BOOK REVIEW - "CHRISTMAS K-9 GUARDIANS" (MOUNTAIN COUNTRY K-9 UNIT BOOK 9) BY LENORA WORTH AND KATY LEE

As if attempts to keep tech guru Isla Jimenez from adopting, burning down her house, and a threat to her life wasn't enough, why is she running for her life with Veternarian Michael Tanner while being unsure if he's given the whole story of what's going on? Meanwhile, back at the ranch, can FBI agent/K-9 officer Cara Haines protect her sister from a ruthless killer while aided by an untested K-9 candidate and U.S. Marshal Sully Briggs, who has some... shall we say history with her?

 

"Christmas K-9 Guardians," part 9 of the Mountain Country K-9 Unit, consists of a pair of novellas: "Perilous Christmas Pursuit" by Lenora Worth and Katy Lee's "Lethal Holiday Hideout." The key stories of this series have been resolved in part 8 ("Search and Detect" by Terri Reed), but these serve as a nice epilogue. Both novellas have beginning to end suspense, and characters you've been introduced to in the previous books.

I recommend this book and the series.

 

SPECIAL CHRISTMAS POST FROM GUEST BLOGGER CHARLES WESLEY!

 

Charles Wesley

Merry Christmas! I just thought it would be nice to have a reminder of the importance of Christ's birth, so I thought I'd let Charles Wesley give us a good theology lesson that you can sing to. 

Note - my favorite hymn lyrist is Charles Wesley. The music was written by Felix Mendelssohn (my favorite classical composer), who was born over twenty years after Wesley's death. Of course, most of you know this already. By the way, most hymnals only have the first three of five verses; we did have one hymnal where it combined the first half of the fourth verse and the first half of the fifth, which is the version I'm sharing.

So here's today's blog:

Hark! The herald angels sing,

Glory to the newborn King;

Peace on earth, and mercy mild,

God and sinners reconciled!

Joyful, all ye nations rise,

Join the triumph of the skies;

With th’angelic host proclaim,

Christ is born in Bethlehem!

Hark! the herald angels sing,

Glory to the newborn King!

Christ, by highest Heav’n adored;

Christ the everlasting Lord;

Late in time, behold Him come,

Offspring of a virgin’s womb.

Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;

Hail th’incarnate Deity,

Pleased with us in flesh to dwell,

Jesus our Emmanuel.

Hark! the herald angels sing,

Glory to the newborn King!

Hail the heav’n born Prince of Peace!

Hail the Sun of Righteousness!

Light and life to all He brings,

Ris’n with healing in His wings.

Mild He lays His glory by,

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!

Come, desire of nations, come,

Fix in us Thy humble home;

Rise, the woman’s conquering Seed,

Bruise in us the ser­pent’s head.

Adam’s likeness now efface,

Stamp Thine image in its place:

Second Adam from above,

Reinstate us in Thy love.

Hark! the herald angels sing,

Glory to the newborn King!

MERRY CHRISTMAS (EVE & DAY), 2024! A PHOTO COLLECTION

 

Our lit Christmas tree at home.

I know. Still in the hit and miss blogging (that will change this week, and maybe a little longer). And this blog won't be long either. Wishing you all a blessed Christmas.

So instead of a lot of words, I'll share some Christmas pictures I'm fond of!

Nativity set with the core values of Northside Baptist Church in the background.

Photo from Live Nativity at Castleton United Methodist Church (haven't been to one in years!)

Christmas lights, downtown circle, Indianapolis.

We have several nativity scenes at home, but this is my favorite.

Nativity scene at Christ Church, Indianapolis, on the circle.

Nativity Scene at Cincinnati Zoo. Yes, that's a rabbit by Joseph. Yes, he's alive.The keeper was doing some cleaning in that area of the zoo, and let the rabbit enjoy the fresh air.

My drawing "All Creation Worships."

Finally, me and Becky at Northside Baptist Church

BOOK REVIEW - DEADLY BURDEN: A GREEN DORY MYSTERY BOOK 4 BY JANET SKETCHLEY

Who murdered the keeper of everybody's secrets that everybody stopped and visited the day of her demise? Should amateur sleuth Landon Smith take Police Detective Dylan Tremblay's advice to leave the case to the professionals, or should she grant a friend's request to discover who killed their eccentric neighbor's mother? Let me rephrase that last sentence - can she solve the murder while dealing with story-lines involving her family, friends, and neighbors that rival a soap opera?

