Monday

Thankfulness, Goodness, Love - A Dose of Encouragement



HAPPY  BIRTHDAY  to our daughter  LINDA





This is the first time you have been away from us for your birthday in all these 26 years.

The first time the boys have not had to complain that you get a day completely devoted to you and they never do because they are at school or work on their birthday.


Not that they ever minded because it was always a complete family affair.


The go-karting

       The ice-skating

              The bowling

                     The cinema   .........

                             and of course always dinner in the place of your choice.


First time apart might as well be on the other side of the world

        - oh yes South Korea does sort of fit the bill.






In church last night Pastor spoke on Psalm 107 v 1  and I think it is very appropriate for you.






Of course it's also appropriate for all of us.


Let's take some time today to focus on this thought from the verse.

         

We should be THANKFUL 


                             Why?  


    Because  God's Love endures forever so He can NEVER STOP being GOOD!








Isn't it great that no matter where we are we can know that God will never stop being good because He will never stop loving us?





Tuesday

What are you doing for Christmas? Advent 5




Today is the last day of Advent.




The last time to consider the four words we have looked at through this time of Advent.








Our last update on the Advent reading plan 


Day 24.        1 John 3:7 & 8

Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
He that commiteth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning.  For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

Jesus came into the world to help us to stop sinning and to be our substitutionary sacrifice, taking away God's wrath if we do sin.



We received a lot of cards which wished us a Merry Christmas and some took words from a carol or mentioned the shepherds, wise men, angels, star etc.

Here I have picked out 4 of the cards we received which highlighted the four words of Advent



HOPE




LOVE






JOY





PEACE




May I wish you the true 
Hope, Love, Joy and Peace 
that Jesus brought on the first Christmas 
and still brings to us as we trust in Him.




I took some time last week to sit and listen to an old Christmas Music collection that my son had found on YouTube.


It was a compilation of Christmas songs by Max Bygraves which my kids used to listen to on the way to school with their cousins.  Their uncle played this same album in the car all through December every year and they all used to moan and groan about it but now it has turned into a fond Christmas memory.

On You tube it is in several parts to cover the whole album, the first part is here if you want to have a listen.






That is something that Christmas does in us, it stirs up memories.

Today I was thinking about how the memory of the first Christmas with Jesus coming to live on earth in God's plan of Salvation brought Mary to the anticipation of this Salvation.

Then how the memory of working alongside Jesus and knowing Him gave the disciples the faith to proclaim the Saviour and that He would return one day.

And because we know God's word came true about Jesus coming to be the Saviour of the world then we can trust that His word will come true about the return of Jesus too.

So the first Christmas leads us to the anticipation of the return of Jesus hence the celebration of Advent, where we are awaiting His Coming.








           Advent means arrival or appearance


Are you awaiting His arrival or appearance ?  

Have you trusted in Jesus and believe when He said He would come again?





Sunday

What are you doing for Christmas? Advent 4




This is the Fourth & last Sunday of Advent.

We are in the time of the year when 





is one of the things we talk about.  Today in church I spoke to the children about Peace because the story in Sunday School was about the Angel's Proclamation to the Shepherds.  



The other day there was a small explosion in the Cathedral Quarter of Belfast, Northern Ireland (my country of residence again now and my country of birth).  
A bomb had been left outside a restaurant very close to St. Anne's Cathedral and and warning phoned in to the police.  While the nearby residents and the diners in the restaurants were being evacuated part of the device blew up but not enough to do any real damage or injury.





The Cathedral and all the people nearby were safe and sound but many of the comments of people who were there at that time is now anger and unrest about whether we really do have peace in Northern Ireland.


As I said above we are in the time of the year when Peace is one of the things we talk about, Peace on Earthwishing you Peace at ChristmasHave the Peace of God in your hearts.

But so many people are going around every day without this peace in their hearts.  


I believe this is simply because they can't believe that Peace is an easy thing to have. They think that it would be a complicated matter to make this type of change in their lives.  


Thankfully God has made it easy for us because He is the one who brings about this Peace through His Son Jesus.  


