Truth For The Heart
In many churches I’ve attended it is a tradition to close the Christmas Eve service by singing Silent Night. This carol was written and first sung in Oberndorf, Austria. “Silent night! Holy night! All is calm, all is bright round yon Virgin Mother and Child, Holy infant so tender and mild, sleep in Heavenly peace! […]
Read MoreBut when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son…. Galatians 4:4a God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son… Hebrews 1:1-2 God spoke through the prophet Malachi of a […]
Read MoreThere are some songs with words and music so personally significant, I still remember the first time I heard them. Mary, Did You Know? is one of those songs. I first heard it sung by a small vocal ensemble at the water’s edge of a town harbor during an outdoor Christmas celebration ten years ago. […]
Read MoreIn Philippians 2:1 Paul lays the foundation of these next three verses by describing the reality of God’s grace in the Philippians’ lives. Because of this reality, he tells the Philippians to “make full (the measure of) my joy.” 2 make full (the measure of) my joy by being of the same mind, having the […]
Read MoreThe wonder and glory of the birth of Jesus resound in this chorus from Handel’s Messiah, and the passage from Isaiah spans time from His First Advent to His Second Coming. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name […]
Read MoreIn times past shoemakers marked out the measure of a person’s foot on their bench. This benchmarking determined the size of the shoe.1 When a surveyor made a mark at the correct height on a stone for his leveling rod, this was his benchmark.2 Benchmark has come to mean a standard for excellence—a mark by […]
Read More“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14 (KJV) The roots of the music of Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel! go back to the 15th century.1 The Messianic titles in the lyrics, called the O Antiphons, are […]
Read MoreIn the second chapter of his letter to the Philippians, Paul turns to writing to them about considering each other—serving each other—ministering to each other. He lays the groundwork—the foundation—the irrefutable bedrock of ministry as he makes this appeal to them. Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of […]
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Kindling for Candles 