Uncategorized

Wise Men Still Seek Him

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

Wise Men Still Seek Him_1

 

Ahh, those wise men. I’ve talked about them a bit, haven’t I? I mentioned how they probably weren’t at the birth scene, despite their inclusion in so many nativity scenes. I’ve mentioned that there may or may not have been three of them (and the names ascribed to them– Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar– may or may not actually belong to them).

But I thought about them in a new way today.

When they saw the star the first time, they didn’t just hop in a taxi and yell, “Take us to Bethlehem, pronto!”

Most likely, they spent weeks and months and possibly years following this star. They didn’t know where it would lead. They only knew that at the end of the journey was the hope of all their dreams and the answer to all their questions and the object of all their hopes.

I’m sure they grew weary from endless days and nights wandering through deserts and probably at some point one or more of them entertained thoughts of giving up and going home. But they didn’t.

They persevered because of a promise. They kept going because of a dream in their hearts that refused to die.

I wonder sometimes if I would have been so persistent in pursuing this Christ child. Would I be that tenacious now? Would I really be willing to leave everything and everyone I know and go (alone if necessary) to follow after this Jesus?

I hope so. I pray so.

I love their initial response to finding Jesus. Matthew says “and as soon as the wise men arrived, they saw Him with His mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped Him.”

They didn’t unpack their suitcases. They didn’t sit down to a meal or request something to drink after a long journey. They worshipped. They fell to their faces in astonished awe at seeing the result of their long and arduous journey.

May you and I do the same. May you and I remember that the best worship is always that which costs us something to offer.

 

Happy New Year’s Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

I think that’s right. I’m not the best at math but I think that’s the correct number of Eves in the title.

What else do you call it? It’s not Boxing Day. That was yesterday. It’s one of those weird days between Christmas and New Year’s Eve that doesn’t have a name.

Supposedly, this is the day where you give three french hens to that special loved one, according to the song. So if you’re still looking for ideas 2 days after the fact, there you go.

I’m already looking forward to 2015, as I know many of you are. I know it will take me at least a month to get used to writing “2015” on all my checks and letters, but I’m up for the challenge.

The good news is that God will be just as sovereign in 2015 as He was in 2014. He will be just as able to supply all your and all my needs in Christ in 2015 as He was in 2014.

Whatever happens in 2015, God will be there. That, my friends, is something to look forward to.

 

 

Till the Season Comes Round Again

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

“May the new year be blessed with good tidings
’til the next time I see you again
And we’ll all join hands and remember this moment
And we’ll love and we’ll laugh in the time that we have
’til the season comes ’round again
’til the season comes ’round again” (Randy Goodrum/John Barlow Jarvis).

I got a bit nostalgic this Christmas. Not in a sad or morbid way. I just had the thought that it will never again be like it was this Christmas. My niece won’t ever be three years old again. My nephews will soon enough be teenagers and not nearly as excited about Christmas and presents.

In fact, there will never be another day like today ever again. There will certainly be more good days, even possibly some great ones that you will spend the rest of your life remembering fondly. But none like this day.

That’s why it’s important to make this one count. There’s a saying from a TV show I saw recently that I like a lot. It says, “One today is worth two tomorrows.”

That means don’t be so concerned about the future that you forget to live in the present. Don’t get so caught up in the past that you forget to be in the now. Take the chances you’re afraid to take. Do the thing you’ve been putting off.

Tell the ones you love that you love them. Don’t ever for a moment think that you’ll always have a tomorrow to tell them. Tomorrow’s never promised and the present is a gift.

I may be descending into cliches, but they’re true. I wish I could go back and say the words “I love you” to some of my relatives that aren’t around anymore. I wish I could sit down with each of them one more time for one last conversation.

Maybe I can do that with the ones who are in my life right now while I still can. I think I’ll do that.

December the 25th

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

It is that day. Christmas has arrived.

When I was younger, I always felt a letdown on this day. After all the buildup and hype for over a month, it always seemed to be over too soon. December 26 was never a day I looked forward to at all.

But the more I’ve started to really grasp that Christmas isn’t about presents or food, I’ve really seen my attitude about this day change dramatically.

For me, Christmas may be one day out of the year, but the truth it contains is good for all 365 days of the year. And 366 for those crazy leap years,

The truth is that Immanuel still means that God is with us on December 26 just as much as it did the day before. That baby in the manger grew up to be the Savior of the world for all the seasons, not just the Christmas season.

