Christmas in New York City

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Macy’s in New York City, December 2016.

I had the opportunity to visit New York City with my family this Christmas.  I have always heard that it was a great place to visit to see the sights and sounds of Christmas during the holidays.  I must say we had a great time trying to see as much as possible.  We started at the Statue of Liberty, went to Ground Zero to see the memorial and the new Freedom Tower, and eventually made our way to Times Square.  Walking through Central Park was amazing.  Trump Tower was cool.  Times Square was crowded, but the lights around the area were terrific!

What intrigued me, though, was going to Macy’s.  It was seven floors of expensive shopping, or should I say, looking!  In that building they had amazing wooden escalators that date way back. But it was the sign on the front of the building that really caught my attention.  The sign said, “Believe.”  It was written and lit in such as way as to be magical and whimsical.  I think the obvious implication of it was the magic of the North Pole, and of Santa and of gifting for Christmas.  In the movie, The Miracle on 34th Street, a mom who worked for Macy’s, along with her little girl, were challenged to believe–not in Jesus Christ, but in Santa.  I suppose that is the way the world is going these days when it comes to Christmas. Sadly, most people in this world are missing the greatest message that the sign really points to!  It is the true message of Christmas!  Here are some of the verses that come to mind which the Bible encourages us to “believe,”  or to have faith in.

…Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved…

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me….I am the way, the truth, and the life:  no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

It is my hope that more and more people would come to know that Jesus is truly the reason for the season and that putting your faith in Him is life changing and awesome.  I got to see first hand what the hustle and bustle of Christmas has become. Shopping and fantasy has replaced the most important thing of all.  Jesus, born of a virgin,  came to this earth and lived a sinless life.  He was crucified on the cross of Calvary to pay for our sins, the just for the unjust.  He was buried in a tomb, but three days later arose victorious over death.  He sits at the right hand of God the Father now, offering the gift of salvation, forgiveness of sins, to all that BELIEVE!

Now that is what Christmas is all about!

Toys for Kids Program 2016

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We have had the privilege for the last fifteen years of serving our community by helping families in need of toys for their kids at Christmastime.  It is a great opportunity for all of our church volunteers to show the love of Christ to many families.  It is also an opportunity to share with them the greatest gift of all–Jesus Christ.  John 3:16 tells us, “For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  Jesus left His home in Heaven some two thousand years ago and became a man by being born of a virgin.  He lived a perfect, sinless life for 33 years and went to the cross of Calvary to bleed and die for the sins of us all.  He did it so that we might be saved from our sins.  If we will believe on Him and trust Him to save us, we can receive the gift of everlasting life.  What a gift!  To us it is free, but to God, it was the most expensive gift to be given–His only begotten Son!

A visit to D.L. Moody’s resting place

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My wife and I were out touring NH covered bridges out in Swanzey when I saw that we were only eight miles away from Northfield, Massachusettes.  Northfield is the birthplace and final resting place of D.L. Moody, the great evangelical preacher of the late 1800’s.  Great revivals took place here in America as well as in England.  They say that Moody was responsible for a million people coming to know Christ as Saviour!  He and his wife are buried to the rear of his birth home, next to the campus he founded to educate poor children.  Sadly, today there is no longer a Gospel witness even though the school continues on as a secular institution.   There are many quotes attributed to D. L. Moody, so many they are too numerous to mention here.  But an appropriate one for this post is this:

Some day you will read in the papers that D.L. Moody of East Northfield is dead.  Don’t you believe a word of it!  At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now.

The porch is marked with Moody’s birth date.

The shadow of a tree on the house where Moody was born.

A beautiful sunset over the birth home of D.L. Moody in Northfield, Massachusettes.

The tombstones of Moody and his wife in the backyard of his birth home.

Serving Our Community at the Pumpkin Regatta

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Each year Cornerstone Baptist Church is proud to be a part of the Goffstown Main Street Pumpkin Regatta where we have an opportunity to minister to our community.  We love ministering to the children by setting up a booth with six to eight carnival games that they can go around and play.  This year’s hit was the skee ball game, but the year to year favorite is the fishing game.  We have a table set up so that every child gets to go and pick a prize when they are done.  All this is done for free so that there is no cost to the family.  It is such a joy to see the kids have lots of fun and walk away with a great big smile after picking a prize.  All of the games are manned by volunteers from our church with the help of the missionary families that are with us for our missions conference that week.  It is also a great opportunity for us to give out invitations to our church and tell of the wonderful Saviour whom we serve.  Jesus makes a difference in people’s lives!  We had another great year this year!  Praise the Lord!

 

 

 

The giant pumpkins being weighed.

The prize table!

The pumpkin beanbag toss and ring toss games.

 

A beautiful fall day for the a regatta carnival games!

Our homemade skee ball game.

Kids will fish forever!

