You're My All

Lord, I turn my hope to You. My God, I trust in You. Do not let me be disgraced; do not let my enemies gloat over me....Make Your ways known to me, Lord; teach me Your paths. Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; I wait for You all day long. (Psalm 25:1-2, 4-5)(HCSB)


It's hard to believe that it's been over 20 years since I wrote this song. I took much of the verses straight from the NKJV translation of Psalm 25. We played it quite a bit in the contemporary christian band, Ransom, that I was in at that time. It was fun for me, because I usually got to play my saxophone on this song which had a kind of a pop/smooth-jazz feel to it. But as I think of the song, the most remarkable thing about it wasn't the lyrics or the melody; it was the young lady who sang the lead. Her name was Becky Norwood, and she was a good friend, a great singer and a strong christian. She was an inspiring person for our young audiences to see, especially considering her physical handicap. She had a severe case of rheumatoid arthritis and could barely get around. She could stand, but usually depended on her husband (Clay, our bass player) to carry her or wheel her around in her wheelchair. But that didn't stop her, she fought and endured the pain in order to minister in song. She was a perfect example of someone who willingly gave all she had for God. Her life was cut way too short in a fatal car wreck in the early 90s. But the impact she made on me and many others still carries on to this day. I hope that the lyrics to one of the songs she sang so well will minister to you in some way:

You're My All

To You O Lord I lift up my soul

Oh my God I trust in You

Show me Your ways, teach me Your paths

You are the God of my salvation

I want to know You more, I long to be with You

My soul thirsts for You Lord

I love You more each day, I just can't get enough

Lord lead me in Your ways, Oh Jesus You're my all

(chorus)

You are my all 'cause You gave all You had for me

You gave Your very best so that I could be set free

It's my turn now, I want You to take all that I have

You gave me my life, now I want to give it back

Jesus You're my all

Eternal King, the Rock of all ages, You're the strength of my life

You took my sins and washed them away, I want to live my life in gratitude

I want to know You more, I long to be with You

My soul thirsts for You Lord

I love You more each day, I just can't get enough

Lord lead me in Your ways, Oh Jesus You're my all

(repeat chorus)

copyright 1989 Joey Culpepper/Heart of Praise Music

As we look to and put our trust in God, thinking of all He has done for us at the cross and through the blood of Christ, we all should feel a desire to give all that we can in His service. He gave us life and new life through the death of His Son, so we should respond by living our life for Him!

Singing His Praises,

Joey Culpepper

Happy Is He Who Fears?

How happy is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways! (Psalm 128:1)(HCSB)

Happy is he who fears? How can you fear and be happy about it? As funny and illogical as that question sounds, we can fear and be happy if we fear the Lord and walk in His ways. So what does it mean to fear the Lord? Does it mean that we should be deathly afraid of God and scared to displease Him? Does it mean that we should carefully walk a straight line because God's waiting to punish us when we step out of line? Well, we should want to please our Lord and to follow the narrow road to life that He's placed us on, but not out of fear. While God does discipline His children, (Prov. 3:12, Heb. 12:6) He's not just looking down His nose at us hoping that we mess up so that He can zap us with a lightning bolt or something. He loves us, and like a loving father, wants to protect us, and He wants us to steer clear of things that are harmful, the obstacles that try to detour us away from the narrow path.

So what is the fear of the Lord? I believe it's more about having and showing the proper respect for the One who is the Creator and ultimately the Judge of all creation. The full meaning of the "fear of the Lord" includes reverential awe, obedient respect and worshipful submission. Solomon, one of the wisest men of all time, wrote in Proverbs 1:7--The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. (HCSB)
He also wrote in Proverbs 8:13--To fear the Lord is to hate evil. I hate arrogant pride, evil conduct, and perverse speech. (HCSB)

Oh man, could we ever use some more of the fear of the Lord in our government these days! Other passages in Psalms reiterate what Psalm 128:1 says. Look at these two verses:
He will bless those who fear the Lord--small and great alike. (Ps. 115:13)(HCSB)
Hallelujah! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, taking great delight in His commandments. (Ps. 112:1)(HCSB)
So those of us who fear the Lord, delight in His Word and walk in His ways will be happy and blessed by God. Let's go back to Psalm 128 and see a few of the ways that God will bless those who fear Him.

