If Christ Had Never Been Born

In It's a Wonderful Life, George Bailey was forced to ponder what Bedford Falls would have been like if he had never been born. It was not a pretty picture. With Christmas upon us, perhaps we should consider what the world would have been like if Christ had never been born. Just to list a couple of obvious things, we would know much about God's power, but little about his love; and we would have a longing for heaven but have no sure way to get there.

Because of Christmas, however, we not only know them, but can experience them in our lives. May God grant you his peace this Christmas season, and all through the New Year.

The Christmas Gift

This year, don't measure the success of your Christmas by what you get, but by what you give. Remember, your Christmas gift was taken care of 2,000 years ago, not under a tree, but in a stable.

O Little (Part 4)

O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!

From O Little Town of Bethlehem, Phillips Brooks, 1867

O Little (Part 3)

How silently, how silently, the wondrous Gift is giv’n;
So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His Heav’n.
No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in.

From O Little Town of Bethlehem, Phillips Brooks, 1867

O Little (Part 2)

For Christ is born of Mary, and gathered all above,
While mortals sleep, the angels keep their watch of wondering love.
O morning stars together, proclaim the holy birth,
And praises sing to God the King, and peace to men on earth!

From O Little Town of Bethlehem, Phillips Brooks, 1867

O Little (Part 1)

O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.

From O Little Town of Bethlehem, Phillips Brooks, 1867

Q&A: 1

Question: How do you get kids to turn down the volume in church?

Answer: Put them in a choir.

The New "Limbaugh"

J. Whyatt Mondesire of the Philadelphia NAACP says Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb "played the race card" in deciding to stay in the pocket and not scramble like most black quarterbacks. Mondesire, who has no discernible football experience to back up his incomprehensible comments, also says McNabb is a poor leader, is partly responsible for the selfish behavior of Terrell Owens, and is "not that good."

Hmmm. Remember when Rush Limbaugh lost his NFL gig with ESPN because he suggested that the media wanted McNabb, whom he called overrated, to do well because he was a black quarterback? Limbaugh was vilified (unfairly) as a racist. If Limbaugh was dragged through the mud for criticizing the media, what do you think will happen to the race-mongerer from the City of Brotherly Love?

Let's just say I'll be surprised if Mondesire faces anything other than a wrist-slap.

Joy (Part 4)

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

From Joy to the World, Isaac Watts, 1719

Joy (Part 3)

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

From Joy to the World, Isaac Watts, 1719

Joy (Part 2)

Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

From Joy to the World, Isaac Watts, 1719

Joy (Part 1)

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

From Joy to the World, Isaac Watts, 1719

Special Skill

Anyone can alienate people with whom he or she disagrees. It takes special skill, however, to alienate those with whom you agree.

Fine Print 5

"No purchase necessary" (they make us say this and we hope you ignore it).

Hark! (Part 3)

Hail the heav’n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Ris’n with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by,
Born that man no more may die.
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.

Refrain
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!”

From Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, Charles Wesley, 1739

Hark! (Part 2)

Christ, by highest Heav’n adored;
Christ the everlasting Lord;
Late in time, behold Him come,
Offspring of the Virgin’s womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
Hail th’incarnate Deity,
Pleased as man with men to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel.

Refrain
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!”

From Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, Charles Wesley, 1739

Hark! (Part 1)

Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”
Joyful, all ye nations rise,
Join the triumph of the skies;
With th’angelic host proclaim,
“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”

Refrain
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!”

From Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, Charles Wesley, 1739

Under Orders

In some stores, employees are under orders to wish us "happy holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas." That doesn't mean we can't do it.

Mayor Without a City

Ray Nagin, who last was heard blaming everyone but himself, is a mayor without a city. The New Orleans mayor, so unprepared for Katrina and so ineffectual afterward, is on a speaking tour in Memphis, Houston, and Atlanta. He is urging, no, pleading, with displaced residents to come back. From the sound of it, most aren't buying. And why should they? The city was a cesspool of crime, poor schools, and corruption. And that was before the hurricane.

Net Worth

Any correlation between your net worth and your real worth is entirely coincidental.

Media Manipulation

Now critics of the war are shocked, shocked, I tell you, that the Pentagon has paid for positive stories in the Iraqi press. They apparently have forgotten that we are still at war, and that Iraq will not have a genuinely free press unless and until we prevail.

What I'm wondering is whether anyone at the Defense Department has thought about a similar plan with the American press. On second thought, never mind. With all the incessant body counting going on, the U.S. military couldn't even buy a positive story from the American mainstream media.

Tired Rhetoric

President Bush (finally) gave a compelling speech yesterday outlining in broad terms what critics on the left say they want: an exit strategy for the Iraq conflict. That strategy can be summed up in a single word: victory. He refused to give the the Democrats (and, presumably, the terrorists that U.S. troops are fighting) a timetable for withdrawal.

Harry Reid, the Senate Democratic leader, dismissed the speech as simply more "tired rhetoric." With all the Democrats' talk of "quagmires" and "misleading us into war," I think we had better take this criticism seriously. They are the masters of tired rhetoric, after all.