Then the king will say to those on his right, “Come, my Father has blessed you! Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you took […]

Good indeed is the Lord, His mercy endures forever, His faithfulness lasts through every generation. ~ Psalm 100:5, New American Bible translation

The Lord will answer you in times of trouble.
The name of the God of Jacob will protect you.
He will send you help from his holy place
and support you from Zion.

My choice is you, God, first and only. And now I find I’m your choice! ~ Psalm 16:5, Message translation, the most fitting use of one’s “choice,” a word that has been selfishly twisted by abortion proponents, such as… My My My My My My My RT @NARAL: MT @Abortion_Rights My lifeMy healthMy educationMy choiceMy […]

A great deal of blather has been expended on “the defense of our values.” This plays right into the fanatics’ hands, for they know we don’t have any….

Perhaps the most discouraging thing, in our inaptly captioned “war on terror,” is the response that can be elicited from the West’s real fools: those who say “this is not about Islam,” when even they know perfectly well it is about Islam and nothing else.

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. ~ Ephesians 4:22-24, […]

Here’s the fourth in the repeat of my Sunday series during the month of December on the fascinating abolitionist history behind some of our most beloved Christmas hymns. Pro-lifers identify closely with those 150 years ago who fought to free another oppressed class of people. (Also see Go Tell It on the Mountain,” “O Holy […]

Here’s the third in the repeat of my Sunday series during the month of December of the fascinating abolitionist history behind some of our most beloved Christmas hymns. Pro-lifers identify closely with those 150 years ago who fought to free another oppressed class of people. Last week I posted the story behind “O Holy Night,” and the week before, “Go Tell It on the Mountain.” This week…

“I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”

In December 1863 poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was still grieving the death by fire of his wife Francis 2 years before when receiving word their oldest son Charles had been seriously injured as a Union soldier in the Civil War.

A fierce abolitionist, Longfellow awakened in despair that Christmas morning, unsure of both the fate of his son and his country. It was against this backdrop Longfellow wrote the melancholy poem “Christmas Bells” when hearing church bells peel throughout Boston proclaiming the birth of Christ. Two of the middle verses were later dropped to adapt the poem into a Christmas carol, which composer John Caulkin set to music. Those 2 verses give the current verse 3 (the last verse below) much more context: