Feeling like praising God? Sing along with this song. He deserves all praise and honor.
-CR
HOLY, HOLY, HOLY
March 18, 2016
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Posted by Chris
IF YOU TARRY ‘TIL YOU’RE BETTER, YOU MAY NEVER COME AT ALL
February 15, 2015
3 Comments | Bible Prophecy, Israel, LIFE, Love of God, Sermons, theology, Words that Uplift | Tagged: Ruth | Permalink
Posted by Chris
HEAR THE BELLS RINGING!!!
April 19, 2014A song I always think of at Easter. He is risen. Hallelujah!!!
cr
2 Comments | Bible Prophecy, Commentary, Words that Uplift | Tagged: 2nd Chapter of Acts, Easter | Permalink
Posted by Chris
THE FIRST BUTTERFLY OF 2014
March 19, 2014Have I ever shared why I use the butterfly as my gravatar logo? Well, I saw my first butterfly of the season and it brought back the memory.
It was approximately 32 years ago when my sister died in an accident in the desert of New Mexico. She was 17, beautiful, a believer, and very popular at school. I was in college at the time and my employer offered to pay for a plane ticket so I could be home for the funeral. After attending the funeral, filled with high-school friends and teachers, my Father and I decided to make the trip to New Mexico to salvage the truck which hadn’t been damaged much in the accident. The camper which my sister had been in had been crushed. As far as we know she died instantly. My brother was right next to her, never heard her, and miraculously made it out without more than a scratch.
On that trip, I experienced the thing closest to Hell that I ever wish to encounter. First, I’ve never been hotter or more uncomfortable. We traveled from Southern California to the wrecking yard In New Mexico where we found the truck and began the long tow home. We stopped at a little café alone in the middle of the desert. The place was packed and the little air conditioner was trying to keep up with the heat coming off of the hot bodies that had found this only oasis. After this short and helpful break, we continued on through the desert. The heat was unbearable. We stopped in the middle of the most desolate place I’ve ever experienced. There was not a living thing in sight. My Dad and I were both exhausted. As we were about to resume our trip, from out of nowhere came a beautiful butterfly. The first thing that came to mind was a question: “How did you get way out here?” It must have been the only colorful living thing for miles. I won’t go so far as say that it was a “sign from God.” But, it was a reminder. I thought of the Bible verse that said that God would never leave me or forsake me. It gave me hope.
That is why I use the butterfly.
cr
19 Comments | Commentary, Creation, LIFE, Love of God, Words that Uplift | Tagged: Butterfly | Permalink
Posted by Chris
GREAT ANSWERS FROM A GREAT GOD
February 11, 2014And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept. (Genesis 33:4)
Jacob’s anguished prayer accomplished more than he dared to ask. He hadn’t expected so much comfort from God from his brother.
All he had asked for was that his brother would leave him and his family unharmed. He never thought he would receive so much kindness from his brother.
Esau even ran to meet Jacob. With tears streaming from his eyes, he hugged and kissed him. We should have confidence, knowing that God will answer our requests without delay.
It’s impossible for sincere, persistent prayer to remain unheard. But because we don’t believe, we aren’t persistent enough and don’t experience God’s goodness and help.
So we must become more enthusiastic about faith and prayer, knowing that God is pleased when we persevere. In fact, God ordered us to be persistent in prayer:
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. (Matthew 7:7)
Our prayers are answered much differently—actually. more generously—than we could ever ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20). Paul says:
26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. (Romans 8:26-27)
We always ask for less than we should and don’t even think God is willing to give us what we ask for. We don’t ask the right way.
We don’t understand that what we pray about is more important than we can comprehend. We think small, but the Lord is great and powerful.
He expects us to ask for great things. He wants to give them to us to demonstrate his almighty power.[1]
Martin Luther
Endnotes
1.Martin Luther, Faith Alone [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005], February 8. [↩]
I would like to thank Pastor Ken Silva for posting this on his website Appraising Ministries.
