The Christmas Story

Ross King has an album called The Christmas Stories which surprisingly enough contains Christmas songs. One of the songs is called Song of Gabriel.



I find the song is in the same vein as Host of Angels. A beautiful song telling the life of Christ, each event concluding with a host of Angels reacting.

The song tells the story of Christmas from the perspective of Gabriel. It captures 3 events, the annunciation of the incarnation to Mary, the birth of Jesus, and the announcement to the shepherds.

In the annunciation section, in the Bible in Luke 1:26-38, Gabriel starts with his thoughts on hearing what he is to say to Mary. It is almost as if Gabriel is saying "what? Your plan is to go to earth as a human? You trust humans to hold God in the helpless body of a baby? This plan is insane."

The birth of Jesus, in the Bible in Luke 2:1-7, Gabriel starts with the threat that Satan played while Mary and Joseph were traveling to Bethlehem. How vulnerable the Christ is, an unborn child in the womb of Mary, traveling from Nazareth to Bethlehem. The angels in the song served as escorts, protecting Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Once in Bethlehem, the angels all gather to see the newborn child, while a song, unheard to man, is sung in Heaven.

The announcement to the shepherds, in the Bible in Luke 2:8-20, Gabriel recalls the 23rd Psalm, the LORD is my shepherd. He then tells the shepherds of the birth of Christ and how this is what we have all have been created for. All will praise the name of Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us.

What a beautiful song.

Within the Two Binders: Prayer of Thanksgiving for Easter

I found this short prayer than appears to be a prayer of thanksgiving for Easter.

We thank Thee for the beauty of this day, for the glorious message that all nature proclaims; the Easter lilies with their waxen throats eloquently singing the good news; the birds so early this morning, impatient to begin their songs; every flowering tree, shrub, and flaming bush, a living proclamation from Thee; O Open our heats that we may hear it too! Lead us we pray from the grave that is empty, into the garden of the Resurrection where we may meet our risen Lord. May we never again live as if Thou were dead! In Thy presence restore our faith, our hope, our joy. Grant to our spirits refreshment, rest, and peace. Maintain within our hearts, an unruffled calm, and unbroken serenity that no storms of life shall ever be able to take from us.

 From this moment, O living Christ, we ask Thee to go with us wherever we go; be our Companion in all that we do. And for this greatest gift of all gifts, we offer Thee our sacrifices of thanksgiving.

 

Within the Two Binders: God in History

Continuing through the binders, this 3 page introduction was found within a lesson on Joseph, son of Jacob.

Several years ago there was a cartoonist, who produced a Pulitzer prize winning cartoon. This cartoon showed an old man with a broom in one hand and a duster in the other. He was approaching an unoccupied pulpit, a closed Bible, and an altar, from which one could see cobwebs running in every direction. The caption under this cartoon read, "TIME TO DUST IT OFF." 

Today the average man in the street needs to dust of his ideas concerning history. our lesson this morning is entitled, "God in History." There are too many of us who do not believe that God is concerned with history, or that he can, or will have anything to do with it. It doesn't make very good sense, to go around preaching and teaching that God is concerned with the individual, but that he isn not interested in the great political and social currents of our world. If God is interested in me as an individual, I can't help but believe that he also must be interested in the current military, political and economic world. Further, I don't believe that he is powerless to do anything about it. But we who are followed of the lowly Nazarene, believe that God can effectively control the world through the voluntary co-operation of his people. To Joseph this might not have made very good sense, and he probably would not have been in full accord with this view. 

There are in the world today three different views concerning man, and God in history. There is the view point that believes man controls history and his own destiny. An illustration of this type of thinking was at one time expressed by Mr. Winston Churchill, when he heard that a group of men were unloading tonnage from a ship at a very strategic spot. He sent this message to them, "Tell them for me, that they are unloading history." Mr. Churchill is one of the great men of our time, I would not attempt to argue, or to criticize his viewpoint of history, for no other man of our time has made more history, or been involved in the making of more history than Mr. Churchill. But if you take his statement just as it stands, it could mean that it is man who "unloads" or "loads" or "stacks" or "stops" or control history. If this be true, then every person is at the mercy of some Napoleon, a Hitler, or a Mussolini, or some other little strutting dictator who crosses the stage of history. One after another of these men have had their little brief glory upon the stage, and they have left it strewn with broken hopes, ideals destroyed, and the dead and broken and twisted bodies of thousands of their fellow man. No man, not even, the best and the wisest, knows enough, or possesses enough virtue, or is destined to live long enough to be entrusted with the control of the world. 