Our easy part is just to stop resisting and accept that God loves us so much that He sent Jesus to be our Peace.  Of course if we keep edging Jesus out of the picture at Christmas then it is harder to even draw our thoughts to Him let alone trust that He will be the way to Peace this Christmas. 


A couple of years ago I chose this Christmas card (below) that has the message I wanted to send, a message that I feel strongly about and also I loved the look of the card, simple but eye-catching at the same time.  I loved the card so much that I kept one so that each year I can display it.  I have even written on it from Fred & Sandra, because I want to continue to send this message to myself as well.





So this card is sitting at the front left hand side of the TV this year and will remind us of that special message.



   There is no Christmas without Jesus and there is no Peace without Him too.



Here is a very quick Advent video on Peace.






Do you keep Jesus at the heart of Christmas?



We have a true high Priest in Jesus

We have a Saviour who is at the right hand of God

We have a mediator in Jesus

We have life because Jesus came 

We know that Jesus Christ is Lord

We know that God gave Jesus to bring freedom and Joy 

We know that Jesus wants to send us to others 

We know that Jesus has the power over Satan so that we can be free









Are you still enjoying this time of preparation in the run up to Christmas?


Our oldest son Jonathan arrives from England very Soon!


So you can all guess some of the things I was up to this past week but some of the others might surprise you.

  • A bedroom had to be dusted and hoovered.
  • An ensuite had to be cleaned.
  • A bed had to be made.
  • A check of "plain biscuits" (this son nibbles on plain biscuits regularly throughout the day).
  • A check of "Northern Ireland Tea" (this son always goes back home with a supply of Northern Ireland Punjana Tea which is hard to get in England).
  • A certain Agatha Christie Poirot novel had to be started (the two of us are looking forward to sitting down one day to watch "Curtain" which I recorded when it was on ITV a few weeks ago and we had decided to reread the book first).


I bet you didn't guess the last 3 things!



It will feel even more like Christmas once Jonathan arrives as no doubt there will be renditions of



                                                                                      
which is His favourite Advent hymn.



I think there may also be

Lots of talk about 
blogs as he is also a blogger
church as he is a Pastor
books as he is an avid reader
food as he loves to eat.

Of course I can say all this because I know him so well.

Which makes me think about something Fred & I and a couple of friends were talking about last night. 

How can we express ourselves towards Jesus if 
we do not 
know Him well.  

Surely we will run out of words to describe Him, 
to praise Him 
and 
to worship Him.



Do you know Him well?


















What are you doing for Christmas? Advent 3


This is the third Sunday of Advent


Today we are focusing on 





The children in Sunday School are into their stories leading up to Christmas.  They were looking at "Reassured by an Angel" telling the story of the angel message to Mary, then the angel message to Joseph and the birth of Jesus.
So when I was doing the children's slot at the start of our service this morning I talked about Joy because the messages by the angel to Mary and Joseph resulted in great joy for them.


We sang two choruses about Joy.
One is an old one but it doesn't matter about whether things are old or new but whether they help to teach our children about the truths in the Bible.





The other is a Christmas one about Joy which is sung to the tune of "Jesus loves me this I know" 







Through my Advent reading plan I am now reading how
We have joy 
because 
we worship Jesus the King
we know about Jesus
we are led to Jesus
Jesus has the victory over satan.



During Advent we think of various things about Jesus coming to earth as He did at His birth and as He will again in the future.




Are you full of Joy as you think of Christmas?



I've included a very short video about Joy at Advent time for you.






Are you still enjoying the joy of Advent or is it getting lost in the midst 
of all the practical things?


I am thankful for the Hope and Love and Joy that we are reminded of during this Advent time.


Are you making time to remember the Joy of this Christmas time in the midst
 of the busy days?









This past weeks I have been writing our Christmas cards for the UK and the rest of Europe.

This is not too big an amount of cards as a lot of our friends within Europe will be getting eCards from us.