"Deadly Burden," the fourth installment of Janet Sketchley's Green Dory Mysteries, is a perfect read for the extended Christmas season - that is, within 6 months either direction of Christmas. The stories keep getting better and better. 

Some of the storylines of this novel (and the rest of the series) deal with disturbing topics, such as human trafficking. Other than that, I would say this novel is appropriate for teens as well as adults. 

Of course, since it's part of a series, the question arises: should you start the series at the beginning, or can you read this book out of order without either feeling lost or spoiling a previous mystery?  In this case, I would lean to the former. The name of one of the previous villains is identified, but more so it helps to get to know the characters and part of their backstory.

I absolutely loved this book, and am looking forward to the next books. Also, I trust I'm not spoiling too much to mention that I could see a spin-off mystery series with one of the characters from this tale.

 

BOOK REVIEW - 12 DAYS BY HEIDI GLICK

 Can former police detective Scott Newton overcome his guilt and sorrow after his partner and friend was murdered? Can nurse and aspiring author Lindsay Billings earn the approval of her wealthy father? And will the Christmas Killer make "Till Death Do Us Part" be a matter of hours instead of years?

12 Days... is a Chrismas novella by suspense author Heidi Glick. It starts out with Scott's camping experience as a child, and then fast forwards to him meeting Lindsay. After that introduction, the story then jumps into high gear. Glick does an excellent job developing the two main characters, as well as filling this short work with plenty of plot twists.

If you want a nice short, 1-2 sitting Christmas story for this holiday, this one will give you some yuletide excitement.

CHRISTMAS BOOK REVIEW - THE REFINER OF THE REALM (THE CELTIC CROSS BOOK 3) & AN ALL CONSUMING FIRE (MONASTERY MURDERS BOOK 5) BY DONNA FLETCHER CROW

In 1068, is Queen Margaret capable of civilizing Scottish King Malcolm and helping protect the people from invading William the Conquerer? In 1993, is Mary's fiance right that she's wasting her time learning about Scottish church history?

The Refiner of the Realm: Of Queens and Clerics is the third book of Donna Fletcher Crow's ten part Celtic Cross series (the first four books looking at Scotland, the remainder crossing over to Ireland). Like the rest of the series, the more contemporary part of the story (1993) has a brief section at the beginning and the end of each book, with the primary focus being on the historical story. 

I am learning a lot about Scottish history in this series, and will probably be doing the same with Ireland when I get to the fifth book. I enjoy this story and the characters in it.

One note. Donna Fletcher Crow released a compilation book a couple of years ago titled A Lighted Lamp: Scenes of Christmas Through Time. The first of seven "scenes" is an excerpt from the above novel. The final (and longest) excerpt is from An All Consuming Fire, book five of the Monastery Murders. This series follows American Felicity Howard and British Church History instructor Father Antony (my favorite fictional character as they solve mysteries through the course of a year, learning about British Church history along the way (and of course, each mystery coincides with a Christian holiday, book five dealing with Christmas). Here is my review of that book:

    "Is this the final installment of the Monastery Murder series by Donna Fletcher Crow? I hope not, but if it is, she pulled out all the stops. This is the strongest plot of the series - and that says something. My favorite is still the third entry, An Unholy Communion, but An All-Consuming Fire is in my opinion the best.

    "Of course, there are weaknesses to even the best stories. While Felicity and Antony are very complex characters (the latter being my favorite fictitious character), Crow may have weakened the story by having Antony with a group of characters filming a TV series while Felicity works with another group of characters planning an epiphany play. Most of the characters in either group were underdeveloped. It helps that Crow included a cast of characters at the beginning.

    "What if you haven't read any of the previous stories? While I'd recommend reading them in order for maximum enjoyment, I think one can read them out of order. You won't feel lost if An All-Consuming Fire is the first one you read, nor will it ruin the surprises in the earlier stories.

