Date: December 30, 2012 9:07 PM
Topic: +DEV+ Loving God
Loving God
"Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long...Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path" (Psalm 119:97, 105).
Scripture Focus: Psalm 119:89-104
Years ago while memorizing Scripture verses, I fell in love with verse 97 of the longest Psalm in the Bible. It has been a daily key to life for me. I have focused, meditated, and passed on to others the power and truth of these words. Through the preaching of one of our pastors during my military years, God inspired my spirit and generated in me a love for His Word. In times of distress I have remembered these words and others hidden in and etched forever upon my own heart.
Beginning the New Year, I am reminded of verses (and paragraphs!) of God's Word that have lived with me through the years. How I commend God's Word to you! How I pray that you will discover a wonderful and fresh love for Scripture. And more than anything, discover HIM above all else in a year that promises to be filled with challenges. I pray you will find the time to meditate on, to contemplate, and to devote yourself to the Bible, a light for your path pointing you daily to the Light of the world, Jesus Christ.
Insight: God's word is a treasure beyond compare, giving us wealth beyond this world. it transforms, heals, and guides us into a deeper relationship with Him.
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Friday, December 28, 2012
She survived Hitler and wants to warn America
She survived Hitler and wants to warn America
posted byRob Kerby, Senior Editor
Kitty Werthmann
Kitty Werthmann survived Hitler.
"What I am about to tell you is something you've probably never heard or read in history books," she likes to tell audiences.
"I am a witness to history.
"I cannot tell you that Hitler took Austria by tanks and guns; it would distort history.
Adolph Hitler
"We voted him in."
If you remember the plot of the Sound of Music, the Von Trapp family escaped over the Alps rather than submit to the Nazis. Kitty wasn't so lucky. Her family chose to stay in her native Austria. She was 10 years old, but bright and aware. And she was watching.
"We elected him by a landslide - 98 percent of the vote," she recalls.
She wasn't old enough to vote in 1938 - approaching her 11th birthday. But she remembers.
"Everyone thinks that Hitler just rolled in with his tanks and took Austria by force."
No so.
Hitler is welcomed to Austria
"In 1938, Austria was in deep Depression. Nearly one-third of our workforce was unemployed. We had 25 percent inflation and 25 percent bank loan interest rates.
Farmers and business people were declaring bankruptcy daily. Young people were going from house to house begging for food. Not that they didn't want to work; there simply weren't any jobs.
"My mother was a Christian woman and believed in helping people in need. Every day we cooked a big kettle of soup and baked bread to feed those poor, hungry people - about 30 daily.'
"We looked to our neighbor on the north, Germany, where Hitler had been in power since 1933." she recalls. "We had been told that they didn't have unemployment or crime, and they had a high standard of living.
Austrian girls welcome Hitler
"Nothing was ever said about persecution of any group - Jewish or otherwise. We were led to believe that everyone in Germany was happy. We wanted the same way of life in Austria. We were promised that a vote for Hitler would mean the end of unemployment and help for the family. Hitler also said that businesses would be assisted, and farmers would get their farms back.
"Ninety-eight percent of the population voted to annex Austria to Germany and have Hitler for our ruler.
"We were overjoyed," remembers Kitty, "and for three days we danced in the streets and had candlelight parades. The new government opened up big field kitchens and everyone was fed.
Austrians saluting
"After the election, German officials were appointed, and like a miracle, we suddenly had law and order. Three or four weeks later, everyone was employed. The government made sure that a lot of work was created through the Public Work Service.
"Hitler decided we should have equal rights for women. Before this, it was a custom that married Austrian women did not work outside the home. An able-bodied husband would be looked down on if he couldn't support his family. Many women in the teaching profession were elated that they could retain the jobs they previously had been required to give up for marriage.
"Then we lost religious education for kids
Poster promoting "Hitler Youth"
"Our education was nationalized. I attended a very good public school.. The population was predominantly Catholic, so we had religion in our schools. The day we elected Hitler (March 13, 1938), I walked into my schoolroom to find the crucifix replaced by Hitler's picture hanging next to a Nazi flag. Our teacher, a very devout woman, stood up and told the class we wouldn't pray or have religion anymore. Instead, we sang 'Deutschland, Deutschland, Uber Alles,' and had physical education.
"Sunday became National Youth Day with compulsory attendance. Parents were not pleased about the sudden change in curriculum. They were told that if they did not send us, they would receive a stiff letter of warning the first time. The second time they would be fined the equivalent of $300, and the third time they would be subject to jail."
And then things got worse.
"The first two hours consisted of political indoctrination. The rest of the day we had sports. As time went along, we loved it. Oh, we had so much fun and got our sports equipment free.
"We would go home and gleefully tell our parents about the wonderful time we had.
"My mother was very unhappy," remembers Kitty. "When the next term started, she took me out of public school and put me in a convent. I told her she couldn't do that and she told me that someday when I grew up, I would be grateful. There was a very good curriculum, but hardly any fun - no sports, and no political indoctrination.
"I hated it at first but felt I could tolerate it. Every once in a while, on holidays, I went home. I would go back to my old friends and ask what was going on and what they were doing.
A pro-Hitler rally
"Their loose lifestyle was very alarming to me. They lived without religion. By that time, unwed mothers were glorified for having a baby for Hitler.
"It seemed strange to me that our society changed so suddenly. As time went along, I realized what a great deed my mother did so that I wasn't exposed to that kind of humanistic philosophy.
"Then food rationing began
"In 1939, the war started and a food bank was established. All food was rationed and could only be purchased using food stamps. At the same time, a full-employment law was passed which meant if you didn't work, you didn't get a ration card, and if you didn't have a card, you starved to death.
"Women who stayed home to raise their families didn't have any marketable skills and often had to take jobs more suited for men.
"Soon after this, the draft was implemented.
Young Austrians
"It was compulsory for young people, male and female, to give one year to the labor corps," remembers Kitty. "During the day, the girls worked on the farms, and at night they returned to their barracks for military training just like the boys.
"They were trained to be anti-aircraft gunners and participated in the signal corps. After the labor corps, they were not discharged but were used in the front lines.
"When I go back to Austria to visit my family and friends, most of these women are emotional cripples because they just were not equipped to handle the horrors of combat.
"Three months before I turned 18, I was severely injured in an air raid attack. I nearly had a leg amputated, so I was spared having to go into the labor corps and into military service.
"When the mothers had to go out into the work force, the government immediately established child care centers.
"You could take your children ages four weeks old to school age and leave them there around-the-clock, seven days a week, under the total care of the government.
"The state raised a whole generation of children. There were no motherly women to take care of the children, just people highly trained in child psychology. By this time, no one talked about equal rights. We knew we had been had.
"Before Hitler, we had very good medical care. Many American doctors trained at the University of Vienna..
"After Hitler, health care was socialized, free for everyone. Doctors were salaried by the government. The problem was, since it was free, the people were going to the doctors for everything.
"When the good doctor arrived at his office at 8 a.m., 40 people were already waiting and, at the same time, the hospitals were full.
"If you needed elective surgery, you had to wait a year or two for your turn. There was no money for research as it was poured into socialized medicine. Research at the medical schools literally stopped, so the best doctors left Austria and emigrated to other countries.
"As for healthcare, our tax rates went up to 80 percent of our income. Newlyweds immediately received a $1,000 loan from the government to establish a household. We had big programs for families.
"All day care and education were free. High schools were taken over by the government and college tuition was subsidized. Everyone was entitled to free handouts, such as food stamps, clothing, and housing.
"We had another agency designed to monitor business. My brother-in-law owned a restaurant that had square tables.
" Government officials told him he had to replace them with round tables because people might bump themselves on the corners. Then they said he had to have additional bathroom facilities. It was just a small dairy business with a snack bar. He couldn't meet all the demands.
"Soon, he went out of business. If the government owned the large businesses and not many small ones existed, it could be in control.
"We had consumer protection, too
Austrian kids loyal to Hitler
"We were told how to shop and what to buy. Free enterprise was essentially abolished. We had a planning agency specially designed for farmers. The agents would go to the farms, count the live-stock, and then tell the farmers what to produce, and how to produce it.
"In 1944, I was a student teacher in a small village in the Alps. The villagers were surrounded by mountain passes which, in the winter, were closed off with snow, causing people to be isolated.
"So people intermarried and offspring were sometimes retarded. When I arrived, I was told there were 15 mentally retarded adults, but they were all useful and did good manual work.
