The Crucifixion of Jesus Christ - Dr.Chuck Missler

Excellent study by Dr. Missler on the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Good stuff!

Charles "Chuck" Missler is an author, evangelical Christian, Bible teacher, and former businessman. He is the founder of the Koinonia House ministry. To listen to more Messages and view the other resources please do visit this Ministry's website : http://www.khouse.org/

Spiritual Warfare - Dr. Neil Anderson Uncut Interview

I'm posting more on spiritual warfare because I'm hearing more from Christians of spiritual attacks, confusion, invasion of dreams, and lots of other stuff.  The simple answer is of course that in the name of Jesus Christ, spirits above and below are subject to our Lord and King.  It can be a little more complex however, so I'm hoping these videos will help.  This is an excellent spiritual warfare primer from Dr. Neal Anderson, author of the modern Christian classics "The Bondage Breaker" and "Victory Over The Darkness".  You will be amazed in what you will learn about spiritual warfare in this short video.

Being a believer in Jesus Christ does not make you exempt from the attacks of the evil one, it actually makes you a target, so God's people should be prepared for anything in the days to come....

Published on Oct 23, 2013 I sat with Neil T Anderson who is arguably the most read author on the issue of Spiritual Warfare. This video is the unedited raw interview shot for a new documentary film called "Battling Darkness: Hollywood & the Rise of Exorcism"

 In this revealing documentary, leading voices from Hollywood and the Christian community, as well as psychologists and modern-day exorcists, discuss the mysteries of the demonic realm. Through a Biblical understanding and first-hand accounts, the film provides insights into the reality of spiritual warfare and offers keys to victory when you find yourself Battling Darkness.

 Prior to 1973, Satan seemed all but dead and gone, the casualty of a modernist mindset. But with Linda Blair's disturbing performance in The Exorcist, Satan returned with a vengeance. Since that landmark film, audiences worldwide have been fascinated with movies about demonic possession and the spirit realm. However, given Hollywood's tendency to take creative license, the question arises, "Is the visage of Satan now presented Biblical or distorted?" And more importantly, how have these images influenced society's consideration of both the demonic and spiritual warfare?

 Battling Darkness is a thought-provoking documentary that examines these questions with objectivity and insight from psychologists, modern-day exorcists and leading voices in Christianity.

 FEATURES

 Linda Blair is an American actress, best known for her role as the possessed child in the 1973 film The Exorcist. For her part in that film, she was nominated for an Academy Award and two Golden Globes, winning one.

Hank Hanegraaf, also known as The Bible Answer Man, is an American author, radio talk-show host and advocate of Evangelical Christianity. He is an outspoken apologist on doctrinal and cultural issues.

 Dr. Neil T Anderson is a best-selling author on spiritual freedom, including Victory Over the Darkness, The Bondage Breaker, and The Steps to Freedom in Christ. He is founder and president emeritus of Freedom in Christ Ministries.

The Gospel of John Movie - Chapters 18 & 19

It's good to remember who we are at this time of year, and why we remember the King, the cross and the empty tomb.  Above all it's Who we remember, and what He did for us...

and chapter 19

Russ Dizdar: Dark Technologies and the devil

Interesting discussion on the connections between advanced technology and fallen angels, much like what happened in the days of Noah according to the Book of Enoch....good stuff

Tom Horn Discusses Zenith 2016 And Asks Why Ancients Saw This Year As "The End"

Fascinating stuff regarding world events and prophecies from various religions and peoples....is 2016 the year the Antichrist appears?  We know this much...it's started with some bad things and looks like it might get much worse...

CERN Dangers Revealed! Paperclip Nazis and Cosmology Cartel - Dr. Joseph Farrell & Dark Journalist

So what is really going on with the CERN reactor?  What connection do the Nazis have to this?  And a connection to the Kennedy assassination?  Interesting stuff....

Join Dark Journalist Daniel Liszt as he welcomes back Oxford Scholar and author of the popular Giza Death Star book series Dr. Joseph P. Farrell. His latest book, The Third Way: The Nazi International, European Union and Corporate Fascism, explores the deep political roots and global dangers of the controversial particle physics experiment by CERN called The Hadron Collider, which was set up in Geneva, Switzerland with a massive military style budget of over six billion dollars!