Psalm 128

• v.2--you will eat what you work for, you will be happy and it will go well with you
• v.3--your wife will be a fruitful vine, your sons will be like young olive trees
• v.5--you will see prosperity around you all your life
• v.6--you will see your grandchildren

You know what? I believe that I would like to be happy and blessed like that, so I'm going to continue to fear the Lord with worshipful submission, obedient respect and reverential awe. If you do the same, you too can fear and be happy about it!
Singing His Praises,
Joey Culpepper

Glory to God Alone

Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory because of Your faithful love, because of Your truth. (Psalm 115:1)(HCSB)



We need to be people who are constantly giving all glory and praise to our God. In a society and culture that is ever-increasing in the promotion of self and selfishness, we must diligently keep God on the throne of our hearts and not let self sneak back into the chair. We are bombarded with self-centered phrases like, "Do what's right for you!" and "What's in it for me?" and "Look at me and what I've accomplished." We need to realize that we can't do anything at all, not even take the next breath, without God's help. Let's not be like Herod who was struck down because he didn't give God the glory, but presumed to be a god himself.

(Acts 12:20-23) So on an appointed day, dressed in royal robes and seated on the throne, Herod delivered a public address to them. The populace began to shout, "It's the voice of a god and not of a man!" At once an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give the glory to God, and he became infected with worms and died. (HCSB)

There's a new praise song called "Give You Glory", written by Jeremy Camp, that reminds us to always give glory where it's due. In fact, we're singing it in worship this Sunday at RABC. Take a look at some of the lyrics to the song:

We have raised a thousand voices
just to lift Your holy name
And we will raise thousands more to sing
of Your beauty in this place
Oh none can even fathom
no not one define Your worth
As we marvel in Your presence to the ends of the earth


(chorus)
We give You glory
lifting up our hands and singing "Holy"
You alone are worthy
we just want to touch Your heart, Lord,
touch Your heart
Glory, lifting up our voice and singing "Holy"
You alone are worthy
we just want to touch Your heart, Lord,
touch Your heart


As we fall down before You
with our willing hearts we seek
In the greatness of Your glory
it's so hard to even speak
There is nothing we can offer
no nothing can repay
So we give You all our praises
and lift our voice to sing
(repeat chorus)

So let us all come to the realization that it's not about us and what we've done, but it's about giving God the glory for all that He's done for us and in us and through us! As we seek to worship the Lord with our daily lives, let's remember that there's nothing we can offer, and there's no way we can repay Him for all He's done, so we should be careful to do everything for His glory! (1 Cor. 10:31)

Singing His Praises,
Joey Culpepper

With a Child's Heart

Lord, my heart is not proud; my eyes are not haughty. I do not get involved with things too great or too difficult for me. Instead, I have calmed and quieted myself like a little weaned child with its mother; I am like a little child. Israel, put your hope in the Lord, both now and forever. (Psalm 131:1-3) (HCSB)

"I am like a little child." As the writer of this psalm, what was King David trying to express? What was he trying to say to the nation of Israel? I believe that he was both warning and encouraging his readers with this short psalm. He was warning them, and ultimately us as well, to beware of pride and haughtiness, and encouraging us to keep our proper perspective so that we can worship the Lord with our heart in the right place. As we grow and mature we become more independent. We learn how to do more and more things on our own until we don't need help from our parents or others, and we ultimately mature to adulthood. We come to a place where we achieve total independence and we take pride in that. But many of us go beyond that, and instead of growing up and becoming independent from just our parents, we also outgrow our need for God. We become proud and haughty, and we believe that all that we've achieved was by our own power, and so, we have no real need for God. Our hearts grow hard, and we lose the ability to simply trust in the Lord even when there's mountains of evidence all around us. Like Pharoah we harden our hearts and don't respect or revere God even though He's doing miracles right before our eyes.