    "This series deals with an Anglican (almost Catholic) perspective. Thus, if you don't like favorable presentations of the Christian faith in fiction, you won't like this. Its views may not be typical for many fundamentalists or evangelicals (it stretched my thinking). On the other side, there are elements in this story in particular that might be uncomfortable for some Christian readers - there are isolated references to drugs and pornography in this story: of course, both are considered negative, but some Christians feel more comfortable if those things weren't included.

    "I highly recommend this book, as well as the other four books in the series."

Hope you enjoyed this double review feature, with the goal of helping you get in the Christmas Spirit (this is posted on the 7th of December, so you may already be in it). I highly recommend this book, this series, and A Lighted Lamp. (If you look at the December entries for both 2020 and 2021, you'll notice that I have my review of A Lighted Lamp both years, my first repeat blog!

 

BOOK REVIEW - CAPTURED AT CHRISTMAS BY JODIE BAILEY

 What's wrong with Captain Marshall Slater inviting his unit to his home for Christmas dinner? Besides the fact that Captain Rachel Blake suspects one of his soldiers is stealing national secrets and is threatening him and his five year old daughter?

Jodie Bailey's Captured at Christmas is a thrilling romantic suspense with three dimensional characters you care about and a story full of plot twists and other surprises. 

I highly recommend reading this book at approximately Christmas time - "approximately" meaning from six months prior to Christmas to six months following.

 

SUNDAY HYMNS, PART 21 OF 22: HARK! THE HERALD ANGELS SING (MERRY CHRISTMAS)

 

"All of Creation Worships" by Jeff Reynolds

Hark! the herald angels sing, 

"Glory to the newborn King;

Peace on earth and mercy mild - 

God and sinners reconciled!"

Joyful, all ye nations, rise, 

Join the triumph of the skies;

With th'angelic host proclaim,

"Christ is born in Bethlehem."

 Hark! the herald angels sing, 

"Glory to the newborn King!"

 

Christ, by highest heav'n adored,

Christ, the everlasting Lord:

Late in time behold Him come, 

Offspring of a virgin's womb.

Veiled in flesh the Godhead see,

Hail th'incarnate Deity!

Pleased as man with men to dwell,

Jesus, our Emmanuel.

 Hark! the herald angels sing, 

"Glory to the newborn King!"

 

Hail the heav'nborn Prince of Peace!

Hail the Sun of Righteousness!

Light and life to all He brings, 

Ris'n with healing in His wings.

Mild He lays His glory by, 

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!"

 

Come, Desire of Nations, come!

Fix in us Thy humble home;

Rise, the woman's conq'ring seed, 

Bruise in us the serpent's head.

Adam's likeness now efface,

Stamp in thine image in its place;

Second Adam from above, 

Reinstate us in Thy love.

 Hark! the herald angels sing, 

"Glory to the newborn King!"

 

NOTES ON HYMN

• First off, Merry Christmas! Or for you guys, Joseph Christmas! 
• How many of you following have read through the first three verses, and then pause to see a fourth you've never seen before? Growing up with the Worship & Service Hymnal, I only knew the first three.  But then I attended a church whose hymnal (Praise! Our Songs and Hymns) included the fourth verse. Cyberhymnal includes a fifth.
• This is another hymn written by Charles Wesley. I had a Calvinist joke that Wesley believed you had to earn your salvation so he made the music for this song hard to sing. Uh, not Wesley's fault. I don't know what tune they sang this to during Charles' lifetime, but he died before the composer to this song was born. That composer? Felix Mendelssohn. And do you expect Classical composers to write easy songs to sing? By the way, Mendelssohn was raised Lutheran and also composed the Reformation symphony.
• By the way, my favorite hymn word writer is Charles Wesley. My favorite classical composer is Mendelssohn. No wonder I love this song.
• This song's meter is a 7,7,7,7 double. One interesting thing? Another Wesley song, "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" has a 7,7,7,7 meter, which adds a lot of "Alleluia"s ot it. So you could sing "Christ The Lord is Risen Today" to Mendelssohn's tune, dropping the alleluias and using two verses for each round. Or you can sing "Hark The Herald Angels Sing" to the tune of "Christ the Lord is Risen Today, with the alleluias and doubling the verse number. 
  

 

 

SUNDAY HYMNS, PART 19 OF 22: JOY TO THE WORLD (ADVENT OF, YOU GUESSED IT, JOY)

At Arlington Avenue Baptist Church, Indianapolis, IN

Joy to the world! The Lord has come!