Dr. Farrell's research exposes CERN's official story of the so-called "Atom Smasher" Hadron Collider Project, as being ostensibly created for peaceful scientific experiments in particle physics, and reveals that it is actually a dangerous advanced technology project set up for secret military purposes and is seeking the ability to manipulate matter on a galactic scale and possibly even open dimensional doorways.

Strangelets Danger
He cites the massive disturbances in the magnetosphere of the earth when the Hadron Collider is turned on and outlines that it may have serious consequences for physical life on earth and a major impact on the rotation of the planet itself. We also will discover that voices in the scientific community have raised objections that CERN is unsafe due to the potential development of "Strangelets" a distorted potential byproduct of the matter smashing experiments that have been compared to mini black holes that suck in all dense matter and energy. He also shows the undeniable similarity between the CERN Hadron Collider and a Nazi Physics project called The Bell" that was an underground Torsion Physics project built by slave labor and overseen by the top Nazi Scientists to give them a master weapon to rule the world!

Deep State Nazi Connections
Dark Journalist and Dr. Farrell investigate the history of CERN and demonstrate clear links of a post-war Nazi International through the figure of John J. McCloy , lawyer for notorious German corporate conglomerate IG Farben. McCloy was also the Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations and became the American High Commissioner for post World War II Germany. In a controversial action, McCloy helped clear and vet over 70,000 Nazis (yes, 70,000!) helping to utilize their intelligence networks to set up the CIA.

One of the major figures that he cleared was top Nazi legal theorist and prisoner of war Dr. Walter Hallstein who was eventually responsible for helping to set up CERN and who was also a key architect for developing the the Nazi plan for a European Federation that was eventually adopted as the blueprint for the European Union. McCloy, in a strange twist, also served on the Warren Commission to whitewash any Deep State connections to the JFK Assassination. JFK was famously committed to "Smashing the CIA into a thousand pieces" as a way to root out the Nazi infiltration of the agency and regain control over the government from suspected Nazi collaborators like CIA director Allen Dulles.

Revealing, groundbreaking, shocking, unnerving, and rife with controversial, staggering implications of a massive covert military project hiding in plain sight, don't miss this cutting- edge Dark Journalist

Into the Multiverse: The Fourth Dimensions

Interesting stuff on some of the deeper ideas conveyed in scripture...

In this, the pilot for INTO THE MULTIVERSE WITH JOSH PECK, Josh and his wife Christina discuss various aspects of the multiverse as well as what the audience can expect in future episodes. In this episode of Into the Multiverse, Josh and Christina Peck discuss the two fourth dimensions of existence and how they fit into a biblical paradigm.

A Heartbeat Away From Eternity

**Warning** Fire and Brimstone preaching dead ahead....

FIDOCKAVE213 - SEVENTHVIAL213 -
A HEARTBEAT AWAY FROM ETERNITY.......
Unless Jesus Christ returns soon Death is inevitable. All of humanity will face it at some stage, however death is not the end but merely the beginning.....
what actions you take now in this life will ultimately set your eternal future.

Joshua 24:15
And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

CREDIT - PREACHER CHARLES LAWSON - TEMPLE BAPTIST CHURCH - www.youtube.com/user/zion4131

To be saved, seek Jesus Christ with your whole heart, believe on him in faith, that he is the only Son of God, that he came to earth in the flesh and died for the sins of humanity, and rose again.
Seek him daily, repent of your sins and turn away from your old lifestyle and you will be saved. John 3:16 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.

Beyonce, Coldplay, the Super Bowl and Satan

 Is there a deeper connection with Coldplay and Beyonce’s promotion of eastern mysticism and the occult in their new song "Hymn for the Weekend"? Are they and other artists being used as tools to further an agenda to turn their fans away from the one true God and toward false demon gods?

Super Bowl 2016’s half time performers Coldplay and Beyonce’s new video “Hymn for the Weekend” employs mass occult conditioning, using spiritual hand gestures, hindu gods (which the Bible calls demons), drugs and alcohol.

This “Hymn” is not a song of worship to the one true God, but to demon gods and satan himself!

