The greatest gift

Over two thousand years ago in a barn on the edge of the small town, Bethlehem; Emmanuel, the Savior of the world was born and given the name Jesus. He was the promised Christ. Once again I was reminded that with all the gifts that are given and received this year that the greatest gift was given to us by God. This Christmas gift exchange began at the celebration of the first Christmas with the magi from the east bearing gifts for the King of kings. Jesus was given gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The gold was for this King of kings. The frankincense for this High Priest. The myrrh pointed to his bitter death three decades later. As good as these three gifts were for the baby Jesus, and as good as it is for us today to give and receive gifts from friends and family, the greatest gift was given to all on Christmas by God.

John 3:16-21 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

Jesus was born of a virgin, conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, angels heralded His birth, shepherds came to see our Good Shepherd; He was laid in a manger, wrapped in swaddling cloths . This humble beginning for mankind’s Salvation from sin came in a barn, later guided by a star the wise came from far away to behold the greatest gift anyone could receive–A Savior that would give His life that all who believe in Him would receive Everlasting Life.

Some two thousands years before this greatest gift of Salvation from sin was given to all. There was another barn that pointed to this great gift and blessed birth of Jesus. This barn was constructed for the salvation of mankind and all other living creatures. It was covered with pitch and floated. Eight souls were closed inside by the Lord while the rest of the world was immersed, first in its sin and then by a worldwide flood of water. It was constructed by faith from a man that receive this same undeserved gift called grace from God.

After the water receded and the eight souls stepped out on dry land, God promised to never again destroy man with water. Instead He would give us living water from His only begotten and beloved Son. He set a rainbow in the sky as a memorial for this new life mankind had been given. What another wonderful gift. The rainbow is a reflection of light through a single drop of water whose light is scattered into its full spectrum revealing the depth in God’s creation of light from that very first day. This brightly colored billboard in the sky is a picture of God’s lovingkindness (mercy and grace) for all of us.

Merry Christmas!

Movie Review: The Nativity Story

Although the movie houses in Logan only had The Nativity Story in their theathers for a few days, I was able to take my entire family including my four year old to watch this great movie about the birth of Jesus. The little one did not make it to the end to see the birth scene, she fell asleep. However, the classic nativity scene that many put out for the Christmas season was magnificently displayed in the stunning visual effects of the final scenes of the movie.

The movie was great. It showed the difficult life of the oppressed Israelites under the rule of the paranoid King Herod, a Roman governor. The difficulty most readily displayed by the taxation of the people. It also centered on the struggle between Mary and Joseph and their families, given her unique position as a virgin mother for the Son of God. I also enjoyed the story of the birth of John the Baptist.

The three wisemen were my favorite with their humorous lines to ease the emotional tension of the rest of the movie. As a professional geography, my favorite line in the movies was given by one of the wisemen, ‘You forgot the map.’

I highly recommend watching this movie regardless of the season. It is one that is worth purchasing and adding to the collection of DVD’s. I know that I am going to add it to my collection and watch the movie each year, as a new family tradition around Christmas time. It is a great supplement that goes really well for a family devotional for Christmas along with the reading of the Christmas Story found in the four gospels.

Merry Christmas, again.

God Bless you in your joyous celebrations of the birth of Jesus Christ, when the world was given its greatest gift, A Savior.

Merry Christmas

God Bless you in your joyous celebrations of the birth of Jesus Christ, when the world was given its greatest gift, A Savior.

Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon Virgin Mother and Child
Holy Infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peaceSilent night, holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight
Glories stream from heaven afar
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!
Christ, the Saviour is born
Christ, the Saviour is born

Silent night, holy night
Son of God, love’s pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth

Oh! Come Let us Adore Him

It is the Christmas season. The time of peace on earth and goodwill toward men. It is time to come and adore the Lord. Time to adore Him as he commanded, first to “love the Lord with all our hearts” and second “To love one another.” We can adore the Lord in formal ceremony and worship while we sing praises to Him and hear His words from the Bible. We can also adore him by spreading some of the peace and goodwill to those around us. World peace comes from pointing hearts to Jesus, one at time. And letting Him be the source of Peace. Goodwill comes from helping others in time of need. Who were the first to come and adore the Lord, when He came to us as a baby? The answer is found in God’s word.

