Belated Christmas Wishes to All the Pals!

Hello Pals-
I wanted to log in yesterday to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas, but will all the Christmas chaos I wasn't able to. I hope you all had a wonderful time celebrating the birth of our Saviour.
This Christmas was extra special because it was the first time I have had my own tree:
Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Love In Christ-
~Lauren-Mary

Christmas Day...Vicki's Birthday!

http://windowstomysoul.blogspot.com/

tomorrow pilgrim pal vicki's family, will not only be celebrating christmas, they will also be celebrating vicki's birthday!
this verse in the picture is the whole bent of vicki's life and it is kind of small print so here, i am copying it,

Philippians 4:8
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

vicki is a constant encouragement not only to me but to so many others and that is why i am wishing her a very joyful day tomorrow.
happy birthday sweet vicki and merry christmas....love terry

happy holidays to all of the pilgrim pals.....

Ten Thousand Years

Here's a moving rendition of an old favourite of mine, Ten Thousand Years sung by a trio and the choir at Sevier Heights Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Be blessed as you listen, Pilgrim Pals

David

The first missionary, believer, witness and preacher

"When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit....."Blessed are you among women and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears the baby in my womb leaped for joy." Luke 1 vs 41-44.
Mary said, "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me - holy is His name...." Luke 1 vs 46 -49

Mary - the first missionary. A missionary brings the Good News to the nations. Mary brought us, (all nations) the Good News - she carried within her the very Word of God - Jesus. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" John 1 vs 1. The angel Gabriel presented this awesome call from God to Mary. Mary gave her yes - "I am the Lord's servant, may it be done to me as you have said." Luke 1 vs 38. She carried the Word first to Joseph, and to Elizabeth and John (her unborn son); she carried the Word from Nazareth, to Judea and to Bethlehem, where the Word was delivered; and on to Simeon in the Temple and Anna, a prophetess. Mary continued to carry the Word in her heart and soul throughout her life - she was at the foot of the Cross which held the Word before all mankind. What a great missionary!

Joseph, the first believer. At first Joseph was wary of the news Mary broke to him. Like many of us, when we first heard the Gospel we may not have responded positively at first. It seemed a foolish message to our human ears - the Messiah born of a Virgin? A King who was born into poverty - born to a carpenter? He would save us, not by force, but by His death on a cross? And then rise from that brutal death? Crazy! Perhaps we hesitated a little because we knew this meant changing many things in our lives - our comfort zone would be disturbed. Our plans and perhaps dreams may have to be altered - we generally don't like change - even good change disturbs us. So, can you imagine Joseph's thinking at hearing this awesome news for the first time from his beloved Mary - a call to be a foster father to God's Son! In his human thinking it was just too difficult to believe. But God did not get angry at Joseph for doubting and pondering breaking the engagement with Mary. God knows that some of us may need to hear the Good News from a couple different sources before we completely surrender and believe. I remember in my twenties hearing the Gospel clearly proclaimed but I didn't respond at that point - God sent another messenger to me - Billy Graham was that messenger (but that story is for another time). God sent a messenger of encouragement to Joseph - another angel comes on the scene! "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name of Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." Matt. 1 vs 20-21. Joseph believed and surrendered to God's plan. What if the neighbours found out that Mary was already pregnant. In that culture - at that time - it would have been a horrible scandal. And, imagine if the neighbours heard that Joseph and Mary believed they were the parent's of God's Son - the Messiah!? It took great trust in God. Oh that I would trust God with even a small measure of Joseph and Mary's trust.

Elizabeth - the first witness. She was the first to proclaim out loud that the Messiah had arrived. She was filled with the Holy Spirit and said to Mary, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favoured, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?"

John the Baptist - the first no nonsense preacher. Presenting a warm and fuzzy message was not his style! Maybe wearing camel's hair made him a bit grumpy - was it itchy? Nevertheless, his message was right on - we do need to repent individually and corporately for our sins. "He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins" Luke 3 vs 3. "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near." Matthew 3 vs 1. "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" John 1 vs 29.

As we get set to celebrate Christmas - the birth of our Salvation - I pray that we would take time to reflect on the trust and surrender shown to us by Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth and John.

Posted by: Julie

Pilgrim Pals

~I’d Rather Have Jesus

Forty years ago Bev Shea was attending the Bible School in Ottawa (Ontario) where I was teaching. He loved to sing. After more training in New York City he was given an audition at one of the radio stations and was offered a contract.

He asked that he might sing Gospel songs. He was told that he might use one occasionally, but he would have to use the songs on the Hit Parade.

What would he do? His mother was praying.

On Saturday night she placed a poem on the piano. In the morning he composed a tune for it. One verse was: “I’d rather have Jesus than silver and gold: I’d rather have Jesus than worldwide fame; I’d rather be true to His holy Name!”

Bev turned down the contract.

A short time later he was offered a position with a Chicago radio station where he might use the Gospel songs he loved. While there he met Billy Graham.

The rest of the story is well-known.

—R. Barclay Warren

~I’d Rather Have Jesus

When King George VI and the queen visited Washington, DC, a state dinner was given in their honor. Chief Whitefeather, an Indian, began the program by singing the British anthem. After the applause the chief sang, to the surprise of those present, the hymn whose opening words are, I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold!