To learn more about our ministry, please visit:
http://www.goodfight.org

Who Funds the U.S.S.S. (Space) Fleet? Catherine Austin Fitts Has the Answers

CATHERINE AUSTIN FITTS: UFO ECONOMY 3.0 THE BLACK BUDGET ROCKETS INTO SPACE - DARK JOURNALIST 

So just what's in the black budget, how big is it, and what are they putting in the skies with the money?  Listen and find out...

o

Daniel 7 - A Blueprint To Identify The Antichrist: Chris White

I have found that Chris does an excellent job of comparing scripture to scripture, rather than comparing scripture to modern viewpoints put out there by popular pastors of the day.  This is fascinating stuff, but you may have to stop and go back a few times to catch all that he's saying.  I also recommend his book "False Christ", by Chris White, as an excellent biblical study on the topic.

 Daniel 7 is considered by some to be the most important chapter in the book of Daniel, others even consider it the most important chapter in the entire Old Testament for reasons which we will get into later, but certainly one of those reasons is because of its prophetic significance.

In Daniel Chapter 7 Daniel has a vision of 4 beasts: a lion, bear, leopard and a "diverse beast". These beasts are identified as kings and/or kingdoms by the angel who interprets Daniel's dream starting in verse 17.

The question is which kingdoms are being referred to with these beasts.

Most conservatives believe that Daniel 7 is simply a retelling of Daniel 2. In other words the dream that Nebuchadnezzar had in Daniel 2 of a multi-metal statue which represented the four kingdoms of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome are again described here in Daniel 7.

I don't agree with that view, but I do agree with them that the fourth beast in Daniel 7 is the kingdom of Antichrist, however because of their insistence that this chapter is simply a mirror image of Daniel 2, they are forced to defend the position that the Antichrist must somehow come from something they call the Revived Roman Empire (RRE) because in Daniel chapter 2 the last section of the statue is clearly talking about Rome, so if this chapter is the same as that one then the fourth beast is Rome.

But as I will demonstrate not only is that not necessary it could cause many people to miss the signs of the Antichrists kingdom. For more information on why the belief of the RRE is based on a bad exegesis of Daniel chapter 2, please see my video or audio on Daniel 2, which should be linked in the notes, that study should be considered a companion study to this one.

I would also recommend a 4 part paper by Charles Cooper who is a former professor of Hermeneutics at Moody Bible Institute called "Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 Equal or not Equal."

Video by Chris White

Joe Jordan and Revealing the Alien Deception

Another Josh Peck interview, but with lots of good stuff including Joe Jordan's testimony of how his MUFON research led him to Jesus Christ, and how the name of Jesus can put an end to any and all of alien visitations.  (I guess that tells us that Steven Spielberg's ET is actually a demon, not an interstellar traveler.)  Anyway, lot of fascinating stuff here relating to alien abductions, spiritual warfare, and just who the aliens really are.

In this episode, president and co-founder of CE4 Research Group, Joe Jordan, comes on the show to talk to us about the alien deception gripping our world. Make sure to check out Joe Jordan and CE4 Research Group at the link below.

CE4 Research Group - http://www.ce4research.com

Check out:
On the Trail of the Nephilim, Volume 1 (On the Trail of the Nephilim, Giant Skeletons & Ancient Megalithic Structures) - http://amzn.to/1GCRyzp
On the Trail of the Nephilim, Volume 2, New Archaeological Research - http://amzn.to/20higE6
The Nephilim Trilogy, Complete, 3 Book Series - http://amzn.to/1GCRVdn
Politics, Prophecy and The Supernatural - http://amzn.to/1GCRY95
Cosmic Chess Match - http://amzn.to/20hi47U
Watchers 7: Physical Evidence - http://amzn.to/20hi5IX
Watchers 8: Cloak of Secrecy - http://amzn.to/1GCRHCY
Watchers 1-8 DVD Set - http://amzn.to/20hib3k
Prepare for Persecution: How to Stand Firm by Maria Kneas (Foreword by Doug Hagmann) - http://amzn.to/1ShdWzo
True Legends - http://amzn.to/1OQ0J2a
Genesis 6 Giants - Volume 2: Master Builders of Prehistoric and Ancient Civilizations - http://amzn.to/1WcV8ll
Little Creatures: The Gates of Hell Are Opening - http://amzn.to/1N1uyuR
Angel Wars - http://amzn.to/1N1uziE
XENOGENESIS - Changing Men Into Monsters - http://amzn.to/1N1uBXG
The David Flynn Collection - http://amzn.to/1LvSd4x
Forbidden Secrets of the Labyrinth: The Awakened Ones, the Hidden Destiny of America, and the Day after Tomorrow by Mark Flynn - http://amzn.to/1WcVo3Z
Beast Tech by Terry Cook and Tom Horn - http://amzn.to/1PyVvH4
Beast Tech Combo Package - http://amzn.to/1QETZl1
Zenith 2016 by Tom Horn - http://amzn.to/1PpqKoN
On the Path of the Immortals: Exo-Vaticana, Project L. U. C. I. F. E. R. , and the Strategic Locations Where Entities Await the Appointed Time – Tom Horn and Cris Putnam - http://amzn.to/1GF1piI

