The message of Jesus is fairly clear: it is up to each of us to find his way into the kingdom of Heaven. “You got to go there by yourself,”
Bill, I know this is difficult for one who believes everything in life has to be earned, but salvation is not. In fact, it cannot be earned. That is the entire point.
We must first understand that there is nothing we can do to atone for our sins. Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No man comes to the Father except through Me." You cannot get there by yourself.
Once we grasp our hopeless situation and turn to Christ for forgiveness and accept his free gift of eternal life only then do we find the way to Heaven.
I believe in finding one's way, "by yourself." I simultaneously second David Webb's reminder that we cannot "earn" salvation. However, I look forward to faithfully paying my debt to the son of Mary, the Creator and Savior of the world. I aspire to join the 100 million around the throne (Rev 5:11-12) thankfully consecrating all of our power, riches, wisdom, strength, etc. etc. to His service forever - beginning now.
Happy Christmas, and may 2023 be your best year ever.
I really enjoy reading about your family and personal life, especially how you and Elizabeth stay so active with your do it yourself projects. Happy New Year!
Thank you Bill for sharing your Christmas story with us. Greatly appreciated.
PG V, what church one chooses to worship in matters not one jot, it is a matter of personal choice and is of no concern of anyone else. What does matter is one's commitment to Jesus and the Christian faith as a whole.
I share Bill's sadness at the general decline of Christianity in the Western civilisations in general but strongly believe that the world will bear witness to a massive Revival once the great reset gathers momentum and people find themselves unemployed and bereft of savings and realise that they aren't as self sufficient as they believed themselves to be.
To be fully committed to Jesus is the most wonderful experience in the world.
Clearly, this cycle of resets is the only way we sheep can understand our own sheepishness. It repeats itself over and over again throughout scripture and history. The Bhagavad Gita begins with the elite at war with one another, leading the righteous king to a stimulating question and answer interview with the Creator.
Personally, I don't want to be standing behind that king, Arjuna, in the line to the Judgement Bar of God. He makes me look bad.
Christians (3), Buddhist, Muslim, Baha'i, Sikh, and Native American each speak from their own scriptures on the topic of "Existence of God and Human Suffering" - with heart-warming unity.
My wife and I drove 40 miles through a Canadian snowstorm at 50 k/hr (~35 mph) to be there, and are grateful that we did. I would love to know what some of you think of it.
Thank you so much for sharing this story. What a pleasant way to begin our day as my wife reads it to us as she does each morning. Your missives are always appreciated but todays offering was a special blessing.
Thank you for sharing your personal life and family. That is so sweet of you to let us peek in on your Christmas day. You have a good sense of humor and make me laugh. God's blessings to you and your family!
I LOVE your writing and much enjoy your stories of working to rehab things. You and I are the same age and I too get much satisfaction out of working with my hands on "projects" vs being the physician that I have been. Keep up the work (hands on) !
Your unfortunate Christmas pheasant dinner took my memory back about 50 years when my wife and I with our 3 children were living at our country property in southern Ontario Canada. I was familiar with how delicious roasted pheasant is and upon reading an English recipe for " High Pheasant " ( there is a similar recipe for " High Rabbit " ) I decided to take advantage of the autumn open season for hunting pheasants. With my rifle I carefully headshot 3 birds and following the recipe instructions I hung the pheasants from the ceiling in our backyard shed for 3 weeks. So for 3 weeks I salivated about how delicious these would be and how easy the feathers would pluck. When the 3 weeks were up I took down the birds for preparation and at that point I quickly decided that the start of decomposition was something that I didn't expect and couldn't deal with. Be careful of recipes.
The message of Jesus is fairly clear: it is up to each of us to find his way into the kingdom of Heaven. “You got to go there by yourself,”
Bill, I know this is difficult for one who believes everything in life has to be earned, but salvation is not. In fact, it cannot be earned. That is the entire point.
We must first understand that there is nothing we can do to atone for our sins. Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No man comes to the Father except through Me." You cannot get there by yourself.
Once we grasp our hopeless situation and turn to Christ for forgiveness and accept his free gift of eternal life only then do we find the way to Heaven.