Let earth receive her King!

Let ev'ry heart prepare Him room,

And heaven and nature sing!

Joy to the earth! The Savior reigns!

Let men their songs employ!

Let field and flood, rock hill and plain

Repeat the sounding joy!

No more let sins and sorrows grow,

Nor thorns infest the ground;

He comes to make His blessings flow

Far as the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,

And makes the nations prove

The wonders of His righteousness 

And wonders of His love.

NOTES ON THE HYMN

• I know. I didn't do the repetitions of the last line of each verse. Sorry.
• One of the best known songs of the Christmas season, but this actually is an advent hymn. In fact, it's based on Psalm 98 and is focused on the 2nd Advent (Christ's return) rather the 1st Advent (Christ's birth). 
  
• The third week of Advent is the Advent of Joy. So I spent a lot of time trying to decide which song would be most appropriate. A who tenth of a second. 
• I started this series with a Watts song. Time for another one. The only other author I had repeated was Charles Wesley. 
• By the way, did you know the music was written by George Frederick Handel? (I just saw a picture of him; to me, he looks like he'd fit in a hard rock band.) The music was adapted from the Messiah.
• The meter is the common meter (8,6,8,6). By the way, the other Watts song in my series - "Am I a Soldier of the Cross?" - is also common meter. So 
  

SUNDAY HYMNS, PART 18 OF 22: O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM (ADVENT OF PEACE)

Cincinnati Zoo Nativity Scene

 

O little town of Bethlehem,
    How still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
    The silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
    The everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years
    Are met in thee tonight.

For Christ is born of Mary,
    And gathered all above,
While mortals sleep, the angels keep
    Their watch of wondering love.
O morning stars together,
    Proclaim the holy birth,
And praises sing to God the King,
    And peace to men on earth!

How silently, how silently,
    The wondrous Gift is giv’n;
So God imparts to human hearts
    The blessings of His Heav’n.
No ear may hear His coming,
    But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him still,
    The dear Christ enters in.

O holy Child of Bethlehem,
    Descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in,
    Be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels
    The great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us,
    Our Lord Emmanuel!

 

NOTES:

• This song is being posted on the 2nd Sunday of Advent - Advent of Peace. I mentioned last week about the differences between Advent songs (expecting Christ's coming) and Christmas songs (about Christ's birth). This is definitely a Christmas song, but I thought it would be appropriate looking at God's peace.
• Did you notice anything not completely typical about this nativity scene photo? It was a mild December day, and the person who kept the rabbit decided to let him out while she was cleaning up that area. I thought that the rabbit added to the peaceful look.
  
• You may have noticed, but "sin" is rarely mentioned at Christmas time (and not much if any more the rest of the year). What I like about this carol is it doesn't keep up with that (should I say sinful) tendency. It mentions in the third verse that we're "in this world of sin," and in the last verse it exhorts us to "Cast out our sin." 
• Speaking of verses, I consulted Cyber-hymnal to see if there were any besides the four I'm familiar with. The answer is "yes." The fourth verse is not included in my post, as it isn't in the hymnals I'm familiar with. You can click here to see the missing verse.
• One other bit of info on the Cyber-hymnal page (besides a picture at the bottom of the Church of the Nativity) is this about Phillips Brooks (who wrote the words to this hymn): "Brooks wrote about his horse­back jour­ney from Je­ru­sa­lem to Beth­le­hem, where he as­sist­ed with the mid­night ser­vice on Christ­mas Eve, 1865:
   
  
  'I re­mem­ber stand­ing in the old church in Beth­le­hem, close to the spot where Je­sus was born, when the whole church was ring­ing hour af­ter hour with splen­did hymns of praise to God, how again and again it seemed as if I could hear voic­es I knew well, tell­ing each oth­er of the Won­der­ful Night of the Sav­ior’s birth.'
  
