By John J. Frady Some of our most beloved Christmas songs, when you stop to consider the lyrics, are not really about Christmas. Jingle Bells, Sleigh Ride, and Winter Wonderland are more about the winter season than they are about Christmas. My Favorite Things is from the musical The Sound of Music and takes place when children are frightened by a storm. Finally, Let It Snow and Baby It’s Cold Outside are about…well…not Christmas, that’s for sure. And then, there’s the beloved Christmas carol Joy To The World, which as it turns out, is not really about Christmas at all. Joy To The World, sung mostly at Christmastime, has more to do with the second coming of Jesus than the first. Isaac Watts, the English poet and originator of the lyrics, draws the song’s initial inspiration, not from the birth of Jesus narrative in Luke 2, but from Psalm 98. He paraphrased Psalm 98 in his collection titled The Psalms of David, Imitated in the Language of the New Testament. Joy to the World was taken from his portion titled The Messiah’s Coming and Kingdom based on the following from the King James Version: Make a joy noise unto the Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. Sing unto the Lord with the … [Read more...]

By Stewart Holloway Home is where Christmas memories are made. Whether it’s at mom and dad’s, grandma and grandpa’s, our in-laws, or someone else’s place, home is where Christmas memories are made. That’s why we want to be home for Christmas. In fact, this longing prompts 100 million Americans to travel every year and inspires artists to write songs and movies about being home for Christmas. Yet, there are challenges with that longing. In 1943, Bing Crosby recorded “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.” The short, 8-line song touched the hearts of Americans who had loved ones serving overseas during WWII as well as G.I.’s who heard it around the globe. The promise is made “I’ll be home for Christmas” but then the reality is admitted, “If only in my dreams.” That’s true for many of us – we can’t go home – or we can only do so in our dreams. Maybe you always went to grandma’s house for Christmas – but now grandma has gone to be with Jesus, and you can’t go there anymore. Maybe you moved from the house you called home. Maybe your parents have passed away and there is no home to go back to. Maybe you just can’t go home because of work or you can’t afford to travel. Perhaps you’re on the other side of the issue - someone you want to … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer ZENORIA – Twenty-one months after a historic flood destroyed the facilities of Zenoria Baptist Church, a new day has come for the congregation. Nine feet of water from the Little River submerged the campus, March 11, 2016, and members dedicated a new worship center and education space exactly one year later. Now they have to build again, this time to expand because of growth, primarily from baptisms. The congregation has baptized four new believers, so far, this year, growing to 41 persons who faithfully take part in Sunday morning service, and they sense more are on the way. Pastor Joel Johnson told the Baptist Message expanded facilities are needed to expand the congregation’s ministries. Two Sunday school classrooms are being built, and the fellowship hall is being “up-sized,” with plans to build a cooking shed as well.   Johnson said despite the tragedy of the flood, many good things have resulted, especially with regard to the love expressed to this small community of believers, just 10 miles outside of Jena.   When the congregation decided not to “close the doors” after the flood, the Jena Band of Choctaws offered them a temporary meeting … [Read more...]

By Steve Horn This year at Christmas, in our church, we are on a journey to Activate Advent. Yesterday (Dec. 10), we talked about the idea of “peace.” Peace has always been associated with Christmas. Such was the case on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day of 1914. The German troops and the Allied troops participated in a Christmas Truce in the middle of World War I. Though versions of exactly what happened are sketchy, the common thread in most accounts is that peace, albeit short-lived, happened in the name of Christmas. German and Allied troops sang carols together, exchanged gifts, and more than one account suggests that they had a friendly game of soccer. Christmas songs long for peace in the midst of war. “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” is from a poem by William Wadsworth Longfellow in the Days of America’s Civil War. “Do You Hear What I Hear” was written during the days of the Cuban Missile Crisis. We long for peace—peace with our past, peace with others, and ultimately with God. Isaiah prophesied the Messiah to be the Prince of Peace. The angels sang of peace. Jesus declared that “in Him” was peace. Jesus offered a greeting of peace to the one history has called “Doubting Thomas.” Paul counseled to let the … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer TROUT, La. (LBM) - Searcy Baptist Church had planned in 2013 to build a new worship center on a four acre plot adjoining its campus. But God had even bigger plans for the congregation, leading a local businessman in 2016 to donate 30 acres of land less than a mile away. Dedicated Nov. 19, this year, the new facility (nearly 15,000 square feet under roof) includes a worship center with a seating capacity of 299, education space, an office suite and a fellowship area. The former facility contained fewer than 5,000 square feet of floor space. Pastor Reid Terry told the Baptist Message that God revealed Himself to the congregation in miraculous ways along the journey to the expansive campus. Meeting in January 2016 to discuss adding onto the old campus, church leaders prayed God would confirm their decision through a large donation to help jumpstart the building process. Within a month, a businessman (who attended a church breakfast for oil field workers in February 2014) informed the congregation that he wanted to donate land, and lots of it. “We just believed God would do something great and He did,” Terry said. “Within the month, this 30 acre property that we’re on now was … [Read more...]

