Tag: Christmas

Merry Christmas, From Galveston

Heidi and I made our second trip to Galveston in as many months, just to get away. We didn’t have family coming to visit, and couldn’t go visit family, so we treated ourselves to a condo on the west beach of Galveston.

In our first trip to Galveston, right before Thanksgiving, we stayed in a loft just off the infamous Strand Blvd. It was a nice loft. Staying downtown was not really our thing. We walked the Strand. But it’s actually just like any other tourist town, only with more humid air and the thought of the sea not far away. She convinced me of this when were sat in a chocolate store, sipping on a shake, and I was talking about which truffles I wanted to buy. She pointed out that it’s the same truffles you find in the store in Fredericksburg, or Gatlinburg, or any other tourist trap.

“You mean, they don’t make it here?” Nope. Bought if from a supplier. The luster was gone. Along with the Strand itself, visiting the boring and dirty Bishop’s Palace, and eating at the infamous Fisherman’s Warf, we were done with downtown Galveston. We just don’t care for touristy.

Yet, Heidi was willing to try a condo on west beach in the Pointe West Beach Club,  just east of San Luis Pass, which meant that we didn’t have to drive down through Galveston proper to get to it. It was closer driving through Freeport.

It didn’t take her long to realize why I liked Galveston so much. It’s not Galveston proper, but west beach. That is where my family spent a good deal of time in my teenage years.

She loved it, which surprised us both. It’s not just the beach, but the waves, and the smell of the waves, and the sound of the waves, and the sand, and the shells, and more waves. Wave after wave comes plowing up on the beach and it is medicinal to the soul. Whether we were walking along the beach, or sitting on the balcony of condo 202, it was wonderful.

We were only there for one full day, Christmas Eve, so we made the most of it. We made three trips from the condo, down the boardwalk, and onto the beach. Our first trip, we walked west for a while. Our second trip, we walked even further east for a while. By the end of the day, my step-counter on my phone registered more than 9,000 steps. We were getting our money’s worth.

All this to say, Merry Christmas, from Galveston… west beach in particular.

Our condo was in the blue one over her shoulder.

The boardwalk. An no, we didn’t go under the boardwalk. There be rattlesnakes in ‘dem bushes.

The BEST shot of the day!

The sunset.

All photos are copyright © Timothy J. Hammons, 2024. 

 

 

 

 

 

Merry Christmas Eve!

Merry Christmas Eve! For some people, this is a day of panic because they are given to the materialistic spirit of the age. Let me encourage you not to give into the spirit of the age. Nothing about the incarnation demands we spend money for gifts we probably don’t need, or cannot afford.

Please realize that Christmas is about the giving of gifts, but not gifts we give. It is about God’s gift to us in the incarnation of Jesus Christ. The Second Person of the Trinity became man. He laid aside His glory and became a babe in a manger.

To help, ponder the words of the incarnation by Samuel Rutherford:

  1. O! What a depth it is! God and dust married together!
  2. Lovely in the womb, the Ancient of Days became young for me.
  3. It was not for nothing that our Brother Jesus was an infant.
  4. His Father laid the cross on His back, and He carried it thirty-three years, and never gave it a shake to put it off.

He came to save. Salvation belongs to the LORD! We are given hope in Him. Let us repent of our sins, trusting in Him. He is a perfect Savior, the ultimate gift. Merry Christmas Eve!

And now, some joyful photos via my daughter, Jessica.

All photos are copyright © Timothy J. Hammons, 2021. 

Wednesday Word: Unto Us a Child is Born

Wednesday Word

Merry Christmas! This is my Christmas edition of the Wednesday Word. Normally, as a staunch, stick in the mud Presbyterian who only believes in the 52-holy days of the year (that being the LORD’s Day), I have done all I can to ignore Christmas Day. Part of that is a desire to be honoring to God. He has only given us 52 holy days. He has not instructed us to celebrate Christmas.

But given that so many people do, and that it does point to the birth of Christ, it is an opportunity to share the truth about the God who set aside His glory, became one of us, in order to redeem some, and bring about a new Kingdom.

What has also helped is that in the last three weeks, Heidi and I have been able to attend two churches where they purposely follow the Christian calendar by focusing on Christmas, both in music and sermons. And in both, the pastors we heard referred to Isaiah 9:6 AND 7. I emphasized the conjunction for a reason. Most people ignore verse 7. They will recite verse 6 for the entire advent season, but ignore verse 7. Here is verse 6:

“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.“

That verse is packed full of wonderful truths about Christ, the Messiah. A pastor could easily preach that verse for several Sunday’s in a row, just to begin to explain it all. But it’s verse 7 that gave me another one of my Aha! moments.

These Aha! moments are moments I have had since my end-times theology changed from an amorphous acceptance that there is an end, to one of definite victory by Christ over all things. The position I now have is one of hope, instead of uncertain gloom. It is one that is supported throughout Scripture, and I keep finding verses where this is readily evident.

