December 1, 2008

IT’S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR

Waltz time

VERSE 1: It’s the most wonderful time of the year With the kids jingle belling and everyone telling you “Be of good cheer” It’s the most wonderful time of the year.

VERSE 2: It’s the hap – happiest season of all With those holiday greetings and gay, happy meetings When friends come to call, it’s the hap – happiest season of all.

BRIDGE: There’ll be parties for hosting, marshmallows for toasting, and caroling out in the snow. There’ll be scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago.

VERSE 3: It’s the most wonderful time of the year. There’ll be mistle-toeing, and hearts will be glowing when loved ones are near. It’s the most wonderful time of the year.

Andy Williams made this song popular back in the sixties.  I like all the music at Christmas, from the silly Porky Pig’s Blue Christmas to Bing Crosby’s I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas.  I like the hymns of the season, too.  In the month of December I will use a secular song and a hymn to illustrate a truth.

        Joy To The World

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.

Joy to the world, 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.

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.

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.

 

It’s the most wonderful time of the year.  From toddlers to nursing homes patients the season makes everybody smile.  Everybody likes to receive a gift.  I heard this quote “it is better to give than to receive”.  Try making your children believe it. 

How ‘s this fact?  God has this plan.  Since eternity past God knew the need for a redeemer.  The Ten Commandments were impossible to keep.  People look on the outside for behavior but God looks at the heart for motive.  This Christmas remember God’s greatest gift to you.

John 3:16  For God so loved the world(insert your name) that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him would not perish but have everlasting life.

Joy to the world – the Lord is come.  He is the most treasured, most prized gift of all time.  Accept the Savior today and get ready to be blessed by the WONDERS OF HIS LOVE.

Celebrate the JOY!  SMILE.

I can almost hear the trumpet.

Danny D 

November 30, 2008

 

Gloom, despair, and agony on me
Deep, dark depression, excessive misery {Aaaaw)
If it weren’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all {Ooooh)
Gloom, despair, and agony on me

You can watch on You Tube “Hee Haw” – them sanging – not to be confused with singing. 

Yesterday afternoon son, Watts, opened up his high school sophomore season in basketball in Jonesboro.  They lost by 14 and it rained all the way down and back.  I listened to the Georgia game in the gym.  The Bulldogs lost, too.  A fine afternoon.

Reminds me of a bad day on the golf course.  One thing I learned from summer senior league baseball – you have got to have a short memory.  I pitched and played first base.  After a bad outing on the mound, you expect the next one to be better.  A bad day is just a blip on the radar screen.

Start singing “Somewhere over the Rainbow” or “Tomorrow”.  

I’ve got a headache – don’t blow the trumpet.

Danny D

P.S.  Buzzzzz, Buzzzzz!!! 

 

November 29, 2008

IT WON’T RAIN ALWAYS
(Gloria Gaither / Bill Gaither / Aaron Wilburn)

Bill & Gloria Gaither

Someone said that in each life some rain is bound to fall
And each one sheds his share of tears
And trouble troubles us all

But the hurt can’t hurt forever
And the tears are sure to dry

And it won’t rain always
The clouds will soon be gone
The sun that they’ve been hiding has been there all along

And it won’t rain always
God’s promises are true
The sun’s gonna shine in His own good time
And He will see you through

One of my favorite moments in the Gaither videos is when Cynthia Clawson sings this song.  Watch on YOU Tube “It wont rain always by Cynthia Clawson(Full)(5:37)”.  You can tell on the video Cynthia’s singing impresses the other singers.  And this song is so true and powerful.  Sue Dodge’s testimony gives weight to the lyrics.Outward circumstances make us think the present situation is permanent.  It is a lie from hell and it smells like smoke.  Like the sun behind a storm cloud, God is overseeing your stormy situation.  Life is full of  valleys and trouble troubles us all.  

