Head-dibs

[by Pastor Bob Coy at Calvary Chapel , Ft. Lauderdale, FL] But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold. --Job 23:10 (NKJV) "Happy New Year!" Really? How can you be so sure that this upcoming year will be a happy one? Take a moment to look back at last year. Were there any trials? Of course there were, and you can be equally certain that there will be trials in this upcoming year as well . It's interesting that in describing the storms of life, Jesus always assumed that they would have a place of prominence in our lives. He said "when the storms came" not "if the storms come" (Matthew 7:24). You can mark it down in that brand new calendar that you just got: 2008 will be a year of trials. Regardless of this fact, we can still have a happy New Year when we recognize that our God is all-knowing. There isn't a single bump in the road that will take Him by surprise this year. Before time even began, He knew all tha...

"The difference between a Christian and an atheist is that the atheist waits until turbulence hits before he prays." ( Ray Comfort )

Fairest Lord Jesus, Ruler of all nature. O Thou of God and man the Son; Thee will I cherish, Thee will I honor, Thou my soul's glory, joy, and crown.

Jesus, the very thought of Thee With sweetness fills my breast; But sweeter far Thy face to see, And in Thy presence rest.

Hark the herald angels sing "Glory to the newborn King! Peace on earth and mercy mild God and sinners reconciled" Joyful, all ye nations rise What will happen when you die? Will you go to Heaven or Hell? Jesus knows! “Emmanuel.”! The herald angels sing "Glory to the newborn King!" Christ by highest heav'n adored Christ the everlasting Lord! He’s the One who’ll judge us all Let’s see who will stand or fall… Have you ever told a lie? Wished that someone else would die? Entertained a lusty thought? Stolen when you should have bought? Help! We’ve broken God’s Ten Laws! Who will come to save us all? That's why Jesus Christ was sent To be saved you must repent Died on the cross for all your sin Repent and put your trust in Him Mild He laid His glory by Born that man no more may die Born to raise the sons of earth Born to give them second birth Hark! The herald angels sing "Glory to the newborn King!" (Ray Comfort's blog is here )

O Come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer Our spirits by Thine advent here; Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, And death's dark shadows put to flight. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel.

glitter-graphics.com

"Jesus, you have found us When we wandered far; When we could not find ourselves You came to where are. 'Glory in the Highest' Is more than just a phrase. Lord, we fall before You now, Your Holy name we praise. Glory in the Highest! Lust the song begin! joy has come into our world; Let us worship Him! Glory in the Highest! Worthy is our King! Come let us adore Him, And bring Him everything." (Gloria Gaither)

10. "Well, well, well, now, there's a gift!" 9. "No, with all the hostile takeovers this year, I missed the big Ronco/K-Tel/Ginsu merger. Would you just look at that! What will they think of next?!" 8. "Hey, as long as I don't have to feed it, or clean up after it, or put batteries in it, I'm happy!" 7. "No, really, I didn't know that there was a Chia Pet tie! Oh, wow! It's a clip-on too!" 6. "You know, I always wanted one of these! Jog my memory -- what's it called again?" 5. "You know what? -- I'm going to find a special place to put this!" 4. "Boy, you don't see craftsmanship like that every day!" 3. "And it's such an interesting color too!" 2. "You say that was the last one? Am I ever glad that you snapped that baby up!" And the number one thing to say about the Christmas gifts you didn't like is: "You shouldn't have! I mean it -- you really sho...

“My wife and I once traveled from San Antonio in Texas to Mexico City. South of the muddy Rio Grande border, we found the plains of northern Mexico very dusty, dirty, hot, mosquito-infested, water-polluted and generally miserable. Up and down we went, along the dusty roads, through shabby towns, up and down but never out of the summer discomfort of the tierra caliente of Mexico. At long last we reached the little town of Tamazunchale (nicknamed Thomas and Charlie by gringo tourists) where the road began to climb up through the mountains to the wonderful plateau of Mexico, the delightful tierra temprada where the air was clear, the nights cool, the mosquitoes few, the water pure, and the general conditions bracing. So we continued at an elevation of seven thousand feet, up and down but always much, much higher than the highest part of the plains, until we reached the capital city in the “Bowl of the Gods”. The Victorious Life has its ups and downs, but at an elevation far removed from ...

