in the hearts of all who were privileged to know him, so now he has won his own niche in history, in the hall of heroes.  We mourn his passing, for he will be sorely missed, but we rejoice in his victory and his entrance into the presence of the living God, and the Lord Jesus Christ in whom he trusted for his salvation."

The world and our life in it is difficult.

God is triumphant.

This Christmas as you think about what He did for you, 

may His peace fill your hearts and your homes.

Wednesday Prayers

Thank you for your continued work of prayer.  It seems that this time of year is so difficult for so many people.  There are people who are desperately trying to "get in the spirit of Christmas" without having a clue what Christmas is really all about.  There are people who are suffering through that first Christmas without someone.  There are those who have husbands or wives in harm's way and don't know when they will be back home again.  There are those who are ill or have just gotten a dreadful diagnosis.  May God's people be generous with our joy and compassion.  May God give us His wisdom to find those who are particularly in need this week and next.

As we think through praying through the attributes of God, this week let's focus on God's holiness.  It is God's holiness that creates our need for a Messiah to come.  Our sinfulness must be transformed somehow for God to be able to even look at us.  His holiness is so great it has no limits.  Holiness means being without the stain of sin.  If God's holiness is perfect and unlimited ~ and it is ~ then there can not be any sin in His presence.  His holiness can not tolerate sin.  Because of that, our least sin (and let's be honest; we are covered with sinful thoughts, motives, and actions) makes us intolerable to God.  So Jesus came.  In His life, work, death, and resurrection, we are changed.  When we are able to get a glimpse of what God's holiness means, we are able to appreciate even more what Jesus has done.

As we pray this week, let's pray particularly that we will reflect God's holiness to the people around us.  Pray that we will be bold in grabbing hold of opportunities to tell people about God's holiness, how we have been changed, and how they may also be changed.

Please also remember the following needs ~ including the need to give thanks! ~ through this week:

1.  Princess Catherine had a good check-up with her cardiologist.
2. Nancy's chemo went well.  She gets to have a break until after Christmas.
3. Sandra found out this week that she has stage II breast cancer.  Please pray for wisdom for her doctors and herself and for her physical and spiritual health.
4. Dana is facing her one-year mark without her dear husband.  Please pray for her and her daughters this Christmas
5. Kate had a good check up with her oncologist!  Please pray for this young lady as she is working hard over the next week to make Christmas a little more cheerful for others dealing with cancer.
6. Nikki had a heart attack last week.  Because of her chronic disease, the doctors are struggling to treat her appropriately.  Please pray for her and her family and pray for wisdom for her doctors.
7. Remember to pray for all the students who are working their way through final exams.
8. Remember to pray for all the teachers who are working their way through final exams.
9. Please do not forget to pray for your pastors this week!

Be  bold to share the glory and the joy of the Christmas story with those around you.

Immanuel.

He came!

And He is coming back.

God's peace to your hearts and homes.

The Twenty Four Days of Christmas: Day Fifteen

As I was growing up my family always had Advent candles.  Evey year around Thanksgiving time we would go find some fir trees and delicately (!) hack a few small branches.  Mom would take these home and pull out the square of styrofoam (it was the same piece for as long as I could remember).  She would artistically twine and drape the branches into a circle (thus proving that a round wreath fits quite well onto a square styrofoam base).  There were holes in each corner and one in the middle.  As children we were quick to burn those holes a little "better" each year so that eventually Mom had to resort to little candle holders at each corner and in the middle.

We then went to Roses where we would look for four white candles and one red/purple/gold candle.

Et voila!  The wreath was ready for the first Sunday in Advent.  Five candles and five children.  How perfect!  Except that we always argued over who went last the year before.  Because whoever went last got to light the candles on CHRISTMAS DAY.  And by the way, got to light all five candles instead of a measly one.  So for once, we jostled and argued over who got to go last.  And who got to pinch the candles out after Sunday dinner.

