The Object of a New Year

The object of a new year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes.
     Unless a particular man made new year resolutions, he would make no resolutions. Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective. Unless a man starts on the strange assumption that he has never existed before, it is quite certain that he will never exist afterwards.
     Unless a man be born again, he shall by no means enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. - G.K. Chesterton

New Year's Countdown 3

Receive with meekness the implanted word. James 1:21

God’s Word is the source of wisdom for living, the standard of holiness for character, and the strength of the human spirit as truth. This Book, breathed by the Holy Spirit, is the foundation for our building, the fortress for our defense, and the food for our sustenance. Too much cannot be said about God’s Word.
     But too little can be done.
     Only as I feed daily, and only as I receive in humility what the Word says about me, does this divine masterpiece take effect. The Pharisees of Jesus’ time were experts in knowing the Word but failures in receiving it. So, on the brink of a New Year, lay plans for reading through the Word. But also plan to let it read through you too. Its saving power, which saves us from confusion, error, and failure just as surely as its truth saves our eternal souls, depends on such reception.
Hayford, Jack; and Middlebrook, Sam, Living the Spirit Filled Life, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1998, c1992.

New Year's Countdown 2

But we all… are being transformed. 2 Corinthians 3:18

The Bible gives a context to the liberated life: “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty!” But it quickly describes exactly how the Holy Spirit works to create and sustain the freedom of His Kingdom. Study this amplification of our text.
     “But we all (everyone of us deciding for ourselves), with unveiled face (not hiding behind pretense or cowering from God’s dealings with us), beholding as in a mirror (which is the Word of God) the glory of the Lord (which is the Son of God), are being transformed (that is, progressing from stage to stage as a creature undergoes metamorphosis—a caterpillar to a cocoon to a butterfly) into the same image (of Jesus, our Master, Model, and Savior) from glory to glow (or from one stage of His grace and character to ever-expanding dimensions of the same) just as by the Spirit of the Lord (for it is only by His presence, power, and perfecting work that such a change can happen!).”
     Anyone willing to be freed and changed that way is destined to a great new year!
Hayford, Jack; and Middlebrook, Sam, Living the Spirit Filled Life, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1998, c1992.

New Year's Countdown 1

Love… hopes all things. 1 Corinthians 13:4–8 [NKJV]

Today, begin a “countdown” to the beginning of the New Year. Let each point—each day—become a milestone as you “depart another way,” leaving the past behind and welcoming the Holy Spirit’s ministry to bring a glorious newness to your soul. These days, let us look at the themes of love, power, transformation, the Word, and faith: milestone markers.
     Open this day and these days with a full-hearted, special welcome to the Holy Spirit to flush, to fill and to flow through your heart with love. He can and will send a surge of love, according to God’s Word (Rom. 5:5). It will come in gushing, rushing rivers (John 7:37–39) and remove every obstruction to our being perfected in a love for Christ, a love for God’s Word, a love for the lost, a love for the unlovely, and a love for those who have wounded us. He changes our attitude and outlook—hope for tomorrow becomes more than a wish. Love begets a hope that is confident.
Hayford, Jack; and Middlebrook, Sam, Living the Spirit Filled Life, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1998, c1992.

Christmas Visitation 1

The Dayspring from on high has visited us. Luke 1:78 [NKJV]

Has it occurred to you that God foresaw the eventual worldwide celebration His Son’s birth would bring about? He did! Contrary to the debunker’s refusal to enjoy a holy spirit of celebration, God seems to delight in creating festive times for His people. An entire “string of lights,” so to speak, was assembled by Him in the Old Testament where He ordered feast-times on an average of every two or three months!
     Of course, carnal and commercial celebrations miss the point of Christmas—we all know and acknowledge that. But do not let the Scrooge spirit overthrow the Holy Spirit’s desire to awaken fresh expectancy and joy in your heart at this precious season.
     God has visited us! That “the Word became flesh” brought about a new day. “Dayspring” means “dawn,” and as we approach Christmas this year, do so by welcoming the Holy Spirit’s rise with fresh joy, hope, and love.
Hayford, Jack; and Middlebrook, Sam, Living the Spirit Filled Life, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1998, c1992.

