Sweet Little Jesus Boy

Sweet little Jesus boy
They made you be born in a manger
Sweet little holy child
We didn't know who you were
Didn't know you'd come to save us Lord
To take our sins away
Our eyes were blind, we could not see
We didn't know who you were

Long time ago
You were born
Born in a manger Lord
Sweet little Jesus boy
The world treats you mean Lord
Treats me mean too
But that's how things are down here
We don't know who you are

You have told us how
We are trying
Master you have shown us how
Even when you were dying
Just seems like we can't do right
Look how we treated you
But please Sir forgive us Lord
We didn't know it was you

Sweet little Jesus boy
Born a long time ago
Sweet little holy child
We didn't know who you were

I have enjoyed listening to this version from Casting Crowns this Christmas season. We went to the Family Christian store to get Christmas presents and they had their new CD as well as Christmas CD for $15 together.

I have been really thinking a lot about an interview I heard on Fox news with an atheist women about the "There is no God" signs being put up right before Christmas. My heart broke for her for she had no hope. She tried to say how many atheists now lived in the world and the woman who interviewed her quickly pointed out that there are 2 billion Christians in the world of 6 billion people and the next closet religion was Islam. She asked the atheist woman if have the majority of us have "gotten it wrong."

My king is the Risen Lord Jesus Christ. My hope is not in this world, my hope is in our Great God and King Jesus Christ. He is the only one who can cleanse our sins.

Jackson has really enjoyed singing "Silent Night," and "Away in a manager" this month. He did so well in the candle light service last night (answer to prayer). He has really understood that the Jesus who we pray to and who heals us, is whose birthday we are celebrating this month. The greatest gift ever was Jesus. He closed last night by singing, "Yes, Jesus loves me." This Christmas has been so special!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! We are so blessed to have two healthy, loving babies. God gave us such a wonderful gift this year in Abigail. Jackson just loves to love on Abigail. I told Jackson this year that it is Jesus' birthday and we are going to celebrate it in many ways. I will give him more gifts on his birthday than at Christmas because Christmas is not a celebration of his birth, but of Jesus' birth. I have a ton of pictures to post and video, hopefully I will get to that in the next couple of days. We had such a wonderful Christmas!

I pray that today and this week that we can adore Jesus and love Him with all of our hearts.

O Come All Ye Faithful
Joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem.
Come and behold Him,
Born the King of Angels;
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

Busiest Time of the Year

December is always the busiest time of the year I think for everyone. We actually had two Christmas parties to go to yesterday and Jackson had shots this morning. I have not even had time to wash our clothes. However, God is so good to me and in the morning He always gives me 30 minutes to read the Bible and I am not behind on my daily reading....it is a miracle! Jackson did turn 15 months old today and I will have to post pictures and update soon. I feel that in our society we are isolated now more than ever. That is why I just want to post this what I read today. Sometimes I think that blogs are the only voice some of us have.

If we died with Him,
we will also live with Him;
If we endure,
we will also reign with Him.
If we disown Him,
he will disown us;
if we are faithless,
he will remain faithful,
for he cannot disown himself.

2 Timothy 2:11-13

Wow, dwell on these words for a while, it will have your brain spinning. I have learned so much just by listening to God's Word being read daily through the dramatized NIV Bible on cd. I have also been blessed by listening to Mark Driscoll (he has been a big influence on Charlie and his ministry) series on Philippians's on cd in the car. We have itunes and so we can download his sermons for free by going to http://www.marshillchurch.org/. Then we just burn cd's for us to listen to in the car. Gigi and Gran are getting Jackson a dvd player for the car for Christmas so Jackson can watch the crazy Doodlebops, while I get spiritually fed. Yeah! Also, we are getting everyone sermons that we have burned as cd's for Christmas gifts along with easy to make homemade fudge. This is a great way for us to save money on Christmas presents (burning sermons on cds). Why do we waste all of our money giving our family memebers things they do not want or need, and items that will not help them grow in their knowledge of Him?

Glory to God in the Highest

Luke 2:8-20:

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,"Glory to God in the highest,and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told."

This week Dr. Rummage preached on the gifts Jesus Brings to Everyone:

1) Jesus Bring us a Glory to Encounter (vs. 14)

2) Jesus Brings us a Peace to Enter Us (vs. 14)

3) Jesus Brings a Message to Explain (vs. 15-20)

Why do we never think about the Glory of the Lord at Christmas? Here in this passage the glory of the Lord shined all around them. Can you image the glory of the Lord shining around you? Dr. Rummage explained that the Hebrew word for glory is "kabod" which means heavy and the Greek word is "doxo" meaning light. It was the radiant shinning light of God's glory that was present at our Savior's birth.

Isaiah 6: 1-3 states:

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:
"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory."

Wow can you imagine the entire earth being full of God's glory? Additionally, Jesus brings us a peace with God. When we accept Jesus we are no longer an enemy of God. A peace comes over us as well when we learn to trust him completely by praying and turning all of our troubles over to him. However, peace here on earth will not be accomplished until Jesus finally comes back.

The Rich Man and Lazarus

Luke 16:19-27:

There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.' But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'

This week Dr. Rummage preached on this passage. One reason he did was because without the place called Hell, there would have been no reason to send his son to this earth to die for our sins. One interesting point he made is that Hell is a holy place because it is set apart by God and is a place where he pours out his wrath.

4 Facts on Hell:
1) Hell is an actual place (22)
2) Hell is an agonizing place (23-24)
3) Hell is an always place (25-26)
4) Hell is an Avoidable place (vs. 27)

I know we do not like to talk or even think about Hell but Jesus surely talked about Hell. Are we just afraid of a little embarrassment so we do not talk about. There is no place on earth that even comes close to how unbelievably terrible Hell really is. Dr. Rummage talks about how it is good not to be mad at anyone when you preach or teach on Hell. We should probably make sure that we have gotten enough sleep. Are we too busy shaking people's hands that we forget about their souls? William Booth wished that all seminary trained people could spend 24 hours in Hell and come back to tell the good news of the Gospel.