I have tried to continue this tradition in my home.  It's a little different having just one child instead of five, but as a family the three of us have enjoyed this tradition over the years.

This year our church is lighting Advent candles each Sunday.  Mr. Marvelous and I were honored to light the second candle.  Up at the front of the church behind the pulpit are the banners celebrating the Advent candles.  Hope.  Love.  Joy.  Peace.

As we are walking through the Advent season, our pastor is using the Sunday School hour to talk about Advent in more detail.  Last Sunday I was struck by the progression of the candles.  Hope.  Love.  Joy.  Peace.

Think about that for a moment and let it sink in.

Think about the culture under Roman dominion and trying desperately to keep themselves separate.  Struggling to be obedient to the necessity of the Levitical law.  Hanging by a thread to the hope of God's promises.

Hope then finds its culmination in Love.

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.  In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
  
Which circles back and increases the hope.

From love we move on to Joy.  How can one not be joyful at this expression of God's love?!  To no longer be constrained to perfectly keep the Levitical law.  To be freed from the guilt of knowing that my sin makes me odious, repugnant, and untouchable to God.  Happiness is found in our circumstances.  Joy is a soul-deep response to God's expression of love toward us and makes circumstances irrelevant.
  
That in turn circles back to increasing our love for God, and thus our hope.

Finally, that hope that comes from God's love and brings us rich joy works peace in our hearts and minds and lives.  Our busy attempts to earn God's love, our frenetic action to make ourselves happy; all are stilled in the peace that comes from the joy given by God.

The peace is so important that Jesus instructs his disciples to speak God's peace upon each household that they enter.   

In the center of the Advent wreath is one last candle of royal color.  This is the Christ candle.  Christ at the center, from which hope, love, joy and peace all flow.  

I know that there are different ways of arranging the progression of each candle.  There are probably twice as many ideas about the arrangement as there are churches who celebrate Advent!  But no matter how you arrange these the final result is the same.  As we celebrate with great joy the fact that Christ has come as our Messiah and Saviour, and the certainty that He is coming back, we are filled with hope, with the love that He demonstrated, with great joy, and with the peace that surpasses all human understanding.

May His peace fill your hearts, and rest and abide on your homes.

Monday Morning Memories

Seven years ago my brother started hanging out in his "spare time" at a local Dojo.  He watched.  He thought.  He prayed.  He spent time talking with the teacher and the students.  Six years ago he dove in and started the study of Akido.

My brother is a rather busy man.  He owns a tree business and is out in the cold of winter and the heat of summer climbing and cutting and working with the men on his team.  He comes home rather tired most days.  He is very active in his church, faithfully attending services, teaching and preaching whenever asked.  Until last year, he was teaching a Bible Study every Sunday evening in his home for whoever would come.  Early every Friday morning he is at the local IHOP teaching a Bible study for the men who work for him and whoever else wants to listen and learn (One year for Christmas I went and bought him a gift card at the IHOP.  When the ladies at the cash register found out who I was they were thrilled and told me that my brother is their "Bible Man" and that they love him dearly).

My brother is very active in a local community of Christians.  At the semi-annual four-day weekends, he is actively participating in teaching, leading, praying, counseling and comforting.  He usually works the men's weekend one week, helps as Spiritual director for the women's weekend the following week, then flies out to Northern California to help them with their weekends.  It is not unusual for me to meet folks in our area, find out that they are a part of that community, and then hear all about how they have been blessed by my brother when they find out who I am.

My brother is a man of prayer.  He spends a lot of time interceding for people he knows.  He is a minister of God's mercy and grace.  If God asks him to reach out to someone, he obeys.  

My brother is a husband, a father, a father-in-law and soon to be a grandfather.

With all of this, for the past six years he has worked hard at the study of Akido.  He has seen it as one more opportunity to minister God's grace to another group of people.  During this six years he has managed to tear the meniscus in his knee.  He had surgery, went to physical therapy, and got busy back at the Dojo.  Last October he had a heart attack.  Yes, the brother who works outside cutting down trees, works with a trainer every week, watches his diet and works out at the Dojo ~ that brother had a heart attack.  They were able to stint the lesion and once he recovered, he was back at work with Akido.

