December 7
Christians are star-guided people.
Society is in danger of losing its soul because of growing consumerism and the decline of religion.
Consumerism is being sold as an alternative to finding happiness in traditional morality.
.From the "when less is more" department:
* God so loved the world: 5 words
* The Pythagorean theorem: 24 words
* The Lord's Prayer: 66 words
* Archimedes' Principle: 67 words
* The Ten Commandments: 179 words
* The Gettysburg Address: 286 words
* The Declaration of Independence: 1,300 words
Timekeepers have clocked the action in a 60 minute football game to actually be around 14 minutes.
The Weaver
My life is but a weaving between my Lord and me,
I cannot choose the colors He worketh steadily.
Oft times He weaveth sorrow, and I in foolish pride
forget He sees the upper but I the under side.
Not till the loom is silent and the shuttles cease to fly,
shall God unroll the canvas and explain the reason why.
The dark threads are as needed in the Weaver's skillful hand,
as threads of gold and silver in the pattern life has planned
Ideas — What sums up our RSVP – if we don’t respond at this time by returning to God, repenting of our sins, and experiencing His restoring forgiveness and love, how can we share the invitation to know Jesus with others? If John the Baptist preached a good sermon but walked “another talk” all the goat’s milk, honey, and wild costumes would NOT have attracted people to his message! The would have called him a fake and walked away.
God calls us, His very children, to demonstrate in our lives what the “reason for this season is” – do we respond in JOY? Do we invite others to our Christmas celebrations/preparations? Do we give the reason for why we are happy, why we are preparing? Perhaps not because we are so caught up in the earthly preparations for the season that we have forgotten to allow our hearts to respond to the invitation!
Christ loves to show His hand through the unexpected. Often He keeps us from seeing His way until just before He opens it, and then immediately it is all unfolded, and we find that He was walking by our side in this very thing long before we even suspected its meaning.
--A. B. Simpson
There is a "Peanuts" comic strip in which Linus is listening carefully as his sister, Lucy, boasts about her religious faith and her potential as an evangelist.
She says to Linus: "I could be a terrific evangelist. Do you know that kid who sits behind me in school? I convinced him that my religion is better than his religion."
Linus asks: "How did you do that?"
Lucy replies: "I hit him with my lunch box."
This is the Lakota Native American rendition of Psalm 23, "The Lord Is My Shepherd." They call it "The Lord Our Chieftain." The Lord is our Chieftain who provides all that we need.
He gives us a tepee as a safe resting place.
In dry times he leads us to flowing water to refresh us.
His honor makes it his work to prepare our pathways.
He is our guide through tough times.
We fear no hurt from those who dislike or hate us.
Secure in his calming strength, we will eat, play and sleep,
Knowing in deepest confidence that our Chief, our Leader
stands guard over us.
A friend found Socrates eyeing merchandise in the marketplace. The friend asked why he was looking, since he never bought anything. Socrates said: "Because I am always amazed to see how many things there are that I don't need."
A Chance to Warm Up
In a "Peanuts" cartoon strip, good old Charlie Brown says to Linus, "Life is just too much for me. I've been confused from the day I was born. I think the whole trouble is that we're thrown into life too fast. We're not really prepared." And Linus asks, "What did you want . . . a chance to warm up first?"
The Advent season is supposed to be our chance to warm up. It's that time to prepare our hearts and homes for the birth of the Christ child. It's that time when we put all the decorations in their place, the presents are bought and wrapped, the cards sent out and received, and we get ready for Christmas Day. But if we aren't careful the time of preparation will be over and the big day will be here and it will be just another day. We'll finish opening all the gifts; the room will be strewn with scraps of wrapping paper and ribbon; the turkey or ham will have put up a valiant fight but be nothing but leftovers; and we'll be parked in front of the TV watching one of the games. Then all of a sudden that empty feeling will hit us. That feeling of "What's the use?" That Charlie Brown feeling of something missing, as if we were thrown into Christmas too fast. That's when we'll realize we needed time to warm up.
There is a touching scene in an episode of "All in the Family." Archie Bunker thinks his new grandson ought to be baptized and he tells his daughter and son-in-law so. Gloria and Meathead say No, they don't believe in it. So Archie surreptitiously takes his grandson down to the church, meets with the minister, says he wants the boy "done." The minister tries to explain that baptism is not something just "done," but rather a rite of initiation into the church, and appropriate when the parents want to make that commitment. The program ends with Archie alone in the darkened church sanctuary except for the infant grandson he is holding carefully. He reaches into the waters of the baptismal font, brings the hand back to Joey's head and reverently says, "I baptize thee..."
Billy Graham, who has often played the 20th century role of John the Baptizer, had these comments about the disease running rampant in our world: "We're suffering from only one disease in the world. Our basic problem is not a race problem. Our basic problem is not a poverty problem. Our basic problem is not a war problem. Our basic problem is a heart problem. We need to get the heart changed, the heart transformed."
Carl Michalson, a brilliant young theologian who died in a plane crash some years ago, once told about playing with his young son one afternoon. They tussling playfully on their front lawn when Michalson accidentally hit the young boy in the face with his elbow. It was a sharp blow full to his son's face. The little boy was stunned by the impact of the elbow. It hurt, and he was just about to burst into tears. But then he looked into his father's eyes. Instead of anger and hostility, he saw there hi father's sympathy and concern; he saw there his father's love and compassion. Instead of exploding into tears, the little boy suddenly burst into laughter. What he saw in his father's eyes made all the difference!
The sharp blow of God's message to us is: Repentence. But, look into your father's eyes. What he offers you is forgiveness and that makes all the difference. Repent and you will be forgiven.
Henri Nouwen once said, "If we do not wait patiently in expectation for God's coming in glory, we start wandering around, going from one little sensation to another. Our lives get stuffed with newspaper items, television stories, and gossip. Then our minds lose the discipline of discerning between what leads us closer to God and what doesn't, and our hearts lose their spiritual sensitivity.” It’s the hard work of acknowledging our sin and repenting that leads us to God.
In a Family Circus cartoon, the little girl sits her baby brother on her lap and tells him the story of Christmas. According to her version: Jesus was born just in time for Christmas up at the North Pole surrounded by eight tiny reindeer and the Virgin Mary. Then Santa Claus showed up with lots of toys and stuff and some swaddling clothes. The three Wise men and elves all sang carols while the Little Drummer Boy and Scrooge helped Joseph trim the tree. In the meantime, Frosty the Snowman saw this star. We can appreciate her confusion. There is a lot to learn about Christmas. Who does the teaching in your home as you prepare for Christmas?
Society is in danger of losing its soul because of growing consumerism and the decline of religion.
Consumerism is being sold as an alternative to finding happiness in traditional morality.
.From the "when less is more" department:
* God so loved the world: 5 words
* The Pythagorean theorem: 24 words
* The Lord's Prayer: 66 words
* Archimedes' Principle: 67 words
* The Ten Commandments: 179 words
* The Gettysburg Address: 286 words
* The Declaration of Independence: 1,300 words
Timekeepers have clocked the action in a 60 minute football game to actually be around 14 minutes.
The Weaver
My life is but a weaving between my Lord and me,
I cannot choose the colors He worketh steadily.
Oft times He weaveth sorrow, and I in foolish pride
forget He sees the upper but I the under side.
Not till the loom is silent and the shuttles cease to fly,
shall God unroll the canvas and explain the reason why.
The dark threads are as needed in the Weaver's skillful hand,
as threads of gold and silver in the pattern life has planned
Ideas — What sums up our RSVP – if we don’t respond at this time by returning to God, repenting of our sins, and experiencing His restoring forgiveness and love, how can we share the invitation to know Jesus with others? If John the Baptist preached a good sermon but walked “another talk” all the goat’s milk, honey, and wild costumes would NOT have attracted people to his message! The would have called him a fake and walked away.
God calls us, His very children, to demonstrate in our lives what the “reason for this season is” – do we respond in JOY? Do we invite others to our Christmas celebrations/preparations? Do we give the reason for why we are happy, why we are preparing? Perhaps not because we are so caught up in the earthly preparations for the season that we have forgotten to allow our hearts to respond to the invitation!
Christ loves to show His hand through the unexpected. Often He keeps us from seeing His way until just before He opens it, and then immediately it is all unfolded, and we find that He was walking by our side in this very thing long before we even suspected its meaning.
--A. B. Simpson
There is a "Peanuts" comic strip in which Linus is listening carefully as his sister, Lucy, boasts about her religious faith and her potential as an evangelist.
She says to Linus: "I could be a terrific evangelist. Do you know that kid who sits behind me in school? I convinced him that my religion is better than his religion."
Linus asks: "How did you do that?"
Lucy replies: "I hit him with my lunch box."