While I do like seeing the decorations everywhere and having that special feeling around this time of year, I know that God will still be just as much with me three months from now as He is right now.

And when those good feelings fade, as they always do, I know the truth will remain. That peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased is there regardless of whether I feel it or not.

Plus, if you want to get technical about it, Christmas doesn’t officially end until January 6. You do remember all those verses to that Twelve Days of Christmas song, right? So you can leave your tree up for at least another two weeks if you want.

I personally think that if you want to keep on watching those sappy Hallmark Christmas movies well into the new year, go ahead. If you want to dust off White Christmas and watch it in July, then be my guest.

Christmas may only last 24 hours but Immanuel is forever with us.

 

 

Christmas Eve at Radnor Lake

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

image

“I need a silent night, a holy night
To hear an angel voice through the chaos and the noise
I need a midnight clear, a little peace right here
To end this crazy day with a silent night” (Chris Eaton/ Amy Grant).

I had some last minute Christmas shopping to do, so I hit some of the stores. I stopped by Brilliant Sky to pick up some gifts for my nephews, then I headed over to TJ Maxx for something for my grandmother.

Every year I say that next year I won’t wait until the last day to buy my presents and when that next year becomes this year, I always end up shopping on December 24. So in 2015 . . .

Anyway, I had one more stop– the Christmas Eve service at my church.

Seeing as how I was going to be REALLY early, I decided to make one detour. I stopped off at Radnor Lake for a bit. It really was a very spontaneous decision, literally made as I was pulling to the stop light where I turn to go to the park.

I think I was one of only a handful of people there. It was very peaceful and quiet. Very calming for my mind. I was reminded why Jesus so often went to a solitary place to pray.

I thought I heard sleigh bells behind me for a minute, but it turned out it was the jingle of some dog’s harness. Apparently, the owner thought it would be a good idea to take the dog jogging on Christmas Eve. I could tell the dog probably had different ideas of how to have a good time and celebrate the holiday.

I was only there for 20 minutes, but it did me a world of good. I just needed a bit of silence in my day.

 

Additional Worthwhile Christmas Music

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 1 Comment

pentatonix-christmas-album

I may or may not have mentioned that I have one of the most awesome collections of Christmas music ever. If not, then I do have one of the most awesome collections of Christmas music ever.

Although I prefer the older Christmas music, I still occasionally pick up new recordings by newer artists from time to time.

Here’s a list of some of my most recent acquisitions that I think are pretty darn good:

1) Sting – If On a Winter’s Night

2) Barbra Streisand- A Christmas Album

3) Johnny Mathis- Merry Christmas

4) Pentatonix- That’s Christmas to Me

5) Bing Crosby- The Voice of Christmas: The Complete Decca Christmas Recordings

6) Richard Marx- Christmas Spirit

7) Mahalia Jackson – Mahalia Sings Songs of Christmas

8) Shawn Colvin- Holiday Songs and Lullabies

9) Mary Chapin Carpenter- Come Darkness Come Light: Twelve Songs of Christmas

10) Barry Manilow- In the Swing of Christmas

That’s not a definitive list of all my new favorites. First of all, I don’t have that kind of time to list them all. Second, I don’t want to come across as the world’s biggest nerd. But that is a sampling of what I’m listening to these days.

To me, it’s not really the Christmas season without Christmas music. So I hope this will help you add to your enjoyment of the season of celebrating Christ’s birth.

At Just the Right Time

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

“When the right time arrived, God sent His Son into this world (born of a woman, subject to the law) to free those who, just like Him, were subject to the law. Ultimately He wanted us all to be adopted as sons and daughters” (Galatians 4:4-5).

Notice the first five words: when the right time arrived. That’s the key. It wasn’t a moment too early or a moment too late. You can always trust God’s perfect timing.

For so many of us, it’s hard to trust God when the circumstances seem to suggest His lack of involvement. That’s when you look back and remember all those times God has come through for you in the past.

That’s what thankfulness and gratitude are for– to help you remember that the God of the now is the same God of the past. As in the past of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The past of Moses and the Red Sea. The past of King David. The past of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The past of the apostles. And not to mention your past.

So let’s do a little math. God’s track record of keeping His promises + God is the same yesterday, today, and forever = God will keep His promises and do what’s best for you now. I like that kind of math. I don’t like word problems, but that’s another topic for another day.