Last January his teacher suggested to him that he might want to put Akido on hold.  My sister-in-law's cancer had come back and chemotherapy was going to be grueling.  The Sensei thought that perhaps my brother needed to be at home with her, rather than working at the Dojo.  When my sister-in-law heard that she called the Sensei (who had by now become a close family friend).  She told him that seeing my brother receive his black belt was one of her goals.  She would rather have him working toward that so that she could see him get his belt, than have him at home those evenings.

Last week, my brother's manager and chief climber got sick.  Knowing that he had his black belt testing coming up, my brother had to go to work and do most of the climbing.  We were praying earnestly that he would not be injured!

This past Saturday my brother invited us to come to his Dojo.  We had the honor and privilege of watching him successfully test for his black belt.

I am very proud of my big brother for a lot of reasons.  This is one of many.

Way to go, Robert!

The Twenty Four Days of Christmas: Day Fourteen

Books

Just in case you have forgotten this about me, I LOVE books.  I am a bookworm and have been as long as I can remember (and my memory stretches back to the tender age of two).  

I firmly believe that books become friends.  When one makes friends, one should not get to know them and then never revisit them.  What a loss that would be!  No, one should go back and revisit these friends often, enjoy their company again and again and learn new things about them each time.  Yes, I re-read books.  Yes, I know that the outcome will not change with each re-reading.  

There are certain books that I particularly enjoy at Christmas time each year.  The Twenty Four Days of Christmas by Madeleine L'Engle is a must, as is Barbara Johnson's  The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.  I enjoy looking through Karla Dornacher's The Heart and Home of Christmas.  The Festival of Christmas: A Book of Days by Mary Hinderlie and Edna Hong is a terrific resource (good luck finding this one).  Mrs. Ruth Graham's book  Our Christmas Story is another great one.  So many favorites to read through and enjoy!

 

This year I added back in Jan Karon's Christmas book, Shepherd's Abiding.  I found it used at the local library book store (sorry, Mrs. Karon!) and could not resist the purchase.  I am so glad I grabbed it.  Father Tim is one of my favorite literary characters and his approach to the reality of the Christmas season is marvelous.  As he reminds himself to stop and listen to God throughout the work and the activity, I am taught the same much-needed lesson.  Jan Karon writes well and her work moves at a slower pace.  I am aware that many people don't care for her writing because of the slower pace.  For me, it is an encouragement to slow down and find and enjoy the little patches of God-light that are more evident when one slows down.

My all-time favorite Christmas book is this one.

My Dad wrote this series of sermons in 1968 at the height of the Vietnam war.  They were difficult days, and our church lost one of it's own young men that Christmas.  I have always loved this book because of the hope that is expressed in the reality of life in a fallen world.  Our world is a tragic place; you don't have to read very far in the news to figure that out.  Illness, natural disasters, wars and rumors of war, terrorism; the list of tragedies goes on and on.  Yet in the darkness of the world shines the one true light.  This is the world to which He came.  This is the world to which He will return.  He knows our struggles.  He cares enough to have surrendered His own royalty and accept a full humanity.  

 And it is written by my all-time favorite author!

That is my reading list for the next week or two.  

Now if you will excuse me, I am going to go make an orange marmalade layer cake....

The Twenty Four Days of Christmas: Day Thirteen

Christmas Spirit

 

Have you heard discussion this year about "Christmas Spirit"?  I would imagine that you probably have.  It may have been someone asking the question, "How's your Christmas Spirit?".  It may have been someone accusing someone, "You just don't have any Christmas Spirit!".  Or you may have been bemoaning to a friend, "I just don't feel that Christmas Spirit".  You may have seen pictures on Facebook and thought to yourself, "Wow!  She really has a lot of Christmas Spirit".