  
  

SUNDAY HYMNS, PART 17 OF 22: O COME, O COME, EMMANUEL (ADVENT OF HOPE)

Angels, live nativity scene, Castleton United Methodist Church, Indianapolis

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
Who orderest all things mightily;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And teach us in her ways to go.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory over the grave.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, great Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times once gave the law
In cloud and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Root of Jesse’s tree,
An ensign of Thy people be;
Before Thee rulers silent fall;
All peoples on Thy mercy call.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of Peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
 

NOTES ON HYMN 

• Raise your hands if you realize we're in Advent season? The last 16 weeks I've shared songs in, with one exception, alphabetic order. For the next four weeks, I'll be dealing with the four weeks of Advent, which will be followed by Christmas and New Year's Day.
• What is the difference between an Advent Hymn like this and a Christmas Hymn like "Silent Night?" The former anticipates the coming of the Promised Messiah, the latter focuses on the event of Christ's birth.
• There are different ways of looking at Advent. Some break it up into various actors in the Christmas story (e.g. Prophets, Angels). Others look at various things Christ has brought into our lives. This week, I chose "O Come O Come Emmanuel" for the Sunday that's the Advent of Hope.
  
• How many hymnals have eight verses to any hymn? Not many. Most hymns are trimmed to four or at the most five, and what gets trimmed is fairly uniform. But not always. This hymn, as well as "Crown Him With Many Crowns," "Anywhere With Jesus," and to a lesser extent "Take My Life And Let It Be" often have varying verses, with different hymnals having a different list of verses. So I went to Cyberhymnal and posted all eight verses (which was more than I thought - for some reason, I thought it was seven!) By the way, there are other hymns that have that many verses - "Soldiers of Christ Arise" have 16 long verses.
• This song is what's called plainsong. In those days, a lot of music was sung in unison aca pella without large jumps in the melody.
• Anybody start trying to figure out the meters after I talked about them? If you have, you'd notice the verses are long meter (8,8,8,8). You can take another long meter song (e.g. "All Creatures of Our God and King", "When I Survey The Wondrous Cross", or the Doxology), and sing it to this tune, adding the chorus.
  

BOOK REVIEW - YULETIDE COLD CASE COVER-UP BY JESSICA PATCH

Who murdered Poppy Holliday's kid sister and threw the body into a well 15 years ago? Or is it a conspiracy among her fellow high school classmates? And why did her boss assign stiff shirt .... I mean stuffed shirt Rhett Wallace, who considered Poppy a loose cannon, as her assistant on this case?

Yuletide Cold Case Cover-Up is the third and final installment of the Cold Case Investigators by Jessica Patch. Typical of Love Inspired Suspense series, you don't need to read the other books to enjoy the story; there are common characters (Poppy and Rhett are side characters in the first book and mentioned in the second), but each story focuses on different individuals and are stand alone stories.

The series focuses on a four member Cold Case team. Each of them deal with a cold case that occurs in their small town hometown. Each also are good mysteries, with a collection of suspects and twists and turns in discovering who the killer is. But before you start comparing Jessica Patch with Agatha Christie, the Queen of Crime doesn't keep me on the edge of my seat.

This is the sixth Jessica Patch book I've read, and I'm definitely a fan. She has created several of my favorite characters, including Poppy and Rhett in this story (and yes, I enjoyed their appearances in Cold Case Takedown before this one). As I mentioned above, the story is suspenseful, as well as bringing out the main characters through the action and the supporting cast.

I highly recommend this story, this series, and especially this story.

CHRISTMAS - A CHRISTIAN CELEBRATION OR BAPTIZED PAGANISM?

 

Living Faith Church, Indianapolis

Let me start with wishing you a Merry Christmas. Then, let me follow up by questioning some of our Christmas traditions. How's that for creating some confusion? If I start sounding like Scrooge, please bear with me until the end of this blog.

Two items I've seen recently have inspired and influenced this blog. The first is watching Kirk Cameron's movie "Saving Christmas." The other, which came on CBN News right before I was going to write this blog, was an episode of "Faithwire Presents Faith Vs. Culture" with Dan Andros and Dale Partridge, titled "To Santa Or Not To Santa."

Let me begin by mentioning that the Christmas Wars were silent this year. On the one hand, there are the secularists who want to remove any remembrance of Christ. On the other are Christians who believe Christmas is a pagan holiday filled with pagan traditions and symbols and thus play the role of Scrooge. Again, both of these antagonists didn't show up on my Facebook Newsfeed this year.