Keith Green, one of the pioneers of contemporary Christian music, wrote a song with his wife, Melody, called "Soften Your Heart". The song conveys a message of hope and salvation that he's trying to get across to his listeners. Take a look at some of the lyrics:

So many times I've tried to tell you
but I don't think you've been listening
There's nothing I wanna try and sell you
'cause His love is free
You're so proud of saying you're a seeker
but why are you searching in the dark
You won't find a thing until you soften your heart
The message is oh so very simple
you gotta be like a child to see
'cause Jesus said, "Let the little children come unto me."
You try to make things too complicated
but you really don't have to be so smart
You won't learn a thing until you soften your heart

I think Keith got it right. We try to make everything too complicated, we try to figure out how to do it ourselves, but the real message is so simple. Jesus loves us and gave His life to pay for our mistakes so that we can be reconciled with Father God. He wants us to turn away from our sins and simply trust Him, humbly coming to Him with the pure faith of a child. Let's look at what Jesus said:

(Mark 10:13-16) Some people were bringing little children to Him so He might touch them, but His disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw it, He was indignant and said to them, "Let the little children come to Me. Don't stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I assure you: Whoever does not welcome the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." After taking them in His arms, He laid His hands on them and blessed them. (HCSB)

(Matt. 18:1-4) At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" Then He called a child to Him and had him stand among them. "I assure you," He said, "unless you are converted and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child--this one is greatest in the kingdom of heaven." (HCSB)

So let's all soften our hearts, be converted and become like children. Let's humble ourselves and keep the right perspective--that God is Lord of all and we need to trust in Him, not in our own strength, because we are nothing without Him.

Singing His Praises,
Joey C.

God Hears & Listens

Ps. 66:16-20

Come and listen, all who fear God, and I will tell you what He has done for me. I cried out to Him with my mouth, and praise was on my tongue. If I had been aware of malice in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. However, God has listened; He has paid attention to the sound of my prayer. May God be praised! He has not turned away my prayer or turned His faithful love from me. (HCSB)

Have you ever felt like God doesn't hear your prayers? Or that He hears but don't really listen? Or worse, that He hears but don't care? Well, let me just say that He does hear. And when He hears the prayers of His children He listens because He truly does care. We struggle with this sometimes because of our limited understanding and patience. We have the Burger King and Dominoes mentality where we want to have it our way in under 30 minutes, but sometimes God doesn't answer our prayers in exactly the way or time frame that we think He should. But we need to trust that He cares about us, and knows what is truly best for us. The Psalms are filled with scriptures that point to the reality that God hears us:

• Ps. 4:3--Know that the Lord has set apart the faithful for Himself; the Lord will hear when I call to Him.
• Ps. 18:6--I called to the Lord in my distress, and I cried to my God for help. From His temple He heard my voice and my cry to Him reached His ears.
• Ps. 40:1--I waited patiently for the Lord, and He turned to me and heard my cry for help.
• Ps. 69:33--For the Lord listens to the needy and does not despise His own who are prisoners.
• Ps. 94:9--Can the One who shaped the ear not hear, the One who formed the eye not see?
• Ps. 116:1-2--I love the Lord because He has heard my appeal for mercy. Because He has turned His ear to me, I will call out to Him as long as I live.
• Ps. 138:3--On the day I called, You answered me; You increased strength within me.

So God's Word confirms that He hears the prayers of the righteous. In 1 John 5:14 we are told: Now this is the confidence we have before Him: whenever we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. (HCSB) What we have to do is to believe and keep on praying. We need to keep the faith and be persistent in our prayers, not giving up when it seems that the Lord isn't answering the way we expect Him to in our 30 minute window. There's no doubt in my mind that God answers our prayers. I've seen way too many answered prayers in my own life and in the lives of people I know--some of them even miraculous answers-- to doubt the power of prayer. What's harder for me to believe is that we have the ear (so to speak) of our heavenly Father--that we have access to the One True God of all creation through prayer!