One of the most admirable persons on this earth is my wife’s sister, Carol.   In 1978 she lost her first husband, Sammy Eskew.  He was my roommate in college and played tight end for the Bulldogs.  He gave up his senior year to go into the Airforce.  Captain Eskew was killed in a C130 plane crash.  There is a plaque honoring him outside of the practice fields in Athens.

Carol moved to Dalton in 1980 with Andy, 4, and Ellis, 1 1/2.  Her vivacious personality swooned Dick Causby.  They were married in May 1989.  Dick was a good father to Andy, Ellis and Christian(born in 1990).  Dick died in 2006 of renal cancer.  I was by his bed the night he died.  He breathed his last breath and Carol asked me to read John 14.

Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father’s house are many dwelling places, if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

Carol, having lost a pilot and a cowboy, comes from good stock.  The Kennedy clan from Decatur are top notch.  The first time I met Jean and Carol’s dad, he was watching TV – a Billy Graham crusade.  Their mother, Lib, sees a sermon in everything that happens.

Tragedy is part of life.  God is more concerned with how you handle it, instead of making it disappear.  Your Heavenly Father knows what you are going through.  You’re going to make it.  It’ll be o.k.  Promise.

I can almost hear the trumpet.

Danny D

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

November 28, 2008

As originally published 1862 in The Atlantic Monthly

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:

He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;

He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:

His truth is marching on.

(Chorus)

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

His truth is marching on.

I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps,

They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;

I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps:

His day is marching on.

(Chorus)

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

His day is marching on.

I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel:

“As ye deal with my condemners, so with you my grace shall deal;

Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel,

Since God is marching on.”

(Chorus)

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Since God is marching on.

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;

He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat:

Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet!

Our God is marching on.

(Chorus)

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Our God is marching on.

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,

With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:

As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,

While God is marching on.

(Chorus)

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

While God is marching on.

He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,

He is Wisdom to the mighty, He is honor to the brave,

So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of Time His slave,

Our God is marching on.

(Chorus)

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Our God is marching on.

Watch on You Tube “Georgia Bulldogs Pre-Game Battle Hymn”(1:54).  It’s the tune of the chorus.  A trumpet plays in the upper deck before every Bulldog home game. 

Tomorrow the insects from that trade school on 10th Avenue invade Sanford Stadium.  Coach Johnson has got the triple option honed to a science.  It’s going to be a nightmare. 

When I signed with Georgia back in 1969, freshmen were not allowed to play on the varsity.  Thanksgiving day there was the annual Bullpups vs. Yellow Jackets Freshman game at Grant Field.  We visited the children at Scottish Rite on Wednesday afternoon.  It was an awesome event.  I started at left offensive tackle – 6’1″ 204 lbs.  They put in a special tackle trap because I was so quick.  Coach Kasay, my freshman offensive line coach, called me the “Parson”.

In 1970 I was redshirted along with every lineman from my freshman class.  Tech’s varsity won the game that year.  I don’t consider it a loss, I didn’t play.  ’69, ’71, ’72 and ’73 we were undefeated against our arch rivals. 

It is a bitter rivalry.  Tech is due.  But, I would like for the Bulldogs to never lose to the Yellow Jackets.  Son, Watts, has been on 2 unofficial visits to Grant Field.  He gets a letter from Tech every week.  He’s pushing me over the edge.

Friend and former defensive guard at UGA, Ronnie Rogers, has a son who played for Tech.  I’ll turnover in my grave. 

NEWS – Andy Eskew and his wife Stacy just had a new addition delivered – a boy,  William Alexander Eskew.  Baby and mom are just dandy.

I can almost hear the trumpet.  Both of them.

Danny D

November 27, 2008

Now Thank We All Our God

1. Now thank we all our God, 
with heart and hands and voices,
who wondrous things has done,
in whom this world rejoices;
who from our mothers’ arms
has blessed us on our way
with countless gifts of love,
and still is ours today.