Allow me to start with the movie. The plot of "Saving Christmas" is Cameron's brother-in-law, named Christian, is grieved with all the materialism and how the focus is on unbiblical concepts like Santa Claus and the Christmas tree. Sadly, neither the questions nor the answers were the strongest, and the point of the movie seems to be we shouldn't be grieved with all the materialism of Christmas. 😱

The common thread between the movie and the TV show is Santa Claus. One of the weak arguemnts Christian uses in "Saving Christmas" is that "Santa" has the same letters as "Satan." While true, we also need to remember "Santa" means "Saint," as in the California cities Santa Ana and Santa Barbara. Cameron's refutation is telling a story about St. Nicholas of Myra, including a telling of the legend that he beat up on the heretic Arius. (This legend was first told in 1300, with it being a follower of Arius; it later became the theology's founder.) 

Christian did refer to the godlike qualities of Santa such as his omniscience ("He sees you when you're sleeping, He knows when you're awake, etc.) and the works base of the Santa myth, with him giving those who do what is good all the stuff they want. Cameron completely ignored those objections so he could tie in St. Nick with the real Saint Nicholas. Andros and Partridge of Faithwire treated those objections more seriously, as well as stating that parents spend eleven months a year teaching their children to care for others to please the invisible sovereign of the universe and then encourage them to think of themselves to get the favor of an invisible fable.

How about Christmas trees and other items? Are they symbols with godly origins or totally pagan? One friend encourages people to read all of Jeremiah 10 to see that God condemned the Christmas tree. I read that chapter, and concluded it's not talking about modern Christmas trees. Jeremiah points out they can't speak and can't move themselves (10:5); I've never met anyone expecting a Christmas tree to talk to them or to transport itself from point A to point B without someone carrying them. The language in this chapter, talking about overlaying it with gold, made me think about overlaying a wooden image with gold (Isaiah 40:19-20). Is it possible that when Jeremiah is referring to a tree, he's actually using that term of an idol to get across that carved image is just a tree and not a god?

I've heard Christians avoid traditions because those traditions can lose their original meaning. This is true about godly practices, but could it also be equally true with pagan practices? I won't argue that decorated trees, missletoe, and wreaths didn't originally have ungodly roots, but I also don't see anything in their use that can be identified as paganism.

There's a lot of questions about Christmas and its traditions. Some say that the Constantine era church started assigning Biblical themes to heathen festivals to keep the pagans from revolting. I can't say it was or wasn't true, since I wasn't around then. Maybe Jesus wasn't born December 25th, but I heard one pastor say he'd take any opportunity to honor Him he gets.

One last thing about the Christmas tree. To be honest, I wouldn't put one on the church platform. However, a former church I attended would have a tree on the platform and place shoebox gifts underneath it for the Baptist Center to distribute to children in women's shelters. I liked it being a reminder of a ministry the church was doing.

BUT HERE'S THE IMPORTANT POINT!!! Too often we are looking for things to judge and correct others, and we don't take off from that practice on Christmas (or any other holiday or non-holiday either). I may have my concerns, and you may not. I should not ignore my concerns so I fit in, but neither should I rob joy from others by imposing my opinion and concerns on those who don't have them. After all, isn't that what grace is? God showed us grace, and Christ's birth is the perfect illustration of that: Shouldn't we show that grace to others also?

Again, have a Merry Christmas. (Unless you want to be like me and have a Joseph Christmas instead.)

 

CHRISTMAS AND THE SECOND COMMANDMENT

 

Nativity scene at Christ Cathedral, Indianapolis at night

Several years ago, I joined a Calvinistic FaceBook group late in the year. One of the rules was about not sharing photos that violate the Second Commandment, and the Administrator commented that Christmas time was when a lot of violations occur.

First, though: What is the Second Commandment? Some people will be thinking of Jesus' answer to the lawyer and wondering how Christmas disobeys the commandment to love your neighbor as yourself. However, others will be thinking it refers to the second of the Ten Commandments.

But again, what is the Second Commandment? You see, Jews, Catholics, and Protestants break them up differently. For the Jews, the First Commandment is "I am the LORD your God who brought you up out of the house of bondage," and they combine "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me" and "Thou shalt not make any graven image." Catholics also combine what Protestants consider two separate commands, but consider it the First Commandment, thus making "Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD in vain" as the Second Commandment and splitting the commandment "Thou shalt not covet" into two separate commandments.