I believe in finding one's way, "by yourself." I simultaneously second David Webb's reminder that we cannot "earn" salvation. However, I look forward to faithfully paying my debt to the son of Mary, the Creator and Savior of the world. I aspire to join the 100 million around the throne (Rev 5:11-12) thankfully consecrating all of our power, riches, wisdom, strength, etc. etc. to His service forever - beginning now.
Happy Christmas, and may 2023 be your best year ever.
In saying Protestants judge Catholics, some do, some don't, you imply that Catholics don't. You and I both know that's false.
Did YOU really mean to quote the Scripture: judge not lest you be judged?
Lastly, what happened to #4 and 5?
I really enjoy reading about your family and personal life, especially how you and Elizabeth stay so active with your do it yourself projects. Happy New Year!
Thank you Bill for sharing your Christmas story with us. Greatly appreciated.
PG V, what church one chooses to worship in matters not one jot, it is a matter of personal choice and is of no concern of anyone else. What does matter is one's commitment to Jesus and the Christian faith as a whole.
I share Bill's sadness at the general decline of Christianity in the Western civilisations in general but strongly believe that the world will bear witness to a massive Revival once the great reset gathers momentum and people find themselves unemployed and bereft of savings and realise that they aren't as self sufficient as they believed themselves to be.
To be fully committed to Jesus is the most wonderful experience in the world.
Clearly, this cycle of resets is the only way we sheep can understand our own sheepishness. It repeats itself over and over again throughout scripture and history. The Bhagavad Gita begins with the elite at war with one another, leading the righteous king to a stimulating question and answer interview with the Creator.
Personally, I don't want to be standing behind that king, Arjuna, in the line to the Judgement Bar of God. He makes me look bad.
James 1:5
The Way, the Truth, and the Light: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZOPIM1jNcQ
Christians (3), Buddhist, Muslim, Baha'i, Sikh, and Native American each speak from their own scriptures on the topic of "Existence of God and Human Suffering" - with heart-warming unity.
My wife and I drove 40 miles through a Canadian snowstorm at 50 k/hr (~35 mph) to be there, and are grateful that we did. I would love to know what some of you think of it.
Thank you so much for sharing this story. What a pleasant way to begin our day as my wife reads it to us as she does each morning. Your missives are always appreciated but todays offering was a special blessing.
This made my day with a laugh out loud at the end. Best wishes to all.
Thank you for sharing your personal life and family. That is so sweet of you to let us peek in on your Christmas day. You have a good sense of humor and make me laugh. God's blessings to you and your family!
I LOVE your writing and much enjoy your stories of working to rehab things. You and I are the same age and I too get much satisfaction out of working with my hands on "projects" vs being the physician that I have been. Keep up the work (hands on) !
Thank goodness the nose is just above the mouth. A simple, reliable axiom comes from that:
"If it smells bad, don't put it in there."
Your unfortunate Christmas pheasant dinner took my memory back about 50 years when my wife and I with our 3 children were living at our country property in southern Ontario Canada. I was familiar with how delicious roasted pheasant is and upon reading an English recipe for " High Pheasant " ( there is a similar recipe for " High Rabbit " ) I decided to take advantage of the autumn open season for hunting pheasants. With my rifle I carefully headshot 3 birds and following the recipe instructions I hung the pheasants from the ceiling in our backyard shed for 3 weeks. So for 3 weeks I salivated about how delicious these would be and how easy the feathers would pluck. When the 3 weeks were up I took down the birds for preparation and at that point I quickly decided that the start of decomposition was something that I didn't expect and couldn't deal with. Be careful of recipes.
Thank you for sharing your Christmas story! Alas, the Christmas goose may have been a better choice for the main course. 😉
Enjoyed christmas story,up to the missing ending. Did you eat them?
Great article and very informative. You have a great family. Happy New Year to you and your family.
I am truly jealous! Happy New Year to you all.
Reminds me of my “road-kill” pheasant dinner. Wasn’t quite as good as I’d hoped.
Bill's writing gets better & better.....
It was JFK’s great grandfather who was born in Ireland.
Probably should have brined them.