I have posted the entire article because I have been having problems with my source links. You should be able to find the original HERE.
cr
2 Comments | Commentary, Love of God, theology, Words that Uplift | Tagged: Answers, Appraising Ministries, Esau, Jacob, Pastor Ken Silva | Permalink
Posted by Chris
“HAND OF GOD?” JUST ASK MR. NEWTON
January 20, 2014
I am including the entire article from afa.net (found in my links) because I had some problems with a link to the article.
Written by Dr. Jerry Newcombe.
Writing about it for space.com (1/9/14), Tanya Lewis said, “The hand might look like an X-ray from the doctor’s office, but it is actually a cloud of material ejected from a star that exploded.”
She began her piece, noting, “Religion and astronomy may not overlap often, but a new NASA X-ray image captures a celestial object that resembles the ‘Hand of God.’”
But I think religion and astronomy have indeed overlapped far more than people realize. And not just astronomy, but science in general.
There is often a perceived incompatibility between religion and science. I think that is especially true after the rise and acceptance of Darwinism in the late 19th century.
However, it’s interesting to note that essentially modern science was born in a Christian milieu about 500 years ago—with early contributions from the ancient Greeks.
All the great leading scientists initially were Bible-believing Christians. They believed that they were—in the words of astronomer Johannes Kepler—“thinking God’s thoughts after Him.”
They understood that a rational God had made a rational universe, and it was their job as scientists to discover those laws that the Creator had impressed into His creation.
Kepler (1571-1630) wrote, “Since we astronomers are priests of the highest God in regard to the book of nature, it befits us to be thoughtful, not of the glory of our minds, but rather, above all else, of the glory of God.” The scientists were thus God’s priests, in Kepler’s view.
To the consternation of some unbelievers, Sir Isaac Newton, perhaps the greatest scientist who ever lived, wrote more on Christian theology than he did on science.
Newton saw God’s powerful hand in His creation. He once said, “Atheism is so senseless. When I look at the solar system, I see the earth at the right distance from the sun to receive the proper amounts of heat and light. This did not happen by chance.”
Sir Francis Bacon is credited with having been the inventor of the scientific method—that combination of induction and deduction, of hypothesis and proof (empirical proof). Bacon was a devout Christian.
Bacon noted, “There are two books laid before us to study, to prevent our falling into error; first, the volume of the Scriptures, which reveal the will of God; then the volume of the Creatures, which express His power.”
In 1660, the Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge was founded. This prestigious organization, still in existence today, is the oldest such institution still in operation.
James Moore of the Open University in England notes it was founded in a Puritan college (Gresham), and virtually all its early members were Puritans—at a time when Puritans were a small minority. He said that Protestantism “encouraged the birth of modern science.”
I had the privilege of doing some TV interviews at the Royal Society (for our special on “What If Jesus Had Never Been Born?”—hosted by the late D. James Kennedy).
One of those I interviewed was physicist Sir Alan Cook. He said, “One of the implications of the incarnation is that Christ took human form upon Him, including the power of thinking about things and observing things. It seems to me that an implication of the incarnation is that we, those of us who are able to, have a Christian obligation to study the world as God’s creation.”
I’ve had the privilege of interviewing on several occasions for my radio show Dr. Stephen Meyer, who earned his Ph.D. in the philosophy of science at Cambridge. Dr. Meyer, a fellow at the Discovery Institute, is the author of the New York Times bestselling book, Darwin’s Doubt.
I asked Dr. Meyer for a statement for this particular article. He wrote me: “Far from conflicting, the overwhelming scientific evidence of design in life and in the universe—in the digital code stored in DNA and in the fine tuning of the laws of physics, for example—clearly shows that science can—and does—provide support for a theistic view of reality.”
So it comes as no shock to me to see the reported “Hand of God” in the heavens. I believe we see the “Hand of God” even in the study of the heavens, and of the earth.
###
Dr. Jerry Newcombe is a key archivist of the D. James Kennedy Legacy Library, a spokesman and cohost of Kennedy Classics. He has also written or co-written 23 books, including (with Dr. Kennedy) What If Jesus Had Never Been Born? and (with Peter Lillback), George Washington’s Sacred Fire.
My comment:
“In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth…” Photos like this one give us a glimpse of the majesty of our great and almighty God.