Luke 2:8-20
“Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
“ Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.” (New King James)

This familar passage narrating the first Christmas has special meaning this year for me. The angles came to shepherds to proclaim the coming of the Messiah. Why Shepherds? First, they are God’s kind of people honest, hardworking men that care for the weak and helpless creatures. Their care is both to protect and to provide for the lowly creatures. I have been reading a great book by W. Phillip Keller, that looks at Psalm 23, with great insights into Jesus as our Shepherd. The book is called Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23. Get a copy for Christmas and read it, or if you have read it send a copy to a friend for Christmas. Second, Jesus is the Good Shepherd that One that came to do what shepherds do. He came to care for a weak and helpless creature, me. He is both my protector and provider. He can be your Good Shepherd, too.

Finally, my thoughts have been turned to our modern shepherds, pastors and ministers, that provide guidance and leadership to local congregations. They do this under the supreme leadership of the Lord, Jesus Christ. Yesterday, our pastor of 20 years spoke his final word from our pulpit. He is resigning to continue his service with the Lord in a fresh new way. So begins a transition for our local body as we start the process outlined in our church’s bylaws to get a new head pastor. We are blessed to have 3 elders (see 1 Timothy 3:1-13) that will guide us in our search and lead us until a new head pastor can be found. We will also be electing representatives from the body to help in the selection process. It is both terrifying and wonderful. It requires much faith in the Lord to again protect and provide for us, while we await God to bring us another under-Shepherd to lead our flock.

The Christmas Star

Light has behavior similar to both energy and particles. Light may be packets of particles called photons. Light may also be energy. Light is electromagnetic radiation. Light is both visible and invisible. The human eye can see light with wavelengths ranging from 400 nanometers, blue-violet light, to 700 nanometers, red light. There is light with wavelengths longer than this, Infrared and is most associated with heat and microwaves. There is light with wavelengths shorter than visible light, Ultraviolet, It is most associated with danger as well. Giving us sunburns and cooking the tadpoles. The visible spectrum is divided into seven colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. White light as seen from distant stars and our sun is composed of this spectrum. The black of space is the absence of light.

The Light for conScience.
Jesus is the light of the world (See John 8:12)

Like light, Jesus has seven divine attributes (Hebrews 1:2-3) that are visible to us. He is heir of all things, He made the Universe, He is the brightness of God’s glory, He is the express image of God in person, He sustains all things, He purged our sin, and He reigns in Majesty seated in a place of honor beside God. There is prophecy of the coming light of the world and its effects. In Isaiah 10:17 “So the Light of Israel will be for a fire, And his Holy One for a flame; It will burn and devour His thorns and his briers in one day. “ (NKJV) Like light, Jesus is a Judge burning away the stubble separating the wheat from the tares, with fire, just as Infrared or Ultraviolet light is dangerous and can burn and or destroy. Many scientists that fear Global warming, understand the real source of Global warming is our sun’s electromagnetic radiations, light and energy being trapped in our atmosphere. In a world without light and full of darkness, we need Jesus just like we need the light from our sun. The sun provides 99.9% of all light and energy on this world. Plants grow from it and are the foundation for all food chains. It sustains the life of our physical bodies. We need Jesus to be the light and energy of our souls. Micah explains this with the words the Lord be a light for me.” (7:8-9) Jesus said, Matthew 5:14-15, we are the light of the world and should not hide our light under baskets but shine on the hill tops. The source of the light in us is Jesus. (see Ephesians 2:14-19) The Lord from the beginning was a light for His people. In Exodus 13:21 the Lord was a pillar of fire by night that lighted the path for the children of Israel to travel by night. Songs of worship were sung of the Lord being a Light (Psalm 18:28). Even Job in his deepest despair turned to and looked to the Lord as his source of light (Job 29:12). Only one more word need to be said, Shekinah.

The Christmas Star.
Finally, we have the Christmas star found in Matthew 2:2 several wise men followed His star. Where did this star come from. At first thought I considered it maybe a new star created by God, but He was finished with creation centuries before this star was visible to earth. This left three options. I will divided them by the people who may chose which one they prefer. It may even be all three. The intellectual or mind focused person may prefer the long way away theory. God created a star 2,350 Trillion miles away and it finally became visible to earth after its light reached us. Since, I took the time to make the following calculation of 4000 years x 365.25 days x 24 hours x 60 minutes x 60 seconds x 186,000 miles per second, I probably fall into the intellect or mind focused person category. The passionate or dynamic person may prefer the exploding heavenly body theory. A star or other object in the heavens exploded and briefly light the sky with a newly visible light. What is more dynamic and passionate than God entering His World. The harmonious person might prefer the heavenly alignment theory. Multiple heavenly bodies aligned to create a bright light in the nightly skies. Other heavenly hosts also marked the birth with their harmonious singing.

Either way there was a Christmas star and its light guided the several wise men to Bethlehem from the east. They understood that the world had been given a light and they wanted to come and worship him. How are you celebrating this Light during this joyous season?