I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

Originally a  poem written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, (1807-1882) "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" was penned after the tragic accidental death of his wife Fanny and the crippling injury of his son Charles from war wounds during the American Civil War.

"Christmas Bells"
The complete poem           numbers in () are the order of the chorus from the song

1)"I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

4)Till, ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

2)And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

3)Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men!"

A Worthy Cause: Samaritan's Purse

 "Let my heart be broken with the things that break the heart of God." Bob Pierce wrote these now-famous words in his Bible after visiting suffering children on the Korean island of Kojedo. This impassioned prayer is what guided him as he founded and led the ministry of Samaritan's Purse in 1970. His mission for this organization was "to meet emergency needs in crisis areas through existing evangelical mission agencies and national churches." (From the Samaritan's Purse Website)

Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child

“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead.

 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’  Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”  He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” (Luke 10:30, 33-37)

Righteous Before God and a Doubter?

"I am Gabriel.  I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.  And behold,  you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time."

Read more in the book of Luke

Christmas List 2011... to be continued

Ural T

Yankee Handyman by Stanley

A farm with a cow or three

Papa Elf and Church Attendance

We watched ELF again this Christmas. A human raised by Papa Elf, thinks he's an elf, acts like an elf, but doesn't really fit in at the workshop. Two elves talking remark, "If he hasn't figured out he's a human by now, he never will." Over-hearing this starts the great adventure to locate his real father who turns out to be on the Naughty List and not exactly a shining example of fatherhood.

Throughout the movie we see repeated examples of his "Elf" upbringing; positive attitude, innocence, kindness, friendliness, and a great ability to cut out snowflakes.

My point? Upbringing is important. More specifically, fathers are important.
In Touchstone Magazine, Robbie Low reports on a study that found that children raised with church attending fathers were more likely to attend church as adults than if they came from homes where only the mother attended regularly. In fact, even if the father only attended sometimes, that child had a greater chance of attending church in their adulthood.

Father's Att.	Mother's Att.	Child's Att.
Regular	Regular	33%
Non-Practicing	Regular	2%
Regular	Irregular	38%
Regular	Non-Practicing	44%
Irregular	Non-Practicing	25%

(taken from Gospel-Powered Parenting)

Conclusion: Father's raising their kids to attend church is one thing. Raising them to love God is another. Reading the Bible, praying, having fellowship with other believers are all areas of our lives that can be taught and modeled to our children. If I do not place importance on these areas then why should my children?

So Yes, the burden is on me.

For families without a dad? As the the author of Gospel-Powered Parenting says,

"God is the God of the fatherless. Timothy was raised by his mother and grandmother, and yet he was great leader in the early church."

Fortunately, for us, God is bigger than us and our feeble attempts to raise the perfect family.

Wait no longer!

Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,
29 “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,according to your word;30 for my eyes have seen your salvation31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,and for glory to your people Israel.”
33 And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed 35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” Luke 2:25

Simeon, a man who was willing to wait on God. A man who was willing to put God First. May I also be that man.