The Last Night Before Christmas

A Christmas offering for all...Merry Christmas!

The Last Night Before Christmas

On a night in the future, time still unknown
All of Earth seems in ruin, humanity gone.

Rumors of Wars have covered the globe
The simplest of food worth its weight in gold.
Tornadoes and earthquakes, fires and floods,
The sun barely light, the moon like blood.

The fish have been boiled by the heat of the sea.
The trees and the gardens as dry as can be.
The rivers are bitter, no water to drink.
All of creation is perched on the brink.

Still brother hates brother, and blames for his woes,
all but himself, and doesn't suppose
His own self the culprit, the reason for ruin.
And so he continues to seal his own doom.

When out of the east, in the clouds should appear
a rider on horseback, a Savior so dear.
His Sceptre in hand, and crown on His head
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

With a thundering voice, He calls up His own,
both living and past, to join at His throne.
Then angelic armies, the warriors of God
Soon blot out the sky with their glorious throng.

A charge is then called, final war is begun
And Lucifer's children battle God's Holy Son.
But unlike First Christmas, a baby alone,
This time as a King, reclaiming His own.

When all the dust settles, and fighting is done,
He shall be triumphant, and we shall be one.
New heaven and Earth will be ours on that day.
And all of our tears and our pain washed away.

As once the world waited for Him to appear,
Again it is Advent, His coming is near.
First Christmas has come, we hallow the night.
Last Christmas is coming, when all is made right.

Like First Christmas was, it shall be again,
For God will come down and make His home with man

Catfish

I love catfish. Especially the catfish my brother-in-law, Mike Jones, used to make. My mouth starts to drool just thinking about it. But apparently, this word has taken on a new meaning. Now, catfish also refers to an online relationship on facebook, but one party is not really who they say they are.The most recent example of this is the Notre Dame football player, Manti Te'o, who had a long term relationship with a girl he never saw, then thought had died, then thought was alive, then found out never was! (Wow, and I thought it was tough back when I was dating!) MTV even has a new reality show, "Catfish", that has two guys exposing these fake profiles.

This phenomenon is nothing new. We've seen it in online dating services, phone date lines, even web chat rooms (BTW, ESPECIALLY if you're under 18, be very careful what you say in a web chat room. You NEVER know for sure who you're talking to!) The question that always arises from this form of relationship, at least by everyone else, is "How can you be in a long term, loving relationship with someone you've never seen?!".

Well, I have a confession to make...I am in a catfish relationship. I know their love is deeper than any sea, higher than any mountain, wider than any river (insert Motown song here). Their love is kind, forgiving and patient, and even though I've never laid eyes on my love, I could not exist without it. My catfish is named "Jesus".

And He even saw this problem coming, some 2000 years ago, when talking to His disciples (John 20:28-29). He's got a pretty full bio published - What He looked like (Is 53:2-3), What He looks like to those who KNOW Him (Luke 9:28-36), His personality (I Corinthians 13: 4-8, and so much more!). And even with all MY faults, His love continues to be faithful. (check out the book of Hosea - This guy had a wife with the unfortunate name of "Gomer". She left and came back so many times you could call her "Yo-Yo!).

The great thing about this relationship is that its not exclusive! Anybody can get in on this good thing (John 3:16-17) and the more, the merrier! (2 Peter 3:9) I know how difficult it can be to love Someone you've never seen. Even St. Augustine said "Unless you believe, you will not be understood". But this love, like ANY love, requires faith and hope to survive. (Hmmm... I Corinthians again...) And half the battle is done because He loved us, each of us, from the foundation of the world (Eph 1:3-5).

Stepping out in faith into any relationship can feel a little scary, and it seems much easier to stay status quo. But look at it logically. If the love of Jesus is false, but you believe in it, at the end of your life you leave the world no worse off, and maybe a little better. BUT, if the love of Jesus is TRUE (and I believe it is), and yet you refused to let yourself enjoy and partake in that love, how much you are missing!

Bottom line, my "Catfish" is an open relationship, based on my faith in Him (and more than a little bit of His faith in me!). I am to love my brothers and sisters, even the ones that don't like me, and His love is to all the world. Want in??

Generations

Hello, everyone! Was reading this morning, and came across a scripture that I've read many times, but today came at me from a different angle. The scripture was Psalm 90, and it was in the very first verse.

Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. (ESV)

Normally, I read that, and think of God being eternal, and all knowing, and the like. Today, I started thinking of how God was there for my family this generation, and the past one, and the one before that, and so on. And I wonder how I stack up compared to my God-fearing generations before.

I think to my Grandfather Frizzell, he was a hard working, good man. Used to do collection work, back when that was done going to a person's door, rather than over the phone (aka-my job!). At his funeral, there were people there that no one in the family recognised. We found that there were times when a family was having difficulty, he'd help them out. Never told anyone, just did it.

My Dad, I could give all kinds of examples, but the one that always stayed in the forefront was when I was 19 or 20. I was at the salvage yard, getting a carburetor for my very mix and match car. I realised I had left my check book at home, and would need to go back for it. Offering to leave the carburetor and come back, the owner said "That's OK, I know your dad, you're good for it." I remember thinking "Wow. My dad's reputation is so good, it extends to me without even having to earn it!"

I see all of this, in my family history, and sometimes think "I don't even come close to being so generous, so honest, so, well, good." If not for Christ, I could claim no goodness at all, and my being in Him is not because of anything of my doing, but all because of His compassion.

That's where this verse hit me today. "our dwelling place for all generations." In thinking back, I know there must have been times when my dad felt right at the point of losing it, or maybe even did, but his dwelling place was Christ, and that was so much more than himself, that became who he was. Same with my grandfather. And thank God, same with myself. Not myself, but He who is in me who is greater, and truer, and purer that I could ever be.

Now there are generations in front of me. Generations that are being raised in God-fearing homes, and already in their young lives have Christ in their hearts. Who will grow up and say, "I can never live up to who my parents were". But they have made God their dwelling place as well, just as those before them.

So I look to that dwelling place, and see my Grandfather, my Father, my Brother, Sister and I, my Nephews and Nieces, their children as well, and so many others in our family. And I thank God, and take comfort, that He is our dwelling place.

What Becomes of the Brokenhearted?

As I walk this land of broken dreams
I have visions of many things
But happiness is just an illusion
Filled with sadness and confusion

What becomes of the brokenhearted
Who have love that's now departed
I know I've got to find
Some kind of peace of mind
Maybe.

     (This is a sermon from a few years back - still seems fitting)
     Most of you know I'm a firm believer in the "gospel according to Motown" and this song is one of the greats. Jimmy Ruffin, 1957 (yes, over 50 years old, and if you actually remember it...you don't have to admit it!), but for such an upbeat tune, the lyrics are downright depressing. But just work with me here, and keep this song handy.
     Let's do some time travel here. Let's go back, way back. Back to A.D. 30, in a synagogue in the town of Nazareth. The place is packed this Sabbath, because word has gotten out that Jesus, local son made good, will speak. And when He speaks, people tend to listen. Not just for the scripture, any Joe Shmoe could do that, but He'll get to talk about it as well, and Jesus spoke as if He really understood.
     Now, Jesus is walking to the podium, reaches to the wall behind him and pulls out a scroll. Gently kissing the seal, he open it up, then unrolls it, and begins to read.

"The Spirit of Adonai ELOHIM is upon me, because ADONAI has anointed me to announce good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted; to proclaim freedom to the captives, to let out into light those bound in the dark."

(The Complete Jewish Bible - Isaiah 61:1)

     He carefully rolls the scroll back together, kisses the seal again, and replaces it. In the pause, the congregation is getting excited, and the whispers are everywhere. "This is one of the Messiah scriptures! I can't wait to see what he says. OK, so its not one of the 'blast the enemys' ones, but it's still good!"

     Jesus stood before them and said "This day has this scripture been fulfilled in your presence."

     The audience was stunned.

"What did he say...this day this scripture will..."

"No, he said this scripture has."

"But that would mean he's the...oh no, he's not going there! We know his brothers, we know his mother..."

"Nobody knows the father!"

"How dare he blasphemy in G*d's house?"

"KILL HIM!...STONE HIM!"

     The men picked up stones and chased him, but just when they thought he was caught, he simply walked through the midst of them.

     Wow, these guys were really ticked off, but why? Well, for one thing, making the claim of Messiah was dangerous at best. But the Messiah they were looking for was one that would "crush the oppressor" not "heal the broken hearted". They had taken just about enough of Roman rule, thank you very much. So this didn't set well at all.

     Just what did Jesus mean by "broken hearted" anyway? The word for broken here is "Shabar" which translates "break in pieces, tear, rend violently, quench". That's a lot more than the "Boy loses Girl" those words usually bring up. So how deep was this "broken heartedness"?