Divine Council Intro Dr. Michael S. Heiser

This is a pretty big deal if you want to understand the Bible in it's original and most true context.  Once you understand what's being discussed here, you will understand why certain sins and errors tend to repeat in the area where you live.  This has to do with "disobedient elohim" still exercising their authority today.  Excellent stuff.

Dr. Michael S. Heiser


Ph.D. (2004), University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI; Department of Hebrew and Semitic
Studies; minor in Classical Studies. My dissertation was entitled, “The Divine Council in Late
Canonical and Non-Canonical Second Temple Jewish Literature.” The dissertation involved exegesis
primarily in the Pentateuch, Wisdom Literature, and Isaiah, but also dealt at length with Israelite
Religion (all stages) and Second Temple texts. Supervisor: Michael V. Fox

M.A. (1998), University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI; Department of Hebrew and Semitic
Studies

M.A. (1992), University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA; Department of Ancient History; Major
Areas: Ancient Egypt and Syria-Palestine (Israel)

Academic Honors
2007 - Society of Biblical Literature Regional Scholar Award, 2007 (Pacific Northwest Region)
1998-2003 – Teaching Assistantship, Department of Communication Arts, University of WisconsinMadison
1997 - Scholarship, Wisconsin Society for Jewish Learning, University of Wisconsin-Madison
1995 - James L. Weinstein Fellowship in Hebrew Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison
1990 - Ancient History Department scholarship, University of Pennsylvania

Teaching Experience
2012-current: Adjunct Lecturer, History Department, Whatcom Community College;
Bellingham, WA. I teach U.S. History and Western Civilization.
2007-current: Adjunct Professor of Biblical Studies, Liberty University Distance Learning
Program; Lynchburg, VA. I teach several online courses for Liberty Theological Seminary: Old
Testament Introduction, Old Testament Prophets, Psalms, Wisdom Books, and Hebrew Tools.
2008-2011: Adjunct Lecturer, History Department, Western Washington University,
Bellingham, WA. I taught Ancient Israel and History of Ancient Egypt in the History Department.
2000- 2007: Adjunct Instructor, Department of Biblical Studies, College of Adult and
Lifelong Learning (Correspondence and Online Program), Taylor University, Fort Wayne, IN.
I taught ten courses for correspondence and online study, including: Wisdom Literature, Angelology,
Christian Ethics, and History of Israel
Fall 2003: Assistant Professor of Bible, Department of Religious Studies, Grace College,
Winona Lake, IN. This position was a sabbatical replacement. I taught Introduction to the Old
Testament, Historical Books of the Old Testament, and Christian Ethics.
1995-2002: Adjunct Instructor of History in the Departments of Social & Behavioral
Sciences, Marian College, Fond du Lac, WI. I taught World Civilizations I & II.
1992-1995: Associate Professor of Bible, Pillsbury Baptist College, Owatonna, MN.
I taught over a dozen courses while at Pillsbury including: Old Testament Survey, Bibliology,
Contemporary Theology, Christian Ethics, Genesis, History of Israel, Theological Systems, Hermeneutics,
Psalms, and Greek

Justen Faull and the CERN and NASA Connection

More interesting stuff, this time connections between NASA (the Department of Defense), wormholes and the CERN particle collider.  Pretty weird, but he has his facts in order.  Strange days indeed....

 http://www.ministudyministry.com PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE! Tonight we welcome host of the Fourth Watch Radio program, Justen Faull, to talk to us about his research into the surprising connections between CERN and NASA. With CERN creating portals and NASA studying portals, is it any wonder there would be a connection? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think.

