New Year

O Lord,
Length of days does not profit me
except the days are passed in Thy presence,
in Thy service, to Thy glory.

Give me a grace that precedes, follows, guides,
sustains, sanctifies, aids every hour,
that I may not be one moment apart from Thee,
but may rely on Thy Spirit
to supply every thought,
speak in every word,
direct every step,
prosper every work,
build up every mote of faith,
and give me a desire
to show forth Thy praise;
testify Thy love,
advance Thy kingdom.

I launch my bark on the unknown waters of this year,
with Thee, O Father as my harbour,
Thee, O Son, at my helm,
Thee O Holy Spirit, filling my sails.

Guide me to heaven with my loins girt,
my lamp burning,
my ear open to Thy calls,
my heart full of love,
my soul free.

Give me Thy grace to sanctify me,
Thy comforts to cheer,
Thy wisdom to teach,
Thy right hand to guide,
Thy counsel to instruct,
Thy law to judge,
Thy presence to stabilize.

May Thy fear be my awe,
Thy triumphs my joy.

- Valley of Vision, p. 112

Anticipating Tomorrow...

"Happy New Year!" That greeting will be said and heard for at least the first couple of weeks as a new year gets under way. But the day celebrated as New Year's Day in modern America was not always January 1. 

ANCIENT NEW YEARS 

The celebration of the new year is the oldest of all holidays. It was first observed in ancient Babylon about 4000 years ago. In the years around 2000 BC, the Babylonian New Year began with the first New Moon (actually the first visible cresent) after the Vernal Equinox (first day of spring). 

The beginning of spring is a logical time to start a new year. After all, it is the season of rebirth, of planting new crops, and of blossoming. January 1, on the other hand, has no astronomical nor agricultural significance. It is purely arbitrary. 

The Babylonian new year celebration lasted for eleven days. Each day had its own particular mode of celebration, but it is safe to say that modern New Year's Eve festivities pale in comparison.
The Romans continued to observe the new year in late March, but their calendar was continually tampered with by various emperors so that the calendar soon became out of synchronization with the sun.
In order to set the calendar right, the Roman senate, in 153 BC, declared January 1 to be the beginning of the new year. But tampering continued until Julius Caesar, in 46 BC, established what has come to be known as the Julian Calendar. It again established January 1 as the new year. But in order to synchronize the calendar with the sun, Caesar had to let the previous year drag on for 445 days.


FOR LUCK IN THE NEW YEAR

Traditionally, it was thought that one could affect the luck they would have throughout the coming year by what they did or ate on the first day of the year. For that reason, it has become common for folks to celebrate the first few minutes of a brand new year in the company of family and friends. Parties often last into the middle of the night after the ringing in of a new year. It was once believed that the first visitor on New Year's Day would bring either good luck or bad luck the rest of the year. It was particularly lucky if that visitor happened to be a tall dark-haired man. 

Traditional New Year foods are also thought to bring luck. Many cultures believe that anything in the shape of a ring is good luck, because it symbolizes "coming full circle," completing a year's cycle. For that reason, the Dutch believe that eating donuts on New Year's Day will bring good fortune. 

Many parts of the U.S. celebrate the new year by consuming black-eyed peas. These legumes are typically accompanied by either hog jowls or ham. Black-eyed peas and other legumes have been considered good luck in many cultures. 

The hog, and thus its meat, is considered lucky because it symbolizes prosperity. Cabbage is another "good luck" vegetable that is consumed on New Year's Day by many. Cabbage leaves are also considered a sign of prosperity, being representative of paper currency. In some regions, rice is a lucky food that is eaten on New Year's Day. 

TOASTING

One of the most venerable New Years traditions is the champaign toast at midnight to ring in the new year. Toasting can be traced back to the ancient Romans and Greeks who would pour wine, to be shared among those attending a religious function, from a common pitcher. The host would drink first, to assure his guests that the wine was not poisoned. Poisoning the wine was a fairly common practice in ancient times, designed to do away with one's enemies. In those days the wine was not as refined as it is today so a square of burned bread (toast) would be floated in the wine bowl and then eaten by the last person to drink. The bread was put there to absorb the extra acidity of the wine in order to make it more palatable. Eventually, the act of drinking in unison came to be called a toast, from the act of "toasting" or putting toast into the wine.

AULD LANG SYNE
 
The song, "Auld Lang Syne"  is sung at the stroke of midnight in almost every English-speaking country in the world to bring in the new year. At least partially written by Robert Burns in the 1700's, it was first published in 1796 after Burns' death. Early variations of the song were sung prior to 1700 and inspired Burns to produce the modern rendition. An old Scottish tune, "Auld Lang Syne" literally means "old long ago," or simply, "the good old days."

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Here's to hoping you have a safe, sane, and sanctifying New Year tomorrow as 2012 begins! Lord bless you all!

