Dear Grandkids,
Check this out.
On December 31, 1995 Bill Waterson dropped his last Calvin and Hobbes comic strip. Now that we are at the end of almost 2 years of Covid drudgery the optimism of the message here seems quite appropriate. I’m looking forward to exploring 2022 with you.
Never forget that you are very loved,
Pop Pop
Dear Grandkids,
India. I was in India.
Long before I started writing these Pop Pop Epistles, a thing happened that has in many ways framed the last 10 years of my life. Mostly because I am alive to write this. It happened 10 years ago today. Nona and I and Scott and Tucker (before they were married) went to visit Christy and Chad who were serving in India at the time. We had an awesome trip planned, that included time in India as well as Thailand, but things did not turn out in any way shape or form as we had planned things out. I will refer you to the following three blog posts to give you the details rather than re-writing what has already been chronicled. The first post was written by Christy. The other two were written by me.
You have no doubt heard us reference “the accident” over the years. This will help you better understand what happened and why it has shaped our lives so significantly. Suffice it to say that if the Lord had not been our Protector then many of you would not even be around to read this.
We are very grateful that we have had these years to be your Nona and Pop Pop and Lord willing are looking forward to many many more. Here is one major takeaway that I will leave you with:
Live your life in such a way that you will have stories to tell but never ever take the life you have been given for granted.
And never forget that you are very loved,
Pop Pop
Verses 4-7. Wow! Just Wow!
But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Assuming that you just read those verses now go back and read them again. Slowly. Pondering each phrase. Blessing God for what He has done for us. Rejoicing in the God of our salvation. And after you have done this go back and read them one more time. They are cause to worship.
So here is the worship song that came to my mind as I pondered these verses…
VICTORY IN JESUS
I heard an old, old story how a Savior came from glory,
How He gave His life on Calvary to save a wretch like me;
I heard about His groaning, of His precious blood’s atoning,
Then I repented of my sins and won the victory.
O victory in Jesus, my Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him, and all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood.
I heard about His healing, of His cleansing power revealing.
How He made the lame to walk again and caused the blind to see;
And then I cried, “Dear Jesus, come and heal my broken spirit,”
And somehow Jesus came and brought to me the victory.
O victory in Jesus, my Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him, and all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood.
I heard about a mansion He has built for me in glory.
And I heard about the streets of gold beyond the crystal sea;
About the angels singing and the old redemption story,
And some sweet day I’ll sing up there the song of victory.
O victory in Jesus, my Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him, and all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood.
Here is Carrie Underwood singing the song with a bit of a country twang…
May this brick remind you all over again of what Jesus did for you by giving His life so that you might indeed have LIFE.
Dear Audrey,
Happy birthday number 4. It’s been about a year since you moved from our house and I must say that I miss Audrey snuggles. Over the past year it has been fun to watch your independent spirit develop as well as your impish sense of humor. We are, however, going to have to work on getting over your “fear” of Mr. Hippopotamus.
Did you know that you are the only one of the 9 cousins that has your birthday at this most awesome time of year – what is often called Advent? Here are a few “Advent” facts for you…
The word advent itself means “arrival” or “an appearing.” Christians often speak of Christ’s “first advent” and “second advent”; that is, His first and second comings to earth. His first advent would be the incarnation.
The Advent season lasts for four Sundays. It begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas and ends on Christmas Eve. It can last from anywhere between 22 and 29 days depending on the calendar.
Advent is seen as a time to prepare one’s heart for Christmas and for the eventual return of Christ. This is what we sing each Christmas when we sing the first verse of 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.
We often sing this Christmas carol without really giving thought to what we are singing. We should be asking ourselves this question: What am I doing to prepare my heart to worship the incarnate King? Here are a few Pop Pop thoughts about this…
Here is Joy To The World being performed by one of my current favorite groups – Pentatonix. Feel free to sing along and to sing out loud.
Never forget that you are very loved,
Pop Pop
Focusing on verses 11-14. Here is how the New International Version reads…
For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “NO” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
The words that immediately stand out to me from this passage are the first 5: “For the grace of God”. Here are the things that came to mind about the grace of God as I pondered.
The grace of God – a stark contrast to the Law: God’s people had for many years lived under a harsh taskmaster – the Law. It was impossible for them to measure up to the Law’s standards. The whole idea of grace that was ushered in by Jesus must have been a welcome relief. And it must have felt to the average Jew like an emancipation from the dungeon of legalism. Amazing grace must have seemed like a sweet sound to those who felt condemned by their inability to meet the holy requirements of the Law.
The grace of God appeared in the flesh: Jesus was grace incarnate. He was God’s gift to a hurting, hopeless, and helpless world. Jesus was God’s way of showing us what He really thought about us. He came to heal our sickness, to forgive our sin, to restore hope to a world filled with despair. He came with compassion and laughter and joy and selflessness. He made people feel like they mattered. He touched the untouchable. He gave life to those who had had life drained out of them. He demonstrated what it meant to have a relationship with God that gave purpose and peace and passion to our day to day living.
The grace of God teaches us to say “No” and then teaches us to say “Yes”: When we fully comprehend what grace is, when we finally understand the incredible gift that has been offered to us in Jesus, then it makes saying “NO” to ungodliness and worldly passions very easy to do. Unfortunately, not many people grasp grace. We really don’t get it at all. It is the most taken for granted gift that has ever been given. That is why our churches are so anemic these days – because we sing about God’s amazing grace and then turn around and spit in God’s face as we live lives that don’t look a whole lot different from those who are outside the church. When you grasp grace, you run daily into the arms of God, flee the evil desires of this world, and live “self-controlled upright and godly lives.”
Verse 14 is a great encapsulation of the gospel and the effects of the gospel and what grace is all about. Jesus “gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”
May this brick challenge you to ponder the awesome, amazing, abundant grace of God that has been freely given to those who believe.
