• If you are having problems logging in please use the Contact Us in the lower right hand corner of the forum page for assistance.

Tune for today

There is no doubt about it. If a follower of Christ lives in obedience to the One who redeems us, she or he will experience severe opposition at some time in life.

Jesus said: "I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have trouble and suffering, but take courage—I have conquered the world." (John 16:33, ESV, read it yourself!) Jesus said "...so that IN ME you may have peace."

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2016&version=NET

And that opposition can take on different forms - openly, like Phil Robertson is facing for speaking truth, or privately, like personal struggles and trials we may encounter (like Job, in the Bible).

I just returned from the coffee shop where a longtime friend was waiting for me to "share some good news', he said. "The doctor gave my son a letter saying he could go back to work".

This, after an 8 month battle with various forms of cancer, was good news indeed!

Yet, my friend's face showed the strain of watching his 28 year old son, a husband and father to a baby son, go from the bloom of young manhood, to staring into death's face and slowly back to a healthier state.

And even harder to see than the worry lines etched deep into my friend's face was for me to witness the gashes in his faith - he was a shaken and broken man. "Where is God in all this?" is a fair question that I let him ask without passing judgment.

Because I don't know when it will be my turn to walk through fire and how I will respond to the trial. And neither do you . . .

I can only ask that no matter what God allows the enemy of my soul to throw at me, that I will allow the name of God to be glorified - that is far more important then my personal comfort.

So, when opposition comes - Jesus said it would - one can be assured that our peace is not dependent on external circumstances, but on the peace that comes from knowing that our Savior is Sovereign and he never leaves us on our own, even during the most fierce trials. May he receive the glory!

33Miles - Let it be Glory

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSvRTXZB3R0
 
Tonight, a song very much for the season.

You know, I've heard a number of renditions of "O Holy Night" but this is without a doubt my favorite -

The Barra MacNeils - Oh Holy Night

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZK3H9U56zU

It is my hope and prayer that each one who looks in here will enjoy the fullest blessing of this season - to know the deepest benefit that the birth of Christ offers you!
 
What a beautiful song burnt, thank you for sharing!

I want to wish you and your family a very merry Christmas, and may God bless your family in this new year to come!!!

Jeremiah - AC Diesel
 
A Grace Family Christmas - Wise Men Still Seek Him
Grace Presbyterian Church, Peoria Illinois.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwJpoksTasY

While the "Three Wise Men" are usually tacked onto the Christmas story, a close reading of the Matthew 2 account would give reason to believe that their visit to see the Christ child may actually have come as much as two years after he was born.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%202

These "wise men" or Magi, may have been astrologers, finding and prophesying future events through divination of celestial bodies. Therefore, their divination arts would have been questionable to the Jewish people.

Yet, through honest pursuit in following that special star, they came to find the Christ child and worshiped him.

Charles Price has this to say - "Be careful how you judge people who seem to be seeking in the wrong direction. If they are sincere, they will find Christ."

It was what happened after their encounter with the Christ that showed a difference - "they went home by another way". The figurative here is so significant - Price says this - "The Magi came to worship - and they did, giving Him their Treasures. When you find Christ, you have to return 'by another way'." You/I have to leave the old life behind.

For the entirety of Charles Price's sermon entitled " Wise Men on an Eternal Quest" go here -

http://www.livingtruthmedia.com/index2.php?ID=CDN
 
Mandisa - Dear John :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSpmnaGrDOw

Hey, the good news is that she didn't write it just for me, the message is for everyone!
 
Rich Mullins - We Are Not As Strong As We Think We Are

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk7IUf7ikdw

What a message in these lyrics - don't take anything for granted . . .
 
We got a blizzard going on here - snow going straight sideways at times, wind howling and it will freeze your skin pretty quick if it's not covered up. It's around 10 below zero F.

So I gave the cows some grain for the past few days to help them through it, straw underneath them and bellies full of hay. Had to think of the wildlife struggling to stay warm in this weather, living on whatever they can forage.

Was talking with my sister last evening, telling her about the extra work right now that goes into taking care of the livestock in this cold.

Suddenly we were discussing how tough it must be on homeless people right now - scrounging whatever they can to eat, how do they stay warm? And then it hit me like a freight train - I put more effort into my cattle and care more about them than I do about my fellow humans who live on the streets - and I know a few.

God forgive me!

Sure, a lot of them have made bad choices and have responsibility for their tough lot but does that absolve from any responsibility to help them?