Imagine with me if you will, that you are granted an audience with some figure of royalty, a King or Queen perhaps. What kind of honor would that be, realizing how rare an opportunity it is for a common citizen to be able to spend time with such an important and powerful person? How would you feel if the King/Queen listened with interest to the things that concerned you? Pretty good, huh? You know, I've emailed President Obama two or three times about issues that concern me greatly, but I have yet to get a personal response from him or a response of any kind for that matter. In fact, I doubt that he ever even saw or read my emails. And yet I can bow down and send a knee-mail to God and get a confirmation that the message was received in my heart and spirit before I even say "amen". And that's great, because I'd much rather talk to Jesus anyway!

We can go to God anytime, and we don't need a priest or mediator to do so. We don't have to win some contest or pass a security check by the secret service. There's only one mediator between man and God, and that's Jesus Christ. (1 Tim. 2:5-6) He's our High Priest, and because of what He's done for us, we can boldly approach God's throne, knowing that He will hear us and help us when we need Him! (Heb. 4:14-16) Praise the Lord! Aren't you glad you've got His ear?

Singing His Praises,
Joey C.

Traits of a Righteous Person

Hallelujah! Happy is the man who fears the Lord, taking great delight in His commandments. (Ps. 112:1)(HCSB)


Are you a righteous person? One who is in right-standing with God? I hope so because God has many blessings and promises for the righteous. Of course, in and of ourselves, none of us could ever hope to be good enough to be labeled as righteous. God's Word makes that clear. (Rom. 3:10; Ps.143:2) But praise God, we can attain righteousness through Jesus, the only man who ever followed God's law perfectly, who was the sinless Lamb of God and whose sacrifice for our sins placed us in a position of right-standing with God when we follow him as Lord of our lives. We will be happy when we fear the Lord, taking great delight in His Word as we try to live the christian life through the power of the Holy Spirit. Psalm 112 shows us some traits of a righteous person. Let's look at some of these traits or characteristics that the righteous can experience:

• v.2--his descendants will be powerful and blessed
• v.3--wealth and riches are in his house
• v.4--he is gracious, compassionate and righteous
• v.5--good will come to he who is fair in business
• v.6--he will never be shaken, but will be remembered forever
• v.7--he confidently trusts in the Lord, not fearing bad news
• v.8--he looks in triumph over his foes
• v.9--he helps the poor and will be exalted in honor

In Psalm 112:10, we see the contrast of what the wicked man experiences: The wicked man will see it and be angry; he will gnash his teeth in despair. The desire of the wicked will come to nothing. (HCSB) This should encourage us all to turn from everything wicked or unrighteous and whole-heartedly seek after godliness so that we can experience the traits of the righteous that we've just looked at in Psalm 112. We can be assured that even though it doesn't seem like it at times to our natural eyes, the way of the wicked leads to ruin but God watches over the righteous. (Ps. 1:6) I like the way that David puts it in Psalm 37:25---I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous abandoned (HCSB)

So I encourage us all to keep fighting the good fight of faith and to stay on the road of righteousness. If we do, we have God's promise that we will never be shaken (Pr. 10:30) and that we can experience true happiness when we worship him with due respect and reverence. (Ps. 112:1)

Singing His Praises,
Joey C.

My Rock & My Fortress

I love You, Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my mountain where I seek refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I was saved from my enemies. (Ps. 18:1-3)(HCSB)
God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble. Therefore we will not be afraid, though the earth trembles and the mountains topple into the depths of the seas, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with its turmoil. (Ps. 46:1-3)(HCSB)
Rock...Fortress...Strength...Refuge...Deliverer...Shield...Stronghold... words used to describe our Lord in the two passages above and in many other passages in the Psalms. Another word used in the passage from Psalm 46 is "helper". And notice that it's not speaking of a once-in-a-while kind of helper, but a "helper who is always found in times of trouble." (HCSB) The NKJV reads "a very present help in trouble." We all need that kind of dependable help from time to time-- someone we can rely on. Not someone who's seemingly never around when you need them, but a friend you can always turn to. That's the kind of friend that Jesus is! We can always run to Him when we need shelter from the storms and hardships of this life. We can go to Him for a safe place of rest and protection. His very name itself is referred to as a strong tower we can run to in Proverbs 18:10--The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are protected. (HCSB)When we go to Him in our adverse times we can be encouraged with what Psalm 27:5-6 reveals to us: For He will conceal me in His shelter in the day of adversity; He will hide me under the cover of His tent; He will set me high on a rock. Then my head will be high above my enemies around me...(HCSB)
The Lord is an impenetrable fortress, a mighty stronghold that we can run to for safety and shelter and refuge, but that doesn't do us any good unless we turn to Him and take cover under his shadow for protection. It's kind of like this: I decide to go on a camping trip, and I purchase the biggest, strongest, most expensive tent known to mankind. When I find the perfect spot to camp out, I spend a couple of hours (I'm sure it would take me at least that long to figure it out) putting the tent together. And just as I'm finishing up, a rainstorm comes through, but instead of taking cover and shelter inside my super-duty tent, I decide to sit out in the open and get soaked instead. Would that make any sense? No, of course not! But many times we do just that with the Lord. We have the best refuge and safe haven to hide in, but unless we actually run to Jesus, our fortress, and hide in His protecting embrace, it's not going to do us any good.