Christmas Card 2013




Christmas Letter 2013



eCard 2013


I also wrote the cards for my little group of university mates because we were getting together this week for a meal and catch-up chat.  It's been a year since we met up like this but before that it was over 7 years since we all met together because Fred & I had been living in Belgium.

Isn't it lovely that we can have friends that even though we don't see them often we can still fall easily into conversation again.  

It was great to catch up last year and will be good this year again.









Monday

Thank you God. - Coffee & Conversation


The first thing I thought as I wrote the title for today's post was



           "okay that will probably put some people off reading this post"






But I really hope that it would do the opposite and entice people in because what is better to write about than something which makes you say


"Thank you God"


It all started with me wanting to do this online graphics course and with all that I had learned so far I decided it was time to create a unique picture for my Facebook Timeline.


     So that was my little project yesterday.


I had already found a nice picture free to use by anyone from a site called Pixabay a few days ago and had downloaded it to my computer knowing I would use it for something.  So today I thought of it and set to work to resize it to be the right size for a timeline pic and crop it to get rid of a piece I didn't want in it.

Then I had to think what I wanted to write on it and where to put this text etc.

Well looking at the picture just one thing came to mind and so I proceeded to finish my creation which you can see below.





To me it was obvious with the rainbow reminding me of the promises of God and His love, that the only thing I could write was 


"Thank you God"


What do you think of when you see a rainbow?


Maybe it's because I collect things to do with arks (if you don't believe me see I Love Arks).

Maybe it's because I have led children's meetings for many years and we would often sing the song "Mr Noah built an Ark" which has as the end of the chorus the words

"So whenever you see a rainbow, remember God is Love"

Or Maybe it's because I believe the Bible story of Noah and the Ark with the rainbow as a sign of God's promise to the world.





      But whenever I see a rainbow 


I see the beautiful creation of God and know that He loves me 
and I believe that He keeps His promises. 

And there in that alone I have 3 reasons why I say


 "Thank you God"








Sunday

What are you doing for Christmas? Advent 2


This is the 2nd Sunday of Advent

The thing I have already thought about in the previous post is the Hope we have because of Jesus but today I want to consider the    





we have in Him.


So what could be more fitting than singing about Jesus as 
God's Love Gift to us because that is exactly what Jesus is.


The Saving Grace of Jesus.






Do you know this Saving Grace of Jesus?

Have you accepted this Gift of Love from God?


From the passages in my Advent reading plan 
I know that 
Jesus came to destroy the works of satan.
Jesus came to bear witness to the truth.
Jesus came so that we can believe in Him and have life in His name.
Jesus came to reconcile us to God.


Do you know why Jesus came to earth?

Are you glad that Jesus came?








Friday morning was  
"Shopping in our town with our grown up son" time.
Cold, windy & wet day but it's a small town so not that far to walk between car park and shops.
He kept comparing it to the large city he lives in, parking much cheaper here and streets less crowded.
We also got our turkey and ham for Christmas.




Friday afternoon was  
"Shopping in the Christian Bookshop with our grown up son" time.
One and a half hours can pass quickly when we are somewhere like this.
The ICM Bookshop outside Lurgan is enormous.
They also have a good website with great prices and lots of free shipping to anywhere in the UK, so have a look at their site  https://www.icmbooksdirect.co.uk/


Friday evening was  
"Shopping in the Sprucefield Shopping Centre with our grown up son" time.
A few last minute presents, and a nice wander around in the festive but not-too-busy shops.

These are some of the highlights of our Christmases now - having our family come from far as well as near.
The special times of love and togetherness that we miss.


Of course as usual I'm doing Christmas songs with the kids at church and we like to sing this simple one about God's Love



'Tis Christmas, 'Tis Christmas
The Christmas Bells ring
The Birthday of Jesus our Saviour and king
Tis Christmas, Tis Christmas
Our Bible recalls 
The Birthday of Jesus 
God's Love Gift to all. 


