Counting The Cost

Random thoughts on walking with Jesus in this turvy-topsy world

And a Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a blessed Christmas, and I wish you all a happy New Year!     I will be taking a short break on blogging until January 2nd.     See you all then!     Joy

posted by: Jrobbins at 16:45 | link | comments |
happy new year

Not all who wander are lost...

I Wonder as I Wander

Traditional
Written By: Unknown
Copyright Unknown

 

I wonder as I wander
Out under the sky
How Jesus the Savior
Did come for to die
For poor on'ry people
Like you and like I
I wonder as I wander
Out under the sky

 

When Mary birthed Jesus,
'Twas in a cow's stall
With wise men and farmers
And shepherds and all
But high from God's heaven,
A star's light did fall
And the promise of ages
It then did recall

 

If Jesus had wanted
For any wee thing
A star in the sky
Or a bird on the wing
Or all of God's angels
In heav'n for to sing
He surely could have it,
'Cause He was the King

 

I wonder as I wander
Out under the sky
How Jesus the Savior
Did come for to die
For poor on'ry people
Like you and like I
I wonder as I wander
Out under the sky

 

 

 

posted by: Jrobbins at 16:45 | link | comments |
i wonder as i wander

Merry? Christmas?

From Breakpoint Online:

 

 

The Question Of Christmas

 

Written by Alan Sears

12/21/2006

 

The conflict shows up in quiet ways, all over the place, this time of year.

 

You see it in restaurants and stores, as waitresses pour your last cup of coffee, or shop clerks hand you your receipt. Suddenly, it’s there, in their eyes—that quick re-routing of the seasonal synapse, reminding them to say, “Happy Holidays,” and not . . . well, you know.

 

Orders from the boss, probably. Or maybe they just figured out, as we all do, what’s politically correct or socially gauche, and edited themselves accordingly.

 

So you smile indulgently, or maybe gently trump their expression with your own, “Merry Christmas!” And you feel rather good about yourself, as you slip out of your booth or turn from the register to go—and just then, if you’re listening, you’ll notice: that song, playing lightly overhead, is “What Child Is This?” Or “Silent Night.”

 

It’s that way all through December. Ironies abound. The same stores that frown on saying “Christmas” play carols ‘round the clock. Leftists lecture us on the importance of keeping the season secular, or at least ecumenical—the only way to make it a holiday for everybody is to make it a day about nothing.

 

But once the lecture is finished, many of those same Scrooges slip into their cars and turn up Bing Crosby, crooning “Adeste Fideles” or “The Little Drummer Boy.” They’ll go home to set out angels and manger scenes and poinsettias, and fill card after card with scrawling, heartfelt prayers for peace on earth and love and hope.

 

And most will never trip over their own double standard, or marvel at the gap between what they profess, publicly, and what they yearn to believe, in their hearts.

 

In Miracle on 34th Street, the D.A., Thomas Mara, trying hard to plant Kris Kringle in a funny farm, is asked point blank by Kringle’s lawyer whether or not he himself believes in Santa Claus. The doubting Thomas falls suddenly silent. His little boy is sitting in the courtroom. Locking up St. Nick is one thing—banishing his son’s fond faith is another.

 

Something like that, I believe, happens in many a heart this time of year. Lots of people, for whatever reason, want to lock religious faith away and be done with it. Trouble is, they also yearn to keep some enduring hope alive—and, in the end, God is the only One sturdy enough to pin the hope on.

 

So there’s the rub: “holiday” is too thin a gruel to feed a hungry soul, but “Christmas” carries implications many don’t want to deal with. Changing seasons is one thing; changing your life is another.

 

Interestingly, even those disinclined to defer to the divinity of Jesus Christ concede that He was a remarkable man—that his teachings were unusually profound and that His life personified those teachings more consistently than anyone else ever has. So what’s wrong with recognizing His birthday as His birthday?

 

Either Jesus truly is the Son of God, and Savior of the world—in which case we surely should celebrate His advent. Or else He was not. In which case, what harm is there in honoring such a magnificent life? Surely if we’ve cause to commemorate the national impact of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King, Jr., we have more than ample reason to celebrate the international import of the greatest teacher and philosopher the world has ever known.

