“Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht”

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 More

“For Unto Us A Child Is Born…”

The wonder and glory of the birth of Jesus resound as the words of Isaiah 9:6 are sung in this chorus from Handel’s Messiah. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty […]

Read More

Journey to Bethlehem

But 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 More

“Thou Who Wast Rich Beyond All Splendour”

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9 The lyrics of Thou Who Wast Rich Beyond All Splendour were written in China by Frank Houghton, an Englishman. The words, […]

Read More

Esther 1–5: God’s Providence & Esther’s Courage

Read the Bible in 2011 ◊ Week 51: Tuesday Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not imagine that you in the king’s palace can escape any more than all the Jews. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you […]

Read More

Deuteronomy 29–31: Hear & Learn

Read the Bible in 2011 ◊ Week 51: Monday “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.” Deuteronomy 29:29 Monday’s Bible reading is Deuteronomy 29–31. Moses continues to exhort and encourage the […]

Read More

“Mary, Did You Know?”

There are some songs with words and music so personally significant, I still remember the first time I heard them. I first heard Mary, Did You Know? at it was sung at the water’s edge of a town harbor by a small vocal ensemble during an outdoor Christmas celebration over ten years ago. The lyrics and […]

Read More

Read the Bible in 2011 ◊ Week 51

Week 51 of Read the Bible in 2011 begins today. I put up a variation of this post every week for those who may not know what I’m doing when they find posts on different books of the Bible on different days of the week. This is the general schedule from Michael Coley’s reading plan […]

Read More