Does Jesus Need Saving?

Kidnapped by the Christian Right.

Discarded by the Secular Left.

Jesus Needs Saving.







So says Living the Question and savingjesus.com.Saving Jesus Redux Home Edition is a 12-episode video "exploration" for a credible Jesus for the 21st Century. This is a compilation of some 25 "experts" who come together for a conversation about the relevance of Jesus for today.

Amy-Jill Levine, a participant, says: "We're having a culture war and Jesus happens to be one of the weapons tossed about by both sides."

The savingjesus video exploration sets out answer questions like:



Who was He?
What can we know about Him - really?
Considering everything done in his name, is there anything about him worth saving?



Their advertisement in Time Magazine goes on to say, "With insights from 25 specialists, Saving Jesus leaves behind old paradigms and dogmas for a candid conversation about a Jesus you've probably never heard about - one with relevance for today."

Really? A conversation I have never heard about Jesus? With Brian McLaren and Walter Brueggemann as key participants I don't doubt it is a conversation about a Jesus I have never heard about. McLaren is attempting to single handedly destroy traditional Christianity and reconstruct it without biblical parameters.

This is so reminiscent of the time around "Easter" when all the documentaries, programs, and articles on the lost epistles, spurious writings, missing books of the bible, and resurrection legends appear.

Jesus is not lost. Jesus does not need saving. Brian McLaren and his cronies need saving. Jesus is not a cultural war weapon being tossed about by biblicists and biblical Christians. Jesus is seated at the right hand of God in heaven where he has been since his ascension back into heaven. He serves night and day as both high priest and advocate to the true children of God.

The Scriptures are clear on who Jesus is and why He is "relevant" to any age, including this modern age in which we now live. Would I discourage a conversation about Jesus? Certainly not. At least not a conversation based on sound proper biblical exegesis and in line with 2,000 years of accepted church history. Is it possible to tweak some things about Jesus life and/or ministry and through discovery find some additional facts? Yes.

However, nothing we now know or will ever discover will ever contradict what has been revealed in the Bible. Culture does not change Jesus nor cause him to need saving. Experts who have rejected traditional and biblical Christianity will not change Jesus nor cause him to need saving. Discussions lasting 12 or 120 episodes will not contradict or undo the revelation of Jesus Christ in our Sacred Scriptures.

Living the Questions, with its lofty goal of "...not the product of a denominational work group or other institutional effort aimed at simply dressing up the theological status quo...it is the response to the search for a practical tool to bring together, equip, and re-educate thinking Christians" has missed the mark. Jesus does not need them to redefine him or Christianity.

Jesus has not been kidnapped by the Christian Right. He was given as a gift to a lost and dying world.

Discarded by the left. To discard implies something once possessed, those apart from a saving work of Jesus Christ never had the true Christ, therefore, He cannot be discarded.

Jesus does not need saving. 

However, Luke tells us very succinctly and pointedly that, "For the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost." (Luke 19:10, ESV)

Thank You Lord for Philip P. Bliss!

(From the Files - Re-posted from 29 Dec 2009)

On this day, December 29th, 1876 a passenger train crashed when the trestle bridge it was crossing collapsed near Ashtabula, Ohio. Ninety two people died in what became known as the Ashtabula River Railroad Disaster. Among the number of passengers who died that day was Philip P. Bliss.

You may not know who Bliss was but you certainly know his hymns. Bliss was an accomplished composer, conductor, gospel singer, and evangelist. He wrote many hymns, some which you still sing today – that is if your church or fellowship still sings hymns.

Among the hymns that Mr. Bliss wrote are; Almost Persuaded; Hallelujah, What A Savior; Wonderful Words of Life; and Let the Lower Lights Be Burning. Thank God he also wrote the music to one of the most precious poems ever written. A man named Horatio Spafford wrote the words to It is Well with My Soul after receiving a telegraph that the ship his wife and daughters had been traveling on had sunk, and that his four daughters had drowned at sea. Philip Bliss wrote the tune to those words that we love and sing today.

How did he die? He actually survived the crash and had made his way out of the passenger car that he and his wife had been traveling in. While waiting rescue the passenger car caught fire and he went back into the flaming car to rescue his wife. In God’s sovereign plan both died in the fiery car and neither body was ever found.

The Bliss’s were survived by both of their two sons, George and Philip who at the time were aged 4 and 1 respectively. Eventually a monument was erected in Rome, Pennsylvania in Bliss’s memory.

By the way, one more fascinating piece of information, though neither body was found, his traveling trunk somehow survived both the crash and the fire. Inside the trunk was the manuscript for a song that he had written. However, no music for those lyrics was found in that trunk.

Soon afterwards as providence would have it, a man named James McGranahan wrote the music which allowed Thomas Edison to make it one the first songs ever to be recorded. Oh, what was the name of that song, you ask? It was I Will Sing of My Redeemer.

