Straight No Chaser - 12 Days

I know this is late, but it is really cool!

Christmas Eve in Philidelphia

I must say that so far, this has been an interesting Christmas Eve, but I have enjoyed it thus far.

I decided yesterday that I better get a hair cut before next weekend, since I will be preaching at Blake Shotwell's Dad's church. I usually cut my hair myself at home with Kristen's help. But we forgot the clippers. So I had to find a place here in Philly.

I was not expecting any Barber Shops to be open today, but it just so happened that a place called Ralph's was. Cool little place and it was vibrant with customers, and on Christmas Eve! I guess everyone else forgot their clippers as well. So many customers were there that I had a 40 minute wait.

I decided to take a stroll around the block and get some exercise while I waited. It was pretty cold out, but the sun kept me from completely freezing. I was getting ready to make a turn down a street and I decided to go up one more block. I am glad I did, because as I made the next turn this nice older lady was trying to get her groceries in the house, so I helped her out. I think she was really surprised that I asked to help her, but she was nice and let me. We had some small talk and I was off on my way.

I go back to the main street and still had another half an hour to go, so I went up the street a little further and found this GREAT pretzel shop. Pretzels are Big in Philly. I wish we had these kind of shops in NC. I went inside and it was a small little place with this little lady taking orders. They were all out of what I wanted, but some fresh ones were in the oven. So as I waited I had some small talk with a man waiting as well. We had a nice conversation, talked about his daughter who lives in Atlanta, going to school and all.

I finally got my hair cut, which cost $20 bucks! But all in all, I really enjoyed the way God sent me around a block, to enjoy his creations. Fresh air, helping a nice lady, talking with this gentleman in the pretzel shop, and of course eating the hot and fresh pretzels. And oh yeah, the hair cut. Not your typical Christmas Eve, but it was really nice and refreshing.

We will finish it off tonight at Church, as we take communion and celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. By the way, take a look at the four gospels this week and look at how Matthew, Mark and Luke write about the introduction of Christ to earth, then read the 1st chapter of the gospel of John! Good stuff!

What Really Matters

This add has caused quite a stir! It is truly amazing at how people get so upset about things like this.

Jesus and Santa

Christmas by Isaiah

Isaiah 9
To Us a Child Is Born 1 Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan-
2 The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death [a]
a light has dawned.

3 You have enlarged the nation
and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest,
as men rejoice
when dividing the plunder.

4 For as in the day of Midian's defeat,
you have shattered
the yoke that burdens them,
the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor.

5 Every warrior's boot used in battle
and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,
will be fuel for the fire.

6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, [b] Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

7 Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David's throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.

Christmas, C.S. Lewis and Narnia

Read this bit from C.S. Lewis's book. This was really good.

There are days when we feel like every day is Winter, cold and hopeless. We feel like there will never be an end to Winter, but yes, spring is coming soon. Christ is coming soon, to deliver us from this cold, miserable and dark world.

THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE, p. 19:


"The White Witch? Who is she?

"Why, it is she that has got all Narnia under her thumb. It's she that makes

it always winter and never Christmas; think of that!"

"How awful!" said Lucy.



COMPANION TO NARNIA by Paul Ford:


Father Christmas -- A huge, bearded man in a bright red robe whose appearance

signals the end of the Hundred Years of Winter, during which time "it was

always winter but Christmas never came." He is "big and glad and real," not

just funny and jolly like the Father Christmas or Santa Clause we know in the

modern world. He brings gifts...tools, not toys...In an interesting parallel

to the White Witch, Father Christmas too arrives in a sleigh pulled by

reindeer, but he is there to tell them that Aslan is on the move, the spring

will come again, just as Christmas is the commemoration of the birth of

Christ. Father Christmas is a hieroglyph of the joy that Aslan brings.



"On Christmas Day, C. S. Lewis joined the church" --

Remember Missionaries This Christmas

Great Post on Desiring God's Blog today.

Here are a few examples:

*Pray specific Scripture for them and their ministry, and then email it to them.
*Call or email their parents—Christmas might be just as lonely for the ones at home as the ones away.
*Purchase phone minutes for an international calling card through an online service like OneSuite and email them the account number.
*Donate frequent flier miles to them.

For the rest of the list, go here.

Bradsher Mission Website

We have a new website that is now up and running. It is a free website through our missions agency.

It also allows you to go at any time and see where we are in our support raising. You will notice the the monthly number is higher than what we have normally talked about, but it is both our monthly support need plus our monthly ministry cost need with is $450/month.

