Love in Action

‭‭But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. Revelation 2:4-5a ESV

Notice that the first love that Jesus calls us to is not about how we feel. He is calling us to repent and then do something! Though our feelings often reflect our inner motives, even those motives are only useful, if they lead to our actions. When our focus is on how we feel about Jesus, then we end up in a fairly useless state of feeling guilty and ashamed. But the good news is that He gives us opportunities to serve him every day. He isn’t asking us to feel anything. He is calling us to go find someone with dirty feet, and show them the love of Jesus by washing them. Then those pesky feelings just might follow! So, as we enter this New Year, let’s determine to start showing the love of Jesus to the world by washing one dirty foot at a time!

Merry Christmas!

And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 
Luke 2:10-11 ESV

Some of you have followed this blog for a while, and others are new, but I appreciate every one of you who has taken the time to interact. I do read as many of your blogs as I can, and appreciate the encouragement, challenges and even corrections offered. We serve an awesome and wonderful Savior and none of us has all the answers! Now, December 25th is a very unlikely date for the actual story of Bethlehem, but it gives us a unique opportunity to share the wonderful story of our Jesus. This world is far too busy and even radically opposed to His message of repentance, faith and hope most of the time, but on this day, many businesses are closed and much of the western world pauses to catch its breath. Why not use this brief opportunity to share the radical hope, joy and peace we have found in Jesus? Today, I offer to you my final Christmas message, from the Friday service and also offer two free books. The video is just a tad over six minutes, so it won’t eat up much of your time, and these two devotional books will be available for a free download, from Christmas Eve through the day after Christmas. Have a Merry Christmas and may God bless you richly with both a wonderful Silent Night and the great joy we can find only in Jesus Christ!

Here are the links to the two books. The first, Grace for the Road is a 40-day devotional book especially for caregivers. The second is a 30-day Christmas Devotional which I wrote for 2023. I hope that one of these two gifts may serve in place as a little something for your Christmas stocking. Blessings all

One Final Christmas Carol

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And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Luke 2:10 ESV

Since this was our last service at nursing home until after Christmas, I wanted to share one of our last carols of the year. I hope you will be blessed as you listen. Our people had so much fun singing, this joyful and very scriptural song, that calls us to jubilant praise.