Tag: peace

  • Ghosts of Christmas’ Past

    Ghosts of Christmas’ Past

    We are of course familiar with the image of ghosts of Christmas’ past thanks to Charles Dickens, ‘A Christmas Carol,’ penned in A.D. 1843. Dickens points toward a morality of generosity during a great 19th century division between a well-off gentry class and the working poor. Even today his theme of the repentance of Scrooge convicts on a larger Common Era world stage where poverty is no less common.

    My ghosts of Christmas Past include more than just Jacob Marley & friends. I remember when Christmas meant more than the sounds of shopping and included both worship and bells.

    Many Christian families had opened paper doors on Advent calendars reading familiar Scripture from Luke, Matthew and Isaiah in anticipation of opening personal gifts to each other on Christmas morning.

    So in these links and lyrics below I invite you to hear some of what I hear from long-lost ghosts of Christmas’ past. And if you listen to every brief song while reading the lyrics and Scripture behind such glorious Christmas carols you may discover that same moment of transformation as Scrooge after his visits by three ghosts he had never seen.


    The Ghost of Church Bells

    Church Bells proclaiming JOY to the world within the sound of their pealing.

    I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

    Henry W. Longfellow, A.D. 1864 Scripture: Luke 2:13-14; Romans 5:1

    Lyrics by Henry W. Longfellow, 1864 alt. and v. 5-7 by Harlan D. Sorrell

    Lyrics:

    I heard the bells on Christmas day
    Their old familiar carols play;
    In music sweet the tones repeat,
    “There’s peace on earth, good will to men.”

    I thought how, as the day had come,
    The belfries of all Christendom
    Had rolled along th’ unbroken song
    Of peace on earth, good will to men.

    Born the Prince of Peace

    And in despair I bowed my head:
    “There is no peace on earth,” I said,
    “For hate is strong, and mocks the song
    Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

    Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
    “God is not dead, nor does He sleep,
    For Christ is here; His Spirit near
    Brings peace on earth, good will to men.”

    When men repent and turn from sin
    The Prince of Peace then enters in,
    And grace imparts within their hearts
    His peace on earth, good will to men.

    Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

    Gospel of Luke 2:14 KJV

    Christians who grew up during the mid-twentieth century will closely associate Christmas, Christmas carols, community fellowship of families on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day worship with church bells celebrating the birth of the Christ child.

    Yet LISTEN?


    361/365: Tuesday, December 27, 2011: Ghost of Christmas Past SONY SLT-A55V | 75mm F4 1/10 ISO640 DSC05457 This is a photograph of a photograph that hangs inside Trinity depicting one of my predecessors on the front steps on a snowy day about a hundred years ago, long before the education wing, kitchen, or social hall (where this picture is on display) were added to the original 1872 church.

    The CHURCH BELLS have been rendered silent —

    stilled from praise of the CHRIST child of CHRISTMAS —

    in the SILENT nights and darkness of these last days…


    A glorious joyful to the world RINGING of BELLS which once called both faithful and repentant Christians to WORSHIP has long ago rusted into an artificially staged sound of ME with the world AND Jesus.

    A Silent Night..

    and joyful singing..

    now lost in the White noise of Christmas’ past ..

    budding in every hand and ear..

    of a multitude of the walking dead.



    Christmas Carols at our neighborhood doors

    What was it we once SANG at the doors of our neighbors?

    You with ears to hear, LISTEN
    and you with eyes to see, LOOK at the lyrics!
    
    Joy to the world - a Christmas carol proclaiming of Jesus Christ "born to give them secon birth"

    Joy to the World

    Composer: George Frideric Handel – German-British Baroque composer (1685–1759)

    Author: Isaac Watts (1719);

    Adapter: Lowell Mason

    Published A.D. 1839 in The Modern Psalmist, Boston

    LOWELL MASON, THE BANKER WHO DISCOVERED ‘JOY TO THE WORLD’

    He crusaded for better music, and heaven and nature sang

    New England Historical Society

    Psalm 98: King James Version

    O sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.
    
    2 The Lord hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen.
    
    3 He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
    
    4 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.
    
    5 Sing unto the Lord with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm.
    
    6 With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the Lord, the King.
    
    7 Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
    
    8 Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together
    
    9 Before the Lord; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.
    
    

    Hark the Herald

    Hark! the Herald Angels SingREAD graphic of all the LYRICS

    Christ by highest heaven adored..