The Italian statesman, Machiavelli, proclaimed the doctrine of economic control of history. This is the view of the Communists. Communism says that the world is in a continual conflict brought on by economic considerations. The conflict comes from that part of man's life where he is in a constant struggle to win the material things of life, such as food, clothing, and housing. Back and forth this struggle goes, until there comes a time when man will reach the "Golden Age." But the battle now is between the haves and the havenots. In this struggle the individual counts very little. It is the sweep of things, the blind force that moves on like a tidal wave sweeping everything before it. Things are the master. And so it is, that the Communist ruler can declare and he evidently believes that the nation or nations that stand in the way will be plowed under. He dogmatically, prophesies that our children will grow up under communism. It this system there is no God. 

The third view in history is that it is God controlled. That God started it, and that God will finish it, and that in between the beginning and the end, he has a hand in it. The Christian does not believe history to be sentimental or soft headed. We do not blink at defeats and tragedy. We do not believe, in fact we know it is not the be true, that day by day, in every way, that man or history is getting better and better. We accept the view, even tho we don't understand it, that often the best is in the hands of the worst. Just as Joseph suffered at the hands of his brothers, and just as Jesus, in the hands of the Roman soldiers. But we believe, that history does affirm that God can and does sometimes use that which is bad to chastise and discipline that which is less good than it might be. 

The Book of Isaiah says, "Thus saith the Lord, to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue the nations before him; I will loosen the loins of kinds, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut." We might ask, did God approve the cruelty and the brutality of Cyrus? The answer is no, God does not approve of the methods of Cyrus; God approves the methods of Jesus, and the methods of the two are as far apart as the north and the south pole. 

Yet, we contend, that God does use a Cyrus. Cyrus does not control God; God controls Cyrus. And he will use Cyrus, whether Cyrus wills it or not. Cyrus can do much damage; he can bring untold suffering. Much that is good and fine and noble will be at the mercy of Cyrus, but Cyrus does not control history nor does he control time. These are in the hands of a just and a merciful God. When Cyrus has been used of God, God will cast him aside. When an obedient servant has been used of God, he will be loved and cherished. 

God, not men, not blind force, is in control. The child of God lives by faith and not be sight. Without this faith, it is impossible to please God.

Day trip to Philadelphia

We live about 2 hours away from Philadelphia, so after church yesterday, we drove up for the afternoon with another family. Our goals were simple, cheese steaks and the liberty bell.

Two hours and $16 in tolls later, we arrived at cheese steak corner about 1:45. Parking is free along the street.

We wanted to try both Pat's and Geno's, so one family stood in line at Pat's, the other at Geno's.

Our friends stood in line at Pat's. They said that though they were concerned ordering food because the sign said "If you make a mistake, don't panic, just go to the back of the line and start over." However, despite ordering one provolone wit-out, their cheese steak had onions. Cheese fries helped to round out this healthy meal.

We stood in line at Geno's. When we got to the window, the cashier was quite friendly and helpful. After talking to him briefly about a couple items on the menu, he recognized us as first timers and walked us through the process. One whiz wit, one provolone wit, one american wit-out. He also gave us two free pens. French fries and cokes (both Pepsi and Coke products) washed them down.

Geno's is infamous for their speak English sign.

The cheese steaks.

One whiz wit

One provolone wit

The verdict on cheese steak? The whiz is amazing. You have to have it the Philly way, whiz wit. But Pat's or Geno's? Pat's had better tasting meat. If I went back, I'd be a Pat's cheese steak guy.

Then it was on to Independence Hall. There is a parking garage under the north visitors center.

To tour Independence Hall, you have to have timed tickets. You can get them free at the visitor center, but they tend to run out early. We bought ours online for $1.50 each.

Our tour was for 3PM, so at 3PM we arrived at the visitor center. We got our tickets and walked down to Independence Hall.

 

After walking, clearing security, and waiting in the tour line, we caught the 3:45 tour. The ranger checking tickets was pretty rude, seeing at 3PM tour and saying that we missed it pretty badly. When I told him we got out tickets at 3PM, he looked at me like I was an idiot. So, the time on your ticket isn't the time at the visitor center, but at the hall. Arrive early. Regardless, we got in on the tour and the ranger giving the tour was very friendly and extremely knowledgeable about the place and the American revolution.

