2015 Christmas Card - A Savior Has Been Born to You

This year, readers of my blog will get the first peek at my annual Christmas Card. The poem was heavily influenced by the recent senseless shootings in San Bernardino, and by Gene Appel of Eastside Christian Church in Anaheim, California. On Saturday, December 5^th, Pastor Appel taught about the things we should learn from the shepherds at the birth of Jesus. Of course, the card doesn’t reproduce exactly the same as my traditional, folded cards. With the exception of the little logo and identifying date stuff on the back, the card is here on the blog. Merry Christmas!

A Savior Has Been Born to You

by David Alan Hoag  –  December 09, 2015

While prepping for Christmas,
We’ve been quite torn apart
By murderous shooters
With a dark, hate-filled heart.

For humanity’s soul,
Terror’s not a new thing;
Was used that first Christmas
By Herod, the king.

Each one of us matters!
Shepherd’s heard angel’s call:
“So do not be afraid,
I bring good news for all.”

It’s still true to this day:
For you REALLY to know,
Like those shepherds of old,
You must get up, and go.

Shepherds had to proclaim
What they’d seen, what they’d heard.
When your joy overflows,
You can’t help spread the word

God sent Jesus to Earth,
Us salvation to give;
Not just freedom from sin,
But the best way to live.

Merry Christmas to You!

This Christmas, the words of Psalm 51:10 bring hope:
“Restore to me the JOY of your salvation…”

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

Dave  Hoag

Get the past 15 years of Christmas cards, poems, songs, and other Christmas themed writings by yours truly in the amazing Sharing Christmas book that celebrates Christ in Christmas. It makes a great gift or stocking stuffer, and is the kind of book you’ll pick up over and over again. If you somehow missed the ad to the right, you can purchase Sharing Christmas at Amazon, B&N, and the other usual suspect booksellers. Or… you can use the following link to my Sharing Christmas site, and buy the book directly from my publisher.

http://sharing-christmas.com

Overwhelmed (Big Daddy Weave)

I love this song by Big Daddy Weave! As I move through this tiny little backwater world of God’s amazing creation, I truly am overwhelmed by what God has done… for me, for you, for all of us!

Most every day, I travel the 241 toll road from my home in Placentia to where I work in Lake Forest. It is a beautiful, ever changing, and uplifting drive that is my chosen alternative to the bleak, stop-and-go, soul-crushing commute I would otherwise have to endure along the 91, 55, and 5 freeways. My drive takes me through rocky escarpments, beautiful mineral formations, along ridges, through foothills, and into valleys. Along the way are reservoirs, a lake, orchards, and amazing views. On clear days, I can see the snow-capped San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains, Palos Verdes, the towering spires of downtown Los Angeles, and Catalina island along the way. By the side of the road grow poppies, daisies, mustard, Indian paintbrush, thistle, sage, lupine, and a host of other plants and flowers that I find hard to identify at 70 miles per hour, each flowering in its season. At night, the bright moon is attended by a myriad of stars, planets, and distant galaxies… visible because the road is dark, without the light pollution of much of Southern California (well, at least MUCH less).

When this song comes on the radio, I’m usually singing along at the top of my voice… overwhelmed by all the beauty, overwhelmed by the glory of God’s presence, and overwhelmed by the grace and forgiveness from Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.

This YouTube video by Brotherearl1944 comes closest to capturing the imagery coursing through my imagination when I hear this song. I hope you enjoy it.

Look around. Take in God’s wondrous creation, and be… overwhelmed!

YBIC,

Dave Hoag

Securing Salvation

Ever wonder about whether someone can backslide, or walk so far away from God that they lose salvation? Maybe you wonder that about somebody you care deeply about, or maybe you wonder that about yourself. There are many conflicting opinions on this issue within the church, so how can you KNOW with assurance that you have eternal life?

Even if you’ve never considered this question, it is well worth EVERYONE’S time to hear Pastor Gene Appel’s teaching on this subject. Hear Gene explain:

• How we are like the Israelites walking through the parted Red Sea;
• Why many churches are like the Academy Awards Show;
• The 3 questions to determine if you are saved.

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Yes, it’s longer than the normal 20-30 second video clips on Facebook, but it is a teaching I believe that everyone needs to hear… especially my Christian brothers and sisters. It’ll probably end up being 41 minutes you will want to share. Click on the following link to get started:

https://vimeo.com/119071284

Your brother in Christ,

Dave

By the way, when Gene shared this teaching last week, 161 people accepted Christ and came forward to be baptized… that very hour!