I will admit: When I was young, I could easily see why those two commandments were combined. However, separating them into two separate commandments bring about a distinction. "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me" clearly means we should not worship gods other than Yahweh, the LORD, such as Molech and Baal and the Ashteroths. The commandment about graven images deals with false representations of the true God. Remember that both Aaron's and Jereboam's golden calves were images of Yahweh and were declared to be the God who brought them out of Egypt.

Some could interpret the Second Commandment to mean that we should not carve statues. Biblically, this doesn't fit, because God commanded the artists making the tabernacle to carve cherubim for the Ark of the Covenant and Moses to make a bronze serpent, and there also were the twelve oxen in the temple to represent not God but Israel. After all, the issue of the Commandment dealt with the purpose of the graven image, condemning the creation of objects to worship.

How about statues and for that matter paintings/drawings of God? This falls more into what the Commandment teaches. Remember that no one has seen God the Father at anytime (John 1:18; 4:24; 1 John 4:12). 

But this brings us to why Christmas is on a collision course with the Second Commandment: What about statues and paintings of Jesus? After all, Jesus is God come in the flesh. Yes, He was fully man but He was also fully God. So are we violating the Second Commandment when we set out a statue of a baby in a manger?

Once again, we need to look at the complete commandment. The activity commanded is making items to worship. Are we bowing down to the carved baby in the hay? Are we burning incense to paintings of Jesus with the children? I don't. 

No, we don't know what Jesus looked like, except we know He was a Middle Eastern Jew. Any drawing or sculpture is an artistic representation. I have no problem with that. Did Jesus look like a blonde haired European? No, but it doesn't bother me to see Him drawn that way. Likewise, I enjoy seeing how other cultures portray Him. Becky and I have several nativity scenes, and one of our favorites is one done by an African believer.

Reality? There are times we do carve Jesus in our image - maybe not as a statue but by how we perceive Him. We need to avoid and repent forcing our convictions on God. But does God condemn artists who love Him drawing scenes of Him in the manger or accepting the children or calling Matthew or talking to Mary Magdalene after the Resurrection? I don't believe so.

As Jesus told the Samaritan woman, "The time is coming and now is when the true worshipers of the Father will worship Him in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." John 4:23-24

 

MOVIE REVIEW: SAVING CHRISTMAS BY KIRK CAMERON

 

There is debate among Christians whether to celebrate Christmas (and Easter) and if so, which elements should be kept and which discarded. This movie attempts to defend many of the current trappings of Christmas as part of celebrating Christ's birth. Unfortunately, it could have been done better. It ignored several arguments by those who consider Christmas a pagan holiday, as well as being comfortable with our materialistic society.

Additionally, this video seemed to be made with a goal of how long it should be and left me feeling that scenes were longer than they needed to be to reach the target.

Kirk Cameron starts the video with some thoughts, including the importance of stories and how we often don't have real bad guys and tamer heroes. To be honest, I found it ironic because the story told is a Christmas Carol Lite. You have Christian as the nicer Scrooge who instead of being a miser is one who thinks money spent on Christmas can help the poor instead. Instead of three ghosts, you have three points of holiday tradition, where Christian learns something new.

I have my doubts the anti-Christmas Christians will buy the arguments. They probably will be glad to tell you their concerns which this film overlooked. Becky and I were both highly disappointed with it. It is rare I give a project less than 5 (out of 5) stars; this I gave a 3 star review to.

To be honest, I think I could do a better job, and will attempt to in a blog next week.

BOOK REVIEW: A LIGHTED LAMP BY DONNA FLETCHER CROW (MY FIRST REPEAT BLOG)

 

NOTE - Yes, I posted this blog last December 8th. But I wanted to promote this book again for Christmas.

If you'd like a book to get you in the mood for Christmas, look no further.

This is a unique collection. It contains excerpts from Crow's previous novels looking at Christmas. Considering her books range from historical to contemporary, you have a nice kaleidoscope of the wintertime holiday from a medieval Scottish castle to celebrations at a modern day monastery.

In reading this book, you'll find different emotions as you visit settings on both sides of the pond. You also feel the anxieties, fears, and dangers faced by the characters as well as the hope, joy, and redemption of Christ's First Advent on the earth.