    Hail the Son of Righteousness!
    Light and life to all He brings..

    Born that man no more may die
    Born to raise the sons of earth
    Born to give them second birth
    Hark! The herald angels sing
    “Glory to the newborn King!”


    Jesus, the Creator Born to give us a second birth

    And in despair I bowed my head

    When men repent and turn from sin
    The Prince of Peace then enters in,

    And grace imparts within their hearts
    His peace on earth, good will to men.

    Hail the Son of Righteousness!
    Light and life to all He brings

    Gospel of Luke 2:10b-12 ESV

    Comment on Scripture + Share the Gospel

    Will you invite JESUS to be more than a ghost of your Christmas’ Past?

    For Christ was born that you might be born again to the eternal life given only through Him because the Lord has died for our sins.

  • He Leadeth me beside still waters – Psalm 23

    He Leadeth me beside still waters – Psalm 23

    He leadeth me beside the still waters.

    He restoreth my soul:


    Psalm 23 – a song of calm confidence

    Many of us know it well. Perhaps we even recite the six verses of Psalm 23 even as I learned in the melodic flow of the King James Version of the Bible.

    The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

    David’s focus introduces his encounters with death. Believers and unbelievers alike frequently hear his psalm in the context of a life already lain down in the stillness of death.

    No more want then…

    So why would today’s want worry me today?


    Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 

    I will fear no evil: 


    Questions from fear

    These are the words of Psalm 23 we know so well, yet in our DOUBT we do fear the death casting a deep shadow upon our days ahead.

    We walk quickly along in our quickened last days of a mortal life spent yet not finished, an ending of struggle along a ledge between Light and complete darkness.

    • Have I missed the table which the LORD hath prepared for me?
    • Hath the LORD anointed me with prosperity?
    • Doth the LORD overfill my cup with abundance?

    Goodness and Mercy?

    Surely goodness and mercy seem NOT to have followed me in these last days of my mortal life!

    Certainly the LORD did bless King David all the days of his life, BUT what is missing in mine?

    I walk in the shadow looking to my end in the valley, yet David seemed rested even before those somber last words:

    May he rest in peace.


    • WHAT have I missed that David seems to sing in this 23rd Psalm?
      • REST and PEACE along this treacherous path toward the VALLEY of the SHADOW of DEATH.

    He Leadeth Me

    The reaffirming metaphor of the still waters assumes the still waters assumes the same role as that of the green pastures. Just as the grass of the green pastures is deep enoughto lie in, so also we must understand that still waters rund deem. Any deep experience with the Shephers can only be accomplished by time spent with the Shepherd, as the words lie down indicate.

    King James Bible Commentary Psalm 23, p534

    In addition to my memory of Psalm 23 in the King James, a 19th century hymn sung frequently by our local church encourages believers both corporately and individually.

    Many may sing He Leadeth Me from the shadowed hillsides of our own valleys.

    “He leadeth me, he leadeth me, for by his hand he leadeth me..

    He Leadeth Me from Psalm 23

    YET in our DOUBT and FEAR, let us remember the place of peace by which we may have quickly passed in Psalm 23.

    for Thou art with me

    I cannot cross into the Light with you.


    The lonely lament of this shepherd so accustomed to the place of darkness in many fields of so many sheep among wolves does not lift me.

    David was a king 3000 years distant from my own walk in the fields of death’s fear. He does not comfort me and my most beloved ones cannot go to the place where I must go in a time unknown to any of us.

    Yet David’s Psalm was not addressed to ME, but to the LORD as well as his own beating mortal heart.

    The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

    יְהוָה רֹעִי לֹא אֶחְסָֽר׃

    Yᵊhōvâ LORD rāʿâ my shepherd

    תְהִלִּים (Psalm) 23:1

    It is THE LORD who David asks to lead him.

    And how?

    By the LORD’s own actions this mortal shepherd will follow and obey the Shepherd of shepherds and the LORD of Lords.

    We all like sheep have gone astray.


    So ask Him: Where will He lead you?

    Like me, you may have missed this:

    He maketh, he leadeth, He restoreth, he leadeth

    Do you see a tread of connection here in David’s Psalm?

