Monday, December 27, 2010
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Christmas...
"Let us remember that the Christmas heart is a giving heart, a wide open heart that thinks of others first. The birth of the baby Jesus stands as the most significant event in all history, because it has meant the pouring into a sick world of the healing medicine of love which has transformed all manner of hearts for almost two thousand years … Underneath all the bulging bundles is this beating Christmas heart."
~ George Matthew Adams, newspaper columnist
~ George Matthew Adams, newspaper columnist
Why three gifts from the wise men?
By Rick Warren
“Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.” Matthew 2:2 (NLT)
One reason the wise men were wise is because they came to Jesus for the right reason. They were seekers of the truth. And they would go to any length to find Jesus, and they came to worship Jesus.
So the wise men came for the right reason. They didn’t come to get something from Jesus; they came to show gratitude, to show love, to show honor, to show respect
They gave Jesus the best they had. They didn’t give him their leftovers. They didn’t give him lip service. They didn’t give him a gift card. They thought through what to give him. The three presents that the wise men brought had very important significance –
Gold is the gift you give to Kings. In days of old, tribute was paid by bringing gold to the king. It was the most precious metal of the time and so the wise men are presenting it as a gift to the king.
Frankincense was a kind of incense, used to worship God in the temple. So the wise men are saying this baby, Jesus, is not only king, he is also God. He is worthy of being worshipped.
Myrrh was a spice used to embalm the dead. Now that’s an unusual gift for a baby: the spice put on a dead body before wrapping it in linens. So the wise men, by their gifts, acknowledged that Jesus is God Incarnate, he is king, and he is going to die. Jesus is the savior of the world and he has come to die for our sins.
Even before Jesus said his first word, it was known that, ‘This is the Savior who will die for the sins of the world.’
“Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.” Matthew 2:2 (NLT)
One reason the wise men were wise is because they came to Jesus for the right reason. They were seekers of the truth. And they would go to any length to find Jesus, and they came to worship Jesus.
So the wise men came for the right reason. They didn’t come to get something from Jesus; they came to show gratitude, to show love, to show honor, to show respect
They gave Jesus the best they had. They didn’t give him their leftovers. They didn’t give him lip service. They didn’t give him a gift card. They thought through what to give him. The three presents that the wise men brought had very important significance –
Gold is the gift you give to Kings. In days of old, tribute was paid by bringing gold to the king. It was the most precious metal of the time and so the wise men are presenting it as a gift to the king.
Frankincense was a kind of incense, used to worship God in the temple. So the wise men are saying this baby, Jesus, is not only king, he is also God. He is worthy of being worshipped.
Myrrh was a spice used to embalm the dead. Now that’s an unusual gift for a baby: the spice put on a dead body before wrapping it in linens. So the wise men, by their gifts, acknowledged that Jesus is God Incarnate, he is king, and he is going to die. Jesus is the savior of the world and he has come to die for our sins.
Even before Jesus said his first word, it was known that, ‘This is the Savior who will die for the sins of the world.’
Friday, December 24, 2010
A Christmas Quiz: How much of what we know is really just tradition?
By Steve and Ella Pettit
We’ve all seen and heard the Christmas story so many times that we know exactly what God's Word says about it, right? Or do we sometimes let tradition overtake the truth?
Dates and Mates1. For the journey to Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph
a) walked
b) Joseph walked; Mary rode a donkey
c) rode a bus
d) Who knows?
2. When Mary became pregnant, Mary and Joseph were
a) married
b) just friends
c) engaged
d) none of the above
3. When Mary became pregnant,
a) Joseph married her
b) Joseph wanted to dissolve their relationship
c) Mary left Nazareth for a while
d) an angel told them to go to Bethlehem
e) both b and c
f) both b and d
4. Christmas has always been observed
a) on December 25
b) on January 17
c) at Grandma’s house
d) none of the above
Kings and Wings5. Who directed Mary and Joseph to go to Bethlehem?
a) Herod
b) an angel
c) Caesar
d) the IRS
6. Just what is a "heavenly host"?
a) an angelic choir
b) the welcoming angel in heaven
c) an army of angels
d) none of the above
7. How many angels spoke to the shepherds?
a) a multitude
b) two - Gabriel and Michael
c) one
d) Who knows?