I have read short story collections by a few of my favorite authors, and those have turned out to be my least favorite book. THIS IS AN EXCEPTION! I really enjoyed these excerpts, and some of them have me interested in reading the whole book.

One thing I'll mention - in the two most recent Monastery Murders novels, I was included in her list of rave reviews. But I had the honor of being asked to write a promotional blurb for the back cover. 

Also, I'd like to recommend another Christmas time book I've read recently: Fatal Identity by Jodie Bailey. You can see my book review for that title here.

Pentecost and Other Holidays (or Holy Days or Hollow Days)

 

Pentecost by Emil Nolde

 

I got excited today. The pastor at our church mentioned today was Pentecost Sunday. If I remember correctly, the last time I heard Pentecost Sunday mentioned (other than my mentioning it) was 1959. Which, considering that was the year I was born, and Pentecost is in the spring while my birthday's not until fall...

In the Old Testament, God gave Israel seven holidays - or more accurately holy days - to observe (Lev. 23). An eighth one, Purim, is mentioned in Esther, though it is not commanded by God.

You can divide Christians in two groups. One group sees Christmas and Good Friday/Easter as the high points of the calendar, with some observing a time of preparation for those two days (Advent in the first case, Lent and Holy Week for the later). The other group points out neither holiday is commanded and delight in pointing out pagan connections to justify their non-observance. My mother-in-law referred to Christmas and Easter as hollow days.

Then, we can look at the issue through the extremes. Some can be ritualistic - I've heard of Christians judging those who are non-observant. Others take the cliche of celebrating the Resurrection and/or Pentecost every Sunday, though one can wonder if they are really celebrating either event any Sunday. 

Other questions arise in dealing with celebrating holidays is which ones should Christians observe. Should the Church recognize Passover and Day of Atonement and maybe even Pentecost as God commanded via Moses to Israel from Mount Sinai? As Christians, is it permissible to observe either church holidays like Lent, Advent, and All Saints Day or cultural holidays like Mothers' and Fathers' Day, Halloween, and Thanksgiving and patriotic celebrations like 4th of July and Veteran's Day? 

The answer needs to be Biblical, but allow me first to give a focus on two issues which I consider biblical: the autonomy of the local church and the Priesthood of the believer. What a local congregation does should be based on the decision of that congregation. Likewise, whether an individual chooses to observe (or not) a particular day is between him and God. 

I believe that conclusion is supported by Romans 14:5-6: "One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day the same. Let each be firmly convinced in their mind. He who observes the day observes it to the Lord, and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not esteem it. He who eats eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks, and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks." In other words, both observance and non-observance are permissible when done to the Lord.

My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving, and I consider it a holy day. I would love to celebrate Reformation Day, All Saints Day - though I would define "saint" a little differently than a Catholic or Orthodox - and Pentecost regularly, when I think of them. Other holidays that often get overlooked (including by me) that can be observed to the glory of God include President's Day, Juneteenth, and Labor Day. And last but not least (or is it least but not last), there's Groundhog's Day.

Happy Pentecost, and let me close by asking: How do you observe your favorite holidays/Holy Days to the Lord?

 

BOOK REVIEW - A LIGHTED LAMP: SCENES OF CHRISTMAS THROUGH TIME

 

 If you'd like a book to get you in the mood for Christmas, look no further.

This is a unique collection. It contains excerpts from Crow's previous novels looking at Christmas. Considering her books range from historical to contemporary, you have a nice kaleidoscope of the wintertime holiday from a medieval Scottish castle to celebrations at a modern day monastery.

In reading this book, you'll find different emotions as you visit settings on both sides of the pond. You also feel the anxieties, fears, and dangers faced by the characters as well as the hope, joy, and redemption of Christ's First Advent on the earth.

I have read short story collections by a few of my favorite authors, and those have turned out to be my least favorite book. THIS IS AN EXCEPTION! I really enjoyed these excerpts, and some of them have me interested in reading the whole book.

You may have noticed that this is the second Donna Fletcher Crow that I have reviewed for this blog. One interesting thing I'll mention - in the two most recent Monastery Murders novels, I was included in her list of rave reviews. But I had the honor of being asked to write a promotional blurb for the back cover.