Back to Bethlehem

But you, Bethlehem… out of you shall come a Ruler. Matthew 2:6 [NKJV]

Even its pronunciation is musical—“Bethlehem.” The name itself sets the imagination aflame again, as we all experience the symphony of thoughts about this tiny, yet mightily historic site. Bethlehem was destined for significance by the Almighty God Himself. He whispered His intent to His prophets, and in our text we hear Micah quoted more than seven hundred years after he predicted Bethlehem would be the Messiah’s birthplace.
     It is a good thing to go there—at least in our imagination; and especially at Christmastime. The fact that God would interest Himself in so tiny a village, and ordain its place and high purpose in His plan of redemption, tells us something about God and His ways.
     He delights to take the ordinary and do the extraordinary there. He loves to take people like us and do wonderful things for them, to them, and through them. It is His mind and His pleasure to do great things at simple places, with plain people! Just as we sing, so let us act: “Come to Bethlehem and see!”
Hayford, Jack; and Middlebrook, Sam, Living the Spirit Filled Life, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1998, c1992.

Christmas Kings

Of His kingdom there will be no end. Luke 1:33 [NKJV]

From the time of Jesus’ conception a stream of promise begins to flow: a new government is coming to the souls of men! The issue was not political, but spiritual. The King Himself verifies this: “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36).
But He is King, a king like no other. Look at the descriptions of His kingly role in God’s Word:

• “The King eternal” (1 Tim. 1:17)—as such, the endlessness, the unchanging durability of His rule is declared.
• “A king will reign in righteousness” (Is. 32:1)—as such, His completely just, even-handed, considerate and life-releasing method is forecast.
• “King of peace” (Heb. 7:2)—as typified in Melchizedek and fulfilled through His rising to His first throne, the cross, where He secured out peace (Eph. 2:14–18).
• “King of the saints” and “King of kings” (Rev. 15:3; 19:16)—forever praised as our saving King, and all history’s ultimate Ruler!
Hayford, Jack; and Middlebrook, Sam, Living the Spirit Filled Life, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1998, c1992.

Encouragement

I read this passage in my Quiet Time this morning and was really encouraged. I hope it encourages you, too.

Remember my affliction and my homelessness, the wormwood and the poison.  ²⁰ I continually remember [them] and have become depressed. ²¹ Yet I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope: ²² [Because of] the LORD's faithful love we do not perish, for His mercies never end. ²³ They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness! ²⁴ I say: The LORD is my portion, therefore I will put my hope in Him. ²⁵ The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him. ²⁶ It is good to wait quietly for deliverance from the LORD. Lamentations 3:19-26

Great and Mighty Things

‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty (inaccessible, isolated) things, which you do not know.’ Jeremiah 33:3 [NKJV]

What an absolutely incredible promise! If Jeremiah prays, God promises that He will not only answer him, but reveal “great and mighty things.” These are things that could not possibly be known any other way. The idea of the word “mighty” in Hebrew would be better rendered “isolated” or “inaccessible.” God is offering revelational insight based upon a pursuit of Him in prayer.

All successful, spiritual enterprise is based upon clear understanding of the forces which oppose us and direction for dealing with these influences. The carnal mind is unfit for spiritual warfare. Our natural human perception can at best only lead us to the doorway of understanding and never through it. Even former spiritual victories and the experience of walking with Christ for years cannot substitute for fresh spiritual insight that comes from our daily walk with Him in prayer.

How is your prayer life today? Turn to the Lord now and He will provide all that we need: guidance, insight, strength… and “great and mighty things.”  (Jack Hayford)
Spirit Filled Life Daily Devotional Bible, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1998, c1993.

Peace Beyond Understanding

Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 [HCSB]


There is a peace with the understanding, and there is a peace that goes beyond the understanding and finds its warrant in personal trust and love. The peace within the understanding is the result of a clearly perceived proportion between need and supply, between danger and precaution. "I have seen what peril is likely to occur, and I have guarded against it; I have found out all the weak points in my house where the fire or the hurricane might smite it, and I have strengthened and secured them; therefore I may dismiss my anxieties and sit down at rest."


The peace which goes beyond the understanding says: "I have done all this as well as I knew how, but there are regions of danger which I cannot explore, there are perilous forces which I cannot measure. The universe is large, and out of any distant corner of it there may come a sudden blow striking right out of my life. Beyond what I can provide for, then, I find out Him who is in all the universe, and, loving Him, I trust myself upon His love. It is not knowledge, now, of what will come or how it will be met; it is only the sympathetic apprehension of His love and care who is all-strong, all-wise. This is what I rest upon. This is the confidence in which I sleep by night and work by day."


Follow Christ... and He will lead you certainly to God and to "the peace of God which passeth all understanding." (Phillip Brooks, The Law of Growth and Other Sermons)
Spirit Filled Life Daily Devotional Bible, (Nashville : Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1998, c1993.