8. What song did the angels sing?
a) "O Little Town of Bethlehem”
b) "Joy to the World”
c) "Glory to God in the Highest”
d) none of the above
Barns and Yarns9. The baby Jesus was born in a
a) cave
b) manger
c) hurry
d) barn
e) Who knows?
10. What animals were present at Jesus’ birth?
a) cows, sheep and camels
b) cows, sheep and donkeys
c) lion and tigers and bears
d) none of the above
11. What is a manger anyway?
a) a barn
b) a place for hay
c) a feeding trough
d) a Greek term for the church nursery
12. When did baby Jesus cry?
a) when He opened the wise men’s gifts
b) whenever babies usually cried
c) when the cattle started lowing
d) "No crying He makes”
Signs and Lines13. Joseph’s family was from
a) Jerusalem
b) Nazareth
c) Bethlehem
d) none of the above
14. Who saw the star over Bethlehem?
a) Mary and Joseph
b) shepherds
c) the three kings
d) both b and c
e) none of the above
15. What sign were the shepherds to look for?
a) a star over the stable
b) a barn outlined with Christmas lights
c) a baby in a manger
d) both a and c
e) none of the above
16. What did the innkeeper say to Mary and Joseph?
a) “I have a stable out back.”
b) “Come back after the holidays.”
c) “There’s no room in the inn.”
d) both a and c
e) none of the above
Wise Guys and Testing Lies17. How many wise men came to see Jesus? ____ (Write in correct number)
18. What in the world are Magi?
a) Eastern kings
b) magicians
c) astrologers
d) wise enough to follow the star
e) none of the above
19. When the wise men brought their gifts to Jesus, they found Him in
a) a manger
b) a house
c) Vacation Bible School
d) none of the above
20. In what books of the Bible will you find these fascinating facts?
a) Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
b) Matthew and Luke
c) Mark and Matthew
d) Matthew, Mark and Luke
Answers:
Dates and Mates1. d The Bible gives no record of their means of travel.2. c Matthew 1:18
3. b and c Matthew 1:19; Luke 1:39, 56
4. d December 25 was selected late in the 4th century as the day to celebrate Christ’s birth
Kings and Wings
5. c Luke 2: 1
6. c
7. c Luke 2:10 (“the angel said to them”)
8. d Luke 2:13 (They didn’t sing; they said. OK, if you picked c we’ll give you a point.
Barns and Yarns9. e Luke 2:7 (We aren’t told where Jesus was born, only that after His birth He was laid in a manger.)
10. d The Bible doesn’t say anything about animals being present.
11. c
12. b He was fully human as well as fully God.
Signs and Lines13. c Luke 2:4
14. e none of the above (Three kings are not mentioned in the Bible. Only in songs.)
15. c Luke 2:12
16. e An innkeeper is never mentioned in the Scriptures.
Wise Guys and Testing Lies17. The Bible doesn’t say how many – only that Magi came bringing gold, frankincense and myrrh (see Matt. 2 :12).
18. c Astrologers who dabble in the natural sciences.
19. b Matthew 2:11
20. b Check it out!
Scoring:19-20 correct: Congratulations! You can separate fact from fiction.
18-16 correct: Not Bad! Truth wins over tradition.
15 – 11 correct: Uh oh! You’ve been to too many Christmas plays.
10 or below correct: Ouch!
Depressing
This is my most depressing Christmas in recent memory. I have totally no mood to be merry or cheerful.
The true meaning of Christmas will always hold dear in my heart. But this Christmas, I feel no joy or excitement or merry. Buying Christmas presents was mechanical, for family and colleagues and friends.
I fractured my little right toe in November. More than 5 weeks ago. It is still swollen. Have not gone for a jog or badminton or what in a long while. Walked my Half Marathon in 3hrs 45mins under the hot sun. How sad is that?
Fed up with certain people in my life, near and not so near to me.
I simply bo-chap my cpu Rahab party. Hard work to prepare eng + chn carols and it gets thrown out by cpu leader. Even give everyone Youtube links & song lyrics via email like 3 weeks b4 to learn but I hear "its too difficult. I'll get church caroling team to come". Sigh........
Dad gone shopping for eye specialists agst my advice and the 2nd one today told him even more dire stories. He can see very well but is now bothered abt possibility of going blind from glaucoma or something else. At his age past 70, I don't need to be eye specialist to say, 'it could be glaucoma or ....... but we can't be sure". Prescribed multiple tests with fancy machines, Gives eye drops, eye cleanser and tablets, etc. Sigh......shop around and private specialists will tell you what you want to hear and yet not want to hear.
