Posted by Gary on December 19, 2009
Take a moment and read these truthful, helpful thoughts from Charles Spurgeon on the Incarnation of Christ and what it can mean for you:
This joy began with the shepherds, for the angel said to them, “Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” Reader, shall the joy begin with you to-day? It avails you little that Christ is born, or that Christ died, unless unto you a Child is born, and for you Jesus bled. A personal interest in the birth, life, and death of Christ is the main point for each one of us…
…Jesus is the Friend of the poor, the sinful, and the unworthy. You, poor ones, need not fear to come unto Him; for He was born in a stable, and cradled in a manger. You have not worse accommodation than He had; you are not poorer than He was. Come and welcome to the poor man’s Prince, to the peasant’s Savior. Stay not back through fear of your unfitness; the shepherds came to Him in all their dishabille (casual dress). I read not that they tarried to put on their best garments; but, in the clothes in which they wrapped themselves that cold midnight, they hastened, just as they were, to the young Child’s presence. God looks not at garments, but at hearts; and accepts men when they come to Him with willing spirits, whether they be rich or poor…
…No aristocratic Christ have I to commend to you, but the Savior of the people, the Friend of publicans and sinners. Jesus is the true “poor man’s Friend;” He is “a Witness to the people, a Leader and Commander to the people.” Oh, that each one of us might truly say, “Unto me is Jesus born”! If I truly believe in Him, Christ is born unto me, and I may be as sure of it as if an angel announced it personally to me, since the Scripture assures me that, if I believe in Jesus, He is mine, and I am His, and through union with Him I become a partaker in His everlasting life, and in all that He has.
Charles Spurgeon from “The Incarnation: The Foundation of the Christian Faith”
It is one thing to declare that we believe that Christ is the Son of God and that He was born of a virgin. But do you believe that He died and rose again as the payment for sins? Even this is not enough…do you believe that He was born for you? That He died for you? That He rose again for the forgiveness of your sins? Christ is not yours until He becomes yours by an act of personal faith and reception of Him into your life. Is Christ yours?
Posted by Gary on December 16, 2009
I heard local radio host Bill Colley read from this column by Garrison Keillor today in the Baltimore Sun. The column is entitled, “Non believers, please leave Christmas alone”. While somewhat caustic, I think Keillor says well what many of us think about the never ending attempt to high-jack Christmas. Here is an excerpt:
You can blame Ralph Waldo Emerson for the brazen foolishness of the elite. He preached here at the First Church of Cambridge, a Unitarian outfit (where I discovered that “Silent Night” has been cleverly rewritten to make it more about silence and night and not so much about God), and Emerson tossed off little bon mots that have been leading people astray ever since. “To be great is to be misunderstood,” for example. This tiny gem of self-pity has given license to a million arrogant and unlovable people to imagine that their unpopularity somehow was proof of their greatness.
And all his hoo-ha about listening to the voice within and don’t follow the path, make your own path and leave a trail and so forth, encouraged people who might’ve been excellent janitors to become bold and innovative economists who run a wealthy university into the ditch.
Unitarians listen to the Inner Voice and so they have no creed that they all stand up and recite in unison, and that’s their perfect right, but it is wrong, wrong, wrong to rewrite “Silent Night.” If you don’t believe Jesus was God, OK, go write your own damn “Silent Night” and leave ours alone. This is spiritual piracy and cultural elitism, and we Christians have stood for it long enough…
…Christmas is a Christian holiday – if you’re not in the club, then buzz off. Celebrate Yule instead or dance around in druid robes for the solstice. Go light a big log, go wassailing and falalaing until you fall down, eat figgy pudding until you puke, but don’t mess with the Messiah.
Garrison Keillor
Posted by Gary on April 13, 2009
“For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.”
1 Corinthians 15:16-17
“The divinity of Christ finds it surest proof in His resurrection (Romans 1:4). Christ’s sovereignty also depends on His resurrection (Romans 14:9). Again, our justification hangs on Christ’s resurrection (Romans 4:25). Our very regeneration depends on His resurrection (1 Peter 1:3). And most certainly our ultimate resurrection rests here (Romans 8:11). The silver thread of resurrection runs through all the blessings, from regeneration onward to our eternal glory, and binds them together.”
Charles Spurgeon
“Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime.”
Martin Luther
“The resurrection of our divine Lord from the dead is the cornerstone of Christian doctrine. Perhaps I might more accurately call it the keystone of the arch of Christianity, for if the fact could be disproved, the whole fabric of the gospel would fall to the ground.”
Charles Spurgeon
"Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead."