"I knew one, named Vincent, very well. He was a janitor of the school. One day I looked out the window and saw Vincent and others getting into a van.
"I asked my superior where they were going. She said to an institution where the State Health Department would teach them a trade, and to read and write. The families were required to sign papers with a little clause that they could not visit for 6 months.
"They were told visits would interfere with the program and might cause homesickness.
"As time passed, letters started to dribble back saying these people died a natural, merciful death. The villagers were not fooled. We suspected what was happening. Those people left in excellent physical health and all died within 6 months. We called this euthanasia.
"Then they took our guns
"Next came gun registration. People were getting injured by guns. Hitler said that the real way to catch criminals (we still had a few) was by matching serial numbers on guns. Most citizens were law abiding and dutifully marched to the police station to register their firearms. Not long afterwards, the police said that it was best for everyone to turn in their guns. The authorities already knew who had them, so it was futile not to comply voluntarily.
Kitty Werthmann
"No more freedom of speech. Anyone who said something against the government was taken away. We knew many people who were arrested, not only Jews, but also priests and ministers who spoke up.
"Totalitarianism didn't come quickly, it took 5 years from 1938 until 1943, to realize full dictatorship in Austria. Had it happened overnight, my countrymen would have fought to the last breath. Instead, we had creeping gradualism. Now, our only weapons were broom handles. The whole idea sounds almost unbelievable that the state, little by little eroded our freedom."
"This is my eye-witness account.
"It's true. Those of us who sailed past the Statue of Liberty came to a country of unbelievable freedom and opportunity.
"America is truly is the greatest country in the world.
"Don't let freedom slip away.
"After America, there is no place to go."
Read more: http://blog.beliefnet.com/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars/2011/04/she-survived-hitler-and-wants-to-warn-america.html#ixzz2G7GcN9p5
posted byRob Kerby, Senior Editor
Kitty Werthmann
Kitty Werthmann survived Hitler.
"What I am about to tell you is something you've probably never heard or read in history books," she likes to tell audiences.
"I am a witness to history.
"I cannot tell you that Hitler took Austria by tanks and guns; it would distort history.
Adolph Hitler
"We voted him in."
If you remember the plot of the Sound of Music, the Von Trapp family escaped over the Alps rather than submit to the Nazis. Kitty wasn't so lucky. Her family chose to stay in her native Austria. She was 10 years old, but bright and aware. And she was watching.
"We elected him by a landslide - 98 percent of the vote," she recalls.
She wasn't old enough to vote in 1938 - approaching her 11th birthday. But she remembers.
"Everyone thinks that Hitler just rolled in with his tanks and took Austria by force."
No so.
Hitler is welcomed to Austria
"In 1938, Austria was in deep Depression. Nearly one-third of our workforce was unemployed. We had 25 percent inflation and 25 percent bank loan interest rates.
Farmers and business people were declaring bankruptcy daily. Young people were going from house to house begging for food. Not that they didn't want to work; there simply weren't any jobs.
"My mother was a Christian woman and believed in helping people in need. Every day we cooked a big kettle of soup and baked bread to feed those poor, hungry people - about 30 daily.'
"We looked to our neighbor on the north, Germany, where Hitler had been in power since 1933." she recalls. "We had been told that they didn't have unemployment or crime, and they had a high standard of living.
Austrian girls welcome Hitler
"Nothing was ever said about persecution of any group - Jewish or otherwise. We were led to believe that everyone in Germany was happy. We wanted the same way of life in Austria. We were promised that a vote for Hitler would mean the end of unemployment and help for the family. Hitler also said that businesses would be assisted, and farmers would get their farms back.
"Ninety-eight percent of the population voted to annex Austria to Germany and have Hitler for our ruler.
"We were overjoyed," remembers Kitty, "and for three days we danced in the streets and had candlelight parades. The new government opened up big field kitchens and everyone was fed.
Austrians saluting
"After the election, German officials were appointed, and like a miracle, we suddenly had law and order. Three or four weeks later, everyone was employed. The government made sure that a lot of work was created through the Public Work Service.
"Hitler decided we should have equal rights for women. Before this, it was a custom that married Austrian women did not work outside the home. An able-bodied husband would be looked down on if he couldn't support his family. Many women in the teaching profession were elated that they could retain the jobs they previously had been required to give up for marriage.
