This morning after dropping my son off to go to work. I listened to the John MacArthur radio program, Grace To You. I was very excited at what I heard. John MacArthur is obviously a very successful pastor and teacher of the Bible. He is teaching a new series called the Art of Self-discipline. (I desperately need this.) It just began today and can be applied to New Year’s Resolutions! My children need this too. Please listen, I know you enjoy, be encouraged and learn something helpful and new.

. . . Love this quote by Winston Churchill. It was to encourage soldiers during World War II but it can encourage us in reaching our goals . . . This is a quote my children need to memorize.
“Never give in–never, never, never, never,
in nothing great or small,
large or petty,
never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.
Never yield to force;
never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”
-Sir Winston Churchill

Robert Fletcher wrote a very famous book called Situation Ethics. He founded the situational ethics movement of modern day. R.C. Sproul is beginning an interesting study on this subject on his Christian radio program (December 25, 2007), Renewing Your Mind.

This is a parody of Jesus Take The Wheel by Carrie Underwood

The true meaning of Chrismas written in a poem and told by Burl Ives
http://godtube.com/flvplayer.swf

This is a “youtube Christmas card” that I want to send to my sweet friend, Amy who like me loves knowledge and has aspirations to become a teacher.
Here’s White Christmas by Bing Crosby, one of the most famous Christmas songs. This is taken from the old movie White Christmas.

My son received a gift for Christmas that he doesn’t even realize he got. He received it early but sometimes you just get the opportunity to open presents before the actual day. He really likes it. He’s been in a good mood and I can even sense a touch of arrogance (he needs to watch that!) as he enjoys the special gift. It was given by a very special person to me. This very special person made this gift himself. He worked hard for years. He has given out many of these gifts but I didn’t really consider that my children would ever receive one.
My dad died 15 years ago. My son Samuel was only 1 week old at his death. When I first brought him home I ran to my dad’s side as he was a few days close to death and I held him up, hoping he could see him and hoping that even though he had a lot of morphene pain killer he could still understand and enjoy the brand new grandson son I was presenting to him.
My dad was from a family that had a dozen children. They were very poor. My grandpa would rummage through dumps to find anything he could that was worth keeping and my grandma would pick cotton and raise chickens while also raising her children. My dad must have decided at a young age that he didn’t want to live so poor. He loved to do things with his hands and became determined to work hard and become a success.
For years my mom and dad struggled financially as they raised our large family of eleven. But in their latter years of life dad’s business took off. Through charm, hard work and determination he made a flourishing business of caring for homeowner’s lawns in the Brookside area of Tulsa. Today my five brothers have provided nicely for their families by learning my dad’s trade.
A couple of weeks ago, the Tulsa area was hit by a major ice storm that was historical in the damage it did to trees all over Oklahoma. I realized with so many fallen trees everywhere my brothers had the opportunity to make extra money. I figured at least one of them could use some extra help from my son Samuel. I called one of my brothers and we worked it out so that Samuel could work. He worked all week and got enough extra money that he was able to start saving for college!
Now that Christmas break is here, my son is helping my brother again. They are still cleaning up brush from the storm.
I realized that Samuel had received a gift from his Grandpa. The one he never really met. It’s a legacy, well founded and strong. Samuel, without even knowing, has whole-heartedly received this gift and is putting it too full use helping my brother.
Actually, it’s more of a gift to me than it is to Samuel. I have such a passion to instill into all of my children that working hard is an excellent thing. And it is an important part of surviving and caring for a family.

Great Is Thy Faithfulness is an old and excellent hymn of the Christian faith. Lately, I’ve been waking up in the morning and reminding myself of the sweet peaceful truth of a promise from God that His mercies are new every morning. It says that in Lamentations 3. The hymn Great Is Thy Faithfulness is written around verses found there. Here are the words that run through my head and encourage me. I have to say them again and again to change a bad attitude that sometimes overwhelms.
. . . All I have need thy hand hath provided
. . . Thou changest not, thy compassions they fail not
. . . Morning by morning new mercies I see

The lyrics of Great Is Thy Faithfulness:

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These words offer encouragement when you pray to God and it seems as if He ignores your cries. Lamentations 3:22-26 is a great group of verses to memorize. Jeremiah wrote Lamentations. He went through difficult times living a life as a prophet of God. Bible scholars have called him the weeping prophet. He had to tell God’s people that judgment was coming upon them. A message no one would welcome.
Lamentations 3:17-26 (New International Version)
17 I have been deprived of peace;
I have forgotten what prosperity is.
18 So I say, “My splendor is gone
and all that I had hoped from the LORD.”
19 I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.
20 I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.
21 Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:
22 Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”
25 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
26 it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
The full passage of Lamentations 3 (contains 66 verses) is worth reading through to better understand the setting.

My favorite Christmas song when I was a teenager:

Vintage black and white by Springsteen in 1978:

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