The tour first takes you into a briefing room in the east wing for a brief talk about the hall centered around a painting of the Constitutional Convention of 1787.

We then went into the hall and started in the court side of the old statehouse.

Then to the more famous legislative side where the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution were signed.

You then exit out the back and into the plaza.

Commodore Barry, Father of the Navy

Then, the Liberty Bell.

The Liberty Bell does not require tickets. You just stand in line to clear security, then can walk around the exhibit where it is located. You cannot touch the bell. I did go at one time when you could and got a photo with my hand in the crack, but not any more.

Two hours later and $8 in tolls (there is an $8 toll to leave Maryland, none to enter), we were home.

Within the Two Binders: Sunday School teachers

My grandma told me that there use to be three binders. One day, my great-granddad decided he no longer needed the Sunday school lessons he wrote and he started to burn them. He burned one entire binder and was working on the second when my great-grandma caught him and took the binders. They were passed down to my grandma and no one has really done anything with them until now.

Reading this lesson makes me thankful I didn't have to hear him make this announcement in church, because it is pretty convincing.

Last Saturday, the Houston Press carried in box type headlines: "HELP WANTED: TO TEACH SUNDAY SCHOOL". "This is a help wanted ad, carried free on behalf on the nation's churches.

It is addressed to men and women who are willing to devote several hours a week to an unpaid job in which they will experience a lot of frustration and failure- occasional moments of triumph that make the whole thing seem worth while.

The job is teaching Sunday School.

American's 275,000 Sunday Schools are beginning their fall term this month.

They count on a record enrollment- probably about 42 million students.

Their biggest problem is recruiting 3 1/2 million teachers."

Last week at our Men's meeting we had a speaker who was well versed in the art of political science. In the course of his talk he made this remark. "That he was firmly convinced that five men who were dedicated and devoted could elect a man to any office in Harris County, provided, they were willing to perform all of the tasks necessary for the promotion of their candidate. Men who disciplined their lives for this one purpose.

Like our speaker of last week I believe that a few disciplined people could turn Harris County upside down for our Lord and Master.

To be a Sunday School Teacher takes discipline. You must discipline your talents, you must discipline your time, you must discipline your actions, and as the ad says, it is often frustrating and discouraging. But Sunday School Teachers should remember that in the story that Jesus told his disciples of the man who went forth to sow. Most of the see was waster, because they fell on hard ground or among weeds. But a few fell on fertile soil & bore rich fruit.

Our Father and our God we know that it is a privilege as well as a responsibility to be called to serve as a worked in the Sunday School. We thank Thee for those dedicated men and women who have given so freely of their time and their talent in its development.

We thank Thee for the Sunday School and for its contribution towards our civilzation and the daily influence that it has exerted on our lives.

As we take up the fall term inspire our hearts and our minds that we will want to be workers in Thy service and that we will not prove ourselves to be irresponsible. Teach us that we may learn to discipline our lives in such a manner that we will realize to the fullest our abilities and capabilities and that we will use them and direct them for the advancement of Thy kingdom.

We ask Thy blessing on our speaker as he brings us the message for tonight. Be with our School Supt., the teachers, the students and all who contribute their efforts for the advancement of this school. 

These things we ask in Jesus name, Amen

Within the Two Binders: Thanksgiving

Continuing through the two binders of my great-granddad's lessons and prayers, I came across what seems to be a Thanksgiving Day prayer.

"THE TWENTY THIRD PSALM"

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures;
He leadeth me besides the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righeousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and they staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table for me in the presence of mine enemies; thou anoinst my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever."

"Lord, Thou hast indeed been bountiful. As we look back over the years, how gracious Thou hast been, how tender Thy mercy, how warm and constant Thy Love.

Create within us, our Father, that true gratitude that shall make this day of Thanksgiving one of rededication, when we shall not think of how much we can eat but of how thankful we ought to be.

So may we-all across this land today-act as recipients of God's richest mercy and bountiful blessing, as we share with others. May we, in gratitude, get on with the job of creating not only a nation but a world in which men shall have the right to seek happiness.