Acts 17:30-31
Posted by Gary on December 19, 2007
Re-posted from last year…
Dear Inventor of the Twisty Tie Method of Securing Children’s Toys:
As a father of five young children, I am writing this Christmas to tell you (whoever you are) that I don’t like you very much. I haven’t liked you for some time but have not bothered to write until this year when my frustration reached a level that warrants venting. Can I ask you Mr. Twisty Tie Man, why you ever thought of your excessive, frustrating and honestly, unneeded method of securing children’s toys in their box?
I could never estimate how many of your twisty ties I have untwisted since the birth of my first two children (twins). I know that the set of 150 emergency workers and vehicles that my mother-in-law purchased my son some years ago was enough by that one experience to almost drive me mad and cause me to dislike you greatly. Why sir, did you feel it necessary to twisty tie down almost every man who was only two inches tall? Why do you run the twisty ties around and around the wheels of the vehicle? Further, why do you feel it necessary to then place a wide piece of tape over your twisty ties on the underside of the cardboard? Are you fearful of a nuclear explosion dislodging the toy from the box? Don’t you know that if there is a nuclear explosion we will either not be here to buy toys or that if we survive, buying toys will not be a priority?
I do not begrudge you a twisty tie or two to deter shoplifters, but eight? ten? The goal is to deter shoplifters, not to keep the child from ever being able to enjoy the toy, which is likely to happen when a frustrated father throws it into the trash more willing to bear the crying of his child then to deal any further with your twisty ties. Why sir could you not use a twisty tie that is easily cut with a pair of scissors? Why have you chosen to use industrial strength twisty ties that cannot be cut without using a utility knife and likely severing a finger? You’ve secured the toy for shipping and deterred shoplifters wonderful, but must you on top of that make it difficult for me to get the toy out quickly? Could you not use a twisty tie that I could snip with scissors so that I could move on to the thirty other toys that await me which also have eight to ten twisty ties on them?
I am led to believe Mr. Twisty Tie man that you must have had a very unfortunate childhood or that you have suffered some other form of trauma and mistreatment in your life that has led you into an unfortunate desire to make other people’s lives miserable. Do you find joy in knowing that tens of millions of parents are plunged into frustration and anger on Christmas morning because of your method? You have a sick sense of humor. How you prevailed upon toy manufacturers to adopt your method is a marvel. You must all be very unhappy people.
I go to bed knowing that my letter will make no difference. You have known how frustrating your method is for years and have done nothing to make things easier for parents. But I will sleep a little better tonight having finally told you what I think about your twisty ties. Never forget, what goes around, comes around.
Posted by Gary on April 3, 2007
While reading Matthew’s account of Jesus’ arrest I am struck by the way Jesus addresses Judas:
Matthew 26:50 “And Jesus said to him, ‘Friend, do what you have come for.’ Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and seized Him.”
Friend? I marvel at our Savior. This is betrayal, not friendship, hatred, not the love of a friend.
One thing we know, Jesus does not lie, or say things He doesn’t mean, so how are we to take this greeting? I see no other way to take it but to believe that Jesus did love Judas Iscariot and would grieve over his ultimate damnation just as He did over the entire city of Jerusalem on Palm Sunday (Luke 19:41-44).
The heart of our Savior toward sinners is more beautifully revealed as He suffers on the cross and prays:
Luke 23:34 “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”
Was Judas the son of perdition? Yes (John 17:12). Did Jesus refer to Judas as a “devil”? Yes (John 6:70). Was it the plan of God that Judas would betray Jesus? Yes (Acts 4:27-28). Does God delight in the death of the wicked? No.
Ezekiel 18:23 “Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares the Lord God, “rather than that he should turn from his ways and live”?
How could Jesus be gracious and kind to Judas for three years knowing all along that Judas would betray Him? How could God walk with Adam and Eve in the garden in a relationship of love knowing they would rebel? How is it that Jesus is willing to call me friend despite what He knows I am going to do in the course of this day in rebellion against Him? The answer to these questions is bound up in the greatness, wonder and mystery of God. Only God can call traitors and rebels friend and mean it. My Savior’s love is amazing and a mystery to me but I am so glad for it.
How tragic that many are determined to go to hell while the Friend of sinners (Luke 15:2) extends His hand of love and mercy to them. O the unimaginable horror of spending an eternity in torment, separated from Him who called them “friend.”
Posted by Gary on March 31, 2007
Here are some thoughts worth pondering from J.C. Ryle commenting on this Triumphal Entry passage:
Luke 19:41-44 “When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. “For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”
Now Ryle:
There seems no doubt that churches, nations, and even individuals are sometimes visited with special manifestations of God’s presence, and that their neglect of such manifestations is the turning point in their spiritual ruin. Why this should take place in some cases and not in others we cannot tell. Facts, plain facts in history and biography, appear to prove that it is so. The last day will probably show the world, that there were seasons in the lives of many who died in sin, when God drew very near to them, when conscience was peculiarly alive, when there seemed but a step between them and salvation. Those seasons will probably prove to have been what our Lord call their “day of visitation.” The neglect of such seasons will probably be at last one of the heaviest charges against their souls.