It’s like the FedEx logo. I had a friend point out to me that the words FedEx on the side of the truck, had an arrow in them. Up to that point, I had never seen the arrow. Now I can’t look at the logo without seeing the arrow.

Once my position changed, I’m seeing the logos of the hopeful eschatology (study of end times), every where.

And that brings us to verse 7.

“Of the increase of His government and peace, there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”

In other words, the kingdom that Christ brought in His earthly ministry and after His ascension will continue to grow until it covers the entire earth, and all His enemies have been made a footstool. Verse 7 clearly points to the postmillennial position (the position I have been describing). Christ will be victorious over all His enemies, including death. This prophecy in Isaiah 9 assures us of this reality, and even Paul gets in on the act in 1 Corinthians 15:25-26 For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.

Christ is reigning now in heaven. He is still the King of kings, and presidents, and prime ministers, and pot-bellied dictators… He rules over all of them.

Yes, it does seem like there are times that the church is failing, that the gospel if falling on deaf ears. But even in this current waning (from our perspective) of the gospel, the gospel is still going forth. Here are few things to think about:

  • There are more Christians now than there ever have been in history. Not bad for a religion that started with 11 scared disciples.
  • There are more copies of the Bible than ever. Remember, that for much of Church history, the copies of the Bible were rare. But we have them in plenty in our day.
  • There are more ways to hear the gospel than ever, after all, you’re getting a dose of it on a blog.
  • And since we don’t know when Christ will return, and He will, we may actually be in the early age of the church. Christ may tarry on His second coming for another 1,000 years and perhaps even 10,000 years. Only God knows.

The point is that we have much to be hopeful for. Yes, the wicked are more evident now than they were 50 years ago. But wicked still fall under Christ’s rule. He is still their King, and they will still have to answer to Him on judgment day.

Let us rejoice at the season that points us to the good news of Christ and call people to their King. Merry Christmas!

All photos are copyright © Timothy J. Hammons 2021.

Thursday Doors: Holiday Edition

Merry Christmas! Dan gave us the Holiday theme for this edition of Thursday doors, and I thought I would do Christmas for my holiday of choice. It wasn’t an easy decision. Kwanza ran a close second (tongue in cheek).

The real reason to celebrate Christmas is the reminder of the Advent of Christ. The word advent means the coming or arrival of something important. I know of one pastor that has made the case for the actual beginning of creation as the first advent. In other words, when Christ spoke those words “let their be light” this was the actual first advent of Christ.

We know that He is the One who spoke from passages like John 1:1-4, and Colossians 1:16. In both passages, we discover Christ’s role in creation. The Father decrees. The Son Speaks. The Spirit moves.

This Triune activity is reflected in our own salvation. The Father decrees the elect before the foundations of the world. The Son speaks to us, calling us to be His. The Spirit moves in our heart, giving us the ability, will, and desire to believe in Him for salvation. When this takes place, we have experienced another advent of Christ. He came to us, spoke to us (usually through the means of a fallen-human preacher proclaiming the word of God), and we respond in faith because we are the sheep of His pasture.

Yet, the advent we celebrate now is more grand because it reminds us that the One who spoke in the beginning, actually came and dwelt among us. He took on human flesh. He humbled Himself, laying aside His glory and the glory of heaven, to come and redeem those whom the Father elected. How wonderful. Our Creator came to redeem us.

This is why Christmas is to be celebrated. It is a time of joy. Our Creator didn’t leave us to our own devices, but came to redeem us, set up His kingdom and rule over all that He has made. Let us trust in the King of kings, the LORD of lords, the One who spoke in the beginning and spoke to us again during His earthly ministry, and spoke to us again to make us His own. With this in view, we can truly say, Merry Christmas!

Here is my submission for Dan’s Thursday Doors Holiday Edition.

Not necessarily a Christmas theme, but a really neat sign.

Christmas without toy trains? Not possible.

For some, all you need is that one Christmas decoration to make it complete.

The Christmas pulpit.

Happy St. Nicholas.

All photos are copyright © Timothy J. Hammons, 20201.

A White Christmas

We are no longer dreaming of a white Christmas. It’s here. But I confess, as I write this, I’m ready for it to move along. After spending the morning shuffling family to and from their vehicles, I’m ready for it to be a balmy 50 degrees, with rain… like back in Texas.

The first photo is looking out the balcony door of our bedroom. The rest are taken from behind the cabin.

Can you spot what is wrong in the photo with the birdhouse?

 

Merry Christmas!

Here are a few Christmas photos for your morning, or afternoon. Merry Christmas.

Please note: the main photo includes God’s word, which takes predominance over all our Christmas traditions. Enjoy the traditions, obey God’s word.

Also note: this post includes Christmas penguins. No Christmas photography post is ever complete without Christmas penguins…, and bells…, and a Christmas star. But other than that… there are no more essential photos for Christmas… except maybe a tree… and packages under the tree… and… well, you get the idea. Merry Christmas!