We need to hide in the protection of a close relationship with Jesus. By reading and studying God's Word and spending time with the Lord daily in prayer and times of devotion we can experience the safety our deliverer provides. So let's not try to weather the rainstorms and troubles we face when all the time we have a very present help. Let's not wait 'til we're soaked and beaten up by the battles we encounter and then, finally, run into our strong tower. Let's go to Him daily and thereby save ourselves from unnecessary harm. He's our Rock and our Fortress, a helper who can always be found!

Singing His Praises,
Joey C.

A Fresh Start

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 Jn. 1:9)(NKJV)


Each January as the new year rolls around, people around the globe decide to try something new. They make resolutions to stop smoking, to start exercising or to go on yet another diet. They change their image with a new hairstyle and/or clothes in an effort to redefine their look. Some decide to change jobs or to go back to school. Others have a renewed interest in achieving some goal that they've put off or have failed at in the past. Many want to have a renewed or deepened relationship with the Lord, but sadly, they don't believe that it's possible because of some past failure on their part. They feel like they're not good enough to have a refreshed or restored relationship with God.

And you know, they're actually right about that point because there is no one who is righteous (Rom. 3:10-12; Ps. 53:1-3) and all of us have sinned and fallen short. (Rom. 3:23) But the good news is that we can be restored and refreshed...we can start anew, with a clean slate, if we will do what the Bible tells us to in 1 Jn. 1:9: confess our sins. When we confess our sin and repent, our faithful and just God will forgive us and purify us, cleansing us from all unrighteousness. It's as if He wipes our slate clean so that we can start over--start anew.

The Word states that God removes our transgressions from us as far as the east is from the west. (Ps. 103:12) That's a long way! I believe the reason the Bible states "as far as the east is from the west" instead of " the north from the south", is that we have a north and south pole on the planet. There's a finite distance from the north to the south. If you go north until you reach the pole and keep going, then you'll be going south again! But you can travel east or west forever!

A couple of weeks ago as I looked over the pastor's sermon outline about "New Commitments and Frest Starts", I was intrigued by a question he posed: "Are we truly wanting to start anew, or do we just want to revamp the old?"--That made me think, and through the inspiration of Bro. David's sermon God gave me a new song that I sang that Sun. morning. I'd like to share the lyrics with you here:

Fresh Start
Lord, You know my heart
how many times I've failed You
But if You'd give me another chance
I'd like to start anew
If I confess my sins You're faithful to forgive
and You will purify me from all unrighteousness


(chorus)I want to make a fresh start
I'm ready for a new commitment
To live my life in such a way
that I'm a true reflection
of Who You are and how You love
and that You really care
I want to make a fresh start
I don't want to revamp the old me
So take these eyes that have turned away
and lock their gaze straight on Thee
So I can see just Who You are
that I can know Your heart
I want to make a fresh start


Forgiveness floods my soul
I turn away from all my sin
The secret rooms deep inside my heart
You now dwell there within
Now I can live my life not looking to the past
For You have washed me clean
and now I'm whole at last
(repeat chorus)

I don't know about you, but I'm sure glad that God forgives and cleanses us when we confess our sin. Are you 'fessed up? Have you confessed to the Lord recently? I encourage you to confess any and all sin during your daily devotional or prayer time. Don't allow unconfessed sin to hinder or destroy your spiritual walk with God. Instead, enjoy a refreshed and/or restored relationship with your Faithful and Just Lord!