Deep as this subject is, it should teach men one practical lesson. That lesson is the immense importance of not stifling convictions, and not quenching the workings of conscience. He that resists the voice of conscience may be throwing away his last chance of salvation. That warning voice may be God’s “day of visitation.” The neglect of it may fill up the measure of man’s iniquity, and provoke God to let him alone forever. (Luke Vol. 2 p.316-17).
Posted by Gary on December 26, 2006
Dear Inventor of the Twisty Tie Method of Securing Children’s Toys:
As a father of five young children, I am writing this Christmas to tell you (whoever you are) that I don’t like you very much. I haven’t liked you for some time but have not bothered to write until this year when my frustration reached a culminated level that warrants venting. Can I ask you Mr. Twisty Tie Man, why you ever thought of your excessive, frustrating and honestly, unneeded method of securing children’s toys in their box?
I could never estimate how many of your twisty ties I have untwisted since the birth of my first two children (twins). I know that the set of 150 emergency workers and vehicles that my mother-in-law purchased my son some years ago was enough by that one experience to almost drive me mad and cause me to dislike you greatly. Why sir, did you feel it necessary to twisty tie down almost every man who was only two inches tall? Why do you run the twisty ties around and around the wheels of the vehicle? Further, why do you feel it necessary to then place a wide piece of tape over your twisty ties on the underside of the cardboard? Are you fearful of a nuclear explosion dislodging the toy from the box? Don’t you know that if there is a nuclear explosion we will either not be here to buy toys or that if we survive, buying toys will not be a priority?
I do not begrudge you a twisty tie or two to deter shoplifters, but eight? ten? The goal is to deter shoplifters, not to keep the child from ever being able to enjoy the toy, which is likely to happen when a frustrated father throws it into the trash more willing to bear the crying of his child then to deal any further with your twisty ties. Why sir could you not use a twisty tie that is easily cut with a pair of scissors? Why have you chosen to use industrial strength twisty ties that cannot be cut without using a utility knife and likely severing a finger? You’ve secured the toy for shipping and deterred shoplifters wonderful, but must you on top of that make it difficult for me to get the toy out quickly? Could you not use a twisty tie that I could snip with scissors so that I could move on to the thirty other toys that await me which also have eight to ten twisty ties on them?
I am led to believe Mr. Twisty Tie man that you must have had a very unfortunate childhood or that you have suffered some other form of trauma and mistreatment in your life that has led you into an unfortunate desire to make other people’s lives miserable. Do you find joy in knowing that tens of millions of parents are plunged into frustration and anger on Christmas morning because of your method? You have a sick sense of humor. How you prevailed upon toy manufacturers to adopt your method is a marvel. You must all be very unhappy people.
I go to bed knowing that my letter will make no difference. You have known how frustrating your method is for years and have done nothing to make things easier for parents. But I will sleep a little better tonight having finally told you what I think about your twisty ties. Never forget, what goes around, comes around.
Posted by Theundershepherd on December 23, 2005
Every year thoughtful Christians seek to have a more meaningful, Christ-centered Christmas. I have a suggestion: Get away by yourself for 211 minutes and listen to Handel’s Messiah. After attending worship, I cannot think of a better way to turn our minds to Christ than to listen to Handel’s oratorio.
I listen to the Messiah throughout the year but during the weeks leading up to Christmas I listen a lot. I love to have it on while working in my office or typing away on my notebook.
I woke up this morning and played "His Yoke Is Easy" then I played it again and again. The kids were getting ready for home-school and I had the volume quite high, my wife walked up and said, "Would you like me to turn this down?" to which I replied, "No".
Of course, the beauty of the Messiah is that it is Scripture from beginning to end. Your soul will be fed if you take my advice: Go somewhere by yourself, take some headphones, get comfortable and listen from beginning to end, listen closely, enjoy the music, contemplate Jesus and your Christmas will be wonderful. I must warn you though that after listening to the Messiah in this way hearing Burl Ives sing, "Holly Jolly Christmas" may make you vomit.
If you don’t have a copy of the Messiah, here is a link to Amazon where you can find the full version conducted by Sir Neville Marriner you won’t get it by Christmas now, but perhaps in some of your off time with New Years you can listen. Watch carefully what you order, often what is offered is a sampling of the Messiah and not the full version, don’t settle for that.
Of course you will be familiar with the "Hallelujah Chorus" which is considered by most the greatest piece in the Messiah, I for one have come to view "Worthy is the Lamb" just as highly. "Who Can Abide the Day of His Coming" and "He is Like a Refiner’s Fire" are also among my favorites. Take my advice and you will find the Messiah a help in drawing near to God throughout the year and especially at Christmas.
Oh, I almost forgot your objection, make the time.
