Guilt? Regrets?

As you look back at the year we are about to leave . . . perhaps you have some regrets about things you said or did. Maybe you are being hounded by guilt. Questions like, "How could God ever forgive me?" plague your thoughts. If so ... I encourage you to take the four minutes to watch the video below of Casting Crown's song, East to West.




Thanks for stopping by . . .
 pj

Final A La Carte of the Year

Here is my final a la carte posting of the year. Enjoy!

1. What do you do if you wake up feeling on the "fragile" side?  John Piper has some great insights! A good read!

2. Take a moment to reflect on Ray Ortland's favorite quote of 2011. It may just be mine as well!

3. Here is the most viral (shared) CCEF Facebook video of the year.  


4. Kevin DeYoung talks about the place (and vital need) for sowing in the evangelism process. 


5. On a lighter note ... 


Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj

Our Not-So-Much-Anymore Prelit Christmas Tree

This year, when my wife and I decided to decorate the house for the Christmas holiday, we decided to "down-size" our effort. So that meant we left undisturbed in their attic resting place some of the decorations from last year's Christmas display. But we still put up our tree. We have an artificial tree. Have gone the artificial route for as long as I can remember. Why artificial? For starters, you can use it year after year. And since we never pay full price for our tree ... it pays for itself in just a few Christmases. In addition, you never have to worry about watering it ... nor do you have to worry about any allergies kicking in (and they have been known to do so in the past). And so artificial Christmas tree it has been!

A number of years ago or so, having grown weary of stringing the tree with lights ... we went out and bought a pre-lit tree (on sale, of course). I have so enjoyed putting it up year after year, especially knowing I would not have to go through the hassle of making sure the lights were all evenly spaced throughout the tree. However, last year ... the lights on a section went out. No problem ... I just threw on an extra string of lights that we had lying around. This year, upon putting the tree up and plugging all the lights in ... I noticed another section had grown dark. On went another string of lights. Then ... just the other day ... I noticed yet another section was out. SO ... on went another string. (Do you see where this is going?)  Bottom line ... our pre-lit tree is fast becoming a non pre-lit tree!  Yahoo ... back to where we started from!

I guess I could be disgusted by all this ... but I am not. After all, lights won't burn forever. Or will they? Thankfully, I can think of one light that will burn forever. The light of Jesus Christ in His gospel! That is a light that no force, seen or unseen will ever be able to "outen" (as they say in Pennsylvania Dutch). And to think, God gives us the opportunity to shine this inextinguishable light into this dark world in which we work and play. Why ... don't we do it more?

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 5:14-16)

Thanks for stopping by . . . 
pj

Merry Christmas Plus One!

One of the gifts I received for Christmas was a collection of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Christmas sermons. Bonhoeffer was imprisoned and then executed by the Nazis for his complicity in a plot to assassinate Hitler. He was hanged just one month before the fall of Berlin and the end of the war. But though he died an early death (he was 39 years old) - his writings have lived on for some 80+ years.

Early on Christmas morning, I opened this book thinking to myself, "What better day to read one of Bonhoeffer's Christmas sermons than Christmas Day?"  It did not take long before I was blessed by this German pastor and theologian. Here are his words ... and I trust you will be blessed by them as well.

"We have selected from the Christmas story only the pleasant bits, forgetting the awesome nature of an event in which the God of the universe, its Creator and Sustainer, draws near to this little planet, and now speaks to us." 

Thanks for stopping by . . . 

pj

Christmas in a Nutshell

Here's a great video that does a really nice job (and in a very creative way) in getting to the heart of the true meaning of Christmas. Enjoy!




 Hoping you and yours have a very blessed Christmas!!!

 Thanks for stopping by . . .
 pj

A Wow Video!

Here is a video in which a 19 year old girl receives the surprising news that she is going to be adopted into a loving "forever" family. Her reaction is priceless. But it got me thinking about how God has adopted us into HIS "forever" family!  How blessed we are to be part of God's family!  Enjoy (and be sure to have a tissue or two handy ... my eyes perspired quite a bit!)




And for some background ... click here.

 Thanks for stopping by . . . pj

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!

Thursday A La Carte

It's Thursday ... at that means some stuff from here and there. Enjoy!

1. For those of you who are Tolkien fans, the first trailer for the new film, The Hobbit is now out. The film is scheduled for a December, 2012 release.

2. Is the celebration of Christmas a Pagan Ritual? R.C. Sproul provides an insightful answer. 


3. Here's an superb video about the Real Christmas! Worth the 9 minutes to watch!

4. Ed Welch of CCEF writes about "I can help you . . . in six words." A helpful read!

5.  Finally on a lighter note . . .

Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj