Category: Holidays
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10 Questions to Ask at a Christmas Gathering
Do you have any Chrstmas gatherings to attend this holiday season? My thanks to Don Whitney for suggesting the following questions to spruce up the conversation, especially at church:
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A Thought for Mother’s Day
A thought for Mother’s Day: “A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials, heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine, desert us when troubles thicken around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind…
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5 Songs for Good Friday
With Easter coming Sunday, the MOST Holy day on the Christian calendar, it is easy to overlook or undervalue Good Friday. But to do so deprives us of great opportunity to glory in the Cross. When I was a kid, I remember asking my mother one day: “Why do they call it Good Friday, if…
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Crucifixion & Resurrection
Here is a reflection, taken from Valley of Vision, for Good Friday: O Lord, I marvel that thou shouldst become incarnate, be crucified, dead, and buried. The sepulchre calls forth my adoring wonder, for it is empty and thou art risen; the four-fold gospel attests it, the living witnesses prove it, my heart’s experience knows…
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Hosanna in the Highest!
Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the…
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Reclaiming St Patrick’s Day
Did you know that, in his lifetime, Patrick of Ireland was never associated with the Roman Catholic Church? In fact, if one examines Patrick’s beliefs and practices, along with his British Christian heritage, we find that if he were alive today Patrick, that pioneer missionary, would actually fall quite naturally within Evangelicalism. Check out these resources about…
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St. Patrick’s Breastplate
This famous prayer, one of the earliest known European vernacular poems, has been attributed to Patrick – though some scholars say a few of the words indicate a later period. But there is no question that they ooze the spirit and substance we see in Patrick’s Confession. And they reverberate with the power of Christianity that Patrick gave to his adopted…
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Suggested Reading for Season of Lent
The Season of Lent is a time of preparation and anticipation. It is a season that should be characterized reflection, soul-searching, repentance, and ultimately looking forward to celebration – the celebration of all Jesus accomplished for us on the Cross. As Daniel Montgomery, of Sojourn Church writes: “Lent helps us focus on why He had…
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Entering Lent
Today is Ash Wednesday, which means we have now entered into the Season of Lent. If you are not from a church with a liturgical background Lent probably won’t mean much. In fact, for some it may even evoke some negative connotations. While I understand those sentiments, I wish they were not so. At least,…
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A New Year’s Reflection
New Year’s is an opportunity for renewal. It is a time when even the calendar reminds us that God is making all things new; that the old passes away and the new is brought forth. It is a time of renewal. If we think about it and act upon it, New Year’s Eve & New…
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A New Year’s Prayer
Here is a New Year’s prayer from Jim Eliot I don’t think I could ever express any better: I pray that the Lord might crown this year with His goodness and in the coming one give you a hallowed dare-devil spirit in lifting the biting sword of Truth, consuming you with a passion that is…
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A Christmas Creed
I believe in Jesus Christ and in the beauty of the gospel begun in Bethlehem. I believe in the one whose spirit glorified a little town; and whose spirit still brings music to persons all over the world, in towns both large and small. I believe in the one for whom the crowded inn could…
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The Virgin Shall Conceive and Bear a Son
Here’s a poignant insight from Martyn Lloyd-Jones regarding Christmas: What is taught in Scripture is not that Mary had been either born or made sinless, but that portion of Mary, that cell out of Mary that was to be developed into the body of the Son of God was cleansed from sin; and that only.…