2. O may this bounteous God
through all our life be near us,
with ever joyful hearts
and blessed peace to cheer us;
and keep us still in grace,
and guide us when perplexed;
and free us from all ills,
in this world and the next.

3. All praise and thanks to God
the Father now be given;
the Son, and him who reigns
with them in highest heaven;
the one eternal God,
whom earth and heaven adore;
for thus it was, is now,
and shall be evermore.

A song from the “high” church.  Watch on You Tube “Now Thank We All Our God -Gods Country QVT Productions”(3:51).  It is a film clip of West Yorkshire, England(Ilkley Moor).  A man introduces the clip and brags on his village.  I love the small villages of Europe. 

They remind me of a simpler time.   Jean and I are winning the rat race.  You ever watch a gerbil on spinning tread mill?  We are peddling this life bicycle as fast as we can.  With two children in college and one in high school life is in the fast forward position.  Jean and Carol’s mom is 94.  My mom just got out of the hospital.   She is still in rehab.  

Whew!  Take a breath.  Psalms 46:10  Cease striving(relax, be still) and know that I am God. 

Slow down.  This disability has me right where I need to be.  I would have never blogged if I hadn’t got this disease.  Each morning I look forward to getting my Bible and hymnal out and writing. 

Col. 1:3 We give thanks to God… 

Eph. 5:20 Always giving thanks for all things…

Check your attitude.  Play the hand that you are dealt.  At Thanksgiving tell someone you are thankful for them.  We usually go around the table and everybody has to say something they are thankful for.  And thank God, too.  He’s orchestrating all the details.

I can almost hear the trumpet.

Danny D

November 26, 2008

Blessed Assurance

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.

 
Refrain:
This is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long;
this is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long.

2. Perfect submission, perfect delight,
visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
angels descending bring from above
echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
(Refrain)

3. Perfect submission, all is at rest;
I in my Savior am happy and blest,
watching and waiting, looking above,
filled with his goodness, lost in his love.
(Refrain)

On You Tube you can listen to a bunch of artists do this song – Aretha Franklin, Michael English, Sandi Patty or the Issacs(bluegrass).

Blessed Assurance.  We know.  I John 5:13 These things have I written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may KNOW that you have eternal life.

Many times Satan whispers “give up” or “give in”.  The fact of the matter is God KNOWS.  And we, who claim the name of Christ, KNOW.  You are not in the dark.  Fight the GOOD fight. 

I have always been a competitor.   Son, Leland, shocked me one day when I agreed to be the first coach for Christian Heritage’s football team.  He said, “I’ll play, too”.  Watts, a 7th grader in pads looked like a junior in high school, had already volunteered.  Leland was a junior and played football for the first time.  We kept him out of the recreation program in football – he would have gotten injured. 

Leland enjoyed football.  And when basketball season rolled around he played that, too.  I “helped”, not much, Coach Irwin at CHS.  The Lions won the Tennessee Christian School State title that year.  I have a ring.  The next year Coach Irwin’s team lost in the finals.  Leland was on that team, too.

My children are competitors.  They know their Heavenly Father blessed them with talent.  Perry, Ms. Dantzler, is teaching English in college while working on her Masters/Doctorate.  DeLancey is sewing costumes and selling them on Ebay.   Leland loves his Music major at Lee University.  And, Watts is all about sports and being a chick magnet(like his dad, ha, ha).

My wife is a competitor, too.  You should have seen her pushing my wheelchair at Disney World.  I told her I was the reason for her good looking legs.

Being a competitor is fine and dandy when you know what you are fighting for.  Contend for the Faith.  Never surrender.   Christ willingly chose the cross.  Are YOU striving?  I know what my striving is all about.  Blessed Assurance.  Jesus is mine.

I can almost hear the tumpet.

Danny D

November 25, 2008

            Via Dolorosa

Down the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem that day
The soldiers tried to clear the narrow street
But the crowd pressed in to see
The Man condemned to die on Calvary

He was bleeding from a beating, there were stripes upon His back
And He wore a crown of thorns upon His head
And He bore with every step
The scorn of those who cried out for His death

Down the Via Dolorosa called the way of suffering
Like a lamb came the Messiah, Christ the King,
But He chose to walk that road out of
His love for you and me.