What God said He will do, He will see it through. End of story.

Christmas is a reminder that God hasn’t forgotten His people who cry out to Him day and night. He remembers. And so should you.

 

 

Let the Stable Still Astonish

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

“Let the stable still astonish
Straw — dirt floor, dull eyes
Dusty flanks of donkeys, oxen;
Crumbling, crooked walls;
No bed to carry that pain
And then, the child,
Rag-wrapped, laid to cry
In a trough
Who would have chosen this?

Who would have said ‘Yes,’
‘Let the God of all the heavens
And earth
Be born here, in this place’?
Who but the same God
Who stands in the darker, fouler rooms
of our hearts
and says ‘Yes,’
‘Let the God of Heaven and Earth
be born here –
in this place.’ (Leslie Leyland Fields)

I first read this in a Jan Karon book called Light from Heaven (which I highly recommend) and it captivated me. How true it is that the same God who chose to be born and placed in a feeding trough would choose to be born in my heart, a heart darker and fouler than any manger. I don’t say that to say “Woe is me. Feel sorry for me,” but to say that is the human heart apart from Christ,

I love that God could have left the world to stew in its own mess but didn’t. I love that God could have (and probably should have) left me to my own devices to figure a way out of my own self-created disaster, but He didn’t.

The Bible says that while I was yet a sinner (not while I was trying my very best and doing all the Boy Scout duties and living right) Christ died for me. While I was an enemy of God and opposed to everything  He stood for, He became one of us and died for me.

Christmas is where this started. That’s why I love Christmas so much. That and all the festive decorations and gatherings. And food. Let’s not forget all the food.

 

For the Fourth Sunday of Advent

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 2 Comments

“Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.”

This is it, folks. 5 days left until Christmas.

Hopefully you’ve got all of your presents bought and wrapped, unlike me who has half bought and none wrapped. Sadly, that’s good for me. Last year at this point, I had no presents bought or wrapped. And next year, despite all my best intentions to do better, I’ll likely be in a similar fix.

But all you need to do to be ready for Christmas is to open your heart to the coming King. That’s all. Make room in your heart to receive the King.

Not buy and wrap presents. Not make your house spotless for all those family members who will be coming over. Not have the most awesomely decorated yard in the neighborhood. Not have that sumptuous feast prepared. Not outdo what you did last year.

Just be ready for Jesus.

It’s not as easy as it sounds. So many things distract us from Jesus, so many ads for new products that they say we need, so many news stories that are mostly depressing and tragic. There’s so much noise that keeps us from hearing the silence of the silent night.

But Christmas is a reminder, as C. S. Lewis put it, that the rightful King has landed and has invited us to take part in His campaign of sabotage against all the powers of the world that seek to lie to us and to destroy all that is good and beautiful in the world.

Jesus is here. That means your peace is here. That means the victory is here.

When The Lights Go Out at Christmas

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 1 Comment

“His breath filled all things
    with a living, breathing light—
  A light that thrives in the depths of darkness,
    blazes through murky bottoms.
It cannot and will not be quenched” (John 1:4-5).

I had an interesting experience at work today. The lights went out.

I was in the middle of my last mail delivery run when all the lights went out for a split second, long enough to catch everybody by surprise and get them freaked out before the backup generators kicked in and some of the lights came back on. It was weird.

Suddenly, everything seemed more sinister. There’s something about not being able to see everything that unnerves me a little. Maybe that’s from all those scary movies I’ve watched. Maybe that’s from when I was little and was deathly afraid of the dark.

Sometimes life feels like that. It’s like someone switched off the proverbial lights and it’s hard to see where you are or where you’re going. You can’t prepare for what’s coming because you can’t see what’s coming. Sometimes you can’t even see the next step.

Advent is all about a light coming into the darkness. Some translations of John 1 say that the light came into the darkness and the darkness could not overcome it. Some say that the darkness could not comprehend it. I’m pulling a Forrest Gump and saying maybe both are right.

You can’t overcome what you do not understand. You will always be overpowered until you gain wisdom and learn a better way.

I love that it only takes one candle to defeat darkness. Or one little night light. I also love what a pastor said. The present state of things in our world isn’t due to the victory of darkness but from a failure of the light to shine. We’ve been silent when we should have spoken and sometimes we’ve spoken when we should have been silent (and maybe more discerning about what and when to speak).