Kelli Kidd Jones, My Sis-in-Law

I'm very excited and honored to share that a blog post that my sis-in-law, Kelli Kidd Jones, wrote recently has been selected to be featured on Destiny in Bloom... a blog collaboration of 10 amazing Christian women. 

With being selected as a guest writer the only thing they asked of her was to help drive traffic to the site on Monday (tomorrow, Labor Day) the day Kelli's post is published. The website does not make any money by people visiting it is just one of the measurable ways to see how her post is received by readers. 

So I am asking all of my friends and family to please show your support for my sis-in-law, Kelli, tomorrow (MONDAY, LABOR DAY) by going to the Destiny in Bloom website www.destinyinbloom.com and reading her post. It would be even more helpful if you would leave a comment on the post (and try not to be too obvious that I begged you to do so :)). Again, this is how they measure if the post/writer was successful and could be the basis as to whether Kelli gets asked to write for them again! :)

On a personal note, I know I'm biased, but Kelli really is an excellent, gifted writer. Please check it out... remember www.DestinyInBloom.com - Kelli Kidd Jones...Thanks!


PS Check out Kelli's blog at http://KelliJonesBlog.com

Songs in the Night

But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker,
Who gives songs in the night,
Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth,
And makes us wiser than the birds of heaven?’ Job 35:10-11

Night is the season of terror and alarm to most men. Yet even night hath its songs. Have you never stood by the seaside at night, and heard the pebbles sing, and the waves chant God’s glories?… We need not much poetry in our spirit, to catch the song of night, and hear the spheres as they chant praises which are loud to the heart, tho they be silent to the ear—the praises of the mighty God, who bears up the unpillared arch of heaven, and moves the stars in their courses.…

When thou thyself art low, it is well to sing of the fountain-head of mercy; of that blest decree wherein thou wast ordained to eternal life, and of that glorious man who undertook thy redemption.… What!… canst thou not sing of that raptuous moment when he snapt thy fetters… and said: “I am the Breaker; I came to break thy chains, and set thee free”?… Go back, man; sing of that moment, and then thou wilt have a song in the night.…

Beloved, there is another thing of which we can sing more sweetly; and that is, we can sing of the day that is to come.… Christian! if thou art in a night, think of the morrow; cheer up thy heart with the thought of thy Lord. (C. H. Spurgeon, World's Greatest Sermons)
Spirit Filled Life Daily Devotional Bible, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1998, c1993.

God’s Whisper and Thunder

Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways,
And how small a whisper we hear of Him!
But the thunder of His power who can understand?
Job 26:14 [NKJV]

Job in thought passes through the universe [Job 26:7–13].... He passes to the confines of light and darkness, rides on the wings of the wind, discourses of the clouds, skims the mighty surface of the sea. All this, however, he deems as the outskirts of God’s ways. It is but a whisper compared to the mighty thunder of his glory and power. If this is a whisper, what must the thunder be!

Perhaps we know something more of the thunder of his power than Job could, because we have stood beneath Calvary and seen Jesus die, and He is the wisdom and power of God; yea, we have witnessed the exceeding greatness of his power, according to the working of the strength of his might, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead.

Who of us can fathom or understand the power of God? But what a comfort to know that it is an attribute of his heart. God is not power, but He is love, and his love throbs through and commands his power. Be reverent when you kneel before the great and mighty God; but believe that all his power is engaged on the side of the weakest, neediest child. And more: cease not to wait upon God until He endue you with his mighty power, for service and for daily living. (F. B. Meyer, Our Daily Homily)
Spirit Filled Life Daily Devotional Bible, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1998, c1993.

Kingdom Joy

...for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Romans 14:17 [NKJV]

No human system can generate the dimensions of fullness and fulfillment God’s kingdom life bring us. The present passion so many of us feel, to drink of “all the fullness of God,” is a quest for the way the Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus as King in our daily life and living. There are no religious substitutes for the reality of this order of life.

As Paul wrote here, he was laboring with a problem, for everywhere he turned he found opponents to the message of Christ’s kingdom joys. His most ardent enemies weren’t Roman soldiers or Roman government, but a strange breed of religious diehards. They knew the true God but hated the refreshing liberty of Holy Spirit-filled living Paul was preaching. They kept imposing ritual requirements related to the Mosaic code—issues concerning certain “eating and drinking” stipulations. Paul wasn’t arguing for undisciplined living but simply for unsaddled souls! In effect, he says, “God’s kingdom isn’t in the trappings of tradition, but His rule brings His right ways (righteousness), His mighty ways (peace) and His bright ways (joy).” Let’s all open full to such fullness—and to His kingdom’s expansion in our souls.
Spirit Filled Life Daily Devotional Bible, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1998, c1993.