Help us to make that dream come true in our homes day by day, in street and office and school, and so to live that Thou shalt be able to bless us and bless the nation for which we pray. In His name, who created us a nation, we pray Amen.

Crystal Grottoes

Today, my oldest daughter and I went to Crystal Grottoes in Boonsboro, Maryland.

Admission to the cave is $20 for adults, $10 for kids 11 and under. There are $1 off coupons available on their website and on brochures in the lobby of the cave.

We arrived at the cave shortly after lunch.

The visitors center and where you enter the cave

After we paid for our tour, we waited about 15 minutes for the previous tour to finish and the tour guide to complete her break.

We then headed down the stairs into the cave. Our tour consisted of 4 of us, a couple and my daughter and myself.

The entrance to the cave

At the bottom of the stairs, you turn and enter the cave. The tour guide pointed out where they had blasted into the cave. The cave doesn't have a natural entrance, but miners dynamited into it.

The black marks where they dynamited

The black marks where they dynamited

The tour guide claimed that this cave has the most decorations per square foot of any cave in the world. I don't know if that is true, but it certainly is plastered with decorations, more than any other cave I've been to.

The Crystal Palace

Fantasy Land

The mummy

The string looking thing is a honeysuckle root 45 feet below the surface

Supposedly a dragon

Looking up 55 feet which is 5 feet beneath the surface

In the formation, there is a horse with an elephant on its back with a giraffe on its back

My daughter's favorite feature

Pool

The blankets

My daughter and me in front of the blankets

The tour lasted about 30 minutes. If you are in the area, a nice cave tour to see a beautiful cave.

Pastor of the Restaurant

In Sunday School, we've been reading through John Leonard's Get Real.

This week we are studying Chapter 10, Sow Widely. The chapter is about evangelizing. At the end of the chapter, he talks about a pastor who while walking around the neighborhood around the church is discovered to not know the people around the church. The author tells the pastor "You don't pastor just a church; you pastor a community. Every one of these people, whether they know it or not, are your sheep. Your job is to shepherd them. Don't walk by them without calling out to them, asking 'How are you doing today? How's your family? How's that problem we spoke about last week?'"

It reminded me of a pastor friend of mine who pastored a restaurant.

Now this pastor was an ordained United Methodist elder and was the Senior Pastor of a church. However, he was a widower and devoted long hours to the church and the gym and not to cooking for himself. Just about every night, he would go eat dinner at a restaurant down the street from the church. Anytime he and I ate together, we ate at this restaurant. And anytime I ate at the restaurant separately, I would see him there.

Now though I was friends with the pastor and meet with him several times, I never heard him give his thoughts on that day's Lectionary reading. The only time I was in the sanctuary of his church was for a wedding that he didn't officiate. But I heard that pastor preach many sermons at that restaurant.

Whenever I ate dinner with this pastor, he would constantly be talking with the wait staff, hostesses, and bartenders. He knew who their family was, where they were going to school, and what problems they were having. It seemed the staff would intentionally come by our table just so the pastor would be able to talk with them.

The pastor told me once that though he was assigned to the church, his primary congregation was the staff at this restaurant. I thought the food was really good, Jamaican. A Whataburger or a BBQ place would be good places to be assigned as well.

Tell me the story again

Today at our church, we talked about the empty tomb, we sang about the risen Lord, we prayed in thanksgiving for the eternal life granted to us, but we didn't read the scriptures. The sermon text was from Luke 9 when Jesus asks his disciples who the people say Jesus is. The sermon was fine, even for being Easter and not using the Easter scripture, but tell me the story again of how the women went to the tomb and ran away in fear and joy! Tell me about the great earthquake and the angel! Tell me about how Peter lost the foot race to the tomb after he and the other disciple heard about the risen Lord!

We need to hear these stories again! Every Easter is an opportunity to hear these words again. We should read and say them every year and not just on Easter, but especially on Easter.

May we never tire of hearing this wonderful story, the greatest story every.

Don't spoil the ending!

I'm not a big fan of movies. I haven't been to the movie theater since December 25, 2008, when I saw Marley and Me. When I do watch a movie at home with my family, I read the plot first because I want to know what happens. I don't want the suspense of not knowing what happens.

Today is Holy Saturday. Yesterday we remembered the crucifixion of Jesus. Tomorrow we will celebrate the resurrection of our Lord. But don't tell me that yet! Don't spoil the surprise! This isn't some movie, this is God incarnate coming to earth. Let me seek to understand it more than some movie.