Later in the evening, the chief sat near the king and queen. Tactfully he asked the queen, Do you believe on Jesus? The queen replied graciously, He is the Possessor of my heart, and of my husband’s also! The king, smiling, added, I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold!

when i was a child living in my beloved manitoba, my hero was george beverly shea, who we would hear whenever there was a billy graham crusade on tv.
this song in particular i loved.
i just wonder if i will keep as faithful to the lord as geroge beverly shea did and still does.
here he is just a young man singing this song.


and here he is at one hundred years old singing for the same lord.
and my, can't you just see the light on his face that is coming straight from his heart?
i pray that all of the pilgrim pals will be encouraged and that they will all be living for jesus and continue to be praying, affirming, loving and serving!
i will surely be trying myself....love terry

Pals...It Won't Rain Always

Janet Paschal is one of my favourite singers. Check out this YouTube video of Janet singing a powerful song, It Won't Rain Always.

I needed to hear this song today. I trust that as you listen to Janet pouring out her heart...your spirit will be refreshed and renewed by His Spirit, the blessed Holy Spirit.

Thank you, Cathy Simpson,(from Melodies and Hymnsongs) for pointing me to this song.

Our Pal On The Far Side Of The Sea Is The Birthday Girl

dear felisol, our beloved pilgrim pal ,
we all want to wish you a very happy birthday!
though we are a sea apart, we are as close as an email and a prayer away and everyone counts you as an encouraging and sympathetic and close always friend!

today is your special day!
here is a norwegian birthday cake for you, googled in fresh this very hour!
now we realize that you are sixty felisol, but don't let it worry you none.
you can know from two of us at least, that pilgrim david and me who have reached sixty[and over!..ha!],you will remain young at heart and so this is why this song is specially for you!!.....love from david fisher and his band of pilgrim pals!

ps...isn't it just the greatest thing felisol that we are christians and yet we are not a boring lot at all.
we can have fun, especially on a happy occasion like THIS...your birthday!!
have a happy one!

Lord's Day Blessings On The Pals

Hope this makes you smile!

A child was asked to write a book report on the entire Bible, and here it is.....The Children's Bible in a Nutshell.

In the beginning, which occurred near the start, there was nothing but God, darkness, and some gas. The Bible says, 'The Lord thy God is one, but I think He must be a lot older than that. Anyway, God said, 'Give me a light!' and someone did. Then God made the world. He split the Adam and made Eve. Adam and Eve were naked, but they weren't embarrassed because mirrors hadn't been invented yet. Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating one bad apple, so they were driven from the Garden of Eden.....Not sure what they were driven in though, because they didn't have cars. Adam and Eve had a son, Cain, who hated his brother as long as he was Abel..Pretty soon all of the early people died off, except for Methuselah, who lived to be like a million or something. One of the next important people was Noah, who was a good guy, but one of his kids was kind of a Ham. Noah built a large boat and put his family and some animals on it. He asked some other people to join him, but they said they would have to take a rain check. After Noah came Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob was more famous than his brother, Esau, because Esau sold Jacob his birthmark in exchange for some pot roast. Jacob had a son named Joseph who wore a really loud sports coat.Another important Bible guy is Moses, whose real name was Charlton Heston. Moses led the Israel Lights out of Egypt and away from the evil Pharaoh after God sent ten plagues on Pharaoh's people. These plagues included frogs, mice, lice, bowels, and no cable.God fed the Israel Lights every day with manicotti. Then he gave them His Top Ten Commandments. These include: don't lie, cheat, smoke, dance, or covet your neighbor's stuff. Oh, yeah, I just thought of one more: Humor thy father and thy mother.One of Moses' best helpers was Joshua who was the first Bible guy to use spies. Joshua fought the battle of Geritol and the fence fell over on the town.After Joshua came David. He got to be king by killing a giant with a slingshot. He had a son named Solomon who had about 300 wives and 500 porcupines. My teacher says he was wise, but that doesn't sound very wise to me. After Solomon there were a bunch of major league prophets. One of these was Jonah, who was swallowed by a big whale and then barfed up on the shore... There were also some minor league prophets, but I guess we don't have to worry about them. After the Old Testament came the New Testament. Jesus is the star of The New. He was born in Bethlehem in a barn. (I wish I had been born in a barn too, because my mom is always saying to me, 'Close the door! Were you born in a barn?' It would be nice to say, 'As a matter of fact, I was.') During His life, Jesus had many arguments with sinners like the Pharisees and the Democrats. Jesus also had twelve opossums. The worst one was Judas Asparagus. Judas was so evil that they named a terrible vegetable after him. Jesus was a great man. He healed many leopards and even preached to some Germans on the Mount. But the Democrats and all those guys put Jesus on trial before Pontius the Pilot. Pilot didn't stick up for Jesus. He just washed his hands instead. Anyways, Jesus died for our sins, then came back to life again. He went up to Heaven but will be back at the end of the Aluminum. His return is foretold in the book of Revolution.

Posted by: Little Missionary - Julie :)

Treasures Unseen

Dear Pals:

Thank you so much for your prayers as I go through this dark valley of depression and despair. In the midst of the turmoil I sense God's touch and His everlasting arms upholding me.

The following post appears on my Pilgrim Scribblings blog and I thought my Pals would benefit from hearing this incredible song.

Be blessed, Pals.

David, the Pilgrim

Here's the post:

Recently our son Matthew and I attended a Greater Vision concert in Pickering, Ontario. The tight harmonies and godly living of this Southern Gospel trio have endeared themselves to many Christians.

That night Greater Vision sang a song that I hadn't heard before and it really ministered to my tired and hurting spirit. The song entitled Treasures Unseen speaks of those hidden, eternal treasures that the children of God possess even when the riches of this world have evaded them.

Click here to enjoy Greater Vision's rendition of this great song. Gerald Wolfe is playing the keyboard, Rodney Griffin is playing the bass guitar and their great, new tenor Jacob Kitson does a marvelous job hitting the high notes.

Enjoy and let the Spirit of God minister to you.