“When St. Paul calls Christ God’s ‘unspeakable Gift,” he is not toying with exaggerating superlatives, polishing his style with impressive phraseology. The blessing of the Savior’s Gospel was as inexplicable to him as it must be to us. The Apostle uses a term here which means: “one ‘cannot bring out’ or ‘express’ the blessing, the fullness, the glory, the riches, the value, of this divine gift. If St. Paul, acknowledged even by the Christless world as a master of logic, expression, and rhetoric, asserts that God’s Christmas gift to the world defies all description, where will we find words or pictures, poetry of painting, that can reproduce in full majesty the limitless love of our Lord Jesus? No sacred oratorio, not even the unforgettable strains of Handel’s ‘Messiah’ and it s climax in the stirring ‘Hallelujah Chorus’ or the artistry of Bach’s ‘Christmas Oratorio,” can be classed with the angel chorus reechoing over Bethlehem; and even the angel voices could not sing the full glor...

"Andrew became a soul-winner at once. He quickly found his brother and brought him to Jesus. We can learn valuable lessons from him. To be a soul-winner one must first himself be a follower of Jesus. Men who have never seen the beauties of the Lord are not fit to tell others about Him. One of the surest signs that you are born again is your desire to see others saved. Andrew does not appear to have been brilliant. He was just a man or ordinary capacities. He was just a young convert. But he was able to win a soul. Your ability to be a soul-winner does not depend upon whether you have a college education--it depends upon your love for Christ and your fellow men. God loves to take the weak things of the world and confound the wise. He can use our talents today if you really love Him." Charles E. Fuller, Dec. 19. Manna in the Morning . Boston: Fellowship Press, 1943.

J. Edwin Orr tells of meeting a “pastor describing the war between the Old and New Natures, concluding that the Old Nature could not be defeated in this life. He quoted a well-known story of a Hopi Indian, giving his testimony in a meeting crowded with braves and squaws. The big man told his audience that, before his conversion, he used to go to town on Saturday night and get drunk, and then his big black dog used to bite everybody. After Jesus Christ came into his life, He gave him a great white dog, which liked to help everybody. But now the two dogs, fought against each other. A chief sitting on the front seat asked the important question: ‘Which dog winning?’ Said the brave, after careful reflection: ‘Whichever dog I feed the most!’ I expected the pastor to say: ‘That’s a picture of a carnal Christian!’ Instead he said that it was a picture of a Christian until the day of his death. So I sought out the preacher, and spoke with him in this way: ‘There are some Christians who say tha...

As shadows cast by cloud and sun Flit o'er the summer grass, So, in thy sight, Almighty One, Earth's generations pass. And while the years, an endless host, Come pressing swiftly on, The brightest names that earth can boast Just glisten and are gone. Yet doth the Star of Bethlehem shed A luster pure and sweet, And still it leads, as once it led, To the Messiah's feet. 0 Father, may that holy star Grow every year more bright, And send its glorious beams afar To fill the world with light. --WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT.

“There is a difference between forgiveness and cleansing. Hitherto, I had always regarded the promises of 1 John 1:9, “He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness”, as two ways of describing the same blessing. But I have come to see that two different things are promised therein. The things that are forgiven are “sins”, acts of sin, specific sins; the thing that is cleansed is the whole personality, cleansed from all unrighteousness. My small boy, David, was once told not to play in the tempting mud puddle. He disobeyed. To his dismay, he discovered that the muddy evidence of his disobedience was written all over his face and hands and knees and clothes. Fearing just punishment, he stayed out late, until the twin forces of fear of the dark and miserable hunger drove him in. By this time, we were so relieved to see him that we forgave him promptly. But as soon as he was forgiven, his mother took him to the bathroom, and stripped off his dirty clothes, washed his ...