Check out the Fourth Watch, hosted by Justen Faull, on Spreaker.com

TOPICS:
0:00 – Introduction
1:37 – Justen Faull Clones
3:54 – Research into CERN and NASA
7:00 – Connection of CERN to NASA
26:55 – CERN, NASA, and the Rapture in Prophecy
1:09:24 – Viewer Questions
1:09:57 – CERN and Setting Dates
1:14:22 – Other Colliders, Hollow Earth, and Supernatural Encounters
1:27:11 – Justen’s take on Bigfoot
1:30:46 – Paranormal Experiences after CERN
1:43:58 – Fallen Angels and CERN
1:49:10 – End of Viewer Questions
1:49:28 – Contact and Web Info
1:51:17 – Justen’s Final Thoughts
2:00:23 – Conclusion

The Sharpening 079: Dr. Michael Heiser and The Unseen Realm

Good stuff as Dr. Heiser explains the Deut. 32 worldview, and discusses the fact that their have been several rebellions by divine beings, and all of these things greatly affect us today, and have an even greater bearing on the events yet to come....

Tonight Dr. Michael Heiser joins us to talk about his new book The Unseen Realm. True to his form, Mike takes us through an important journey of discovery that challenges man-made traditions yet ring biblically true. This is certainly an episode every Christian needs to watch.

David Flynn - Mars/Earth Connection: Cydonia, Genesis 3

You have to listen fast to catch all the info in a David Flynn lecture, but if you can keep up, and put all his points together, the payoff at the end when he reveals what's going on is more than worth the effort.

 For more information visit www.mt.net/~watcher (David Flynn's Website) or to order conference DVDs visit www.AncientOfDays.net ---

THE MARS / EARTH CONNECTION: CYDONIA, GENESIS 3 AND ANCIENT MYTHOLOGIES PART 2, with David Flynn. Since 1994, David Flynn has posted his groundbreaking research of ancient mysteries, Masonry, gnosticism, crop circles, UFOs, and Bible prophecy on his famous Watcher website. In his first public speaking appearance, Dave expertly connects the sacred geometry and monuments of a seemingly destroyed culture, to Earth's most ancient mythologies, deities and mystery religions. From a Genesis 3 paradigm, Dave presents these so-called mythologies as fact-based, using both scripture and his amazing grasp of astronomy to draw a clear connection to the serpentine god of multiple cultures, who gave mankind knowledge, or "gnosis."

Russ Dizdar - The End Of History

Russ Dizdar takes on the topics relating to the end of the age, focusing on the coming four horseman.  Good stuff.

 Are we living in the end times? Is the end of human history approaching? What on earth is about to happen for heaven sake?

In this video Russ Dizdar answers these questions and more, as he tries to show us where we are in Biblical prophecy and what will happen next.

Russ Dizdar's Presentation, The terrorist threat expanded: Satanic Super Soldirs nextdoor. From the Prophecy Forum Conference November 14-15, 2014. Russ is the author of "The Black Awakening" and "Once Blind". He counsels with numerous individuals victimized by SRA/DID. Russ' ministry can be found at:

www.shatterthedarkness.net

and he can be reached at:

shattermailbox@yahoo.com

He has served as senior pastor for a number of churches, provided leadership for Youth for Christ, and has served as chaplain for numerous police departments.

TSR 100: Anthony Patch on CERN Occultism and the Electric Universe with S. Douglas Woodward

Great conversations with physicist Anthony Patch and Doug Woodward regarding the possible connection of CERN to events that will one day unfold as predicted in the Revelation.  Good stuff.

The End of History Has Already Been Written - JANUARY 2016

Warning, unpleasant images ahead....

Russ Dizdar: How to get free from dark spirits

So many are struggling, not just outside of the church but within the church, from oppression, compulsion, and sometimes even direct demonization.  This is happening to people who desire to be free and live out the life the Lord intended for them. May this video be a blessing for you. Never forget to examine yourself, always checking to see if your thoughts and actions conform to our Lord's guidance for our lives. No better way to start the "new year" than to be set free...

If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed....(John 8:36)

Divine Council Intro Dr. Michael S. Heiser

None of this is new, but what we have is a clearer presentation of biblical events being put into a more meaningful and fuller context so that we might see the operative patterns of our Lord in scriptural events.  Fascinating stuff

Merry Christmas from Faithlife

How Accurate Is the Modern Nativity Scene?