You can find the words & chords of this song 
also actions, sing-a-long video 
and free printables at









After a day like that we need to remember that shopping is not the main thing that's important at this time of the year






We need to make sure that Jesus Christ is still in our Christmas, just like the words of this song 



Unto you is born this day a Saviour
A baby boy was found there in a manger
The blessed truth of Christmas let us hear
Let's put Christ back into Christmas this year


Christmas is the birthday of our King
The greatest gift of all He came to bring
He's the Prince of Peace let's show Him that we care
Let's put Christ back into Christmas this year


On this day the wise men saw a star
They followed it with gifts and travelled far
And praised the baby Jesus lying there
Let's put Christ back into Christmas this year


Let within your heart His praises ring
And celebrate the day our Saviour came
May peace on earth at Christmas time appear
Let's put Christ back into Christmas this year
Let's put Christ back into Christmas this year



Are you making sure that Christ is still in your Christmas this year?


Walking along the promenade in Newcastle, Co. Down is not the thing I would normally plan to be doing just a few days before Christmas.


Two things happened within the last few days that meant us taking the half hour drive to Newcastle one day last week and I was looking forward to walking the promenade while there.  However it was just too cold and wet and blowy that we didn't have our walk.

Instead we just sat and admired the seaside view for a while and took a few pictures and short videos of the waves.




A great example of the nature that God has created.


One of the books I got in the ICM Bookshop yesterday was for the younger kids in our Sunday School.

It can be read to young children and then as they get a bit older they can read it for themselves.




This book has had great reviews by parents which is a very good recommendation for it and is unusually written by a Theologian, James Hamilton.  He wrote it primarily for his son but was then encouraged to get it published which he then did through Christian Focus.


On the journey back today we discussed the presents for Christmas.

It has been agreed that I have nearly everything sorted out fine now.
I just hope the recipients of these presents agree with us.


Were you able to take time today to appreciate God and His creation amid the hustle and bustle of Christmas presents?














What are you doing for Christmas? Advent 1

       
            


Today I am starting a short Series on 

     "What are you doing for Christmas?"





I love the way Advent starts on a Sunday but this year it is also the start of December and for anyone who knows me really well they will understand that I like things to start at proper sort of starting times, and the first of the month is definitely a proper sort of starting time.




Right now I find that I keep getting emails from different retailers telling me about the most important things about Christmas and what I really should be interested in buying.
           

Well they just don't tell me anything about the real event we are leading up to during Advent.

They might mention Santa but they hardly ever mention Jesus and when do, they never mention that Jesus is the real life and soul of Christmas.  

He's the Reason for Christmas.






I am also very hurt when I see Christmas cards which say "Season's Greetings" because they leave Christmas out so they are leaving Jesus out and anyway I could send a card saying that to someone at any time of the year because we are always in one of the four seasons of the year.
          
    It makes no sense to me at all.



So what am I doing for Christmas today?

I'm finishing off our Christmas Letter and writing Christmas cards for our friends who live all around the world, because I need to get them posted off tomorrow.
I'm also remembering that Advent is about preparing for the coming of Jesus as we celebrate on Christmas and that Advent is about preparing for the time when Jesus will return again.


How am I doing this?

I'm starting a new Bible Reading Plan with You Version called  
Good News of Great Joy 





And I'm focusing on Jesus who is my Saviour and the Saviour of the world and not focusing on the Season that the world focuses on because the world has 
no hope in that Season 
but I have Hope in Jesus who is the real
                                                      
Reason for the Season


In the first week of the reading plan I mentioned above I will be reading about how

  • We need to be prepared by preparing our hearts for what God is going to do
  • We have Hope because we are part of God's Plan
  • We have Hope because God has provided our Salvation in Jesus
  • We have Hope because God will provide for us to be in the right place with Him
  • We have hope because Jesus came to earth as one of us
  • We have hope because Jesus brings Peace
  • We have hope because Jesus is The Messiah



I found this short video which also links in with the Hope I have been talking about






I am so thankful we can have this Hope are you?




During Advent I am going to write about what I am doing for Christmas. 










 "Big Christmas Event"  

or the  

"Festive treats in store"  


Not for me.