“Let us look at it like this: To be a Christian means that we have had an experience of the grace of God. That is essential Christianity. There are many definitions that one could give. One I have often quoted because it seems to me to be such an excellent one is that old definition of Henry Scougal, the Scotsman who lived nearly 300 years ago. He said that Christianity is ‘the life of God in the souls of men.’ In other words, what makes us Christians is not primarily what we do, but what God does to us. That is essential Christianity. This rebirth, this being born again, is all God’s action. It is not man’s, it is God’s. It is being born from above. It is the work of the Holy Spirit of God. Therefore, the essential thing about being a Christian is that one has thus been dealt with by God.”
Martyn Lloyd-Jones, My Soul Magnifies the LordÂ
Alright ladies – if you haven’t yet ordered a Skirty to put in your daughter’s Christmas stocking then you’re starting to cut it a little close. Order it now and you still have time to get it there before Christmas.
Because sometimes, even when they’re sitting like ladies, they could still use a Skirty!
Pop over to amorettidesigns.com and you can cross that one off your list.
Bad news, team. I’m about to get pompous. Yea, lo, even to the point of posting a picture about it.
Here’s what happened. I decided to make fudge for friends this Christmas. Nothing extravagant in that – pretty run of the mill I’d say. But the reason I decided on fudge is that they don’t have the same Christmas fudge traditions over here in this old and jolly country. They have something they call fudge . . . . and no doubt to them it IS fudge. But it doesn’t necessarily involve chocolate – and I’ve heard from those who know these things that it can even come in strawberry flavor. And no, it’s not that brown sugar fudge stuff (which I always think is a disappointment to be
perfectly honest) – it’s more like a soft toffee with lots of cream in it that you can cut into squares. It’s awfully good and I could eat way too much of that stuff. But as far as festive food goes . . . they eat mince pies here at all of the moments where we Americans would just say it with fudge.
Then I happened to see in the grocery store a jar of “marshmallow fluff†(don’t blame me – that’s what it was called) and I thought to myself, “Self: You should make some fudge to give out as Christmas treats.†There are all of the plain old reasons that you always give fudge at Christmas – it’s good and it’s fattening. But this time there was the added bonus that I would be giving something unusual – a feature that doesn’t usually show up when Continue reading ‘Just Fudge It’
The day after Christmas is the release date for my son’s next book, 100 Cupboards. You mustn’t miss it. It’s a very exciting adventure. And can you tell? I’m so very pleased! (Be sure to click on the cupboard doors when you go look at the Random House web site.)
If you would like to read a very good explanation of Mary’s Magnificat, I heartily recommend Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ My Soul Magnifies the Lord. It is a collection of four meditations on the meaning of Christmas (published by Crossway Books) and is a mere 108 pages. Here are a couple of excerpts.
“Mary is rejoicing not so much in the fact that she is to be given this great privilege. Yes, she has been reminded by Elisabeth of what that is and of how people are going to call her blessed, and she repeats that: ‘from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.’ But that is not the thing that really moves her. It is what God is doing — this historic event, this climactic action of God Himself. She is humbled and grateful at the thought of the fact that she is to be given a part and a place in this, but it is the thing itself that moves her and makes her sing and worship. She is filled with a sense of amazement, worship, adoration, Continue reading ‘Christmas Reading’
Since we are now approaching the second Sabbath in Advent, I wanted to give you a good resource to link to that explains the candles, the colors, and the symbolism of it all. This one looks just great. We use white instead of the colored candles at our house, but I do like the symbolism of the purple or dark blue for royalty, etc. I’ve seen these colored candles for sale at Hallmark and they are labeled as Advent candles. So if you are looking for some, there’s a tip for you.
We light one candle each week as part of our liturgy before our Sabbath dinner. Doug does the reading and I do the lighting. Then we have one candle in the middle of the wreath for Christmas Day. Each week we start with the oldest candle, relight it, and move on in order to the new one. So you end up having a lovely little arrangement of staggered heights of candles.
Last week, because our baby twins were so new, I did a drive-by Sabbath dinner for our kids. We took the meal to our Wilsons and dropped it off, and then we went to the Janks and ate with them. So we are one candle behind and we’ll have to catch up tonight. We’ve Continue reading ‘Advent Celebration’
Recent Comments