The Incarnation and Birth of Jesus the Christ - By Charles Spurgeon

By Charles Spurgeon

A Sermon (No. 57)
Delivered on Sabbath Morning, December 23rd, 1855, by the
REV. C. H. Spurgeon
At New Park Street Chapel, Southwark.

---

"But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."—Micah 5:2.

HIS is the season of the year when, whether we wish it or not, we are compelled to think of the birth of Christ. I hold it to be one of the greatest absurdities under heaven to think that there is any religion in keeping Christmas-day. There are no probabilities whatever that our Saviour Jesus Christ was born on that day, and the observance of it is purely of Popish origin; doubtless those who are Catholics have a right to hallow it, but I do not see how consistent Protestants can account it in the least sacred. However, I wish there were ten or a dozen Christmas-days in the year; for there is work enough in the world, and a little more rest would not hurt labouring people. Christmas-day is really a boon to us; particularly as it enables us to assemble round the family hearth and meet our friends once more. Still, although we do not fall exactly in the track of other people, I see no harm in thinking of the incarnation and birth of the Lord Jesus. We do not wish to be classed with those
"Who with more care keep holiday
The wrong, than others the right way."
The old Puritans made a parade of work on Christmas-day, just to show that they protested against the observance of it. But we believe they entered that protest so completely, that we are willing, as their descendants, to take the good accidentally conferred by the day, and leave its superstitions to the superstitious.

To proceed at once to what we have to say to you: we notice, first, who it was that sent Christ forth. God the Father here speaks, and says, "Out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be the ruler in Israel." Secondly, where did he come to at the time of his incarnation? Thirdly, what did he come for? "To be ruler in Israel." Fourthly, had he ever come before? Yes, he had. "Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."

I. First, then, WHO SENT JESUS CHRIST? The answer is returned to us by the words of the text. "Out of thee" saith Jehovah, speaking by the mouth of Micah, "Out of thee shall he come forth unto me." It is a sweet thought that Jesus Christ, did not come forth without his Father's permission, authority, consent, and assistance. He was sent of the Father, that he might be the Saviour of men. We are, alas! too apt to forget that while there are distinctions as to the persons in the Trinity, there are no distinctions of honor; and we do very frequently ascribe the honor of our salvation, or at least the depths of its mercy and the extremity of its benevolence, more to Jesus Christ than we do to the Father. This is a very great mistake. What if Jesus came? Did not his Father send him? If he was made a child did not the Holy Ghost beget him? If he spake wondrously, did not his Father pour grace into his lips, that he might be an able minister of the new covenant? If his Father did forsake him when he drank the bitter cup of gall, did he not love him still? and did he not, by-and by, after three days, raise him from the dead, and at last receive him up on high, leading captivity captive? Ah! beloved, he who knoweth the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost as he should know them, never setteth one before another; he is not more thankful to one than the other; he sees them at Bethlehem, at Gethsemane, and on Calvary, all equally engaged in the work of salvation. "He shall come forth unto me." O Christian, hast thou put thy confidence in the man Christ Jesus? Hast thou placed thy reliance solely on him? And art thou united with him? Then believe that thou art united unto the God of heaven; since to the man Christ Jesus thou art brother and holdest closest fellowship, thou art linked thereby with God the Eternal, and "the Ancient of days" is thy Father and thy friend. "He shall come forth unto me". Did you never see the depth of love there was in the heart of Jehovah, when God the Father equipped his Son for the great enterprise of mercy?

There had been a sad day in Heaven once before, when Satan fell, and dragged with him a third of the stars of heaven, and when the Son of God launching from his great right hand the Omnipotent thunders, dashed the rebellious crew to the pit of perdition; but if we could conceive a grief in heaven, that must have been a sadder day, when the Son of the Most High left his Father's bosom, where he had lain from before all worlds. "Go," saith the Father, "and thy Father's blessing on thy head!" Then comes the unrobing. How do angels crowd around to see the Son of God take off his robes He laid aside his crown; he said, "My father, I am Lord over all, blessed for ever, but I will lay my crown aside, and be as mortal men are." He strips himself of his bright vest of glory; "Father," he says, "I will wear a robe of clay, just such as men wear." Then he takes off all those jewels wherewith he was glorified; he lays aside his starry mantles and robes of light, to dress himself in the simple garments of the peasant of Galilee. What a solemn disrobing that must have been! And next, can you picture the dismissal! The angels attend the Saviour through the streets, until they approach the doors: when an angel cries, "Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lifted up ye everlasting doors, and let the king of glory through!" Oh! methinks the angels must have wept when they lost the company of Jesus—when the Sun of Heaven bereaved them of all its light. But they went after him. They descended with him; and when his spirit entered into flesh and he became a babe, he was attended by that mighty host of angels, who after they had been with him to Bethlehem's manger, and seen him safely, laid on his mother's breast, in their journey upwards appeared to the shepherds and told them that he was born king of the Jews. The Father sent him! Contemplate that subject. Let your soul get hold of it, and in every period of his life think that he suffered what the Father willed; that every step of his life was marked with the approval of the great I AM. Let every thought that you have of Jesus be also connected with the eternal, ever-blessed God; for "he," saith Jehovah, "shall come forth unto me." Who sent him, then? The answer is, his Father.

II. Now, secondly, WHERE DID HE COME TO? A word or two concerning Bethlehem. It seemed meet and right that our Saviour should be born in Bethlehem and that because of Bethlehem's history, Bethlehem's name, and Bethlehem's position—little in Judah.

1. First, it seemed necessary that Christ should be born in Bethlehem, because of Bethlehem's history. Dear to every Israelite was the little village of Bethlehem. Jerusalem might outshine it in splendour; for there stood the temple, the glory of the whole earth, and "beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth was Mount Zion;" yet around Bethlehem there clustered a number of incidents which always made it a pleasant resting-place to every Jewish mind; and even the Christian cannot help loving Bethlehem. The first mention, I think, that we have of Bethlehem is a sorrowful one. There Rachel died. If you turn to the 35th of Genesis you will find it said in the 16th verse—"And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath; and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour. And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also. And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Ben-oni: but his father called him Benjamin. And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave, that is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day." A singular incident this—almost prophetic. Might not Mary have called her own son Jesus, her Ben-oni; for he was to be the child of Sorrow? Simeon said to her—"Yea, a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed." But while she might have called him Ben-oni, what did God his Father call him?

Benjamin, the son of my right hand. Ben-oni was he as a man; Benjamin as to his Godhead. This little incident seems to be almost a prophecy that Ben-oni—Benjamin, the Lord Jesus, should be born in Bethlehem. But another woman makes this place celebrated. That woman's name was Naomi. There lived at Bethlehem in after days, when, perhaps, the stone that Jacob's fondness had raised had been covered with moss and its inscription obliterated, another woman named Naomi. She too was a daughter of joy, and yet a daughter of bitterness. Naomi was a woman whom the Lord had loved and blessed, but she had to go to a strange land; and she said, "Call me not Naomi (pleasant) but let my name be called Mara (bitter) for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me." Yet was she not alone amid all her losses, for there cleaved unto her Ruth the Moabitess, whose Gentile blood should unite with the pure untainted stream of the Jew, and should thus bring forth the Lord our Saviour, the great king both of Jews and Gentiles. That very beautiful book of Ruth had all its scenery laid in Bethlehem. It was at Bethlehem that Ruth went forth to glean in the fields of Boaz; it was there that Boaz looked upon her, and she bowed herself before her lord; it was there her marriage was celebrated; and in the streets of Bethlehem did Boaz and Ruth receive a blessing which made them fruitful so that Boaz became the father of Obed, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David. That last fact gilds Bethlehem with glory—the fact that David was born there—the mighty hero who smote the Philistine giant, who led the discontented of his land away from the tyranny of their monarch, and who afterwards, by a full consent of a willing people, was crowned king of Israel and Judah. Bethlehem was a royal city, because the kings were there brought forth. Little as Bethlehem was, it was much to be esteemed; because it was like certain principalities which we have in Europe, which are celebrated for nothing but for bringing forth the consorts of the royal families of England. It was right, then, from history, that Bethlehem should be the birth-place of Christ.

Read the rest of this article at - http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0057.htm

O Holy Night - by Mahalia Jackson

The Story Behind the Great Christmas Song

Reprinted from "Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas" with permission of Zondervan. The strange and fascinating story of "O Holy Night" began in France, yet eventually made its way around the world. This seemingly simple song, inspired by a request from a clergyman, would not only become one of the most beloved anthems of all time, it would mark a technological revolution that would forever change the way people were introduced to music.