    He, THE LORD, leads — that is, IF we will humbly allow Him. BUT like sheep WE don’t particularly like to follow any lead other than our own.

    AND we may have missed yet another comfort to David due to our own rebellion again the leadership of God (or anyone else, for that matter).

    thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

    OUCH!

    Authority? Bowing down humbly to the LORD because HE IS more powerful than YOU?

    Yet in death as in life, we remain powerless.

    THY ROD speaks more to our relationship as people of the Shepherd than to the power and authority capable of beating us into obedience (which is not like the Lord who called us).

    His staff which pulled you into mortality will lead you into eternity.

    Therefore David concludes his Psalm from the valley of the shadow of death with a first person assurance with the LORD.

    Where is the house of the Lord?

    Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:

    Thank you Lord.

    thou anointest my head with oil;

    Thank you Lord.

    my cup runneth over.

    Thank you Lord.

    Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life


    David concludes with confidence of good in God’s mercy — why he trusts in the LORD and does not fear the evil of death — death before the Lord’s own appointed time. His confidence speaks forward to where he shall dwell once the LORD does raise him up from the valley of the shadow of death into the Light of the LORD’s own presence.


    Where are YOUR still waters when you consider the valley of DEATH?

    How do you envision this place beyond the deep waters and above the highest heavens of this temporal mortal place?

    Who do you trust to lead you into the house of the LORD, forever?

    Please SHARE your COMMENT or Questions about Psalm 23
    
    AND
    
    Look for my Part 2 New Testament take on Christians humbly helping each other to navigate this shadowy path where sheep of the Lord should fear no evil.

    Comment on Scripture + Share the Gospel

  • Be Still…

    Be Still…

    “Be still, and know that I am God.
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth!”

    Psalm 37:7

    What were the instructions of the risen Christ Jesus to the Apostles for the time after He ascended once more into Heaven?

    WAIT.

    Luke 24:48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

    Even when we witness Christ crucified and resurrected, we must not get ahead of His higher purposes and timetable.

    What did the Lord say to frightened Apostles when He appeared suddenly in an upper room?

    Luke 24: Peace to you!” 37 But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit.

    John 20:Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”

    In fact, what had Jesus spoken to His creation of the wind and sea when the Disciples in a boat with Him had thought they might perish by drowning?

    Mark 4:39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

    He offered the blood and sacrifice of His peace for the sake of those He loved.

    Jesus had assured that His peace will remain with those who have faith in Him.

    John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

    Jesus had often instructed the Disciples of the Source of His peace.

    Matthew 26:36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.”

    41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42 Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed…

    Be still and know that Jesus IS Lord.

    Pray to the Father and He will send you the Spirit.

    Jesus tells a parable of a great wedding feast.

    (Do Christians not expect to receive the invitation of our Lord to this glorious joining of the church to her Bridegroom?)

    One wanted to celebrate the wedding feast without an invitation. He did not wait for the invitation, but just showed up as an uninvited guest.

    Matthew 22:12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’

    And he was speechless.

    It’s the same word: Before the King, the man had to be still. He had nothing to say.

    13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”

    WAIT! on the Lord.

    Pray; and He will send the Spirit.

    If the Disciples of the first century always seemed so distracted, how much more the distracted christians of this twenty-first century.

    Be still. Pray. Wait for the Spirit. Then obey our Lord.

    Psalm 25

    English Standard Version (ESV)
    Teach Me Your Paths

    To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
    2 O my God, in you I trust;
    let me not be put to shame;
    let not my enemies exult over me.
    3 Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame…

    Jesus IS victorious over sin and death!

    Jesus IS Lord. Let us pray for His paths.

    4 Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
    teach me your paths.
    5 Lead me in your truth and teach me,
    for you are the God of my salvation;
    for you I wait all the day long.

     Be still, beloved believer.

    Pray and wait for the Spirit.

    16 Turn to me and be gracious to me,
    for I am lonely and afflicted.
    17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged;
    bring me out of my distresses.
    18 Consider my affliction and my trouble,
    and forgive all my sins.

    Lord, Jesus, You have died for my sins.

    20 Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me!
    Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
    21 May integrity and uprightness preserve me,
    for I wait for you.

    We wait for You, Lord Jesus.