     Let's hit the way back machine again, and travel all the way back to the garden (another great song, BTW). Eve out gathering ingredients for her famous apple dumpling, and the serpent appears.

 "Eve, you don't want those...look what I've got over here on this tree."

But we're not supposed to eat those."

"Oh, but come on, this fruit is to DIE for."

     So, she eats. And where was Adam? Not off naming the animals! Scripture says she ate, then turned to him, gave to him, and he ate. Yes, folks, Adam was there the whole time. Adam could have stopped it at any time, but...he didn't. And that's when the "broked-ness" occurred. At that moment we were "rent violently" from God himself, torn, broken in pieces, ...quenched.

What becomes of the broken hearted? "I have come to heal the broken hearted".

       Well, let's see how that healings going so far, shall we? In the last two weeks (this was back in 2007).....

Don Imus proved racism is alive and kicking.

The Duke lacrosse case showed hatred can be stirred with no evidence.

A gunman goes on a university campus and shoots 50 people, killing 32.

One day of Iraq bombing kills over 230, wounding hundreds more.

Oh, and in a small printing shop in Turkey, men broke in and slit the throats of it's three employees. Their crime...printing bibles.

     "Why don't you just come down and blow these people out of the water? If you want healing, then you've got to cut out the cancer...right?"

     But healing won't come that way. In WWII, Hitler was taken out, but there is still an Arian Nation and the Nazi Party survives. Sadaam Hussien is no more, but bombings are still a daily occurrence, just as sure as waking up in the morning. We took out Osama Bin Laden, but there are myriad more ready to take his place. You see, the "brokenness" goes further than a person here or a group there. Thanks to Adam, all of humankind became diseased, we all were "rent violently" from God.

"For all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God." Romans 3:23

What becomes of the broken hearted? "I have come to heal the brokenhearted."

Well, how do you intend on doing that?

     The same way the break occurred. We were torn from God because of one man, Adam. So our healing comes because of one man, Jesus. His sacrifice on the cross was the only sacrifice strong enough to bridge the gap mankind had created.

     "Well, great, but back to point number one, since this has happened, evil is still here. NOW WHAT!?"

What becomes of the broken hearted? "I have come to heal the broken hearted."

     If cutting out the evil won't work, then how does healing occur? By one man sin arrived, bu one sin was conquered, and broken hearts are healed the same way - one heart at a time.

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." Ezekiel 36:26

     God doesn't just tweak the heart we've got. He doesn't do a bypass. He takes out the "Heart of stone" and puts in a "heart of flesh". And not just any heart, but His heart, His Spirit. The broken hearted are healed, one heart at a time, with the only thing that can bring together that which is broken, His own heart.

     A friend of mine writes in a blog, and recently he spoke about the Mary Winkler case. Now, no matter what side of this you take, it has had the positive aspect of bringing abuse to a national debate. In my friends blog, he mentioned how he had always talked to his son about "never hitting a woman". Now his son, big for his age of 10, shows every sign of being a man who will not allow abuse to occur at his hands, and his father couldn't be prouder. One person, one heart who will not share the disease.

What becomes of the broken hearted. "I have come to heal the broken hearted."

One heart at a time.

Very short one here, borrowed from Jon Wise at http://www.jonwise.org. Use this sentence to help you with all the busyness that gets in the way of prayer. God Bless.

Weddings!

I've been thinking a lot about weddings recently. You see, my godson Terry, and his fiance' LaRae, are having a wedding on the beach in Mexico Beach, Florida in less than two weeks, so I'm having to study up to be ready. Of course I'm prejudiced, but I see in them a real devotion to each other, and to God, that will see them through quite a few troubles in life.

You've got to wonder, with divorce rates as high as they are, why two people would even want a relationship, much less get married. Why does God put such a high emphasis on marriage, when it is so difficult to sustain? It is so important, that God even uses a marriage to represent the relationship between Christ and the church!

I think it goes to the verse in Genesis 2:24 "Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh." We human types are made in the image of God (in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them Gen 1:27). So do we all have a physical characteristic that is like God's? Nose perhaps, eyes set just so? No, because God is a spirit, it is in our spirits that we resemble Him. But if men and women are so different (and they are) how is THAT possible?