In 1847, Placide Cappeau de Roquemaure was the commissionaire of wines in a small French town. Known more for his poetry than his church attendance, it probably shocked Placide when his parish priest asked the commissionaire to pen a poem for Christmas mass. Nevertheless, the poet was honored to share his talents with the church.

 In a dusty coach traveling down a bumpy road to France's capital city, Placide Cappeau considered the priest's request. Using the gospel of Luke as his guide, Cappeau imagined witnessing the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. Thoughts of being present on the blessed night inspired him. By the time he arrived in Paris, "Cantique de Noel" had been completed.

Moved by his own work, Cappeau decided that his "Cantique de Noel" was not just a poem, but a song in need of a master musician's hand. Not musically inclined himself, the poet turned to one of his friends, Adolphe Charles Adams, for help.

The son of a well-known classical musician, Adolphe had studied in the Paris conservatoire. His talent and fame brought requests to write works for orchestras and ballets all over the world. Yet the lyrics that his friend Cappeau gave him must have challenged the composer in a fashion unlike anything he received from London, Berlin, or St. Petersburg.

As a man of Jewish ancestry, for Adolphe the words of "Cantique de Noel" represented a day he didn't celebrate and a man he did not view as the son of God. Nevertheless, Adams quickly went to work, attempting to marry an original score to Cappeau's beautiful words. Adams' finished work pleased both poet and priest. The song was performed just three weeks later at a Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.

Initially, "Cantique de Noel" was wholeheartedly accepted by the church in France and the song quickly found its way into various Catholic Christmas services. But when Placide Cappeau walked away from the church and became a part of the socialist movement, and church leaders discovered that Adolphe Adams was a Jew, the song--which had quickly grown to be one of the most beloved Christmas songs in France--was suddenly and uniformly denounced by the church. The heads of the French Catholic church of the time deemed "Cantique de Noel" as unfit for church services because of its lack of musical taste and "total absence of the spirit of religion." Yet even as the church tried to bury the Christmas song, the French people continued to sing it, and a decade later a reclusive American writer brought it to a whole new audience halfway around the world.

Not only did this American writer--John Sullivan Dwight--feel that this wonderful Christmas songs needed to be introduced to America, he saw something else in the song that moved him beyond the story of the birth of Christ. An ardent abolitionist, Dwight strongly identified with the lines of the third verse: "Truly he taught us to love one another; his law is love and his gospel is peace. Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother; and in his name all oppression shall cease." The text supported Dwight's own view of slavery in the South. Published in his magazine, Dwight's English translation of "O Holy Night" quickly found found favor in America, especially in the North during the Civil War.

Back in France, even though the song had been banned from the church for almost two decades, many commoners still sang "Cantique de Noel" at home. Legend has it that on Christmas Eve 1871, in the midst of fierce fighting between the armies of Germany and France, during the Franco-Prussian War, a French soldier suddenly jumped out of his muddy trench. Both sides stared at the seemingly crazed man. Boldly standing with no weapon in his hand or at his side, he lifted his eyes to the heavens and sang, "Minuit, Chretiens, c'est l'heure solennelle ou L'Homme Dieu descendit jusqu'a nous," the beginning of "Cantique de Noel."

 After completing all three verses, a German infantryman climbed out his hiding place and answered with, "Vom Himmel noch, da komm' ich her. Ich bring' euch gute neue Mar, Der guten Mar bring' ich so viel, Davon ich sing'n und sagen will," the beginning of Martin Luther's robust "From Heaven Above to Earth I Come."

The story goes that the fighting stopped for the next twenty-four hours while the men on both sides observed a temporary peace in honor of Christmas day. Perhaps this story had a part in the French church once again embracing "Cantique de Noel" in holiday services.
***
Adams had been dead for many years and Cappeau and Dwight were old men when on Christmas Eve 1906, Reginald Fessenden--a 33-year-old university professor and former chief chemist for Thomas Edison--did something long thought impossible. Using a new type of generator, Fessenden spoke into a microphone and, for the first time in history, a man's voice was broadcast over the airwaves: "And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed," he began in a clear, strong voice, hoping he was reaching across the distances he supposed he would.

Read more at http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Movies/The-Nativity-Story/The-Amazing-Story-Of-O-Holy-Night.aspx?p=2#HKQg6jV94LfdYUve.99