"Then we lost religious education for kids
Poster promoting "Hitler Youth"
"Our education was nationalized. I attended a very good public school.. The population was predominantly Catholic, so we had religion in our schools. The day we elected Hitler (March 13, 1938), I walked into my schoolroom to find the crucifix replaced by Hitler's picture hanging next to a Nazi flag. Our teacher, a very devout woman, stood up and told the class we wouldn't pray or have religion anymore. Instead, we sang 'Deutschland, Deutschland, Uber Alles,' and had physical education.
"Sunday became National Youth Day with compulsory attendance. Parents were not pleased about the sudden change in curriculum. They were told that if they did not send us, they would receive a stiff letter of warning the first time. The second time they would be fined the equivalent of $300, and the third time they would be subject to jail."
And then things got worse.
"The first two hours consisted of political indoctrination. The rest of the day we had sports. As time went along, we loved it. Oh, we had so much fun and got our sports equipment free.
"We would go home and gleefully tell our parents about the wonderful time we had.
"My mother was very unhappy," remembers Kitty. "When the next term started, she took me out of public school and put me in a convent. I told her she couldn't do that and she told me that someday when I grew up, I would be grateful. There was a very good curriculum, but hardly any fun - no sports, and no political indoctrination.
"I hated it at first but felt I could tolerate it. Every once in a while, on holidays, I went home. I would go back to my old friends and ask what was going on and what they were doing.
A pro-Hitler rally
"Their loose lifestyle was very alarming to me. They lived without religion. By that time, unwed mothers were glorified for having a baby for Hitler.
"It seemed strange to me that our society changed so suddenly. As time went along, I realized what a great deed my mother did so that I wasn't exposed to that kind of humanistic philosophy.
"Then food rationing began
"In 1939, the war started and a food bank was established. All food was rationed and could only be purchased using food stamps. At the same time, a full-employment law was passed which meant if you didn't work, you didn't get a ration card, and if you didn't have a card, you starved to death.
"Women who stayed home to raise their families didn't have any marketable skills and often had to take jobs more suited for men.
"Soon after this, the draft was implemented.
Young Austrians
"It was compulsory for young people, male and female, to give one year to the labor corps," remembers Kitty. "During the day, the girls worked on the farms, and at night they returned to their barracks for military training just like the boys.
"They were trained to be anti-aircraft gunners and participated in the signal corps. After the labor corps, they were not discharged but were used in the front lines.
"When I go back to Austria to visit my family and friends, most of these women are emotional cripples because they just were not equipped to handle the horrors of combat.
"Three months before I turned 18, I was severely injured in an air raid attack. I nearly had a leg amputated, so I was spared having to go into the labor corps and into military service.
"When the mothers had to go out into the work force, the government immediately established child care centers.
"You could take your children ages four weeks old to school age and leave them there around-the-clock, seven days a week, under the total care of the government.
"The state raised a whole generation of children. There were no motherly women to take care of the children, just people highly trained in child psychology. By this time, no one talked about equal rights. We knew we had been had.
"Before Hitler, we had very good medical care. Many American doctors trained at the University of Vienna..
"After Hitler, health care was socialized, free for everyone. Doctors were salaried by the government. The problem was, since it was free, the people were going to the doctors for everything.
"When the good doctor arrived at his office at 8 a.m., 40 people were already waiting and, at the same time, the hospitals were full.
"If you needed elective surgery, you had to wait a year or two for your turn. There was no money for research as it was poured into socialized medicine. Research at the medical schools literally stopped, so the best doctors left Austria and emigrated to other countries.
"As for healthcare, our tax rates went up to 80 percent of our income. Newlyweds immediately received a $1,000 loan from the government to establish a household. We had big programs for families.
"All day care and education were free. High schools were taken over by the government and college tuition was subsidized. Everyone was entitled to free handouts, such as food stamps, clothing, and housing.
"We had another agency designed to monitor business. My brother-in-law owned a restaurant that had square tables.
" Government officials told him he had to replace them with round tables because people might bump themselves on the corners. Then they said he had to have additional bathroom facilities. It was just a small dairy business with a snack bar. He couldn't meet all the demands.
"Soon, he went out of business. If the government owned the large businesses and not many small ones existed, it could be in control.