Giving Thanks When Bad Things Happen

In my last entry, I promised to expand on the following:

“I pray that your coming year be more than happy, I pray that your year be connected to the joy of God that only comes from knowing Christ.”

At the time, it was a fragment of a prayer of thanksgiving that I wanted to share, but I was still trying to sort everything out AND I was excited to share the publication of my book. A big thank-you, by the way, to all of you who have purchased the book… in anticipation of the upcoming 2015 Christmas season. LOL!!!

It turns out that the end of 2014 had been particularly trying for our family. Within the span of a month, we experienced many challenges, including corporate incompetence, attacks of the flu, an automobile accident, and 4 deaths. None of the dead were human, but they were all family, nonetheless. Not necessarily in order of their demise, those we lost were:

1. Our beloved Nana; an intelligent, playful,  gentle, and loving black lab who was part of our family for 15 years; a victim of old age.
2. The 100-foot tall pine tree that stood in our front yard for over 40 years; a victim of borer beetles.
3. Our reliable microwave oven that had served us for 25 years; a mystery death, but not too surprising after 25 years.
4. My Hyundai Santa Fe SUV; only 8 years old, it died protecting me during a collision.

With all those losses, with sickness, and with a host of other setbacks in the family, one might be tempted to complain, to ask “why me”, or even believe that God might have withdrawn His blessings and hand of protection. My knowing Christ has not magically protected me from all trouble or sorrow. Oh, many “know of” Christ, but those that really “know” Christ exhibit an attitude of gratefulness that stems from the joy that passes all understanding, the joy of a relationship with Christ Jesus. So how’s YOUR gratefulness? Do you count your blessings, or do you only see the trials? Do you even see your blessings, or is everything always a struggle?

In the course of a month, over the Christmas season, we were hit with nothing but serious struggles. Where’s the blessing in that? Where’s the joy in that? The answer is that Jesus gives us a different way of looking at the world. For those with eyes to see, our lives are covered by blessings. Take another look at those 4 deaths:

1. Nana blessed us with her unconditional love for far longer than the 10 to 12 years that black labs usually live.
2. Once they started cutting down the 100-foot tall pine tree, they discovered that the top 25 feet of the tree was so weakened that a strong wind would have brought it crashing down on our house and our neighbor’s garage. It was an unexpected expense to take down the tree, but a blessing that we were spared serious damage, and possible serious injury.
3. The microwave turned out to have been improperly mounted over the stove, and might have torn free in an earthquake. Again, a blessing that we discovered it before serious damage or injury could occur.
4. I was in a collision with my Hyundai Santa Fe SUV. It was a great blessing that the vehicle did what it was designed to do… crumple into itself to protect the occupants (in this case, me). Because it did that so well, it was declared a total loss. There were actually a myriad blessings from that event; not so obvious at first, but eventually revealed over time.

Certainly, we all have troubles, but the question is: Are you overwhelmed by troubles, do you struggle to overcome your troubles alone, or do you move ever forward strengthened by Christ, obedient  to God, and grateful for God’s blessings?

So, let me encourage you with my prayer once again:

I pray that your coming year be more than happy, I pray that your year be connected to the joy of God that only comes from knowing Christ.

Your brother in Christ,

Dave

Sharing Christmas

It’s now 2015, and most of us just celebrated Christmas and wished each other Happy New Year. I pray that your coming year be more than happy, I pray that your year be connected to the joy of God that only comes from knowing Christ. I’m going to write more about this in my next post, but first… I have 2 exciting announcements: I’ve just published a new book, and I’m revamping the look and feel of the blog.

My new book is titled Sharing Christmas. It can be purchased online at Xlibris.com (the publisher), Amazon.com, and BarnesandNoble.com if you’d like to own your own collection of my Christmas-themed cards, writings, poems, and songs. Currently, Amazon and Barnes and Noble sell the softcover version while Xlibris sells the Hardcover and E-book versions, as well as the softcover. Search for Sharing Christmas, or search for David Alan Hoag on any of the sites, otherwise you may have to sort through hundreds of pages of books.

And the revamping of the blog? Well, you’re looking at it. Look around, explore, and enjoy.

YBIC, Dave