Give the Light Missions Conference 2016

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The theme for our missions conference this year was “Give the Light,”  taken from 2 Corinthians 4:6.  “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”  We were blessed to have two wonderful missionary families that have surrendered their lives to serve the Lord.  The Raleigh Hill family is going to bring the Gospel to Argentina, and the Taylor Norris family is going to Mozambique to bring the Gospel there.  Jesus gave the local, New Testament church the command to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.  Every nation needs a gospel witness!  Cornerstone Baptist Church is endeavoring to keep the Lord’s command by doing our best to reach our community, and through our missions giving we are sending missionaries to other countries    on our behalf to tell the good news that Jesus saves!

We had tremendous meetings each night as we sang, worshiped, and heard great preaching from the Word of God.  Saturday, we ran a booth at the Goffstown Pumpkin Regatta in the center of town.  What an opportunity to get out into our community and minister to people. We gave out hundreds of gospel tracts.  We finished the conference on Sunday with great services and our International Banquet featuring food from around the world.  When all was said and done, Cornerstone took on both missionary families for support both financially and prayerfully.  May many souls come to Christ in Argentina and Mozambique!  To God be the glory!

The dude table!

International Banquet.

Taylor and Lorin Norris with their children.

Raleigh and Cassie Hill with their children.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As the deer…

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Last summer my family and I took a wonderful vacation to the Moosehead Lake region of Maine.  I spent much time there as a teenager at my parents’ camp, especially during the summer months.  On this vacation, we rented a rustic cabin right on the lake at Beaver Cove.  The road to the cabin was a long dirt road that may have seemed a bit annoying to have to travel were it not for the opportunities to see beautiful deer grazing just feet from our vehicle.  I could not help but take pictures of them as they were more than willing to pose for the camera!

deer 2One of my favorite places to read in the Bible is the book of Psalms.  Recently in my devotion time I read Psalm 42:1-2.

“As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.  My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God:  When shall I come and appear before God?”

My mind wanders back to those moments when we could all but reach out and touch those deer.  I find myself asking if I truly thirst after knowing God.  The Bible, the precious Word of God, is likened to water.  If anyone truly is thirsty to know God, they need not run to the fridge for a bottle of water!  The place to run if we are thirsty for God is His Word.  I am reminded of a great verse in Hebrews 11.  Verse 6 reads, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must first believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”    If you are thirsty for God, I encourage you to diligently seek Him!  Open the Bible and read about Jesus.  God has given us this wonderful book so that we can know Him.  Determine to visit a good, Bible-believing, Bible-preaching church and do all you can to “panteth” after Him;  diligently seek Him!

John 4 tells us of the time Jesus met a woman by Jacob’s well.  He said to her in verse 10, “…If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.”  Jesus is the one who can quench that spiritual thirst in our souls.  If you “panteth after the water brooks,”  look no further than unto Jesus.  He is the source of living water.

There is a song we love to sing at Cornerstone Baptist Church.  It is called, “As The Deer” written by Martin J. Nystrom.   The first verse reads

As the deer panteth for the water, so my soul longeth after thee.
You alone are my heart’s desire and I long to worship thee.
You alone are my strength, my shield;  to you alone may my spirit yield.
You alone are my heart’s desire and I long to worship thee.

 

Independence Day 2016

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Old North Church

The Old North Church in Boston

My family and I had a wonderful time celebrating the independence of our great nation.  This past spring we were able to visit the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California, when we attended my daughters college graduation from West Coast Baptist College.  By getting memberships to the Reagan Library, we were entitled to visit other presidential libraries around the country.  The JFK Library is only an hour or so away from us in Boston, so we decided to take the day to go.  It was a beautiful summer day and the library is right on the harbor overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.  It was an interesting day that brought back many memories of my childhood growing up.  I was just a little boy less than five years old when I was playing on the front steps of my house.  My grandfather and grandmother lived right across the street from us.  My father came out of the house shouting to my grandfather across the street, “Kennedy has been shot!”  It was a devastating time for our nation.  My family mourned for the loss of President Kennedy.  I remember watching the funeral procession on the black and white television and seeing little John saluting the casket of his father as it went by him.  How my family cried.  My grandmother and grandfather had a picture of JFK on the wall in the kitchen in their house, right next to a picture of the pope and a picture of the sacred heart of Jesus.
They were very religious people.  It is amazing how the times changed.  Fast forward some sixteen years later after the presidency of Jimmy Carter and the new beloved president of my family was Ronald Reagan.  It was amazing to contrast the two leaders as I walk through both libraries.

 

We topped the day off with pizza at a famous pizzeria in the Boston’s North End.  It was probably the best pizza I ever had!!  Just a few short blocks away was the Copp’s Hill burial ground and the Old North Church, where the lanterns were hung signaling “one if by land, two if by sea.”  Such history!Robert Newman gravemarker
Robert Newman was the sexton of Christ’s Church, which is now the Old North Church.  He is buried in the graveyard.  And then there is the statue and the home of Paul Revere.
What the Sons of Liberty endured for the cost of our freedom!  I am reminded of the cost Jesus paid for our freedom!  He gave His life on an old rugged cross that we might be free from the bondage of sin.  What a great God He is!