Today is the day of waiting. Christ has died. He promised he would rise, but who can rise from the dead? Today we wait to see if the promise of Christ come true. For the captive souls in hell, today is a day of liberation. But for the friends of Jesus in Jerusalem, it was a day of waiting.

Don't play Christ the Lord is Risen Today, yet! Don't tell me about how the stone is rolled away! Let me consider how it might have been the day after Jesus' crucified body was laid in a tomb. Let the suspense hang in the air a little longer.

Tomorrow we will have time to sing Low in the Grave He Lay, and proudly sing He Arose, He Arose, Hallelujah He Arose. Today, let me be a sad, because my Lord and my God is dead.

Within the Two Binders: Prayers of our Father

Continuing through the binders full of my great-grandfather's lessons and prayers, I came across one prayer which I think he wrote during the Cuban missile crisis. It's plea to God is appropriate just about everyday on the calendar though.

We know, our Father, that at this desperate hour in world affairs, we need Thee. We need Thy strength, Thy guidance, Thy Wisdom.

There are problems far greater than any wisdom of man can solve. What shall our leaders do in such an hour? 

May Thy wisdom and Thy power come upon the President of these United States, the Senators and the Congressmen, tho whom we have entrusted leadership. may the responsibility lie heavily upon their hearts, until they are ready to acknowledge their helplessness and to turn to Thee. Give to them the honesty, the courage, and the moral integrity to confess that they don't know what to do. Only then can they lead us as a nation beyond human wisdom to Thee, who along hast the answer. 

Lead us to this high adventue. Remind us that a "might fortress is our God", not a hiding place where we can escape for an easy life, but rather an arsenal of courage and strength, the mightiest of all, who will march besides us into the battle for righteousness and world brotherhood. 

May we never record from our feeling of helplessness and our need for Thee. 

In the name of Jesus our Lord we pray

Embrace your heritiage

As Christians, I think it is good for us to remember our heritage in the old testament.

At dinner each night, our family reads from the Bible. We use a reading schedule our church puts out. Right now, the daily readings are from Exodus. I usually try to include some context, so the other night I asked my kids how the Israelites got to Egypt. We ended up walking through the story from Joseph being sold a slave to Moses leading the Israelites across the dry ground of the Red Sea.

At bed time, I usually read a chapter to my oldest daughter. Last night we started the book of Esther. I didn't realize that Purim was next week, but I did teach her to boo whenever the name of Haman is read.

I think it is important that we learn the stories of the old testament, remember what our God has done, understand our heritage, and remember that it all points to the promised one, mashiach, Jesus Christ.

Within the Two Binders: Christ Tempted by Satan

My grandma sent me two binders that contained Sunday school lessons written by her father, my great-granddad, Clodius McCollum. I've been reading through it today and came across this one which was only a page.

Painting, "Christ Tempted by Satan" by Georg Cornicelius.

In the original of this wonderful painting the eyes are red, with lack of sleep, not black, as they appear in the reproductions. His hair is a bit disheveled by the wind, because for days now, He has not thought of food, or sleep, or His personal appearance. And while His face rests upon His right hand, as one often instinctively does in deep thoughts, His left hand has gripped His wrist with muscular tension that indicates something of the intensity of His inner absorbing struggle. 

If thou art the Messiah, is the problem that Jesus took with Him when He was driven by the Spirit into the wilderness for self-discovery and self mastery, following that unusual experience as His Baptism when a voice out of Heaven said, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased" 

"Some one has said that "character is what you are when you are dead sure no one else is looking". The bitterest battles are fought, won or lost, within personality and not outside of it. Like Jesus, all of us fight our greatest battles with the evil forces that are all about us, alone, and within our own inner selves.

Speaking for God

A friend of mine posted this picture on his Facebook page.

It bothers me.

Not the abortion part. No problem with calling the murder of children a sin.

But the part where they speak for God. "God will not bless a nation that destroys its children."

Who are we to speak for God like that? Are we saying that God will bless a nation that commits adultery or lusts or kills adults or looks upon others with disdain? Are we saying that abortion is an unpardonable sin? Are we saying that America is judged as a whole instead of each individual for his or her own faith and actions?

All these things bother me about this photo.