"We had consumer protection, too
Austrian kids loyal to Hitler
"We were told how to shop and what to buy. Free enterprise was essentially abolished. We had a planning agency specially designed for farmers. The agents would go to the farms, count the live-stock, and then tell the farmers what to produce, and how to produce it.
"In 1944, I was a student teacher in a small village in the Alps. The villagers were surrounded by mountain passes which, in the winter, were closed off with snow, causing people to be isolated.
"So people intermarried and offspring were sometimes retarded. When I arrived, I was told there were 15 mentally retarded adults, but they were all useful and did good manual work.
"I knew one, named Vincent, very well. He was a janitor of the school. One day I looked out the window and saw Vincent and others getting into a van.
"I asked my superior where they were going. She said to an institution where the State Health Department would teach them a trade, and to read and write. The families were required to sign papers with a little clause that they could not visit for 6 months.
"They were told visits would interfere with the program and might cause homesickness.
"As time passed, letters started to dribble back saying these people died a natural, merciful death. The villagers were not fooled. We suspected what was happening. Those people left in excellent physical health and all died within 6 months. We called this euthanasia.
"Then they took our guns
"Next came gun registration. People were getting injured by guns. Hitler said that the real way to catch criminals (we still had a few) was by matching serial numbers on guns. Most citizens were law abiding and dutifully marched to the police station to register their firearms. Not long afterwards, the police said that it was best for everyone to turn in their guns. The authorities already knew who had them, so it was futile not to comply voluntarily.
Kitty Werthmann
"No more freedom of speech. Anyone who said something against the government was taken away. We knew many people who were arrested, not only Jews, but also priests and ministers who spoke up.
"Totalitarianism didn't come quickly, it took 5 years from 1938 until 1943, to realize full dictatorship in Austria. Had it happened overnight, my countrymen would have fought to the last breath. Instead, we had creeping gradualism. Now, our only weapons were broom handles. The whole idea sounds almost unbelievable that the state, little by little eroded our freedom."
"This is my eye-witness account.
"It's true. Those of us who sailed past the Statue of Liberty came to a country of unbelievable freedom and opportunity.
"America is truly is the greatest country in the world.
"Don't let freedom slip away.
"After America, there is no place to go."
Read more: http://blog.beliefnet.com/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars/2011/04/she-survived-hitler-and-wants-to-warn-america.html#ixzz2G7GcN9p5
Thursday, December 27, 2012
+DEV+ Message of Protection
Date: December 27, 2012 11:38 PM
Topic: +DEV+ Message of Protection
Message of Protection
"I call on you, O God, for you will answer me. ...Show the wonder of your great love. Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings." (Psalm 17:6-8)
Scripture Focus: Genesis 6:5-22
I love the secrecy of Christmas gifts. My mom was the champion at buying early and hiding well. The problem was that she usually couldn't find some of those gifts for months after.
When sin spoiled what God intended for His creation, He chose to destroy all that was infected, except believing Noah and his family. We read that Noah was surrounded by wickedness, yet he found favor in God's eyes. In essence, Noah and his family were "hidden," spared from destruction, through God's gracious protection of them. The ark is a picture of shelter from sin as Noah, his family, and the animals were safely hidden inside. (See Genesis 7-8) They were all hidden, but God had not forgotten where He had put them!
When sin attempts to destroy, remember that our "life is now hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3). He is our protection from eternal destruction, our hope from despair, our new life from old. It's a message we can hide in our hearts and sing out to others, especially during this Christmas season.
Insight: Christ protects us from sin's grasp by hiding us in Himself, and He is already hidden in God. What a perfect hiding place!
Topic: +DEV+ Message of Protection
Message of Protection
"I call on you, O God, for you will answer me. ...Show the wonder of your great love. Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings." (Psalm 17:6-8)
Scripture Focus: Genesis 6:5-22
I love the secrecy of Christmas gifts. My mom was the champion at buying early and hiding well. The problem was that she usually couldn't find some of those gifts for months after.
When sin spoiled what God intended for His creation, He chose to destroy all that was infected, except believing Noah and his family. We read that Noah was surrounded by wickedness, yet he found favor in God's eyes. In essence, Noah and his family were "hidden," spared from destruction, through God's gracious protection of them. The ark is a picture of shelter from sin as Noah, his family, and the animals were safely hidden inside. (See Genesis 7-8) They were all hidden, but God had not forgotten where He had put them!