Purpose - Part 2

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you. Jeremiah 1:5 [NKJV]

God knew us before we were born. He has prenatal perspective on the life He created to serve Him and to bless the world. The Father set us apart with the intent that we would fulfill a distinct purpose in His great plan. Later in this same chapter, the Lord says, “I have put My words in your mouth… I am ready to perform My word” (vv. 9, 12). God does not just call us to serve Him; He also fills us with His Spirit so that the outcome is guaranteed before we even start!

God has created us for Himself, and His plan transcends our lifetime. Revelation 20:6 promises that after Christ’s return, we “shall reign with Him a thousand years.” We are a precious treasure uniquely created to be an instrument of blessing in the Father’s service.

As we go through the day, rest in the knowledge that from before our conception, God’s love for us is assured, our purpose has been established, and the power to attain the goal is promised.
Hayford, Jack; and Middlebrook, Sam, Living the Spirit Filled Life, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1998, c1992.

Purpose - Part 1

I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Philippians 3:12 [NKJV]

We have not chosen Him but He has chosen us (John 15:16). The Lord has personally selected you. Wrapped up in the very word for church is the idea of our being called out. He has called us out of our own plans for our lives, and out of the confusion of our past. Then once He calls us out, He calls us in, into the excellency of His Kingdom, into communion with Him, and into His plan for our lives.

It may sometimes seem that the plan lies just around the next bend in the road of our spiritual walk with Christ, just beyond our reach or not very well defined. But we “press on” so that we may grasp God’s plan for us—the plan that God had in mind when He “grasped” us!

Keep moving on! His plan is there for you! And it is in His plan that you will find your firmest purpose, deepest fulfillment, and highest joy.
Hayford, Jack; and Middlebrook, Sam, Living the Spirit Filled Life, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1998, c1992.

A Glorious Contrast

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 [NKJV]

In the first part of the text we have three terms: wages, sin, death. In the second part we have three terms: a gift, God, eternal life. They stand over against each other in each case. Wages—a gift; sin—God; death—eternal life.

What are wages? Wages are earnings. A man has a right to wages. Wages are the equivalent to work.… What is a gift?… Something that cannot be earned. That which no man can claim as a right.

Sin is considered here as an individual act. It is the act of a free agent. It is not merely missing the mark, it is willful missing of the mark.… If wages be the payment for work, sin is the work that earns the payment. God puts Himself over against sin.… The man who is in the thought of God is a man who is incapable of reformation and whose religious observances would in themselves be sinful. Therefore, God put Himself over against sin. Sin—God.

What is death?… Death is that which every man chooses in the moment when he yields himself to sin. By that yielding, he chooses death, disintegration, corruption, ruin.… Over against death, our text places eternal life. Paul climbed to a great height one day and he … wrote of “The generation of the age of the ages.” In the light of that suggestion we see them coming, age after age, out of the fathomless being of God, profound in mystery, glorious in strength, new ages of which we can but dream in the highest moments of our spiritual illumination. That is the gift which God gives a man without asking him for a certificate or any pledge for tomorrow. (G. Campbell Morgan, The Westminster Pulpit)
Spirit Filled Life Daily Devotional Bible, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1998, c1993.

Christ Is Our Redeemer

...being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,... Romans 3:24 (NKJV)

The figure of redemption is very simple, and has been very frequently used in Scripture. When a prisoner has been taken captive, and has been made a slave by some barbarous power, it has been usual, before he could be set free, that a ransom price should be paid down. Now, we being, by the fall of Adam, prone to guiltiness, and indeed, virtually guilty, we were by the irreproachable judgment of God given up to the vengeance of the law; we were given to the hands of justice; justice claimed us to be his bond-slaves for ever, unless we could pay a ransom, whereby our souls could be redeemed. We were, indeed, poor as owlets, we had not wherewith to bless ourselves. We were as our hymn hath worded it, “bankrupt debtors”; an execution was put into our house; all we had was sold; we were left naked, and poor, and miserable, and we could by no means find a ransom; it was just then that Christ stepped in, stood sponsor for us, and, in the room and stead of all believers, did pay the ransom price, that we might in that hour be delivered from the curse of the law and the vengeance of God...

When Christ redeemed his people, he did it thoroughly; he did not leave a single debt unpaid, nor yet one farthing for them to settle afterwards. God demanded of Christ the payment for the sins of all his people; Christ stood forward, and to the utmost farthing paid whatever [sic] his people owed. (Sermons Of C. H. Spurgeon)
Spirit Filled Life Daily Devotional Bible, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1998, c1993.

Don’t Go Down

So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?” Nehemiah 6:3 (NKJV)

It was a sublime answer. Below was the Plain of Ono, where Nehemiah’s foes awaited him. Let him once descend into it and he would become their easy prey; but he withstood their fourfold solicitations by considering the greatness of the work he was doing and the responsible position he was called to fill. Other-worldiness is the best cure for worldiness.

Oh, children of the Great King, let us pray that we may know the grandeur of our position before Him; the high calling with which we have been called; the vast responsibilities with which we are entrusted; the great work of co-operating with God in erecting the city of God. Heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ! Called to sit with Christ in the Heavenlies!... How can we go down—down to the world that rejected Him; down to the level of the first Adam, from which at so great cost, we have been raised... No, it cannot be; and as we make our choice, let us look to the living and ascended Christ to make it good. Put your will on his side, and expect that the energy of the power that raised Him from the dead will raise and maintain you in union with Him. For “your life is hid with Christ in God.” (F. B. Meyer, Our Daily Homily)
Spirit Filled Life Daily Devotional Bible, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1998, c1993.

Unity

I was talking to a friend on Facebook last night, and we were talking about one of the enemy's main devices: to isolate us and make us feel as if we're the only one going through a particular set of circumstances in our life. If satan can isolate us and make us feel like we're the only one struggling with conflict, alcoholism, drug addiction, pornography, etc., then we will have lost our witness and be made ineffective in our relationship with Christ.

Several of you don't make community with Believers a priority in your lives. Not that I'm any better; I've been there, done that. I speak from experience when I say the enemy can easily "cull" you from the herd and harrass you unbelievably. Let me encourage you to make yourself vulnerable to a person or small group of persons you can trust. Then live in community with them so you might be encouragers to one another. (Hebrews 10:25) Check this out:

Keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:3

Loneliness is one of the primary sorrows of our fragmented and disjointed society today. We all feel it at some time. We may even be overwhelmed and immobilized by its destructive effects.
Our Lord, who designed us, never intended us to be alone. We were intended to live in community with one another. And He provided a lifestyle which, if embraced, eliminates the power of loneliness.

Yet our fear of loneliness causes us to move with herd mentality—following the masses, flowing with the tide of societal and cultural dictates. The fear of loneliness often generates personal compromise of our spiritual, ethical, and moral dreams and aspirations. We want to follow Jesus with all our strength, but we fear isolation and alone-ness as we move against the tide.

To attend us on our “against-the-tide” way, our Lord calls us to caring, loving unity with His children. If we will walk in the unity of the Spirit as our Lord enjoins, our obedience will remove the sting of isolation from our lives.
Hayford, Jack; and Middlebrook, Sam, Living the Spirit Filled Life, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1998, c1992.

Soup to Nutz - Singing Chipmunks

My Life So Far

Since I am re-connecting with so many old (and not-so-old) friends, I thought I would blog about my life so far and fill in the blanks.

After graduating from Longview High (Texas) in `78, I attended Baylor University and majored in Music Education, but was more interested in partying (I know that's hard for some of my high school friends to believe) than studying. After a great experience in BUGWB, Kappa Kappa Psi, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and SpiritWind, I left school after the Spring semester of `81 and went to work, planning on returning a year later.

That summer of `81, I met the love of my life, Kris(ti Kirk), a native of Austin, and we married in January of `82 at First Baptist Church, Hewitt, a bedroom community of Waco. We ended up settling in Austin, and in November of `82, our only child was born: Joshua David. After working in the Soft Drink industry, we left Austin for the Dallas/Ft. Worth area with the intention of my going back to school, and surrendering to the call that God had put on my life.

In `88 I started serving Chisholm Baptist Church in Chisholm, Texas (between Terrell and Rockwall), and the next year I went back to school at Dallas Baptist University in Dallas, Texas. I finished my Bachelor's Degree in Music in `92, and enrolled the following semester at Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas to earn a Master's Degree in Music. I graduated in `95 and really enjoyed my time as Associate Minister of Music at Southcliff Baptist Church in Ft. Worth.

Kris and I always felt like we would be moving out of state, not that it was an easy decision, because we miss Texas. But God has been gracious. We have served four churches full time since `95, one in Georgia and three in Illinois, as Minister of Music and Worship Pastor. Our son, Josh, married the former Kim Bright of Flora, Illinois, in May of `05. Josh and Kim both graduated from McKendree University in Lebanon, IL, with their Bachelor's Degrees and Kim earned her Master's Degree as well. Josh is currently working on his Master's Degree, and he and Kim will be planting a church with three other friends in October in downtown St. Louis.

As a side note for all my football lovin' Texas friends, Josh was an All-State Football player at Anna-Jonesboro High School in Anna, IL (OL/DL). He actually was chosen for four All-State teams, including the Coaches All-Academic Team. He also played football for McKendree University, an NAIA school.

We currently live in Carlinville, IL, and Kris is a Teller at U. S. Bank in Carlinville. Josh and Kim live about 25 minutes away in Litchfield, IL, where Josh is Worship Pastor at First Baptist Church in Litchfield, and Kim is working for a CPA as an Administrative Assistant in two office locations. They don't have any children yet, but we do have a Grand Dog named Sophie. Kris and I are the proud owners of 2 pugs, Dolly and Suzie Q.

We're enjoying life and waiting for the next page to turn and see what God has in store. Thanks for reading, and I would love to hear from you and what you've been doing these past years.

Rules For Singing

I. Learn these tunes before you learn any others; afterward learn as many as you please. II. Sing them exactly as they are printed here, without altering or mending them at all; and if you have learned to sing them otherwise, unlearn it as soon as you can..

John Wesley

III. Sing all. See that you join with the congregation as frequently as you can. Let not a slight degree of weakness or weariness hinder you. If it is a cross to you, take it up, and you will find it a blessing. IV. Sing lustily and with a good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. Be no more afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of its being heard, than when you sung the songs of Satan. V. Sing modestly. Do not bawl, so as to be heard above or distinct from the rest of the congregation, that you may not destroy the harmony; but strive to unite your voices together, so as to make one clear melodious sound. VI. Sing in time. Whatever time is sung be sure to keep with it. Do not run before or stay behind it. but attend close to the leading voices, and move therewith as exactly as you can; and take care not to sing too slow. This drawling way naturally steals on all who are lazy; and it is high time to drive it out from us, and sing all our tunes just as quick as we did at first. VII. Above all sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in Every word you sing. Aim at pleasing him more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to do this attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually, so shall your singing be such as the Lord will approve here. and reward you when he cometh in the clouds of heaven. John Wesley's Rules For Singing in Worship

Taking Down Christmas

This article really spoke to me. I hope it touches you, too. - Dale

Taking down Christmas
by John Fischer

This is always a difficult part of the holiday ritual: taking everything down and packing Christmas away for another year. It seems like every year, the house never looked better, or the tree was never so perfect, and it all becomes so empty when it's gone. Like the guy on a "car-talk" radio program I heard recently who explained the hole in his dashboard left by someone who "borrowed his car stereo without asking" as "nothing but torn wires and sadness." I thought it was such an apt description that I jotted it down, and now I'm feeling a little like my house is all about torn wires and sadness.

There is a depression that sets in after major events in our lives. We struggle with getting back to normal. What can help us move on?

First, we can remember that we take the risen Christ of Christmas with us into the New Year. On Christmas, we focus so much on a baby in a manger that we sometimes forget the baby grew into a man who conquered death once and for all and now sits at the right hand of God the Father where He intercedes for us constantly. That means you and I have continuous representation at the highest level. All these decorations celebrated His birth, but walking into whatever our lives hold for us on January 6, 2009 is a celebration of resurrection and of power. We will never walk alone.

Second, I suggest you do like we do: leave something up -- some little reminder of the season. Maybe an ornament on a mantle, or the wreath on the door. In areas of New England and especially Pennsylvania, many homeowners leave a single light in their windows throughout the winter. I always wondered why they did that, and now I may have come up with at least my own reason.

The light Christ has brought into our lives has forever dispelled the darkness. Nothing will ever be the same. Maybe it would be good to leave a little light on around the house that wasn't there before, just to remember what remains from Christmas. The whole point of His birth into our torn world was to show the lengths He would go to in order to get to us. And now He is here. That is the point.

We might take down Christmas, but Christ remains in our lives, and no one can ever take Him away!

For God, who said, "Let there be light in the darkness," has made His light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6)

Copyright © 2008 by John Fischer

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone! I will be posting a new blog soon about our family events of 2008. May your 2009 be a far sight better than 2008.