Wings of the Wind

This story has stayed with me long after Christmas. 

How is it that a man can pen such words after such tragedy?

There is only one possible answer.  It had to have been the grace of God.

At a time when 70% of American Christians think they are going to heaven based on their good works, the reason this song exists is the same as the reason anyone goes to heaven.  It is the grace of God.

And I must ask those Christians who think their good works will give them a ticket into the presence of God:

Are you going to believe in something that is not found in the Bible?

Just what are these good works that are so good that Jesus’ great deed is not necessary?  

The most basic of Christian beliefs is that we are saved by grace.  Here is only one of many verses that I could share:

“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” – Ephesians 2:8-9

The question arises, “Why do so many Christians think they are going to heaven based on their good works?”

My guess is that the reason is found in the latest studies.  They tell us that fewer people know what the Bible says.

Why are more people Biblically illiterate?

I don’t have the answer to that one.

Is it because they don’t think it is God’s Word?

Is it because they don’t care what God thinks?

Is it because they are comfortable in a belief system which they have created?

There are many other possibilities.

What I do know is that this great hymn, and the story behind it, illustrates the power of God through the grace of God.

How else it is possible for a man to write such words at such a time.

Good works naturally follow an understanding of God’s grace.  When a man understands his condition, and the love that God has shown, how can he not want to do well?

We know that “doing well” is never enough and that we falter at “doing well” at times; many times.

It is God’s grace and mercy that triumphs over those times.

If you don’t know the words of the great poet who wrote this hymn, or the story behind it, you may want to read something posted here back in December.   You can get there by simply clicking here.

May God give us the grace to pick up His Word and make it a part of our daily lives.

Chris Reimers

“And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion.” Re 14:1

The apostle John was privileged to look within the gates of heaven, and in describing what he saw, he begins by saying, “I looked, and, lo, a Lamb!” This teaches us that the chief object of contemplation in the heavenly state is “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world.” Nothing else attracted the apostle’s attention so much as the person of that Divine Being, who hath redeemed us by his blood. He is the theme of the songs of all glorified spirits and holy angels. Christian, here is joy for thee; thou hast looked, and thou hast seen the Lamb. Through thy tears thine eyes have seen the Lamb of God taking away thy sins. Rejoice, then. In a little while, when thine eyes shall have been wiped from tears, thou wilt see the same Lamb exalted on his throne. It is the joy of thy heart to hold daily fellowship with Jesus; thou shalt have the same joy to a higher degree in heaven; thou shalt enjoy the constant vision of his presence; thou shalt dwell with him for ever. “I looked, and, lo, a Lamb!” Why, that Lamb is heaven itself; for as good Rutherford says, “Heaven and Christ are the same thing;” to be with Christ is to be in heaven, and to be in heaven is to be with Christ. That prisoner of the Lord very sweetly writes in one of his glowing letters—”Oh my Lord Jesus Christ, if I could be in heaven without thee, it would be a hell; and if I could be in hell, and have thee still, it would be a heaven to me, for thou art all the heaven I want.” It is true, is it not, Christian? Does not thy soul say so?

Not all the harps above

Can make a heavenly place,

If God his residence remove,

Or but conceal his face.

All thou needest to make thee blessed, supremely blessed, is “to be with Christ.”

Charles Spurgeon

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:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn_1-z0d7iQ

In 1994, two Americans answered an invitation from the Russian

Department of Education to teach morals and ethics (based on Biblical

principles) in the public schools. They were invited to teach at

prisons, businesses, the fire and police departments, and a large

orphanage. About 100 boys and girls who had been abandoned, abused, and

left in the care of a government-run program were in the orphanage.

They relate the following story in their own words:

It was nearing the holiday season, 1994, time for our orphans to hear,

for the first time, the traditional story of Christmas. We told them

about Mary and Joseph arriving in Bethlehem. Finding no room in the inn,

the couple went to a stable, where the baby Jesus was born, and placed in a manger.

Throughout the story, the children and orphanage staff sat in amazement

as they listened. Some sat on the edges of their stools trying to grasp

every word. Completing the story, we gave the children three small

pieces of cardboard to make a crude manger. Each child was given a small

paper square, cut from yellow napkins I had brought with me. No colored

paper was available in the city.

Following instructions, the children

tore the paper and carefully laid strips in the manager for straw. Small

squares of flannel, cut. from a worn-out nightgown an American lady was

throwing away as she left Russia, were used for the baby’s blanket. A

doll-like baby was cut from tan felt we had brought from the United

States.