When sin attempts to destroy, remember that our "life is now hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3). He is our protection from eternal destruction, our hope from despair, our new life from old. It's a message we can hide in our hearts and sing out to others, especially during this Christmas season.
Insight: Christ protects us from sin's grasp by hiding us in Himself, and He is already hidden in God. What a perfect hiding place!
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
+DEV+ Snow in December
Date: December 25, 2012 9:32 PM
Topic: +DEV+ Snow in December
Snow in December
"Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow" (Psalm 51:7).
Scripture Focus: Psalm 51:1-12
I don't know if there is anything more beautiful in the world than a farm after a December snowfall. With only the fence posts and the buildings showing, the entire farm is under a beautiful, pure white blanket. It is awesome, something many have seen only on a calendar.
When David was confronted with his sins, he cried out in the 51st Psalm, "Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow." Christ forgives us and makes us absolutely clean. We stand before him now-not just a calendar photo, but the real thing-as white as the newly fallen snow.
There are no sins that Christ cannot forgive. His suffering and death paid the price for all of our wrongdoing. When we confess our sins and ask Christ into our lives, His blood washes away our guilt. And when God the Father looks at us, He only sees Christ's covering. Everything is forgiven.
Snow in December sparkles in the moonlight. Blood-washed saints of God sparkle every day, bringing light into a world of great darkness.
Insight: Thank God for His forgiveness. His mercies are new every morning, and great is His faithfulness.
Topic: +DEV+ Snow in December
Snow in December
"Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow" (Psalm 51:7).
Scripture Focus: Psalm 51:1-12
I don't know if there is anything more beautiful in the world than a farm after a December snowfall. With only the fence posts and the buildings showing, the entire farm is under a beautiful, pure white blanket. It is awesome, something many have seen only on a calendar.
When David was confronted with his sins, he cried out in the 51st Psalm, "Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow." Christ forgives us and makes us absolutely clean. We stand before him now-not just a calendar photo, but the real thing-as white as the newly fallen snow.
There are no sins that Christ cannot forgive. His suffering and death paid the price for all of our wrongdoing. When we confess our sins and ask Christ into our lives, His blood washes away our guilt. And when God the Father looks at us, He only sees Christ's covering. Everything is forgiven.
Snow in December sparkles in the moonlight. Blood-washed saints of God sparkle every day, bringing light into a world of great darkness.
Insight: Thank God for His forgiveness. His mercies are new every morning, and great is His faithfulness.
The Whole Christmas Story
Date: December 25, 2012 12:38 AM
Topic: The Whole Christmas Story
The Whole Christmas Story
Scripture Focus: John 1:29-34
“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not” (Isaiah 53:3).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Great anticipation and high hope surround the birth of a baby. This was most certainly the case as Mary and Joseph viewed their tiny newborn Son. While Mother was taking in all the details for her mental scrapbook, Dad was perhaps envisioning the first hammer he would place in his grip.
There was another interested party who had both the beginning and the end in sight. God the Father knew that His Son was destined for a cross. Among the titles His Son was to collect were Suffering Servant, Sacrificial Lamb, and Man of Sorrows.
The contrast is almost too much to comprehend. Jesus' disciples certainly struggled with it: How could our hope of salvation be headed for crucifixion? Still today, when we look at a manger scene, it is hard to envision this same Child being forced to wear a crown of thorns.
At Christmas we celebrate the new life and hope that rests in the manger at Bethlehem. But without the cross of Easter, the wonderful expectancy of Christmas offers no abiding life, hope, or joy.
INSIGHT: This Christmas, celebrate the birth of Jesus for all that it means. He is both a King deserving of praise and a Servant willing to die for us.
Topic: The Whole Christmas Story
The Whole Christmas Story
Scripture Focus: John 1:29-34
“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not” (Isaiah 53:3).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Great anticipation and high hope surround the birth of a baby. This was most certainly the case as Mary and Joseph viewed their tiny newborn Son. While Mother was taking in all the details for her mental scrapbook, Dad was perhaps envisioning the first hammer he would place in his grip.
There was another interested party who had both the beginning and the end in sight. God the Father knew that His Son was destined for a cross. Among the titles His Son was to collect were Suffering Servant, Sacrificial Lamb, and Man of Sorrows.