The night before that terrible railroad accident at Ashtabula... Bliss told his audience, "I may not pass this way again." Then he sang a solo entitled, I'm Going Home Tomorrow. This proved to be prophetic of his own home-going.

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Happy 58th Birthday to my loving wife of 38 years, Irene H. Metcalf of Kelso, WA!

Will the World End In 2012?

According to Christine Bouer in an ABC News article Gary Geryl, 51 years of age, quit his job as a laboratory worker for a French oil company. He had saved enough money to last him until December 2012. Geryl believed he wouldn't need any money after December 2012 because the world would end that at that time.

Geryl told ABC News, "You have to understand, there will be nothing, nothing left. We will have to start an entire civilization from scratch." Why does Geryl believe this? What would possess a man to save, plan, join a survival group, and gather survival goods and equipment?

Geryl believes the world will end December 21, 2012 because of Mayan Cyclical calendars. Apparently this calendar renewed itself approximately 5,125 years ago, but is set to expire in 2012 with "catastrophic consequences." He also relies on the ancient Egyptians who "saw" 2012" as a year of change.

The Mayans seem to be the first group of peoples to predict the end of the world in 2012. The Mayans had calculated the length lunar moon as 329, 53020 days. Is there any truth to this calendar?

The Mayan calendar was put together around 250-900 AD. The Mayans had a number of calendars for spiritual uses. Their calendars were used for social, agricultural, commercial, and even administrative purposes. The main use of the Mayan calendars was religious in nature. Each day on the calendar had a patron spirit that represented that each day had a specific use or purpose.

Most of the Mayan calendars were short. A calendar called "Tzolk" lasted 260 days. The Haab calender lasted 3654 days. The Mayans then combined the Tzolk and the Haab calendar to form what is known as the "Calendar Round." This is a cycle lasting "52 Haab's" or 52 years.

The Calendar Round was used to remember certain dates, like your birthday or an important religious date. You could not record a date older than 52 years.

The Mayan's came up with a fix. They expanded on the 52 year Calendar Round. Remember that their calendar had probably relied upon their religious belief's, the menstrual cycle, and some mathematical calculations using the numbers 13 and 20 with a dose of astrological myths thrown in. (You are going to base something as important on the end of the world on this?)

How does the calendar work?

The Mayan Long Count began with a base year known as "0.0.0.0.0." Each zero goes from 0-19 and each zero represents a count of Mayan days. The first day in the long count calendar would be 0.0.0.1. The 19th day would be 0.0.0.19. On the 20th day the level goes up one 0. It would look like this, 0.0.0.1.0. Twenty years would look like this, 0.1.0.0.0. Four hundred years would look like this, 1.0.0.0.0.

Divided Opinions

Believe it or not the experts are divide about when the Long Calendar ends. Since the Mayans used the numbers 13 and 20 as the root of their numerical system, the last day marked on their calendar could be written as 13.0.0.0.0. This represents 5,126 years and corresponds to the modern date of August 11th, 33114 BC. The calendar renewed itself and ends 5,126 years later, which is December 21, 2012.

Will Time End or Is There A Problem?

The Mayan "Doomsday Prophecy" is based on a calendar which some experts believe has not been designed to calculate dates beyond 2012. Even Mayan archaeo-astronomers are divided over the issue of whether the Long Count is designed to be reset to 0.0.0.0.0. after 13.0.0.0.0, or does the calendar simply continue to 20.0.0.0.0 (8000 AD) and then reset again.



Karl Kruszelnicki writes:  "...when a calendar comes to the end of a cycle, it just rolls over into the next cycle. In our Western society, every year 31 December is followed, not by the End of the World, but by 1 January. So 13.0.0.0.0 in the Mayan Calendar will be followed by 0.0.0.0.1 - or good-ol' 22 December 2012, with only a few shopping days left to Christmas." - Excerpt from Dr. Karl's "Great Moments in Science."

There's No Need for a Line

A response to the song, Where is the Line to See Jesus"

There’s No Need for a Line

Gregg Metcalf

December 25, 2011

It was time for the special

The tape began to play

Congregation sat ready

All eager to hear today

She picked up the microphone

And she began to sing

Her voice was so angelic

The rafters began to ring

Where’s the line to see Jesus

I heard her ask in song

Was he at the store?

