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Welcome to THE TIMOTHY REPORT for December 15, 2003
“To assist, encourage, enable and equip”
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CHRISTMAS CAROLS (good for a Christmas party or fellowship)
Can you decipher the REAL titles of these exaggerated titles of very familiar Christmas tunes? (You'll find the answers below)
1. From dark 'til dawn, soundless and sanctimonious.
2. Celestial messengers from splendid empires.
3. In a distant bovine diner.
4. Universal elation.
5. Ornament the enclosure with large sprigs of berry-bearing evergreen.
6. O miniature Nazarene village.
7. May Jehovah grant unto you hilarious males retirement.
8. Those of you who are true, come here!
9. Are you detecting the same aural sensations as I am?
10. The diminutive male of less than adulta ge who plays a percussion instrument.
11. Primary Yuletide.
12. Heavenly cherubs announcing in song--listen!
13. Reigning monarchs of the Far East.
14. Proclaim it to the hills.
Answers:
1. Silent Night.
2. Angels We Have Heard on High.
3. Away in a Manger.
4. Joy to the World.
5. Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly.
6. O Little Town of Bethlehem.
7. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.
8. O, Come All Ye Faithful.
9. Do You Hear What I Hear?
10. Little Drummer Boy.
11. The First Noel.
12. Hark, the Herald Angels Sing.
13. We Three Kings.
14. Go Tell It on the Mountain.
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, Swanlake@jam.rr.com
December 15, 2003)
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THE FIRST CHRISTMAS WITHOUT A LOVED ONE
Let us be conscious this year of those around us who will be observing their first Christmas without a very special loved one. Reading the prayer below may help give us all a better perspective of grief at Christmastime.
Lord, there will be an empty place at the Christmas table. And I'm not able to face it alone. Please pass a second helping of Your grace. I can't seem to get enough of it these days. The lights on the tree are all a blur as I look through swollen eyes. The carols catch in my throat. Wise men and shepherds, angels and stars, Christmas cards, candles and gifts - they all used to move me, but this year I'm scarred by wounds to fresh to heal. I'm scared by what I feel. Haunting memories, good ones, but regrets too. Too many tears. Too few Kleenex. Too many days in December. And all because the one I love is dead. My heart feels dead as well. I'm so afraid of what still lies ahead. Please remind me that Easter and all that it promises will soon be here. Maybe by then I can celebrate the good tidings of Christmas in spite of this empty chair. In the name of Immanuel I pray. Amen.
--Greg Asimakoupoulos, Naperville, ILL.
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, Swanlake@jam.rr.com
December 15, 2003)
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CHRISTMAS RUSH
For many of us, sadly, the spirit of Christmas is "hurry". And yet, eventually, the hour comes when the rushing ends and the race against the calendar mercifully comes to a close. It is only now perhaps that we truly recognize the spirit of Christmas. It is not a matter of days or weeks, but of centuries-nearly twenty of them now since that holy night in Bethlehem. Regarded in this manner, the pre-Christmas rush may do us greater service than we realize. With all its temporal confusion, it may just help us to see that by contrast, Christmas itself is eternal.
--Burton Hills
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, Swanlake@jam.rr.com
December 15, 2003)
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I HEARD THE BELLS ON CHRISTMAS DAY
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was filled with sorrow at the tragic death of his wife in a fire in 1861. The Civil War broke out that same year, and it seemed this was an additional punishment. Two years later, Longfellow was again saddened to hear the his own son had been seriously wounded as a lieutenant in the Army of the Potomac.
Sitting down to his desk, one Christmas Day, he heard the church bells ringing, and ringing. It was in this setting he wrote:
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.
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.
At this Christmas time whether you are in sorrow or in joy you can know that God is not dead, not doth he sleep. He knows your every need and longs to comfort you and be that special friend you need. Seek Him this year instead of the outward manifestations of the season. He will give life real meaning and your heart real peace, the peace that passes all understanding.
--Author Unknown
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, Swanlake@jam.rr.com
December 15, 2003)
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SECOND COMING AND FAITHFULNESS
During his 1960 presidential campaign, John F. Kennedy often closed his speeches with the story of Colonel Davenport, the Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives: On May 19th, 1780 the sky of Hartford darkened ominously, and some of the representatives, glancing out the windows, feared the end was at hand. Quelling a clamor for immediate adjournment, Davenport rose and said, "The Day of Judgment is either approaching or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for adjournment. If it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. Therefore, I wish that candles be brought." Rather than fearing what is to come, we are to be faithful till Christ returns. Instead of fearing the dark, we're to be lights as we watch and wait.
--Harry Heintz
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, Swanlake@jam.rr.com
December 15, 2003)
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REDEEMED!
A.J. Gordon was the great Baptist pastor of the Clarendon Church in Boston,
Massachusetts. One day he met a young boy in front of the sanctuary carrying a rusty cage in which several birds fluttered nervously. Gordon inquired, "Son, where did you get those birds?" The boy replied, "I trapped them out in the field." "What are you going to do with them?" "I'm going to play with them, and then I guess I'll just feed them to an old cat we have at home."
When Gordon offered to buy them, the lad exclaimed, "Mister, you don't want them, they're just little old wild birds and can't sing very well." Gordon replied, "I'll give you $2 for the cage and the birds." "Okay, it's a deal but you're making a bad bargain." The exchange was made and the boy went away whistling, happy with his shiny coins. Gordon walked around to the back of the church property, opened the door of the small wire coop, and let the struggling creatures soar into the blue. The next Sunday he took the empty cage into the pulpit and used it to illustrate his sermon about Christ's coming to seek and to save the lost -- paying for them with His own precious blood. "That boy told me the birds were not songsters," said Gordon, "but when I released them and they winged their way heavenward, it seemed to me they were singing, 'Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed!'"
This is Advent. And the message of these times is the song of those wild birds. It's the song sung in every carol this season: Redeemed! It’s the meaning behind every gift given under the tree: Redeemed! It's the Word the shepherds heard: Redeemed! It's the assurance Mary received: Redeemed! It's the star the Wisemen followed: Redeemed! You and I have been trapped by sin, but Christ has purchased our pardon. He who has this hope in his heart will sing, and you know the song: "Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed!"
--Brett Blair
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, Swanlake@jam.rr.com
December 15, 2003)
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PROMISES OF GOD
God never made a promise that was too good to be true.
--D. L. Moody
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, Swanlake@jam.rr.com
December 15, 2003)
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TOLERANCE
In the world it is called tolerance, but in hell it is called despair ... the sin that believes in nothing, interferes with nothing, enjoys nothing, hates nothing, finds purpose in nothing, lives for nothing and remains alive because there is nothing for which it will die.
--Dorothy Sayers
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, Swanlake@jam.rr.com
December 15, 2003)
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ONE CERTAINTY
There are always uncertainties ahead, but there is always one certainty--God's will is good.
--Vernon Paterson
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, Swanlake@jam.rr.com
December 15, 2003)
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