I think the man resembles God in His strength, in His vengeance and justice (The LORD is a warrior, the LORD is His name - Exodus 15:3). Most boys, as they play, find ways to fight battles. I remember picking up a long stick from a tree and being Robin Hood, or some other sword carrying crusader. As we grow older, we turn the fighting to competition, sports, girls, pretty much any way we can. But the need to fight for a worthy cause never really leaves us, even as we suppress it in the corporate world around.

The women, on the other hand, resembles God in His beauty. In the love and compassion that is in the female make-up. Where most boys fight, wrestle, and so on, most girls play is involved in some type of relationship. Tea parties, dress up, even sleep overs, their play involves nurturing the relationship.

God, in all His glory, is both of these at the same time. So the couple "becoming as one" is how the marriage represents God Himself. And this is something the evil one cannot stand. This is why he tried to bust up Adam and Eve from the beginning. Because the two together were the image of God on earth. And trust me, he still tries to destroy marriage anytime he can, unfortunately, divorce rates seem to prove him very successful.

But the two becoming one goes even deeper than this. In the beginning, God and Adam (and we presume Eve, too) walked and talked together. They shared everything between them. They had...wait for it....a RELATIONSHIP! There was nothing hidden between them, no secrets, no fears, only love. But after the serpent incident, all that was shattered, there was a barrier that blocked us out, kept us from that intimacy. And God would not stop until that intimacy was restored! He called, He scolded, He begged, He wooed, He came through time and time again, and finally, He came to earth and paid the ultimate price, His own life, to restore all that had been. All for love.

The marriage shows just that love. That the man would leave everything he has known, father and mother and home, just to bring the woman to be with him, to love intimately, no secrets, no fears, only love. And that she would give her love, totally, completely, vulnerable, yet trusting in her husband's strength. God wants us that intimately, that desperately, and continues to draw in the church as his bride.

When I asked Terry how he saw the relationship between himself and LaRae, he said with no hesitation "We are like one, soul mates, each part of the other." So at the end of the ceremony on June 25th, I plan on saying "I now pronounce that these two have become one, intricately woven by God Himself, Husband and Wife together. Whom therefore God has joined together, let No Man break asunder!"

May it be so between Christ and us, His church.

Sing the Song

Hello, all! I want to post a poem that I wrote a couple of years ago, and had posted on another website. Not being a poet by trade will hopefully excuse any glaring technical faults!

Sing the Song

It's words began a world ago,

When Love was all there was to know

And from His depths all else did flow

Sing the Song.

Then Love reached down with His own hand

And gath'ring up the dust and sand

And mud He shaped the form of man.

Sing the Song.

He then knelt down, and face to face,

Lips to lips, new life did create.

Love's very breath through man did race.

Sing the Song.

So man, with woman as his bride

Was placed by Love to dwell inside

A garden, Eden, Paradise.

Sing the Song.

Then came another, filled with hate

Towards the song of Love so great.

It's melody he must abate

So none could Sing the Song.

A subtle lie, a knowing nod

A wink, a nudge. "You'll be like god!"

And with two bites, man's voice could not

Sing the Song.

In fear, and nakedness of sin

Man lost the song, and empty then

Did Death replace where Love had been

To Sing the Song.

So Love, who once breathed life within

Knew if He would dwell there again

He must, Himself, pay for the sin

And Sing the Song.

If life once came by touching man

Then coming down He would again

Give life, and teach of Love's refrain.

Sing the Song.

Some heard the Song as only noise.

To others just a madman's voice.

Still others felt they had no choice.

They would not Sing the Song.

But some the melody did bring

Their hearts to praise; their voices sing

The Word of Love once more to ring.

And Sing the Song.

The evil one, in mighty rage

That Love would steal his victory stage

With seething hate, he would engage

A plan to kill the Song.

In dark of night, he captured Him

And precious Love took on the sin

That is, will be, and that had been.

And crucified the Song.

Despair came down like darkest night.

The few that sang just ran in fright.

The evil one laughed with delight,

"Now try to sing the Song!".

For three long days, the silence lay

Thick and heavy in dismay

That in a grave our Love did lay.

Silencing the Song.

Then Death itself reversed its course

And rising with a mighty force

The King of Love lifted His voice

And roared out the Song.

The sun and stars now at His feet

At God's right hand He takes His seat

Till His return brings joy complete

And all Sing the Song.

"All hail the true and mighty King!

Salvation to His children bring.

So to the world we all must sing -

SING THE SONG!"