This was all so wrong

I sat there in dismay

Wondering why the care

Especially on this day

Of glad tidings everywhere

Little boy in the song

Sounds so sweet to everyone

As sorrow filled my heart

Oh the wrong that was done

Chorus:

There’s no need for a line

To see Jesus the babe

He shows himself on time

To those whom he saves

There’s no need for a line

He is not a display

Truly He is one of a kind

He may show Himself today

Yes, in the blink of an eye

And at the trumpet sound

We’ll join Him in the sky

Every knee will bow low

Every tongue will say

He is Lord of friend and foe

There’s no need for a line

No need for a store

Outside the camp you’ll find

The way, the truth, and the door

There’s no need for a line

The world will only refuse

The one who’s so sublime

Jesus the good news

There's no need for a line
you can find Him everywhere
His blood is the tie that bind
all those for whom He cares

Chorus:

There’s no need for a line
To see Jesus the babe

He shows himself on time
To those whom he saves

There’s no need for a line
He is not a display

Truly He is one of a kind
He may show Himself today

The World and Religion

Briefing - News and Notes of Interest! 

Even Christians are taking Christ out of Christmas

Christmas in America is a season of time-honored traditions – the sacred performance of the annual ACLU lawsuit over the presence of an insufficiently secular “holiday” tree; the ritual provocations of the atheist displays licensed by pitifully appeasing municipalities to sit between the menorah and the giant Frosty the Snowman; the familiar strains of every hack columnist’s “war on Christmas” column rolling off the keyboard as easily as Richard Clayderman playing “Winter Wonderland”…

This year has been a choice year. A crucified skeleton Santa Claus was erected as part of the “holiday” display outside the Loudoun County courthouse in Virginia – because, let’s face it, nothing cheers the hearts of moppets in the Old Dominion like telling them, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus – and he’s hanging lifeless in the town square.”

Alas, a week ago, some local burghers failed to get into the ecumenical spirit and decapitated him. Who are these killjoys? Christians intolerant of the First Amendment (as some have suggested)? Or perhaps a passing Saudi? Our friends in Riyadh only the other day beheaded for Amina bin Salem (so to speak) Nasser for “sorcery,” and it would surely be grossly discriminatory not to have some Wahhabist holiday traditions on display in Loudoun County. (The Islamic Saudi Academy, after all, is one of the most prestigious educational institutions of neighboring Fairfax County.)

Across the fruitcaked plain in California, the city of Santa Monica allocated permits for “holiday” displays in Palisades Park by means of lottery. Eighteen of the 21 slots went to atheists – for example, the slogan “37 million Americans know a myth when they see one” over portraits of Jesus, Santa, and Satan.

Arab-American charities refuse donations from Lowe’s

A network of 22 Arab-American nonprofits says its members will no longer accept donations from Lowe’s.

Wednesday’s announcement comes after the home improvement chain stopped advertising during a reality TV show about U.S. Muslims.

The National Network for Arab American Communities and its Dearborn-based parent ACCESS said the retailer’s decision contradicts their values.

Lowe’s Cos. executives say TLC’s “All-American Muslim” became a “lightning rod for people to voice complaints.” The Mooresville, N.C.-based company’s decision followed an email campaign by the conservative Christian group Florida Family Association.

Keep Christ in Christmas sign stirs a controversy

Shoppers perusing the curiosity and gift shops in downtown Pitman might miss the sign hanging overhead that reads, “Keep Christ in Christmas.”

But the white plastic banner has caught the attention of a national group advocating the separation of church and state, which maintains that by allowing the sign on public property, the borough is promoting Christmas and Christianity and thus violating the Constitution.

The use of the term Christmas can be controversial when it comes to public life. Last winter, the establishment and subsequent name change of a “Christmas Village” outside Philadelphia’s City Hall riled observers of various religious persuasions.

The Christmas Truce of WWI

The peace that had existed for decades in Europe – since the Franco-Prussian War 40-plus years earlier – had resulted in tremendous progress in culture, infrastructure investment, commerce and international relations. Europeans of all stripes crossed borders relatively freely.

Before World War I, European Jews and Christians intermingled and intermarried with few eyebrows being raised and, although covert Christian anti-Semitism definitely existed, overt persecution of Jews was not a major problem. Jews were welcomed in the militaries and served with distinction.

When Archduke Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian empire, was assassinated in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, European peace rapidly unraveled and – by a series of errors of judgment, bureaucratic inefficiencies, ineptitude, lack of communication skills – all the nations seemed to declare war on each other.

It was mostly a case of “death (and killing) before dishonor” in which, no matter how worthy or unworthy the war aims might be, negotiation toward a peaceful settlement was considered to be a  dishonorable way out of a conflict.

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Missionaries:

In the unevangelized world, there are 20,500 full-time Christian workers and 10,200 foreign missionaries. In the evangelized non-Christian world, there are 1.31 million full-time Christian workers.

In the Christian world, there are 306,000 foreign missionaries to other Christian lands. Also in the Christian world, 4.19 million full-time Christian workers (95%) work within the Christian world. 
Frontier Harvest Ministries

Number of Christian Books in Print:

There are approximately 6 million books about Christianity in print today. 
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (2006)

 Number of Christian Martyrs Worldwide:

An average of 171,000 Christians worldwide are martyred for their faith per year.
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (2006)