"Out of the midnight sky a great dawn broke, And a voice singing flooded us with song, In David's city was He born, it sang, A Saviour, Christ the Lord. Then while I sat Shivering with the thrill of that great cry, A mighty choir a thousand-fold more sweet Suddenly sang, Glory to God, and Peace-- Peace on the earth; my heart, almost unnerved By that swift loveliness, would hardly beat. Speechless we waited till the accustomed night Gave us no promise more of sweet surprise; Then scrambling to our feet, without a word We started through the fields to find the Child." -- John Erskine

“Some say that ever ’gainst that season comes Wherein our Saviour’s birth is celebrated, The bird of dawning singeth all night long: And then, they say, no spirit dares stir abroad; The nights are wholesome; then no planets strike, No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm, So hallow’d and so gracious is the time.” (William Shakespeare. “Hamlet”, Act 1, Scene 1)

[If you are so inclined, please note the challenge in the final paragraph.] “As a chaplain in the Forces overseas, I can say quite simply that to me profanity was a sorer trial than any terror of war. Profanity included vulgarity, lewdness, sacrilege, blasphemy, and horrible mixtures of all four. By far the worst was the taking in vain of the name of the Lord. The men used to tell me that they meant nothing by it, that they were not even thinking of God when they thus mentioned His name. Nevertheless, the Lord did not hold them guiltless while taking His name in vain. I found that men swore either to shock people, to be mean, or to hide inferiority. Their profanity showed a lack of education, breeding and character. It lowered self-respect, cheapened the better things and defiled the whole personality. It shocked people of good taste, provoked contempt, fouled the atmosphere, set a bad example, and disqualified men for decent society. Worst of all, it offended God. Upon return to...

My good friend and brother-in-Christ, Derek, has concisely described what church fads will be like in as little as three years. His insight is worth the consideration, so view it here .

“The most effective prayer for a heart-hungry believer is an Old Testament petition found in the Psalms of David (Psalms 139:23-24): 'Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my thoughts; And see if there be a way of grief in me, And lead me in the way of eternity.' I never fully understood the significance of this prayer until I heard the verse translated into the Scandinavian tongues. There the word “search” is rendered “ransack”. It takes little imagination to picture the thoroughness of a job of ransacking as compared to mere searching. Ransacking turns things upside down and brings to light things that are hidden or forgotten. In time of backsliding, the Spirit is quenched, and as life goes on the natural tendency is for a convicted person to forget the unpleasant episode. In conviction of sin, the debris of ordinary living is swept aside and the offending thing is brought to attention. Hence, if the believers are to avoid superficiality in confession, a thoro...

“[A]n Irish friend of mine borrowed a sum of money from me. He had been gambling and was in danger of losing his job. He agreed to pay me back weekly installments, but never did. I felt annoyed whit the fellow for a couple of years. Finally I decided to forgive him. But who suffered? The debtor or the creditor? The sinner or the sinned against? Obviously the sinned against. I could have taken him to court, in the which case he have suffered. How much would he have suffered? The amount that he owed me! Instead I forgave him, and so I suffered; and I suffered the amount that he owed me, that I had forgiven him. Thus I learned a second principle of forgiveness---the one who forgives is the one who suffers. Such reflections made the Cross more real to me. It was necessary for someone to suffer, for someone had to pay. But the one who forgives is the one who suffers, so it was necessary for Christ to suffer. Moses could hot have suffered the Cross, not Jeremiah, nor Peter, nor Paul. It had ...