Down the Via Dolorosa, all the way to Calvary.

Por la Via Dolorosa, triste dia en Jerusalem
Los saldados le abrian paso a Jesus

Mas la gente se acercaba
Para ver al que llevaba aquella cruz

Por la Via Dolorosa, que es la via del dolor
Como oveja vino Cristo, Rey, Senor
Y fue El quien quiso ir por su amor por ti y por mi
Por la Via Dolorosa al Calvario y a morir

The blood that would cleanse the souls of all men
Made its way through the heart of Jerusalem.

Down the Via Dolorosa called the way of suffering
Like a lamb came the Messiah, Christ the King
But He chose to walk that road out of His love for you and me
Down the Via Dolorosa, all the way to Calvary.

The traditional route starts just inside the Lion’s Gate (St. Stephen’s Gate), at a school near the location of the former Antonia Fortress, and makes its way westward through the Old City to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This route is based on a devotional walk organized by the Franciscans in the 14th century AD.  There are 14 stations(places) on the Via Dolorosa.  The last 5 are in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Station #1 – Jesus is condemned by Pontius Pilate.  Station #2 – Where Jesus took up His cross.  Station #3 – Where Jesus fell for the first time under the weight of the cross.  Station #4 – Mother Mary watches her Son.  Station #5 –  Simon of Cyrene was forced by Roman soldiers to help Jesus carry this cross.  Station #6 – where, according to a tradition dating from the 14th century, St. Veronica wiped Jesus’ face with her handkerchief, leaving an image of his face imprinted on the cloth.  Station #7 – Jesus fell for the second time.  Station #8 -Where Jesus consoled the lamenting women of Jerusalem (Lk 23:27-31).  Station #9 – Jesus falls a third time.

I’ve walked the Via Dolorosa.  I don’t know about the 14 stations.  All I do know is that my Savior walked the Way of Suffering to Golgotha Hill(Calvary).  The Roman soldiers crucified Jesus.  He died on the cross bearing my sin – an innocent man for one not innocent.

Yet the story does not end there.  It’s Friday – but Sunday is coming.   

You have to watch Sandi Patty sing Via Dolorosa/The Old Rugged Cross(6:22) on You Tube.  Hankie required.

I can almost hear the trumpet.

Danny D 

November 24, 2008

                    The Old Rugged Cross

           by George Bennard(1913)

On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
The emblem of suffering and shame;
And I love that old cross where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain.

 So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it some day for a crown.

O that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,
Has a wondrous attraction for me;
For the dear Lamb of God left His glory above
To bear it to dark Calvary.

In that old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine,
A wondrous beauty I see,
For ’twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,
To pardon and sanctify me.

To the old rugged cross I will ever be true;
Its shame and reproach gladly bear;
Then He’ll call me some day to my home far away,
Where His glory forever I’ll share.

On You Tube you can listen to Elvis, Jim (Gomer Pyle) Nabors and others sing this song.

The Old Rugged Cross, with its haunting melody, has long been one of my favorites.   I love the words of this song.  Pick a verse, any verse.  This hymn stands alone, no commentary is necessary.  As is usual for a hymn, the last verse is written about heaven.

Heaven has been on my mind a lot lately.  Singing hymns helps me.  I usually use the earphones on my computer.  Jean will walk by and see me “leaking” and know I’m on You Tube.  She gets me a hankie when I need it.

I can almost hear the trumpet.

Danny D    

 

 

November 23, 2008

           He Came To Me

              By Squire Parsons

The gulf that separated me from Christ, my Lord,
It was so vast the crossing I could never ford;
From where I was to His domain, it seemed so far;
I cried, “Dear Lord, I cannot come to where you are.”

