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“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward men.”

— Luke 2:14

Shepherds Christmas

It is superstitious to worship angels; it is but proper to love them.  Although it would be a high sin, and an act of misdemeanor against the Sovereign Court of Heaven to pay the slightest adoration to the mightiest angel, yet it would be un­kind and unseemly, if we did not give to holy angels a place in our heart’s warmest love.  In fact, he that contemplates the character of angels, and marks their many deeds of sympathy with men, and kindness towards them, cannot resist the impulse of his nature—the impulse of love towards them.  The one incident in angelic his­tory, to which our text refers, is enough to weld our hearts to them forever.  How free from envy the angels were!  Christ did not come from heaven to save their peers when the fell.  When Satan, the mighty angel, dragged with him a third part of the stars of heaven, Christ did not stoop from his throne to die for them; but he left them to be reserved in chains and darkness until the last great day.  Yet angels did not envy men.  Though they remembered that he took not up angels, yet they did not murmur when he took up the seed of Abraham; and though the blessed Master had never condescended to take the angers form, they did not think it beneath them to express their joy when they found him arrayed in the body of an infant. Continue Reading »

As we approach the Thanksgiving season, I want to say how thankful I am for your prayers and support.  Serving as a missionary in Ukraine has been much more difficult and challenging than I ever expected and it is a real blessing to know that we have people back home who are lifting us before the Lord as we serve here! Continue Reading »

Having a Thankful Heart by Thomas Watson

‘Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name’ (Psalm 29:2).

Let us prove our godliness by gratefulness:

1. ‘It is a good thing to be thankful:‘It is good to sing praises unto our God’ (Psalm 147:1).  It is bad when the tongue (that organ of praise) is out of tune and jars by murmuring and discontent.  But it is a good thing to be thankful.  It is good, because this is all the creature can do to lift up God’s name; and it is good because it tends to make us good.  The more thankful we are, the more holy.  While we pay this tribute of praise, our stock of grace increases.  In other debts, the more we pay, the less we have; but the more we pay this debt of thankfulness, the more grace we have. Continue Reading »

It has been truly said: “Right views concerning Christ are indispensable to a right faith, and a right faith is indispensable to salvation.  To stumble at the foundation, is, concerning faith, to make shipwreck altogether; for as Immanuel, God with us, is the grand Object of faith, to err in views of His eternal Deity, or to err in views of His sacred humanity, is alike destructive.  There are points of truth which are not fundamental, though erroneous views on any one point must lead to God-dishonoring consequences in strict proportion to its importance and magnitude; but there are certain foundation truths to err concerning which is to insure for the erroneous and the unbelieving, the blackness of darkness forever” (J. C. Philpot, 1859).

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I’m continuing to work on my Russian and I am making some progress.  My understanding is greatly improving.  Depending on the conversation, I usually understand most of what I hear (depending on the context and the speaker).  That’s a big improvement. Speaking in Russian, however, is another story.  I can carry on conversations, but only with a lot of hesitating and stopping to correct myself and trying again.  Getting case endings right is really difficult.  It seems like, the more I learn, the more I realize how little I know! Continue Reading »