 

Put another way: to what aspects of Jesus’ character and teachings—brotherly love, personal sacrifice, self-denial, kindness, generosity, concern for the poor, courage in the face of death, etc., etc.—do groups like the American Civil Liberties Union so vigorously object?

 

What are they so terrified that our children will come away with, if we single out Jesus in our classrooms, this time of year? If we breathe His name in a season’s greeting? If we recreate the circumstances of His birth on government property?

 

Are any of the virtues He so richly embodied to be deplored in a citizen of these United States?

 

Mention Muhammad or Hare Krishna or Buddha or Gandhi in a classroom, and no one starts calling up lawyers. Carve a quote from any of them on the courthouse wall, and civil libertarians will sing of your tolerance and nod in sage approval. No one uses their name in a curse, or shudders to think someone might really believe what they taught.

 

But two thousand years after He walked this earth, the name of Jesus—the idea of Jesus—still strikes real fear into countless hearts.

 

More and more, in America, the question of whether it’s okay to say “Merry Christmas” is becoming, for many, but a cover for the real question: “Is it okay to believe in Jesus Christ?”

 

And in classrooms and courtrooms, college lecture halls and shopping malls, military barracks and government buildings all over the country, “Happy Holidays” is our increasingly secularized society’s brazen answer to that question.

 

Because if it’s not okay to believe in Him at Christmastime—it’s not okay to believe in Him the rest of the year, either.

 

 

Alan Sears, a former federal prosecutor who held various posts in the departments of Justice and Interior during the Reagan Administration, is president and CEO of the Alliance Defense Fund, a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation. He is co-author with Craig Osten of the book The ACLU vs. America: Exposing the Agenda to Redefine Moral Values.

posted by: Jrobbins at 22:10 | link | comments |
the question of christmas

A Christmas Hymn

Ah, Dearest Jesus

Hymn by Martin Luther, 1535

Translated by Catherine Winkworth, 1855

 

 

Ah, dearest Jesus, holy Child,
Make Thee a bed, soft, undefiled
Within my heart, that it may be
A quiet chamber kept for Thee.

 

 

My heart for very joy doth leap,
My lips no more can silence keep;
I, too, must sing with joyful tongue
That sweetest ancient cradle song.

 

 

Glory to God in highest Heaven,
Who unto man His Son hath given;
While angels sing with tender mirth,
A glad new year to all the earth.

posted by: Jrobbins at 16:26 | link | comments |
ah dearest jesus

Light from the Darkness

THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

Written by Suzanne Benner

 

 
"The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those
living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned" (Isaiah 9:2).

 

Hundreds of years before Jesus was born, Isaiah prophesied that the
Messiah would be a great light to those living in darkness.

 

When Jesus was here on earth, he said, "I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (John 8:12).

 

Candles, lanterns and decorative lights illuminate our homes and
streets at Christmas time. Although useful and pretty, they fail to do what only the Messiah can do -- bring hope.

 

We live in a dark place; dark because we do not understand our true
position before God, dark because of the evil in us and around us, dark because of the hopelessness and despair we often feel.

 

Jesus came to bring light to our darkness, to bring hope into our
lives.

 

John records Jesus' words, "I am the way and the truth and the life, no one can come to the Father except by Me."
(John 14:6).

 

Because Jesus is the way, we have hope. We no longer live in confusion or lack of understanding since Jesus has shown us the way to God.

 

Because Jesus is the truth, we have hope. Good triumphed over evil,
once and for all, when Jesus died and rose again. He is our hope because although evil seems to be winning, we know that in the end right will win.

 

Because Jesus is the life, we have hope. Abundant life for the present
and eternal life for the future, are ours when we trust in Jesus.
Christ alone is the answer to our despair.

 

 

 

Read this online at:
http://tmdevotionals.com/women/2006/12/20/the-light-of-the-world/

 

 

 

posted by: Jrobbins at 14:41 | link | comments |
light of the world

Thankfully, it IS true!

The Astonishing Christ

by Paul Faulkner

Listen to this famous writer's assessment about Jesus: "Everything in
Christ astonishes me! His spirit overawes me, his will confounds me! He is truly a being by himself."

The writer? A rather remarkable leader named Napoleon Bonaparte.

 

He continues, "I search in vain in history to find anyone similar to
Jesus Christ or anything which can approach the gospel. Neither
history, nor humanity, nor the ages, nor nature offer me anything with
which I am able to compare or explain it."

 

And Napoleon is, of course, right. The idea of a king whose wealth and
power are beyond measure, the commander of the heavenly host, ruler of heaven and earth, who would choose to come to earth as a little baby --it's unbelievable!

 

But thankfully for us, it's true.

  Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. He is the reflection of God's glory and the exact imprint of God's very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high ....

(Hebrews 1:1-3 NRS)

---------

  (c) 2006 Paul Faulkner.

 

posted by: Jrobbins at 14:41 | link | comments |
astonishing christ

Fight to the Finish

From CBN.com:

 

Faith Lessons From a Furry Friend

By Julie Ferwerda

 

CBN.com – “Eeek! Squeeeeeeeekkk! Hi-yah! Woo-eee-wah!!”

 

 

I rounded the corner of my house to see a furry little version of “Jackie Chan” trying to pull a karate move on my big ferocious black cat, Pepe. With his little hands up in the air karate chop style, and his legs slightly spread apart for balance, the bravest little mouse I’d ever seen was ready for action!

 

 

Every time Pepe reached out to grab his appetizing afternoon snack, the mouse squealed loud enough for the neighbors to hear, and lunged back in an offensive maneuver. I watched Pepe fling the biting, karate-chopping mouse off his paws several times, only to run after him again. For Pepe, this was a game. This was fun. Yes, Pepe would play…and wait (and drool), taking as long as needed to wear down his furry little victim. If he was patient, he would eventually get his meal…

 

 

But Pepe underestimated his victim. Little Jackie—fighting over life or death—never gave up. For about a half hour, he fought and struggled and protested. Initially, I wasn’t going to get involved, but in the end I just had to rescue my desperate friend with the beady little eyes. With heroic effort, I picked him up by the back of his furry little neck (normally, I don’t recommend this), and set him free out in our field—much to Pepe’s disappointment.

 

 

There’s another big black hungry cat lurking in your neighborhood this year, and guess who’s on his snack menu? As you begin this new year, remember that you have a ferocious, hungry, dark enemy who wants to devour you and your future. Getting you to compromise and to give up out of discouragement is a game to Satan—one that he will play very patiently. He won’t try to eat you up right away, but he will go in for the slow kill—telling you lies that will wear you down. He will try to get you to give in little by little to the things you said you wouldn’t do, while pulling you slowly away from the awesome plans that God has for your life.

 

 

Don’t be his play toy! I encourage you to fight like little Jackie Chan Mouse. Decide that Satan has underestimated you! Fight back as if your life depends on it—because it does. And just like that mouse, when you are trying to stand strong and resist Satan, all you have to do is ask God for help and these great big hands of mercy will come down to rescue you and set you free. Don’t give up, my friend. Get in your karate stance and fight back with God’s Word! Then watch your “big tough” enemy slink away with his tail between his legs, defeated and very disappointed.

 

 

Psalm 18:16-19 “[God] reached down from heaven and rescued me; He delivered me from my powerful enemy who was too strong for me. I was attacked at a moment when I was weakest, but the Lord upheld me. He led me to a place of safety; He rescued me because He delights in me.”

 

 

Julie is the author of The Perfect Fit: Waiting for God’s Best after Failed Relationships and has written articles for other publications such as Marriage Partnership, Brio & Beyond, HomeLife, Discipleship Journal, and Revolve III Biblezine Project for teen girls (Thomas Nelson, July 2006). To order the book or to find out more go to: www.JulieFerwerda.com.

posted by: Jrobbins at 14:35 | link | comments |
fight to the finish

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