This is the Lakota Native American rendition of Psalm 23, "The Lord Is My Shepherd." They call it "The Lord Our Chieftain." The Lord is our Chieftain who provides all that we need.
He gives us a tepee as a safe resting place.
In dry times he leads us to flowing water to refresh us.
His honor makes it his work to prepare our pathways.
He is our guide through tough times.
We fear no hurt from those who dislike or hate us.
Secure in his calming strength, we will eat, play and sleep,
Knowing in deepest confidence that our Chief, our Leader
stands guard over us.
A friend found Socrates eyeing merchandise in the marketplace. The friend asked why he was looking, since he never bought anything. Socrates said: "Because I am always amazed to see how many things there are that I don't need."
A Chance to Warm Up
In a "Peanuts" cartoon strip, good old Charlie Brown says to Linus, "Life is just too much for me. I've been confused from the day I was born. I think the whole trouble is that we're thrown into life too fast. We're not really prepared." And Linus asks, "What did you want . . . a chance to warm up first?"
The Advent season is supposed to be our chance to warm up. It's that time to prepare our hearts and homes for the birth of the Christ child. It's that time when we put all the decorations in their place, the presents are bought and wrapped, the cards sent out and received, and we get ready for Christmas Day. But if we aren't careful the time of preparation will be over and the big day will be here and it will be just another day. We'll finish opening all the gifts; the room will be strewn with scraps of wrapping paper and ribbon; the turkey or ham will have put up a valiant fight but be nothing but leftovers; and we'll be parked in front of the TV watching one of the games. Then all of a sudden that empty feeling will hit us. That feeling of "What's the use?" That Charlie Brown feeling of something missing, as if we were thrown into Christmas too fast. That's when we'll realize we needed time to warm up.
There is a touching scene in an episode of "All in the Family." Archie Bunker thinks his new grandson ought to be baptized and he tells his daughter and son-in-law so. Gloria and Meathead say No, they don't believe in it. So Archie surreptitiously takes his grandson down to the church, meets with the minister, says he wants the boy "done." The minister tries to explain that baptism is not something just "done," but rather a rite of initiation into the church, and appropriate when the parents want to make that commitment. The program ends with Archie alone in the darkened church sanctuary except for the infant grandson he is holding carefully. He reaches into the waters of the baptismal font, brings the hand back to Joey's head and reverently says, "I baptize thee..."
Billy Graham, who has often played the 20th century role of John the Baptizer, had these comments about the disease running rampant in our world: "We're suffering from only one disease in the world. Our basic problem is not a race problem. Our basic problem is not a poverty problem. Our basic problem is not a war problem. Our basic problem is a heart problem. We need to get the heart changed, the heart transformed."
Carl Michalson, a brilliant young theologian who died in a plane crash some years ago, once told about playing with his young son one afternoon. They tussling playfully on their front lawn when Michalson accidentally hit the young boy in the face with his elbow. It was a sharp blow full to his son's face. The little boy was stunned by the impact of the elbow. It hurt, and he was just about to burst into tears. But then he looked into his father's eyes. Instead of anger and hostility, he saw there hi father's sympathy and concern; he saw there his father's love and compassion. Instead of exploding into tears, the little boy suddenly burst into laughter. What he saw in his father's eyes made all the difference!
The sharp blow of God's message to us is: Repentence. But, look into your father's eyes. What he offers you is forgiveness and that makes all the difference. Repent and you will be forgiven.
Henri Nouwen once said, "If we do not wait patiently in expectation for God's coming in glory, we start wandering around, going from one little sensation to another. Our lives get stuffed with newspaper items, television stories, and gossip. Then our minds lose the discipline of discerning between what leads us closer to God and what doesn't, and our hearts lose their spiritual sensitivity.” It’s the hard work of acknowledging our sin and repenting that leads us to God.
In a Family Circus cartoon, the little girl sits her baby brother on her lap and tells him the story of Christmas. According to her version: Jesus was born just in time for Christmas up at the North Pole surrounded by eight tiny reindeer and the Virgin Mary. Then Santa Claus showed up with lots of toys and stuff and some swaddling clothes. The three Wise men and elves all sang carols while the Little Drummer Boy and Scrooge helped Joseph trim the tree. In the meantime, Frosty the Snowman saw this star. We can appreciate her confusion. There is a lot to learn about Christmas. Who does the teaching in your home as you prepare for Christmas?
posted by joypastordon at 9:39 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home