Have you thought much about that phrase?  What does it mean to have "Christmas Spirit"?  I have been thinking about this quite a bit lately, and have even asked a few folks about this.  I think there are different answers to the question, depending on your perspective.  

If you do a search on the internet using the words Christmas Spirit, you might find that it could be any or all of the following:

1. A Hallmark movie
2. Essential Oils
3. A collection of tree ornaments
4. Something you want your children to learn to have which, according to the Wall Street Journal, is centered around being generous to those less fortunate than oneself.
5. An album by Johnny Cash.  Or Donna Summer.  Or Richard Marx.  Or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
6. It is characterized, apparently, by a clean, well-decorated house; or a particular color; or feelings of love; or generosity; or kindness to strangers; or baking; or constructing gingerbread houses; or lovely trees and light displays; or Mannheim Steamroller or TransSiberian Orchestra music; or....or....or....and....and....and

I found some fascinating websites where you can find out just how to generate Christmas Spirit in yourself, your family and your homes.  The Guardian website has a quiz for you to find out just how much you have (I am doing you a favor and not linking it here).  WikiHow can tell you how to develop the Christmas Spirit in 18 steps.  The Art of Manliness gives it to you in only 11 steps.  

It is an interesting study to look and see how our culture defines this.  

What is the Christmas Spirit really?  

Understanding the Christmas Spirit is requires that we understand WHO Christmas is about.  Christmas is about Jesus.  It is a celebration of His birth, which led to His work, His crucifixion, His resurrection, and His return to heaven.  It is the anticipation of His glorious return.

Christmas Spirit is seen in the Advent candles; the candles of Hope, of Love, of Joy and of Peace.  

Christmas Spirit is seen in the ending of the silent years.  The years that ended with the sounds of a woman in labor and a baby's first cry.  

Christmas Spirit is seen in Joseph's surrendering of his own personal desires for his new family in order to be the foster father for the Son of God.  

Christmas Spirit is the hope that comes even in the darkest of times ~ a country living under Roman conquest where a king could murder every single little boy under the age of 2 in a particular city on a whim.

Christmas Spirit is the peace that comes from God when we surrender our own agenda and accept His agenda.  

While I love the activities of Christmas and engage in them to the point Mr. Marvelous rolls his eyes, Christmas Spirit is not something that we can generate within ourselves through these activities, no matter how "good" they may be.  

It may come through moments of silence.  It may come through our tears of confession.  It will come when we exchange our own perspective of what is important, in favor of God's perspective.  It is built through careful attention to time spent reading the prophecies of the Old Testament and the fulfillment of the New Testament.  It is strengthened and encouraged each day that we go to our Father in prayer, ask Him how He wants our day to play out, and obey His instructions.  Sometimes He calls you to set aside a quiet life and be more active in His service.  Sometimes He calls you to abandon the busy-ness and be a little more quiet with Him.

This next couple of weeks as we prepare for Christmas, may we focus more on our King.  May we remember His first advent to a troubled world.  May we be strengthened to do the work that must be done before He returns.  And may our hearts be filled with the hope, the love, the joy and the peace of the Christmas Spirit.

 His peace to your hearts and homes.

The Twenty-Four Days of Christmas: Five Through Ten

Day Five:

First we went up to the church to decorate.

  

Then we went and found our Christmas tree.

Yup.  That's the one.

Day Six:

Mr. Marvelous and I had the honor of lighting the second Advent candle at church.

Day Seven:

Eventually one does have to get the tree decorated

 With the help of the cats, of course.

It is prettier in the dark:

Day Eight:

Time for Christmas books

Day Nine:

Spending time with young friends makes the season that much more fun!

I'm thankful his parents are so generous in sharing him with me.

Day Ten:

Decorating continues

 

There you have it.

The greening of the church had lovely results.

The house is kind of decorated.

The candles are being lit.

The books are being read.

Are you ready?