The contrast is almost too much to comprehend. Jesus' disciples certainly struggled with it: How could our hope of salvation be headed for crucifixion? Still today, when we look at a manger scene, it is hard to envision this same Child being forced to wear a crown of thorns.
At Christmas we celebrate the new life and hope that rests in the manger at Bethlehem. But without the cross of Easter, the wonderful expectancy of Christmas offers no abiding life, hope, or joy.
INSIGHT: This Christmas, celebrate the birth of Jesus for all that it means. He is both a King deserving of praise and a Servant willing to die for us.
Monday, December 24, 2012
The Original Christmas Tree
Date: December 24, 2012 3:08 AM
Topic: The Original Christmas Tree
The Original Christmas Tree
Scripture Focus: Isaiah 6:8-13
“Though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land” (Isaiah 6:13).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Decorating the Christmas tree was always a great event with out family. On Thanksgiving weekend we would go to the tree farm, choose and cut own our tree, and bring it home. Everyone helped Dad anchor it in the tree stand. Mom would put on the lights, and the children hung ornaments. With great joy and Christmas carols playing in the background, we stood back to admire our work.
But out in the fields we left behind an ugly stump, never thinking of it as symbolic of Isaiah's “holy seed.” Jesus came from that stump and brought beauty and life. “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse: from his roots a Branch will bear fruit” (11:1).
It was always a sad day when we would take down the dead, dry Christmas tree, stripping it of its decorations. Abandoned outside, its last light came from flames that consumed it. In contrast, we can remember the original Christmas tree from Jesse's stump - Jesus, the light of the world, whose beams can never be extinguished.
INSIGHT: Praise God for His Son, now and everlasting life forever.
Topic: The Original Christmas Tree
The Original Christmas Tree
Scripture Focus: Isaiah 6:8-13
“Though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land” (Isaiah 6:13).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Decorating the Christmas tree was always a great event with out family. On Thanksgiving weekend we would go to the tree farm, choose and cut own our tree, and bring it home. Everyone helped Dad anchor it in the tree stand. Mom would put on the lights, and the children hung ornaments. With great joy and Christmas carols playing in the background, we stood back to admire our work.
But out in the fields we left behind an ugly stump, never thinking of it as symbolic of Isaiah's “holy seed.” Jesus came from that stump and brought beauty and life. “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse: from his roots a Branch will bear fruit” (11:1).
It was always a sad day when we would take down the dead, dry Christmas tree, stripping it of its decorations. Abandoned outside, its last light came from flames that consumed it. In contrast, we can remember the original Christmas tree from Jesse's stump - Jesus, the light of the world, whose beams can never be extinguished.
INSIGHT: Praise God for His Son, now and everlasting life forever.
Sunday, December 23, 2012
THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS (PARODY)
THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS (PARODY)
(Mike Inman)
On the first day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me,
A cartridge in a bear tree.
On the second day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me,
Two SKS's
And A cartridge in a bear tree.
On the third day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me,
Three AK-47's
Two SKS's
And A cartridge in a bear tree.
On the fourth day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me,
Four Sig Sauer 556R
Three AK-47's
Two SKS's
And A cartridge in a bear tree.
On the fifth day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me,
Five Cases Of Rounds
Four Sig Sauer 556R
Three AK-47's
Two SKS's
And A cartridge in a bear tree.
On the sixth day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me,
Six M107 50cal rifles
Five cases of Rounds
Four Sig Sauer 556R
Three AK-47's
Two SKS's
And A cartridge in a bear tree.
On the seventh day of Christmas
My true love gave to me,
Seven Barska 6-24x50 Sniper Scopes
Six M107 50cal rifles
Five cases of Rounds
Four Sig Sauer 556R
Three AK-47's
Two SKS's
And A cartridge in a bear tree.
On the eighth day of Christmas
My true love gave to me,
Eight Barska 6-24x50 Sniper Scopes
Seven UTS-15 tactical shotguns
Six M107 50cal rifles
Five cases of Rounds
Four Sig Sauer 556R
Three AK-47's
Two SKS's
And A cartridge in a bear tree.
On the ninth day of Christmas
My true love gave to me,
Nine Cases hand grenades
Eight Barska 6-24x50 Sniper Scopes
Six M107 50cal rifles
Six Six 50cal rifles
Five cases of Rounds
Four Sig Sauer 556R
Three AK-47's
Two SKS's
And A cartridge in a bear tree.