Wifey is.....sigh.
It's a rotten and depressing christmas season 2010.
Thankfully, even if I lose everything, I still got my Creator and Lord who loves me despite or in spite of everything because the bible says:
The true meaning of Christmas will always hold dear in my heart. But this Christmas, I feel no joy or excitement or merry. Buying Christmas presents was mechanical, for family and colleagues and friends.
I fractured my little right toe in November. More than 5 weeks ago. It is still swollen. Have not gone for a jog or badminton or what in a long while. Walked my Half Marathon in 3hrs 45mins under the hot sun. How sad is that?
Fed up with certain people in my life, near and not so near to me.
I simply bo-chap my cpu Rahab party. Hard work to prepare eng + chn carols and it gets thrown out by cpu leader. Even give everyone Youtube links & song lyrics via email like 3 weeks b4 to learn but I hear "its too difficult. I'll get church caroling team to come". Sigh........
Dad gone shopping for eye specialists agst my advice and the 2nd one today told him even more dire stories. He can see very well but is now bothered abt possibility of going blind from glaucoma or something else. At his age past 70, I don't need to be eye specialist to say, 'it could be glaucoma or ....... but we can't be sure". Prescribed multiple tests with fancy machines, Gives eye drops, eye cleanser and tablets, etc. Sigh......shop around and private specialists will tell you what you want to hear and yet not want to hear.
Wifey is.....sigh.
It's a rotten and depressing christmas season 2010.
Thankfully, even if I lose everything, I still got my Creator and Lord who loves me despite or in spite of everything because the bible says:
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:
“ For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. [Romans 8: 35-39]
“ For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. [Romans 8: 35-39]
Friday, December 17, 2010
A Christmas To-Do List
by Mark Mitchell, with JoHannah Reardon
Thursday, April 30, 2009
So often in the Christmas story, we focus on the main characters: Mary, Joseph, and, of course, Jesus. But through the short account in Luke 2:8-20, we can learn from the shepherds four things that should make the top of our to-do list this Christmas.
Believe
The angels announced in spectacular fashion that the Messiah had been born. As soon as the angels left, the shepherds looked at each other and said: What are we waiting for? Let's go straight to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened.
There is no debate. There is no procrastination. They don't decide to sleep on it. They don't go to the local library for research. They just believe it. That's faith. Scripture says that without faith it's impossible to please God. The angel said, "Peace on earth among people with whom he is pleased." Who is that? It's those who respond to God's gift through faith. Scripture says, "For by grace you are saved, through faith …."
Faith means you say yes to all that God did through Christ. Yes, he is the Savior of the world. Yes, he came to die for my sins. Yes, through him I find forgiveness and new life. Yes, I want to follow Christ as Lord. Faith isn't a spectator sport; it's an active embracing of all that God has promised in Christ.
Obey
The shepherds did exactly as they were told. We sometimes think of Christmas as a tame holiday. We think of sweet little baby Jesus asleep on a bed of hay. Everyone loves that because it's so innocuous and safe. But Christmas isn't safe! That baby is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He has come to usher in a kingdom that rivals the kingdom of self. That's threatening. He bids those who would follow him to take up their cross daily—to lay aside our own right to rule ourselves, to surrender to his rule.
The world loves to celebrate the birth of Christ, but they hate to obey him as the Lord of their lives. Everyone wants to keep Christ in the manger. But the manger is meaningless apart from the Cross. As one writer put it many years ago: "This little babe, so few days old, is come to rifle Satan's fold; all hell doth at his presence quake, though he himself for cold does shake." Christmas is a time for obedience.
Tell
When the shepherds arrived in Bethlehem and saw the child lying in the feed trough, "they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child." They weren't preachers; they weren't missionaries, but that didn't matter. They had heard and seen something that meant salvation for the whole world.
Christmas trees, eggnog, and exchanging of gifts are fine, but if we do all that stuff but don't talk about Jesus—if we fail to speak of the real meaning of it all; if we neglect to tell someone that this child was born as Savior and Lord, that he was sent by God to die on the Cross to purchase with royal blood our own deliverance from sin, death, and the devil; if we neglect to publish that abroad, we've failed to do Christmas right.