I have also added a link to the site on the side of our blog.

New Website link here.

New Bible Study Material

This site is really cool. It has so far, five of the Parables of Jesus, and they have made modern films out of them. Then they have Bible study material to go along with the films. I have attached one of the short trailers below. But check the website out here.

Great Article from John Piper

The following is a great article from Pastor John Piper on how the Lord gives LIFE!

A Meditation on Acts 16:14
December 12, 2007
By John Piper
Read this article on our website.
Everywhere Paul preached some believed and some did not. How are we to understand why some of those who are “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1, 5) believed and some did not?
The answer why some did not believe is that they “thrust it aside” (Acts 13:46) because the message of the gospel was “folly to them, and they [were] not able to understand” (1 Corinthians 2:14). The mind of the flesh “is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot” (Romans 8:7). Those who hear and reject the gospel “hate the light” and do not come to the light lest their deeds should be exposed (John 3:20). They remain “darkened in their understanding . . . because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart” (Ephesians 4:18). It is a guilty ignorance. The truth is available. But “by their unrighteousness they suppress the truth” (Romans 1:18).
But why then do some believe, since all are in this condition of rebellious hardness of heart, dead in our trespasses? The book of Acts gives the answer in at least three different ways. One is that they are appointed to believe. When Paul preached in Antioch of Pisidia, the Gentiles rejoiced and “as many as were appointed to eternal life believed” (Acts 13:48).
Another way of answering why some believe is that God granted repentance. When the saints in Jerusalem heard that Gentiles were responding to the gospel and not just Jews, they said, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life” (Acts 11:18).
But the clearest answer in Acts to the question why a person believes the gospel is that God opens the heart. Lydia is the best example. Why did she believe? Acts 16:14 says, “The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.” Notice four aspects of this conversion.
1) “. . . what was said by Paul.” First, someone must speak the gospel. God does not open the eyes of the heart to see nothing. He opens them to see the glory of Christ in the truth of the gospel (2 Corinthians 4:4-6). Therefore, we must speak the gospel. We don’t make the new birth happen when we do. But we fit into God’s way of doing it. The point of the new birth is to grant spiritual sight. The point of speaking the gospel is give something to see. New birth is for the glory of Christ. Therefore, God causes it to happen when Christ is lifted up.
2) “The Lord . . .” Second, the speaker of the gospel relies upon the Lord. Prayer is not mentioned here. But that is what we do when we realize that it is the Lord who is the decisive actor, not us. We have a significant role in speaking the gospel, but it is the Lord himself who does the decisive work.
3) “. . . opened her heart . . .” Since the key problem in not believing the gospel is the hardness or the closedness of the heart, this is where the Lord does his decisive work. He “opens the heart” of Lydia. This means he takes out the heart of stone, and puts in the heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26); he says with sovereign authority, “Let there be light,” and “shines in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). So the darkness flies away and the light of truth reveals the irresistible beauty of Christ in the gospel.
4) “. . . to pay attention to what was said by Paul.” The effect of the Lord’s opening her heart is a true spiritual hearing of the gospel. “Pay attention to” is a weak translation of the Greek prosechein. It is stronger than that in this content. In this verse, it is a hearing with attachment. The work of the Lord does not just help her focus. It brings about faith. She was “granted repentance” (2 Timothy 2:25) and faith (Philippians 1:29).
Or, in the terms of John 6, she was given by the Father to the Son (v. 37), and was drawn by the Father to the Son (v. 44), and was granted by the Father to come to the Son (v. 65). She was “made alive” (Ephesians 2:5) and born again (John 3:3, 7).
Would you pray with me in these weighty and wonderful days at Bethlehem that God would do this for hundreds of people in our services? I have heard of three conversions in the last week. Mercy drops around us are falling, but for the showers we plead.
Praying to the Lord of life,

Pastor John

Lessons From Children

The link in this post is from a good friend of ours going to South America as a missionary with SIM. She has wonderful posts and God gives her the best thoughts to which she shares on her blog.

"In that moment, she had nothing to trust in except that her dad was going to catch her."

The rest of the post is here.

Sale at Desiring God

Desiring God is having a sale on a great DVD series. If you are a preacher, teacher, or just want to know how to keep the Gospel as it is the Gospel, this is a great set to have.

Link Here

The Bethlehem Institute

If you are considering further learning and study of the Lord, this is a great place to look at.

Blessings,

Link Here