Timmy Brister has compiled the following direction that I will prayerfully consume this next year: "Commit to reading one Puritan Paperback a month. You can do this by blocking out 30 minutes each day (~10 pages) after personal Bible reading as supplementary to your spiritual growth. To make it easy for you, I have created a sample monthly reading list below. January: The Bruised Reed by Richard Sibbes (128 pp) February: The Mystery of Providence by John Flavel (221 pp) March: The Godly Man’s Picture by Thomas Watson (252 pp) April: Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices by Thomas Brooks (253 pp) May: Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ by John Bunyan (225 pp) June: The Mortification of Sin by John Owen (130 pp) July: A Lifting Up for the Downcast by William Bridge (287 pp) August: The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs (228 pp) September: The True Bounds of Christian Freedom by Samuel Bolton (224 pp) October: The Christian’s Great Interest by Wil...

"No one told Ananias and Sapphira that they had must sell their property in order to remain in Christian fellowship. No one compelled them to offer the proceeds to the general fund of the infant Christian Church. Their maximum inducement was the power of godly example and exhortation. They saw others making a financial sacrifice, so they thought of a way whereby they might gain like approval without making the full sacrifice. Likewise, the acts of consecration made by Christians today are all voluntary. No one is told that he must spend so much time in prayer in order to remain in fellowship. Neither is any one told that he must give a tenth or more in order to be recognized as a Christian. Nor is any one told that he must witness to so many people each week in order to prove that he is a believer. These things are done, but on account of godly example and exhortation rather than by compulsion. Another noteworthy fact is that Ananias and Sapphira were unaware of the seriousness of...

J. Edwin Orr tells of the tour where, "we walked round a beautiful garden which occupied a former piece of waste land. The gardener showed us round. 'Those are beautiful roses,' we said to him. 'I planted them,' replied the gardener, with justified pride. 'What a beautifully-cut hedge!' we remarked next. 'I trimmed that,' he said. At the garden gate, we found an old fellow watching a smoking heap of refuse. 'What have you been doing?' 'Working at the garden,' he said. 'Well then, what have you to show for your labour?' 'Nothing, Sir,' he replied. 'Then you cannot have been working!' we told him. 'Sir,' he asserted, 'When we came here, this garden was a piece of waste land, overgrown with weeds, full of stones and sand, swampy in one corner, and pretty hopeless all round.' We got interested. 'Well, sir,' he went on, 'I broke up the land, and I destroyed the weeds, and dug out the sto...

(ht: Crosswalk.com) 1. Clear large space on table for wrapping present. 2. Go to wardrobe and collect bag in which present is contained, and close door. 3. Open door and remove cat from wardrobe. 4. Go to cupboard and retrieve rolls of wrapping paper. 5. Go back and remove cat from cupboard. 6. Go to drawer and collect transparent sticky tape, ribbons, scissors, labels, etc. 7. Lay out present and wrapping materials on table, to enable wrapping strategy to be formed. 8. Go back to drawer to get string, remove cat that has been in the drawer since last visit, and collect string. 9. Remove present from bag. 10. Remove cat from bag. 11. Open box to check present, remove cat from box, replace present. 12. Lay out paper to enable cutting to size. 13. Cut the paper to size, trying to keep the cutting line straight. 14. Throw away first sheet because cat tried to chase the scissors and tore paper. 15. Cut second sheet of paper to size by putting cat in the bag the present came out of. 16. Pla...

How wonderful it was to return to the street after missing a couple of weeks (one, to illness and another to Thanksgiving). Nick was not able to lead the team, so we met and prayed about my stepping in for the week. Our training time started off rather small, but by prayer and worship time, we had a dozen people. One change we have enjoyed in our training time is that, instead of watching a video or taking in yet another lesson, we’ve been walking our way through the book of Acts. When we started a few weeks ago, we were listening to chapters 1-4 being read in the ESV. The next week we listed to chapters 5-8. This week we did not have the CD, but why not do it the old way? We read chapters 9-12 out loud together then shared some thoughts as we took in the sounds and sights of God’s Spirit at work in the early church. What a wonderful reminder that this is not our work, but His work being done through obedient servants. When we go down to Five Points, the people there are not exactly lo...