Thinking about Mary traveling to Bethlehem for the very first Christmas. Happy Birthday, Jesus!
Sing Him Loud!
What better way to start Christmas ?
Get it? Got it. Good. That's one of our favorite lines from Danny Kaye's 1956 movie "The Court Jester" — one of our all time All Time favorite movies. Our family can watch it over and over and over again!
This time, we're using it to ask if you got it. Our gift. A free download of Don Cousins' talk "The Blessing Factor," given at Honolulu 2009 that we emailed you about last week.
Got it? Good, if you did. It's a great talk. If you didn't, it's not too late. Just click on the link below.
It's also not too late to help HIM meet its 2012 fiscal year budget. Our fiscal year ends this Saturday, June 30, just a few days away. A good number of people have responded and made a gift, a number for the first time. We are very thankful! However, we are a long way off from narrowing the $75,000 budget gap.
Please give if you haven't. Every gift of every size counts. You count. You count not just for what you can give but for who you are. You are of infinite beauty, value and worth. God loves and cares for you. Even if you don't give, we want you to know and rest in that truth today.
The quickest way to give is online. Click here and you will be redirected to HIM's secure online site and HIM will be sure to get your gift by June 30th.
You can also call the HIM office at (808) 988-9777 with your VISA or Mastercard during business hours, 7:30 am to 4:30 pm (HST). Other options, including a mail-in form, are available by clicking here.
This is a critical time for Hawaiian Islands Ministries (HIM). We need your help and active participation now. And if you can't give by our June 30, 2012 deadline, that's okay. HIM needs your continuing, ongoing support and your prayers. Those are welcome any time.
Get it? Got it. Good!
Yours in Christ,
Dan & Pam Chun | co-founders, Hawaiian Islands Ministries
Audio by Tim Keller - timothykeller.com/
Animation by Pete Artemenko - latentdesign.com/
PDF - goo.gl/LAdn6
MP4 Download - pete@latentdesign.com
"Jesus is the true and better Adam who passed the test in the garden and whose obedience is imputed to us.
Jesus is the true and better Abel who, though innocently slain, has blood now that cries out, not for our condemnation, but for acquittal.
Jesus is the true and better Abraham who answered the call of God to leave all the comfortable and familiar and go out into the void not knowing wither he went to create a new people of God.
Jesus is the true and better Isaac who was not just offered up by his father on the mount but was truly sacrificed for us. And when God said to Abraham, “Now I know you love me because you did not withhold your son, your only son whom you love from me,” now we can look at God taking his son up the mountain and sacrificing him and say, “Now we know that you love us because you did not withhold your son, your only son, whom you love from us.”
Jesus is the true and better Jacob who wrestled and took the blow of justice we deserved, so we, like Jacob, only receive the wounds of grace to wake us up and discipline us.
Jesus is the true and better Joseph who, at the right hand of the king, forgives those who betrayed and sold him and uses his new power to save them.
Jesus is the true and better Moses who stands in the gap between the people and the Lord and who mediates a new covenant.
Jesus is the true and better Rock of Moses who, struck with the rod of God’s justice, now gives us water in the desert.
Jesus is the true and better Job, the truly innocent sufferer, who then intercedes for and saves his stupid friends.
Jesus is the true and better David whose victory becomes his people’s victory, though they never lifted a stone to accomplish it themselves.
Jesus is the true and better Esther who didn’t just risk leaving an earthly palace but lost the ultimate and heavenly one, who didn’t just risk his life, but gave his life to save his people.
Jesus is the true and better Jonah who was cast out into the storm so that we could be brought in.
Jesus is the real Rock of Moses, the real Passover Lamb, innocent, perfect, helpless, slain so the angel of death will pass over us. He’s the true temple, the true prophet, the true priest, the true king, the true sacrifice, the true lamb, the true light, the true bread.
The Bible’s really not about you—it’s about him."
MP3: bit.ly/mgQ3hh
Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning.