Santa Claus is a legend born in centuries of imagination, but his origins take us back to a 4th century holy man whose fervor and generosity characterized him as a Christian zealot. Saint Nicholas, bishop of Myra was born during the persecutions of Diocletian in what is currently southern Turkey. Nicholas was jailed, suffered routine beatings, but was freed under the reign of Constantine who legalized Christianity. History tells us that he stood with others against the heresies of Arius at the Council of Nicaea, where he reputedly punched the man in the face for denying the Trinity and Deity of Christ. Born of wealthy parents, Nicholas gave gifts away anonymously. He quoted God’s Word to justify his actions. Historians tell of a time when Nicholas saved a poor family from utter disaster. A father had three daughters who were headed for a life of slavery or prostitution since they…
Healing at the Cross Posts
“Silent night, holy night! Son of God loves pure light. Radiance beams from thy holy face, with the dawn of redeeming grace, Jesus Lord at thy birth.” Sorry Aquarians, but it is the dawning of the age of redeeming grace, Christ has come. “Redeeming grace” means past dispensations are over. God is governing with grace, “the Law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” Merry Christmas!! Mercy and truth are met together! Righteousness and peace have kissed each other! It was never before known; “… The mystery of Christ, Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit” — “…which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God.” These thoughts are from Ephesians 3. Catch the freshness, the heart-thrilling glory of this event. “He will…
What’s so funny about Mr. Bean? I don’t know, but I’m laughing –hysterically. Is it his unkempt appearance, his vivid faces, his grunt, his crazy viewpoint on things? – his speechless way? Yes, the less words the better; and this leads us to a Murphy’s law, “open mouth, enter foot.” Ecclesiastes 5:3 teaches “a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words.” I want to talk about what makes us laugh, what messes up our joy, and what hinders our peace. Friends, “He that hath knowledge spares his words:” Proverb 17:27. “Let thy words be few.” Ecclesiastes 5:3. “In the multitude of words there wants not sin.” Proverbs 10:19. Enough said. In Daniel, Satan wears out the saints of the Most High. How? Words, words, words; says so in the Hebrew definitions. Words start fires that burn out of control; they are extinguishing our capacity to enjoy life. Conversation after…
Steven Wright said, “ I plan to live forever, so far, so good.” Funny but true; we are stuck with the perception of life viewed through time. God loved Israel with an everlasting love and as far as we know, He’s keeping the promise. The Bible helps here because it refers to time yet future; it fast-forwards us at least 1000 years, and then jumps off of times’ diving board into eternity. Love and eternity go hand in hand, for God is Love. Let’s begin with the rule; From Ecclesiastes 3:14 and Deuteronomy 33:27, God exists Love, both what He does and who He is are forever. This helps to explain how perfect love casts out fear, in John’s epistle. What could “perfect love” be referring to? God’s love, yes, but the verse says that love is made perfect. That’s referring to us, me and you. If “perfect” means “mature,”…
Parking was easy; we had a small rental car, low curbs and no real space markers. Pay at the credit card machine, don’t push the wrong buttons; decide how much time needed and add amounts slowly. Place your ticket on the dash visibly. We bought time together. Brother to brother, we were enjoying each other’s rare company. To the used book-nook, yes the sign said “open.” Mildew hits the nostrils, faintly, then stronger; the stay would have to be shortened. What treasures would be found? — Civil war, Christianity, Sociology, Nazi Germany? Personal stories of psychological exploration, biography of a war spy, sports strategies, the brain book; mining for gold, we endured as long as possible. Throats red, we paid and left; but happy with our tiny jewels. A free day, great conversation followed us throughout, unforced but “come as it may,” we enjoyed the next thought, and the next.…
The tightrope act spoken of in Paul’s word to Ephesus, 5:15, is not for fools. It takes precision, a sure footed walk and a certain pace. Insight and skill are essentials toward, “Buying up for yourselves the seasonable time,” — the opportune time afforded to you for the work of God,”– j.F.B. says “Special favorable seasons for good, occasionally presenting themselves, of which believers ought diligently to avail themselves.” The slip of foot can mean falling on broken glass in the analogy. Although the days are “evil,” and infection surrounds, this season is precious; a field to be bought for a pearl. Avail yourself to the opportunities. Each is but once in a lifetime. For such a time as this, we breathe. Our steps must be ordered, established, sure. Our pace in sync with the proper cadence, we press onward. Man plans the pathway, the Lord directs the steps. A…
“All emotions are, in essence, impulses to act, the instant plans for handling life…”– Daniel Goldman from his book, “Emotional intelligence” 1995. Daniel comes from a neural-scientific point of view; were talking about raw brain. “…the brain has two memory systems, one for ordinary facts and one for emotionally charged ones,” Goldman again. He quotes Joseph LeDoux from 1989-93. When alarmed, the amygdala (emotional brain center) sends an urgent message out. “It acts before there is full confirmation.” “It frantically commands that we react to the present, in ways that were imprinted long ago.” What? Yes, Goldman says “the message the amygdala sends is often ‘out of date.’” In a personal example of this, when I was a child I was placed on a horse with great fear of falling off. I feared horses for years after, and the very childhood fear, when triggered, panicked me again and anew. Problem;…
Before the great Civil War of America, slavery debates fomented and raged — In Virginia, debated, in Massachusetts, debated, in D.C. debated, in Louisiana, debated. In Santo Domingo, insurrection, in South Carolina trouble, in Virginia revolt. Publications, gag-orders, rationalizations, justifications, fear and greed topped the editorial pages. Seems to me that slavery, once adopted, created it’s own world and that, it’s own challenges, and that, it’s own addiction, and that, it’s needed detox, but that, it’s own frustration for any desiring rehabilitation. Though deliberated, opinions expressed, arguments made, the end of slavery required a war, of flesh and blood. Peaceable settlement ran faster than could be caught, positive advances were met with equalizing drag-backs, negative de-advance required a hero’s laid down life to reverse. Progress impossible, agitation grew like a festering boil, which finally erupted. We had a combat between good and evil, right and wrong, truth and lie, Satan…
“How we feel about how we feel.” John Gottman, marriage psychologist at the University of Washington, opened up to us the concept of “meta-emotions” or essentially “how we feel about how we feel.” Not just how we feel or even what’s our emotional makeup, but how we emotionally deal with the inward phenomena? John Gottman gives us 3 meta-emotional categories: “those in favor of emotional expression, those opposed to it, and those in favor of finding a balance between positive and negative emotions.” He admits these can be fuzzy. Nevertheless folks differing with others in their meta-emotional category may not be so well-matched. He sees his wife’s anger as, “yelling at me.” A wife with an abusive background had “lots of anger” but didn’t see the anger as a bad thing. She saw it as a source of strength. The husband had had a home life where his parents bickered…
Denial is “refusing to admit into awareness that which comes from one’s environment—e.g., what others say or do.” Job did this in Job 3. Repression is “the exclusion from awareness of troubling psychic contents.” Both definitions are from C.W. McLemore. Denial shuts out the outside; repression, what comes from within. Our fellow griever, Job, resorted to all defenses and later exposed an outward armor, in the face of God Himself. “Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breasts, that I should nurse? I call Job’s lament, “the exaltation of futility.” “For then I would have lain down and been quiet; I would have slept; then I would have been at rest.” Job 3:13-15 What was happening with Job? Every unconscious mechanism for the preservation of life seemed to effect its cover-up all at once, including a tough exteriored religious-duty filled response; but Job’s true colors shown brighter in the ongoing.…