Monday, December 23, 2013

Christmas with Ann

Ann Voskamp is a farmer's wife, home-educating mama to 6, and author of the NYT bestseller One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are. She is also a DaySpring writer, Women of Faith speaker, and library book loser. She’s been named by Christianity Today as one of the leading 50 women most shaping culture and the church today. She’s also soup-stirrer, partner with Compassion International, loud laugher, kid snuggler, and Jesus lover. Honestly, she's a bit of a mess. It’s okay, really. Grace is the most amazing of all.

Please… take a few minutes to let this amazing woman share the true meaning of Christmas with you in this simple home video. You will be blessed!



Sharing my love with you, and wishing you a wonderful and loving Christmas!

Your brother in Christ,

Dave

Ann’s journal is at: http://www.aholyexperience.com/



Saturday, December 21, 2013

Holiday Things

It’s time, once again, for my annual Christmas card. This year, I made 500 to share with co-workers, family, friends, my church, and strangers. I’ve already handed out most of them, though… a couple of dozen still have to get posted to snail mail (old Christmas card habits die hard). The picture is the one I used for the front of the card, so with the exception of the little logo and identifying date stuff on the back, the card is here on the blog. If you MUST have a physical card to hold in your hand, message me your email address and I'll send you the WORD file so you can print one on your color printer. Folding it into card form... I leave to you. Merry Christmas!


Holiday Things

by David Alan Hoag  --  December 8, 2013
(sung to “My Favorite Things” with apologies to Rodgers and Hammerstein)

Mall decorations that start in October
Disgusting Santas that can’t remain sober
Huge Christmas trees lashed to cars with just strings
These are a few of our Holiday things

Black Friday shoppers that line up for savings
Fist fights and tazings and rantings and ravings
Parking lot frenzies leave cars with fresh dings
These are a few of our Holiday things

No Christmastime it’s a Holiday Season
A public manger’s municipal treason
Racking up credit so much that it stings
These are a few of our Holiday things

When the season
Isn’t jolly
When it all seems mad
I simply remember the little Christ Child
And then I don't feel so bad

A star to the Wise Men new secrets unfurled
Shepherds heard angels sing “Joy to the World”
God’s gift to humans that comes with no strings
These are a few of my Christmastime things

A Savior the wise and the powerful sought
When God sent our Savior it’s not what they thought
God crowned a baby the King of all Kings
These are a few of my Christmastime things

We needed a Savior so God sent us one
We mean so much to Him He sent His own Son
Filled with such love and such joy my heart sings
These are a few of my Christmastime things

When I give thanks
To my Savior
And to God above
And I remember the little Christ Child
My heart overflows with love

Merry Christmas to You!

May Christmas bring you…
love, peace, and uncontainable joy
to fill your heart, and your New Year, too!

Dave  Hoag
 
 

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Too Busy With Christmas to See Christ

I hope you have spiritual mentors in your life. I’m not just talking about your Pastor (who SHOULD be one of your spiritual mentors), but other men and women who breathe God’s Spirit into your life on a regular basis. Greg Laurie, one of my many spiritual mentors, is the senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship, with campuses in Riverside and Irvine, California. What follows, here, is a teaching story Greg posted on Facebook (12/6/2013). I didn’t want to lose track of it, so I reposted it here on the blog.
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Status Update by Greg Laurie
I heard the story of a mother who was out Christmas shopping, frantically trying to get everything done. She had her small child with her, but for a moment, she lost sight of him. In sheer panic, she started retracing her steps and found him with his nose pressed against the glass of a store display, looking at a manger scene.

The boy said, "Mommy, Mommy! Look! It is Jesus in the hay!"

"Let's go," she said, as she took him by the hand and led him away. "We don't have time for that."

Exactly! That is the whole problem with this time of year that we call Christmas. We can be so busy celebrating Christmas that we forget all about Christ. In a sense, we can actually lose God in the midst of it all. We can very easily lose God in the so-called celebration of Jesus.

For many, the Christmas story is the one about Scrooge being visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past, or maybe Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, or Frosty the Snowman or Santa Claus.

But technically, can we lose God? No, we really can't. You can't lose someone if you know where they are. If you know where they are, then they are not lost. But you can lose sight of someone. And some have lost sight of the Lord in their lives, especially at this time of the year.

Maybe you've had the experience of talking with someone who was checking their texts or updating their social media as you're trying to tell them something important.

God never does that. God is never disinterested. God is never distracted. And even if we forget about Him, He never forgets about us. Christmas is not about buying presents; it is about His presence in our lives.
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Think about that! Our focus at Christmas (and all the time, actually), should be all about Christ’s presence in our lives. THAT presence is the… Joy to the World! What if we spent less time buying presents, and spent more time in the presence of God? Just a thought…

Your brother in Christ,

Dave

The Christmas Scale

A story of the Good News. This is a short and touching story that you are not likely to forget. Enjoy!

Your brother in Christ,

Dave