He came to me, O, He came to me.When I could not come to where He was, He came to me.
That’s why He died on Calvary;
When I could not come to where He was, He came to me.

He came to me when I was bound in chains of sin,
He came to me when I possessed no hope within;
He picked me up and He drew me gently to His side,
Where, today, in His sweet love I now abide.

He came to me, O, He came to me.
When I could not come to where He was, He came to me.
That’s why He died on Calvary;
When I could not come to where He was, He came to me.

Watch He Came To Me – John Starnes or hear the author sing it on allthelyrics.com.  

If salvation depends on my efforts, I am lost.  The chasm between God and man is huge.  We can not build a bridge that will span the chasm.   We have to be perfect to fellowship with a perfect God.   I don’t know about you, but I know me.  I have zero chance to make it to heaven by my own merits.  I have commited sins in my mind that only God knows about – greed, envy, lust, etc. 

My wife can give testimony that I have commited sins not only in my mind, but actually.  Don’t ask my children.  They want to be included in the inheritance. 

Christ in His providential will “elected” me.  I’m not getting into a debate – people are still fighting over this.  I believe there is a sign over the gate of heaven.  On the outside it reads “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord will be saved”.  Once you walk through the gate and glance over your shoulder it reads “chosen before the foundation of the earth”.

“He came to me” describes the work my Savior did on my behalf.  Glory to God.

I can almost hear the trumpet.

Danny D

P.S. This is the 17th post.  3,600 views(hits).  79 comments.  Praise God. 

November 22, 2008

  

 

He’s Still In The Fire

by Walt Mills

My mama read a story
about the bible long ago
About Shadrack, Meshack and old Abendigo
How the wicked king commanded
they be thrown into the flame
Because they wouldn’t bow
and then deny their father’s name

My mama said the king stood high
upon a balconey so tall
When he looked in
he was shocked by all the things he saw
He thought that he would find them
lying dead upon the ground
but instead of three he counted four
up walking all around

Well he’s still in the fire
and he’s walking in the flame
and he’ll be there to help you
when you call in Jesus’ name
And he can still deliver
by his almighty power
While here below
it’s good to know
He’s still in the fire

Then I said Mama,
wait a minute there’s one thing that I must know
if three went in and three came out
then where’d the fourth man go

And I never will forget
as Mama danced across the floor
These are the words I heard her say
as she shouted thru the door

Son, he’s still in the fire
and he’s walking in the flame
and he’ll be there to help you
when you call in Jesus’ name
And he can still deliver
by his almighty power
While here below
it’s good to know
He’s still in the fire

Now my friend you may be destined
to face life’s hottest flame
But I’m glad that I can tell you
Thru the power of His name
Not one flame of fire will touch you
you’ll come thru it and you’ll tell
Yesterday, today, forever
God is still alive and well

Oh he’s still in the fire
and he’s walking in the flame
and he’ll be there to help you
when you call in Jesus’ name
And he can still deliver
by his almighty power
While here below
it’s good to know
He’s still in the fire

Well he’s still in the fire
and he’s walking in the flame
and he’ll be there to help you
when you call in Jesus’ name
And he can still deliver
by his almighty power
While here below
it’s good to know
He’s still in the fire

While here below
it’s good to know
He’s still in the fire

 

Watch SPEERS – HE’S STILL IN THE FIRE on You Tube.  It is a little dated – a guy with big hair – but the message is good.  I’ve heard the author Walt Mills do this song.  The Speers made it famous on the southern gospel trail.

He’s still in the fire to do battle when we are tested.  Life is tough.  Take comfort. 

Hebrews 4:15-16  For we do not have a high priest who can not sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.  Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.

“In time of need” we can’t deliver our selves.  When we are hurting emotionally, physically or spiritually we can’t heal ourselves.  It takes a Savior.  Jesus wants to help us in the midst of the fire.  Take it from one in the fire, our God is able to deliver. 

I can almost hear the trumpet.

Danny D