CR
4 Comments | Commentary, Creation, LIFE, News, Words that Uplift | Tagged: Francis Bacon, Hand of God, Isaac Newton, Johannes Kepler | Permalink
Posted by Chris
TRUE PEACE IN YOUR LIFE
January 9, 20146 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. 9 The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
cr
2 Comments | Commentary, Helps, LIFE, Love of God, Words that Uplift | Tagged: Matt Slick, The Peace of God, True Peace | Permalink
Posted by Chris
I HEARD THE BELLS
December 24, 2013Back around Christmas in 2010, I put up these two posts about a story that intrigued me when I heard it. I have since found out that Mr. Longfellow had some interesting beliefs (Have the revisionists taken him apart, too?) . However, the words of this song are so inspirational that I felt led to share the story once more.
When Brother Dick led the congregation in singing last week, he would never know how his selection of this song would bless me this year.
It is not one of the more popular Christmas Songs, but as I sang the song I did something I don’t always do I’m sorry to say.
I took note of the words.
This song, indeed, fits the times in which we live.
I looked at the bottom of the page and saw that the words had been written by the famous American poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
I went home and did some research.
I discovered that hymn books remove two of the verses that were originally written by the famous poet.
The verses are removed because they have references to the American Civil War.
Mr. Longfellow wrote the poem on Christmas Day in 1864, when the war had affected nearly everyone in the country.
Unfortunately, the great poet was no exception.
Three months after the war had begun, in July of 1861, tragedy struck the Longfellow family.
Francis Longfellow had just trimmed some of seven-year-old Edith’s hair. Mrs. Longfellow then decided to preserve some of the clippings in sealing wax. While melting a bar of sealing wax with a candle, a few drops of the super heated wax fell on Fanny’s dress. The hot wax ignited the dress, swallowing the beloved wife and mother in flames.
Fanny ran to Henry in the next room. Henry grabbed a small throw rug and wrapped it around his wife, attempting to smother the flames. Unsuccessful, he finally wrapped his arms around his wife in a last attempt to stop the fire.
Henry’s attempt not only burned his face, hands, and arms severely; the effort to save his wife had failed.
Fanny Longfellow died the next morning.
Because of his injuries and his unbearable grief, Henry was unable to attend his wife’s funeral.
Two years later, Charles, Henry’s oldest son, a lieutenant in the Army of the Potomac, was severely wounded in the Battle of New Hope Church. This happened the month before Christmas in 1863.
It is no surprise there is no entry in Mr. Longfellow’s journal for the Christmas of 1863.
Still grieving over the events of the past few years, Henry put his famous pen to paper on Christmas Day in 1864.
This poem is the result.
Jean Baptiste Calkin added the music in 1872.
Mr. Longfellow heard his words in music for a decade, until his death in 1882.
The words have inspired many, as they have me in 2010.
May God give you a peace that passes all understanding, like He did to Mr. Longfellow, throughout this Christmas season.
Chris Reimers
(Composed on Christmas Day, 1864)
I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men.
I thought how, as the day had come, The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along th’ unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men
And in despair I bowed my head: “ There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For Hate is strong, and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men
‘Til, ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
————————————————————–
“I Heard the Bells” with commentary by Pastor Bill Mitchell
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUdAo3N0iEA
“I Heard the Bells” by Rod Kim (Operation Christmas Child)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_IXSiHF4cU
The story behind “I Heard the Bells”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvJdmMG6VWk
Johnny Cash sings “I Heard the Bells”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcP8xvgwucs&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJFZ1y_o9p4
This is Sarah McLachlan’s version:
Leave a Comment » | Commentary, Creation, LIFE, theology, Words that Uplift | Tagged: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, I Heard the Bells | Permalink
Posted by Chris
POLAR BEAR LOVE
December 17, 2013Thanks to Barbara Anable for sending in another wonderful video.
cr
I’m reminded of the scripture:
“And God made the beasts of the earth after their kind…and God saw that it was good.”
Genesis 1:25
4 Comments | Creation, LIFE, Words that Uplift | Tagged: polar bear | Permalink
Posted by Chris
Wings of the Wind 
KIDS REACT TO GAY MARRIAGE
February 10, 2016Lots of opinions here.
CR
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