The orphans were busy assembling their manger as I walked among

them to see if they needed any help. All went well until I got to one

table where little Misha sat. He looked to be about 6 years old and had

finished his project. As I looked at the little boy’s manger, I was

startled to see not one, but two babies in the manger.

———————————————————–

Manny, my blogger friend and creator of Kairos Now, posted this story on his site yesterday.  What an excellent story for Christmastime! (Manny has a new blog now so the following link comes from a source that I found this year…2013)

Here’s how this true Christmas story ends:

TWO BABES IN A MANGER

Imagine how a preschooler would answer questions about Christmas.

One might get a few interesting responses.

As this came from an email sent to my family, I won’t identify the sender.

I will say, “Thank you.”

Enjoy. -CR

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=ki8EcnVbd-Q

Barbara Anable sent this to me and it’s too good not to share.

This is one of the cutest things I’ve seen in a while, and it is accompanied by a wonderful truth.

A two-year-old steal the show?  Nawwwwwwwww.  How about “is the show.”

The song fits the season well.  The words remind me of the verse:

” Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?”

Enjoy. -CR

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLPp4gXUY3o

“Ye serve the Lord Christ.” – Col 3:24

To what choice order of officials was this word spoken? To kings who proudly boast a right divine?

Ah, no! Too often do they serve themselves or Satan, and forget the God whose sufferance permits them to wear their mimic majesty for their little hour. Speaks then the apostle to those so called “right reverend fathers in God”, the bishops, or “the venerable the archdeacons?”

No, indeed, Paul knew nothing of these mere inventions of man. Not even to pastors and teachers, or to the wealthy and esteemed among believers, was this word spoken, but to servants, aye, and to slaves. Among the toiling multitudes, the journeymen, the day labourers, the domestic servants, the drudges of the kitchen, the apostle found, as we find still, some of the Lord’s chosen, and to them he says,

“Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.”

This saying ennobles the weary routine of earthly employments, and sheds a halo around the most humble occupations. To wash feet may be servile, but to wash his feet is royal work. To unloose the shoe latchet is poor employ, but to unloose the great Master’s shoe is a princely privilege. The shop, the barn, the scullery, and the smithy become temples when men and women do all to the glory of God!

Then “divine service” is not a thing of a few hours and a few places, but all life becomes holiness unto the Lord, and every place and thing, as consecrated as the tabernacle and its golden candlestick.

Teach me, my God and King,

in all things thee to see;

And what I do in anything

to do it as to thee.

All may of thee partake,

nothing can be so mean,

Which with this tincture, for thy sake,

will not grow bright and clean.

A servant with this clause

makes drudgery divine;

Who sweeps a room, as for thy laws,

makes that and the action fine.

-Charles Spurgeon

“Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst.”  -John 4:14

He who is a believer in Jesus finds enough in his Lord to satisfy him now, and to content him for evermore. The believer is not the man whose days are weary for want of comfort, and whose nights are long from absence of heart cheering thought, for he finds in religion such a spring of joy, such a fountain of consolation, that he is content and happy. Put him in a dungeon and he will find good company; place him in a barren wilderness, he will eat the bread of heaven; drive him away from friendship, he will meet the “friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” Blast all his gourds, and he will find shadow beneath the Rock of Ages; sap the foundation of his earthly hopes, but his heart will still be fixed, trusting in the Lord. The heart is as insatiable as the grave till Jesus enters it, and then it is a cup full to overflowing. There is such a fulness in Christ that he alone is the believer’s all. The true saint is so completely satisfied with the all sufficiency of Jesus that he thirsts no more—except it be for deeper draughts of the living fountain. In that sweet manner, believer, shalt thou thirst; it shall not be a thirst of pain, but of loving desire; thou wilt find it a sweet thing to be panting after a fuller enjoyment of Jesus’ love. One in days of yore said, “I have been sinking my bucket down into the well full often, but now my thirst after Jesus has become so insatiable, that I long to put the well itself to my lips, and drink right on.” Is this the feeling of thine heart now, believer? Dost thou feel that all thy desires are satisfied in Jesus, and that thou hast no want now, but to know more of him, and to have closer fellowship with him? Then come continually to the fountain, and take of the water of life freely. Jesus will never think you take too much, but will ever welcome you, saying, “Drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.”

Charles H. Spurgeon