I wanna kick their asses and tell them to kick the habit so they can buy food and live under a roof but they already know that. I don't want to help them if they won't help themselves.

But can I really call myself a disciple of Jesus if I take better care of my cattle than I do of a man or woman who is dang near freezing to death living outside in this weather?

I don't know exactly the Teacher would do, but I know this - He did not walk past me when He saw my ugly needs and He gave me a lot more than just some blankets and stuff...

I am going to buy a bunch of blankets and stuff and take them to a place where I know they will be put to good use. God will have to do the rest because I can't change them or their habits.

Then I will have done at least as much for them as I have for my cattle.
*************************************************************
Younger Than Noah - The Least of These

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-2YQZAgjyM
 
burnt said:
We got a blizzard going on here - snow going straight sideways at times, wind howling and it will freeze your skin pretty quick if it's not covered up. It's around 10 below zero F.

So I gave the cows some grain for the past few days to help them through it, straw underneath them and bellies full of hay. Had to think of the wildlife struggling to stay warm in this weather, living on whatever they can forage.

Was talking with my sister last evening, telling her about the extra work right now that goes into taking care of the livestock in this cold.

Suddenly we were discussing how tough it must be on homeless people right now - scrounging whatever they can to eat, how do they stay warm? And then it hit me like a freight train - I put more effort into my cattle and care more about them than I do about my fellow humans who live on the streets - and I know a few.

God forgive me!

Sure, a lot of them have made bad choices and have responsibility for their tough lot but does that absolve from any responsibility to help them?

I wanna kick their asses and tell them to kick the habit so they can buy food and live under a roof but they already know that. I don't want to help them if they won't help themselves.

But can I really call myself a disciple of Jesus if I take better care of my cattle than I do of a man or woman who is dang near freezing to death living outside in this weather?

I don't know exactly the Teacher would do, but I know this - He did not walk past me when He saw my ugly needs and He gave me a lot more than just some blankets and stuff...

I am going to buy a bunch of blankets and stuff and take them to a place where I know they will be put to good use. God will have to do the rest because I can't change them or their habits.

Then I will have done at least as much for them as I have for my cattle.
*************************************************************
Younger Than Noah - The Least of These

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-2YQZAgjyM
Click to expand...

Of all the news I have seen I can't recall one mention about the homeless.
 
A song about the healing and comforting power in the name of Jesus, sung by an amazing 80's group that I had all but forgotten about!

Silverwind - Only Jesus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsvDp-FwopA
 
Oops, I meant to post this hymn a couple of days ago on the birthdate of its composer, Lowell Mason, January 8, 1792, the man known as "the father of American church music" and also "Father of American music education".

The words were written by Englishwoman Sarah Flower Adams (1805–1848), based on the account of Jacob's dream at Bethel in Genesis 8:10-22 and set to Mason's musical score entitled "Bethany".

During a restless sleep during his flight from trouble at home, in his dream Jacob saw the angels ascending and descending on a stairway reaching into the heavens, bringing him to the realization that there is nowhere that he could go to escape the presence of God.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_4TPqfoYHrF8/TS6caANB_aI/AAAAAAAAAbI/liGbLxK49iM/s1600/ACU.jpg

This hymn, set to various tunes, has brought comfort to millions in many countries and was reportedly the hymn played by the band as the Titanic slid under the cold waters...

This is what draws people of the Christian faith closer to their God - the knowledge that whatever transpires in life, it is but an instrument of refinement and an avenue by which they can come to know and trust their God more deeply...

Lowell Mason - Nearer my God to Thee

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwLl5nY5WPI

Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
E'en though it be a cross that raiseth me;
Still all my song shall be nearer, my God, to Thee,

Chorus: Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!

Though like the wanderer, the sun gone down,
Darkness be over me, my rest a stone;
Yet in my dreams I'd be nearer, my God, to Thee,

There let the way appear steps unto heav'n;
All that Thou sendest me in mercy giv'n;
Angels to beckon me nearer, my God, to Thee,

Then with my waking thoughts bright with Thy praise,
Out of my stony griefs Bethel I'll raise;
So by my woes to be nearer, my God, to Thee,

Or if on joyful wing, cleaving the sky,
Sun, moon, and stars forgot, upwards I fly,
Still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to Thee,

There in my Father's home, safe and at rest,
There in my Savior's love, perfectly blest;
Age after age to be, nearer my God to Thee.

May all of your steps bring you a little nearer to Him today!

EDIT: My apologies - I did not remember until later today that I had already posted this song in the Christian History thread.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top