Joey C.

A New Song---A Hymn of Praise

I waited paitently for the Lord, and He turned to me and heard my cry for help. He brought me up from a desolate pit, out of the muddy clay, and set my feet on a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord. (Ps. 40:1-3)(HCSB)


I believe that as Christians, God has placed a song in our hearts--a new song-- a hymn of praise to our God. Each and every song is unique, therefore only we can sing the song God puts in our mouth. It may not be a song that we sing as a solo during a Sunday worship service or a stirring anthem that we sing in the church choir. Instead, it may be a song that we "sing" by inviting a co-worker to Sunday School or by sharing our personal testimony to a friend. It might be that we can sing the song God has given us by ministering to the homeless or helping serve the families in the Family Promise program. Our song may be voiced best as a prayer prayed with someone who is suffering over the loss of a family member. God may call us to sing that song to a total stranger at a chance encounter by sharing what the Lord has done in our life.

We all have a song from God, and each one is unique. Only we can sing our song, but we first have to make the decision to open our mouth so that the song can be heard. As we sing our song through the faithful service, witness and testimony of our lives, we can expect to see what the psalmist writes in Ps. 40:3--Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord.

As one of my friends shared this week at the Men's Prayer Meeting that he was praying for God to give him a renewed boldness to share his faith and witness more agressively in the new year, I thought of this passage and my desire to see God moving during our invitation times here at the Ridge. It's my prayer that we will all "step up to the microphone", so to speak, in 2010 and sing our unique hymn of praise so that many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord. For that to become a reality--for our song to make an impact on lost souls--for us to see professions of faith, baptisms and lives rededicated in our Sunday services--we have to make up our minds to open our mouths and tell somebody about Jesus! So, what do you say? Will you do that with me?
Singing His Praises,
Joey Culpepper

Little Child In A Manger

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. (Luke 2:7)(KJV)

I wrote a Christmas song a few weeks ago and sang it in the Hanging of the Greens service. I've written many songs, and the vast majority of them are contemporary christian. I will usually write as the inspiration hits me, and I firmly believe that God gives me the songs and allows me to create them through His anointing. Sometimes I will struggle with an idea for a song, especially with lyrics, for quite some time before it comes to fruition. Other times, it's like God sends me an idea, and then all the words flow into my mind and the music comes together almost by itself. As I was putting together the music for the Hanging of the Greens service, I realized that I had never written a Christmas song. So the wheels started turning--so to speak--and God inspired me with these lyrics. Worship the child in the manger as you read:

Little child in a manger
born that first Christmas morn
We treated You like a stranger
but You knew us before we were born
Please forgive us for failing
to see who You truly are
And guide us like the three wise men
who came seeking You from afar

Shepherds out on the hillside
watching their flocks by night
The angel spoke and they trembled
surrounded by such a great light
"Please fear not for I bring you
tidings of great joy...
In the city of David is born now
Christ the baby boy"

Alleluia, Glory to, Glory to God in the Highest
Alleluia, Peace on earth, good will to men

Wise men came bearing treasure:
frankincense, gold and myrrh
They sought to worhsip King Jesus
the Maker of heaven and earth
They followed a star to the cradle
where they found a young virgin girl
And Mary just smiled as she gazed at
her Savior, the Light of the World

And they cried Alleluia, Glory to, glory to God in the highest
They sang Alleluia, Peace on earth good will to men

Little Child in a manger
born that first Christmas morn
We treated You like a stranger
but You knew us before we were born
Please forgive us for failing
to see who You truly are
And guide us like the three wise men
who came seeking You from afar

You know the old saying you see on church signs around Christmas--"Wise men still seek Him." My prayer this Christmas is that all of us will keep our eyes on Jesus; and just like the wise men who were drawn to the cradle by a star that first Christmas, we will seek Him in worship.

Joey C.