On the tenth day of Christmas
My true love gave to me,
Ten M134 Triple Gatling cannons
Nine Cases hand grenades
Eight Barska 6-24x50 Sniper Scopes
Seven UTS-15 tactical shotguns
Six M107 50cal rifles
Five cases of Rounds
Four Sig Sauer 556R
Three AK-47's
Two SKS's
And A cartridge in a bear tree.SKS's
On the eleventh day of Christmas
My true love gave to me,
Eleven tones of plastic
Ten M134 Triple Gatling cannons
Nine Cases hand grenades
Eight Barska 6-24x50 Sniper Scopes
Seven UTS-15 tactical shotguns
Six M107 50cal rifle
Five cases of Rounds
Four Sig Sauer 556R
Three AK-47's
Two SKS's
And A cartridge in a bear tree.SKS's
On the twelfth day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me,
Twelve nuclear bombs
Eleven tones of plastic
Ten M134 Triple Gatling cannons
Nine Cases hand grenades
Eight Barska 6-24x50 Sniper Scopes
Seven UTS-15 tactical shotguns
Six M107 50cal rifle
Five cases of Rounds
Four Sig Sauer 556R
Three AK-47's
Two SKS's
And A cartridge in a bear tree.SKS's
(Mike Inman)
On the first day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me,
A cartridge in a bear tree.
On the second day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me,
Two SKS's
And A cartridge in a bear tree.
On the third day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me,
Three AK-47's
Two SKS's
And A cartridge in a bear tree.
On the fourth day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me,
Four Sig Sauer 556R
Three AK-47's
Two SKS's
And A cartridge in a bear tree.
On the fifth day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me,
Five Cases Of Rounds
Four Sig Sauer 556R
Three AK-47's
Two SKS's
And A cartridge in a bear tree.
On the sixth day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me,
Six M107 50cal rifles
Five cases of Rounds
Four Sig Sauer 556R
Three AK-47's
Two SKS's
And A cartridge in a bear tree.
On the seventh day of Christmas
My true love gave to me,
Seven Barska 6-24x50 Sniper Scopes
Six M107 50cal rifles
Five cases of Rounds
Four Sig Sauer 556R
Three AK-47's
Two SKS's
And A cartridge in a bear tree.
On the eighth day of Christmas
My true love gave to me,
Eight Barska 6-24x50 Sniper Scopes
Seven UTS-15 tactical shotguns
Six M107 50cal rifles
Five cases of Rounds
Four Sig Sauer 556R
Three AK-47's
Two SKS's
And A cartridge in a bear tree.
On the ninth day of Christmas
My true love gave to me,
Nine Cases hand grenades
Eight Barska 6-24x50 Sniper Scopes
Six M107 50cal rifles
Six Six 50cal rifles
Five cases of Rounds
Four Sig Sauer 556R
Three AK-47's
Two SKS's
And A cartridge in a bear tree.
On the tenth day of Christmas
My true love gave to me,
Ten M134 Triple Gatling cannons
Nine Cases hand grenades
Eight Barska 6-24x50 Sniper Scopes
Seven UTS-15 tactical shotguns
Six M107 50cal rifles
Five cases of Rounds
Four Sig Sauer 556R
Three AK-47's
Two SKS's
And A cartridge in a bear tree.SKS's
On the eleventh day of Christmas
My true love gave to me,
Eleven tones of plastic
Ten M134 Triple Gatling cannons
Nine Cases hand grenades
Eight Barska 6-24x50 Sniper Scopes
Seven UTS-15 tactical shotguns
Six M107 50cal rifle
Five cases of Rounds
Four Sig Sauer 556R
Three AK-47's
Two SKS's
And A cartridge in a bear tree.SKS's
On the twelfth day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me,
Twelve nuclear bombs
Eleven tones of plastic
Ten M134 Triple Gatling cannons
Nine Cases hand grenades
Eight Barska 6-24x50 Sniper Scopes
Seven UTS-15 tactical shotguns
Six M107 50cal rifle
Five cases of Rounds
Four Sig Sauer 556R
Three AK-47's
Two SKS's
And A cartridge in a bear tree.SKS's
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