Musings from My Sun Porch

                 We are about to usher in a New Year, and like most people, my thoughts at this time of the year are a combination of looking backward and reflecting on the past year, both its positives and negatives.   Then, I begin to look forward to what might be ahead in the New Year.               As we approached the beginning of 2020, I’m sure none of us had an inkling of what was in store for us that year.   The pandemic turned all our lives upside down and we spent most of that year and the next trying to right the ship.   Many of us are still floundering as a result.             I well remember last New Year’s Eve.   It was my last official day as the Business Administrator of my church.   After 45 years in the workforce, I was retiring.   For most, that would have been a day of ce...

“We, three Kings of Orient are…” That’s the opening line of a famous Christmas carol.  Although the song is famous, it is not exactly an accurate portrayal of the Scriptural account.  Most manger scenes include three Wisemen, simply because they brought three gifts.  However, it is more likely that it was a much larger entourage of men, probably astronomers, who had traveled a great distance to find the King of the Jews.  Rather than being from the Orient, they were most likely Gentiles from Persia or Eastern Arabia.  They were familiar with the prophecies regarding the Messiah and recognized that this baby was a King!  The Scripture tells us that they saw “his star in the east”.  Some claim that what they saw was a natural phenomenon like a comet, a joining of multiple planets, or a meteor, it is much more likely that it was a one-time creation of Jehovah God, pointing the way to the Messiah.  They saw His star which is why they journeyed to ...

                 “For unto us, a child is born…”             Did you ever stop for a moment to wonder why God came to earth as a baby?   We know that to provide salvation, a perfect sacrifice was necessary.   That’s why the Old Testament required that the animal sacrifices be “without defect” (Leviticus 1:3).   A blood sacrifice was also required to make atonement for sin (Leviticus 17:11).   God knew from the beginning that His Son was the only one who could provide the unblemished, perfect sacrifice and shed His blood for the sins of mankind.   Still, the question remains, why a baby?             For the sacrifice to be complete, Jesus had to be both God and man, human and divine.   By coming as a baby, He learned what it was like for a human being to be dependent on someone else for everything...

  The Shepherds were the first to hear and the first to announce to the world that the Messiah had been born.   How like God to choose men who were considered “lower class” to most of the Jewish world, men who spent more time with animals than people, men who probably smelled.   Once more God reminded us that He doesn’t care about power or position.   He cares about the heart, and these men were ready to receive and celebrate the birth of their King!   This is an account of how the night might have appeared to the Shepherds. It was a clear, cool evening the night it happened. There was a gentle wind blowing from the East.   The lambs seemed to sense that something was about to happen as they were unusually restless.   Sheep generally settle down at night and seldom move or make a sound after dark.   That night was different.   Several sheep were up moving around and the Shepherds, especially the older ones who had done this duty more time...

                 Perhaps one of the most forgotten participants in the Christmas story is Joseph but that doesn’t make him any less important to God’s plan.   Just as God chose Mary, He also chose Joseph, as it would take a special kind of man to be the earthly father to the Son of God.             We know that Joseph was from the small village of Nazareth, a place that was not held in high esteem by other Jews.   The disciple Nathaniel makes that clear when his brother, Philip comes to tell him that the Messiah is Jesus of Nazareth.   Nathaniel’s reply is “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” (John 1: 46 NIV84)             He was a descendant of King David, thus fulfilling the Messianic prophecy according to the Jews' view of genealogy.   Since Jesus was referred to as the “carpenter’s son, we kn...

                 As we approach the celebration of our Savior’s birth, I want to take a closer look at some of the main participants in Christ’s first appearance on Earth.   It is only fitting that we begin with Mary, the mother of Jesus.               Mark Lowery in his song “Mary, Did You Know?” opens our minds to all kinds of questions.   Let’s begin with Gabriel showing up to give her the awesome news.   While any woman would be surprised or even shocked if an angel came to tell her that she would be the mother of God’s own son, Mary had an advantage over us.   She was a Jew, so she was very much aware of the prophecies.   She knew that the Messiah was to be born of a virgin, so unlike us, she may have been somewhat prepared.   But then, how can anyone prepare for the thought of giving birth to the Son of God?      ...

                 Perhaps one of the most marvelous things about the birth of Christ is God’s preparation for it.   I think some people think if they bother to consider it at all, that God’s plans didn’t work out the way He wanted so as a last resort, He sent His Son to “fix it”.   However, if you look at scripture, you will see that is the farthest thing from the truth.   God had one plan from the very beginning and He never waivered in bringing it to fruition.   Christ made that clear on the cross, when He said, “It is finished”.   He had completed the plan that God first revealed back in Genesis, some thousands of years before Christ was born.               The Old Testament was written over about 1500 years, and the last words of that testament were completed about 400 years before Christ was born.   Yet, the pages of the Old Testament are fill...

                 Searching for our ancestors has become a popular fad these days.   DNA tests and genealogy websites that can trace your ancestry back 100’s of years have reconnected long lost relatives, helped to solve crimes, and often made what we thought we knew about our family’s history to be completely wrong.               Fortunately, for us when it comes to the genealogy of Jesus, there are no mistakes.   For those of you who get bored by that long list of names in Matthew 1 and Luke 3, hang with me for a few minutes as I attempt to point out the blessings that God gives us even through a genealogy.             When you first look at the two listings of Christ’s heritage, you think there must be a mistake because they are somewhat different.   But then, God doesn’t make mistakes so there has to be...

                 Several years ago, I was contacted about speaking at a Church’s Mother’s Day Banquet. Since it was only three weeks until Mother's Day, my first reaction was that their first choice for speaker must have canceled. Then, I found out that they hadn’t set a date or a theme. Maybe I wasn’t the second choice after all!             Once I arrived, they gave me the program schedule – a short devotional followed by prayer for the food.   Then, lunch.   I was told that once everyone settled down to eat, I could speak.   Short lunch for me!             When the program started, the hostess gave the devotion and then picked someone from the audience to have a prayer for the meal.   Then, after the minister said a few words, the ladies began to go through the meal line.   Unfortunately for me, th...