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Tag: Psalms

  • 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.

    Could it have been your own wanderings with so many lost souls

    for whom the bells once tolled..

    church bells which today remain ominously SILENT?

    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 Sing – READ graphic of all the LYRICS

    Peace on earth and mercy mild

    God and sinners reconciled”

    Christ by highest heaven adored..

    Veiled in flesh the Godhead see

    Hail the incarnate Deity

    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

    “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
    For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

    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.

    MERRY CHRISTMAS.

  • How WE can get God’s Word right?

    How WE can get God’s Word right?

    Podcast - 3 min 30 sec
From time to time we recommend other sources of Scriptural resources to help Christians like you with your own personal social witness.

Barry Cooper explains how translations of the Bible from Latin, Greek and Hebrew led to the Protestant Reformation.

    https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts/simply-put


    Ad fontes is a Latin expression which means “[back] to the sources”. The phrase epitomizes the renewed study of Greek and Latin classics in Renaissance humanism. Similarly, the Protestant Reformation called for renewed attention to the Bible as the primary source of Christian faith. Wikipedia

  • REPENTANCE! Rated ‘R’ – but Not for Revival

    REPENTANCE! Rated ‘R’ – but Not for Revival

    I will ransom them from the power of the grave;

    I will redeem them from death:

    O death, I will be thy plagues;

    O grave, I will be thy destruction:

    repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.

    Hosea 13:14 KJV

    a Gathering of the Dead with NO Hope of Revival

    When the Prophets spoke a convicting word of repentance to the professed chosen of the LORD, WHY didn’t THEY repent?

    Could it be that THEY refused to hear ANY word of conviction – an accountably of the GOD’s indictment of SIN?

    (And like THEM, who among us is not GUILTY of hiding OUR sins from the Lord as we would like to think on occasion after occasion?)

    Are those ancient LEADERS and PEOPLE of Judah, Israel and the nations JUST LIKE US?

    Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out - Acts 3: Peter preaching repentance
    Repentance!

    Repentance oft’ served bitterly in the King James

    (Of course most shepherds of Christ's 21st c. churches resist a call of evangelism by reading the KJV. Most will not preach any convicting word of God given to fallen people through His PROPHETS from ANY translation of the Holy Bible.) 

After all, who comes to church to REPENT?

    The Prophets use severe terms that a pastor hardly dare preach

    – the ‘R’ rated word of the LORD –

    NOT ever to be spoken to a sweetened Sunday flock of young christians, gracefully posing alongside a remnant of the faithful, as sinless sheep.

    AND IF you are not repentant about your continued sins against Him don’t think that your preferred personal designation of ‘King Jesus’ will save you from the grave.

    We certainly wouldn’t want our Jesus-lovers sent home sorrowful [נֹחַם] over our sin.

    Yet this is exactly the other meaning of the repentance of which the Prophet speaks in saying that the LORD will hide YOUR sorrow from His eyes.

    Hosea and other ‘minor’ prophets will often rail on bitterly in a specific call of repentance.

    The LORD reminds Israel through Hosea’s words and obedient unexpected actions of their former disobedience to obey their promises to Him.

    The LORD’s word by the mouth of His Prophets may not only be bitter and offensive, but rated ‘R’ in the church gathering of culturally inclusive Sunday audience.

    So would you with ears to hear prefer to hear the LORD in easier English than the King James? 
(Any translation of Scripture can be convicting to a heart open to receive the word of the Lord.)

    It is your ruin, O Israel,

    That you are against Me, against your help…

    I gave you a king in My anger
    And took him away in My wrath.

    Hosea 13:9.11 LSB

    The LORD laments over Israel when He sorrowfully gave them Saul as a king —

    and then David, a man after God’s own heart

    — and Solomon who built the Temple

    — and his sons who as kings of Israel and Judah lost favor, because these kings and their subjects most often refused to repent.

    Returning to Hosea's calling and also the King James:

    Hosea 1:

    The word of the LORD that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

    The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea.

    And the LORD said to Hosea,

    Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD.

    • Would you like to go tell your President or king THAT?
    • Dare you call your congregation and country ‘children of whoredoms?’ [v.2]
    • Will you warn them “.. ye are not my people, and I will not be your God?” [v.9]

    AND from there, the LORD gets even more graphic in HIS imagery of nakedness of the sin of his CHOSEN PEOPLE who bear witness to HIS NAME (supposedly).

    IS THAT how we witness JESUS when we whisper to Him gracefully on Sunday?