The angel said that this is good news of great joy which shall be for all the people. Share the joy.
Experience
The shepherds were overwhelmed at the angel's announcement. They experienced holy wonder.
How can you engage in holy wonder? Maybe that means you stop in the middle of your shopping, sit down, and read the Christmas story. Maybe that means you gather your children around a Nativity scene each night and unwrap a different piece and talk about the role it plays in the Christmas story. Maybe that means you wake up early one morning and find a place you can watch the sun rise as you meditate on Luke 1:79.
The work of holy wonder is treasuring and pondering the fact that God invaded planet Earth on a perilous rescue mission. Amidst all the activity, stop and treasure all these things. Ponder them in your heart. Engage in some holy wonder.
By Mark Mitchell, with JoHannah Reardon
Thursday, April 30, 2009
So often in the Christmas story, we focus on the main characters: Mary, Joseph, and, of course, Jesus. But through the short account in Luke 2:8-20, we can learn from the shepherds four things that should make the top of our to-do list this Christmas.
Believe
The angels announced in spectacular fashion that the Messiah had been born. As soon as the angels left, the shepherds looked at each other and said: What are we waiting for? Let's go straight to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened.
There is no debate. There is no procrastination. They don't decide to sleep on it. They don't go to the local library for research. They just believe it. That's faith. Scripture says that without faith it's impossible to please God. The angel said, "Peace on earth among people with whom he is pleased." Who is that? It's those who respond to God's gift through faith. Scripture says, "For by grace you are saved, through faith …."
Faith means you say yes to all that God did through Christ. Yes, he is the Savior of the world. Yes, he came to die for my sins. Yes, through him I find forgiveness and new life. Yes, I want to follow Christ as Lord. Faith isn't a spectator sport; it's an active embracing of all that God has promised in Christ.
Obey
The shepherds did exactly as they were told. We sometimes think of Christmas as a tame holiday. We think of sweet little baby Jesus asleep on a bed of hay. Everyone loves that because it's so innocuous and safe. But Christmas isn't safe! That baby is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He has come to usher in a kingdom that rivals the kingdom of self. That's threatening. He bids those who would follow him to take up their cross daily—to lay aside our own right to rule ourselves, to surrender to his rule.
The world loves to celebrate the birth of Christ, but they hate to obey him as the Lord of their lives. Everyone wants to keep Christ in the manger. But the manger is meaningless apart from the Cross. As one writer put it many years ago: "This little babe, so few days old, is come to rifle Satan's fold; all hell doth at his presence quake, though he himself for cold does shake." Christmas is a time for obedience.
Tell
When the shepherds arrived in Bethlehem and saw the child lying in the feed trough, "they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child." They weren't preachers; they weren't missionaries, but that didn't matter. They had heard and seen something that meant salvation for the whole world.
Christmas trees, eggnog, and exchanging of gifts are fine, but if we do all that stuff but don't talk about Jesus—if we fail to speak of the real meaning of it all; if we neglect to tell someone that this child was born as Savior and Lord, that he was sent by God to die on the Cross to purchase with royal blood our own deliverance from sin, death, and the devil; if we neglect to publish that abroad, we've failed to do Christmas right.
The angel said that this is good news of great joy which shall be for all the people. Share the joy.
Experience
The shepherds were overwhelmed at the angel's announcement. They experienced holy wonder.
How can you engage in holy wonder? Maybe that means you stop in the middle of your shopping, sit down, and read the Christmas story. Maybe that means you gather your children around a Nativity scene each night and unwrap a different piece and talk about the role it plays in the Christmas story. Maybe that means you wake up early one morning and find a place you can watch the sun rise as you meditate on Luke 1:79.
The work of holy wonder is treasuring and pondering the fact that God invaded planet Earth on a perilous rescue mission. Amidst all the activity, stop and treasure all these things. Ponder them in your heart. Engage in some holy wonder.
By Mark Mitchell, with JoHannah Reardon
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Being Wrong
"A whole lot of us go through life assuming that we are basically right, basically all the time, about basically everything: about our political and intellectual convictions, our religious and moral beliefs, our assessment of other people, our memories, our grasp of facts. As absurd as it sounds when we stop and think about it, our steady state seems to be one of unconsciously assuming that we are very close to omniscient." – Kathryn Shulz, Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error (Ecco, 2010)
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