By Matt Tullos Beloved, Look closer into the manger. I so long for you to look into My eyes. There was a time you saw Me as Someone who tolerated you and all the messiness of your life, not knowing for a second the depth of the love I offer. I came to you, first, as a baby so that you would know that my vulnerability is complete. I am willing to be born in the world mankind has ruined so that you will know that I am utterly and completely present for you today. I came to you because life is filled with both risk and opportunity and you, yes singular you, were worth the risk. I came to you because love is never forced. It can never be. On that night in Bethlehem, I had nothing to offer you except the promise that things would change if you loved Me. I came to you because I realized that the world had gone mad with all the useless rubbish that men crave in darker shadows. I came to you because nothing else would work. There was no way for you to truly see the kind of love I offered without stepping out of Heaven’s splendor into the broken world east of Eden’s hope. I came to you so that you could see how I respond to broken people- those whose lives are ruined in the morass of self-defeat. I came to you … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer JOHNSON BAYOU – After two hurricanes forced Johnson Bayou Baptist Church to meet in temporary facilities since 2008, the congregation has received an early Christmas gift – a new building at its original location. During a special worship service Dec. 10, a crowd of 70 people dedicated the new facility which includes an auditorium with seating for 100, classrooms, a kitchen with a small fellowship area, restrooms and an elevator. Pastor Jack Gandy said now that the church has a permanent presence in the community, he believes the best days are ahead for Johnson Bayou Baptist Church. “During the dedication services we were asking the Lord's blessing on us as we begin this new phase of ministry,” said Gandy, who became pastor in 2007. “This is a miracle that has been nine years in the making. It is hard to believe that we are finally in our own building.” For the past nine years, the congregation has worshiped and met for Sunday school at a community center and briefly in the church parsonage, while hoping to relocate back to its original site. Instead of giving up, they chose to continue with their dream. That persistence paid off with an official groundbreaking ceremony and … [Read more...]

By Matt Tullos The incarnation is God’s message that God the Father holds nothing back in order to make room for us. So common and yet so extravagant! Heaven and earth embraced that night and this is what we celebrate. It’s also is a grand proclamation that if you enter the story, you’ve got everything you need in the person of Christ. All else becomes trivial in the light of His appearance because He’s EVERYTHING from A to Z. “I AM the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End.” AUTHOR of my everything, my story A to Z BRIGHT AND MORNING STAR above, my blinded eyes can see COMFORTOR of weary souls, COMPANION of the lost DELIVERER, DEFENDER despite the cruel cost EXALTED ONE who stooped to save, found in a humble place FAITHFUL ONE of Glory who came to me in grace GUARDIAN of my destiny, GOD in flesh and bone HEALER of my solitude, I never walk alone. INTERCESSOR standing tall, speaking for me, still. JEHOVAH God creator, with hands of grace and skill KING of all the universe, immortal God of love LORD in every circumstance, watching from above MAN OF SORROWS, MIGHTY ONE who came to seek and save NAZARENE of providence whose life He freely gave ONE AND ONLY Sacrifice, The lamb … [Read more...]