Merry Christmas

Posting has been a little slow lately (you noticed that, didn’t you?). With the activities of the holidays I haven’t had much time to put coherent thoughts together, but I do want to wish all of you the merriest of Christmases. I hope that your time is filled with love, laughter and the blessings of hope, peace and joy. This video is reaching back a few years but the song is a great one. Enjoy it and look for renewed posting after the holidays.

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I Then Shall Live

Over the last few days, I have been receiving a large number of hits on this video. It appears to be blessing a lot of people at this sensitive time. For that reason, I am going to stick it at the top of the blog for a while. Newer posts will appear below it.

This song has been blessing, as well as challenging me, for the last couple of months as I have listened to it. Give it a listen, not just for the beautiful harmony, but for the power of the words.

Give It Again

Dr. Adrian Rogers once told the story of a young Indian prince who became the leader of his province while he was still a child. As this was during the time when India was a part of the British Empire, it was customary for such rulers to visit Queen Victoria and pay homage to her.

In an effort to impress her, he ignored the the counsel of his advisors and presented, as a gift to the Queen, a very large and precious diamond. This diamond was without question the most valuable item that was in his province.

Years went by and the prince became a man. Twenty years or so passed before he visited London again. The Queen’s counsellors told her that it was possible that this prince would request the return of the diamond. If he did so, protocol demanded that she oblige him.

Sure enough, as he received his audience with the Queen, he asked her if he could have the diamond. She commanded that the gem be returned to the prince. Upon receiving it, he turned to Her Majesty with the stone in hand and said, “Your Highness, when I gave this diamond to you, I was only a child. I did not understand the value of this gem and what it represented for the people I rule. Now that I am a man, I do realize the value of it and what it means. As a man, I now give you this stone again.”

Many of us have made commitments to God at earlier times in our lives. Perhaps at a revival, concert, youth camp or some other event, we made a “decision” for Christ that we might not have fully understood. Since that time we have come to a fuller awareness of exactly what was at stake. Maybe it is time that we renewed that commitment to God with the full knowledge of what we are doing, motivated by love for Him.

“He that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.”

They Worshipped Him as King

You can’t tell the Christmas story without including the visit of the wise men. They have always been favorites of mine for some reason. Every year, I would try to land the part of playing one of them in the church Christmas program and one of the first carols I learned was, “We Three Kings”.

Jesus came as the Savior of the world. We know that He will come again as King of Kings. To those of us who are believers in Him, this time of year is a wonderful celebration of the birth of our Savior. Between now and Easter we will think about His life, ministry, death and, of course, His resurrection. Our Savior and our salvation are real and that is a cause of great joy for us, is it not?

I am afraid, though, that many Christians do not celebrate Him as our king. We often think of His sovereignty in an abstract sense, some foggy concept of a future kingdom here on earth where He will rule the nations with a rod of iron.

And yet according to Philippians 2, God has already rewarded His obedience with a name that is above every name. Romans 8:9-10 states that we must believe in the “Lord Jesus Christ” in order to be saved. He is Lord and King right now. We cannot divorce His identity as Savior from His identity as King.

There are some who want Him to be the Lord over certain parts of their lives. They want His lordship to reign over their illnesses, their needs, their weaknesses and their negative circumstances, but they are not willing to submit their strengths, their abundances and their good times to Him.

The wise men came to Jesus on His terms as God had called them. They worshipped Him as He was, for Who He was. Whether or not they understood the full reason for His coming is unclear, but one thing is for sure, these men knew royalty when they saw it, and in the Christ child, they saw their King.

I hope that each of us will celebrate Him as Savior during this season but may that celebration continue throughout the whole year as we live our lives in submission to the commands of our King.

Weekend Survey

Christmas is in the air!

Most of us have many traditions that we observe during this time. Some are old, some a little newer. For the enjoyment of all and the sake of getting better acquainted with one another, would you mind sharing with us some of your traditions? Perhaps an old and a new?

 Our family has always opened one gift on Christmas Eve. (That was an old one.)

On a newer note, for the last three years we have begun using an Advent wreath. It has led to some very meaningful times of family worship.

How about you?

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope to get caught up on posting about what has been going on in my life the last couple of weeks after the holiday.

Until then, have a blessed and happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy the time with friends and family. Indulge in the traditional feast and collapse on the sofa in a turkey-induced coma and sleep through the football game of your choice. Wake up and enjoy a second piece of pumpkin pie.

Most of all, take the time to be thankful for all of the many blessings that our gracious Father pours out upon us daily. He is so much better to us than we are to Him.

 God bless.

Weekend Survey

The Weekend Survey has presented a broad spectrum of questions to Heavenly Heartburn readers. We have discussed food, travel, books, music, sports and weather preferences just to name a few topics. Occasionally, we branch into the realm of philosophy. Some may recall the spirited debate over the accurate description of a glass that is filled to exactly half its maximum capacity.

This week, I would like to present to you a moral dilemna for your discussion and entertainment.

I recently heard two individuals arguing over the following incident: one of them was behind a partially closed door, engaged in talking to himself. The other, unbeknownst to the “talker”, was on the other side of said door, quietly absorbing the “conversation”. At some point, the door was opened and the listener was discovered.

Here is the dilemna. The “talker” got upset with the “listener” and accused that person of “eavesdropping”. The “listener” rebutted with the argument that since there was only one person involved in the “conversation” that it did not truly qualify as “eavesdropping” but was only “listening”.

 What say ye, noble jurors of the burning hearts?

Trophies of Grace

From time to time I post reviews of concerts that I attend. Occasionally I have mentioned the Lighthouse Children’s Home that has sung at a few of these concerts.

We were blessed, yesterday, to have these young ladies come to Pine Park Baptist Church. They were with us in the morning worship service. As they sang and testified, the presence of God was manifested. Those who were in attendance yesterday expressed over and over to me what a tremendous blessing the service was.

They sang a number of songs, including a few a capella numbers that were really nice. Two songs in particular, though, that really touched my heart were the classic, “He Didn’t Throw the Clay Away” and a newer song that I had not heard before, “Trophies of Grace”.

As I sat and listened to these young ladies whose lives had been derailed by the world, and yet had been transformed by a relationship with God, I could not help but feel a deeper appreciation for God’s grace.

The group travels throughout the southeast. I highly recommend them for your church. If you would be interested in contacting them, you can do so through their website.

High Notes

It’s been a while since I’ve done a blog-spotting tour. I’ve come across a few gems this week that I wanted to pass along to you.

Dan Burrell gives an outstanding post on the Lost Discipline of Reverence. This post really reinforced some things I have been learning lately.

Frequent commentor here at Heavenly Heartburn, T.A. Blankenship, has a good set of reasons for expositional preaching.

The discussions at K.C.’s blog never lack for depth. He has a good one going now on the topic of judgment.

I always get a blessing out of Dionna Sanchez’ devotionals. She has one on keeping God in our focus that will encourage you.

 There’s a new blog on the block, SBC Impact is a group blog to which frequent visitor Tony Sisk contributes. It has a good collection of writers and seems to be focused on accentuating the positive aspects of SBC thought instead of dwelling on controversy.

Alan Knox is presenting an outstanding series on the topic of church elders at his blog. You really need to check this out. 

Finally, my brother is asking a good question concerning the future challenges of Christianity.

Enjoy and come back tomorrow for another exciting edition of Weekend Survey.

His Life for Mine

   I came across this video of the Talley Trio singing their song “His Life for Mine.” If you want to be blessed, watch the video by clicking here.

   Don’t rob yourself of this opportunity for a blessing.