    “‘King Jesus,’ WE love what you have done for US,”

    Christ gets little mention.. no honor.. no priority in six and a half days of our weekly life?

    When do YOU ever Talk of JESUS outside of the walls of a ‘worship’ service?

    Roger@TalkofJesus.com

    Repent & Turn back to your Savior

    Here’s the idea of Repentance when you have an argument with God:

    COMPLAINT!
    Job 6: “my complaint is just.’ BUT finally the LORD answers Job in a whirlwind (think tornadic pillar of fire!)

    Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.

    Job 42:6

    And Job was a righteous man!

    But to the unrighteous kings, princes and people God warns Israel and commands his last Prophet of Israel, Hosea:

    Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD.

    Hebrew – נָחַם

    KJV Translation Count — Total: 108x
    The KJV translates Strong’s H5162 in the following manner: comfort (57x), repent (41x), comforter (9x), ease (1x).
    Outline of Biblical Usage [?]
    to be sorry, console oneself, repent, regret, comfort, be comforted

    Source: BlueLetterBible.org

    Repent – Greek – μετανοέω

    Do you recognize the comfort of having your guilt removed by God when you repent of sin?

    Of course YOU are not alone. For your witness of Christ our Savior ought to be that WE are included with THEM in that all have sinned [Romans 3]. JESUS paid the full price the justice of God requires (even for repentant sinners like you and me).

    Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

    The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John 2:5 KJV – THIS to the 1st c. CHURCH at Ephesus 
    Shepherds of 21st c. churches also resist the New Testament repentance of preaching Jesus' Revelation of THE END to sheepish christian congregations more entertained than revived.

YES, JESUS is KING of Kings and Lord of lords! Is your worship of the KING appropriate to His call to obedience?

    Lexicon :: Strong’s G3340 – metanoeō

    Outline of Biblical Usage [?]
    to change one’s mind, i.e. to repent

    to change one’s mind for better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one’s past sins

    “Repentance (metanoia, ‘change of mind’) involves a turning with contrition from sin to God; the repentant sinner is in the proper condition to accept the divine forgiveness.” (F. F. Bruce. The Acts of the Apostles [Greek Text Commentary], London: Tyndale, 1952, p. 97.)

    Source: BlueLetterBible.org

    Repent ye G3340 therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;

    Acts of the Apostles 3:19 KJV

    This is how Peter and the Apostles preached.

    Peter Replied: Signs Preached from Solomon’s Porch
    Yet Peter replied also inviting their response.

    Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.

    Acts 4:4 KJV

    Revival?

    I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol;
    I shall redeem them from Death.
    O Death, where are your plagues?
    O Sheol, where is your sting?
    Compassion is hidden from my eyes.

    Hosea 13:14 ESV

    Aren’t followers of Jesus — Ἰησοῦς His NAME means: “Jehovah is salvation” — ransomed from the cost of sin and the power of Sheol by the price He paid on the Cross?

    Since JESUS IS GOD, aren’t His followers redeemed by Him from Death?

    Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;
    whoever is discerning, let him know them;
    for the ways of the LORD are right,
    and the upright walk in them,
    but transgressors stumble in them.

    Hosea 14:9 ESV – the Prophet’s closing cautions to the wise in the Lord.

    The root of revival is ‘to live!’ – חָיָה

    Yet Hosea warns that transgressors will stumble into Sheol and Death.

    AND David sings out in Psalm 37: He Will Not Forsake His Saints

    v.38 But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed;
    the future of the wicked shall be cut off.

    Shall the transgressor of Christ’s grace receive carte blanche revival from the grave without witness of the saving Cross of JESUS?

    In fact, what did the King of kings and Lord of lords have to say about such revival?

    Gospel Truth (and the Way and the Life)

    “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord.. And then will I declare to them,

    ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

    Matthew 7:21-23 excerpt ESV

    The word for lawlessness Jesus uses is: ἀνομία – anomia – its definition:

    contempt and violation of law, iniquity, wickedness

    When a man thought a family obligation should delay his discipleship to the Lord Jesus he received an unexpected answer from the Son of Man who could actually revive the dead:

    And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”

    Matthew 8:22 ESV

    NO, I do not believe that we will have REVIVAL in the Church (people, and not the building of certain Shepherds) WITHOUT first witnessing the fruit of REPENTANCE by the crowds from which Jesus fled.

    What do YOU think, my fellow follower of Christ Jesus?

    Repentance OR Revival?