I found this thing online and thought it was hilarious!   But when I looked at the price I noticed it was sold out.  Does that concern you as much as it concerns me?

Read along, It’s Christmas [almost].

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. (Luke 2:8-14)

What is effectual calling?

Effectual calling is the work of God’s Spirit, to convince us of our sin and misery, to enlighten our minds in the knowledge of Christ, to renew our wills, and thus persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel.

2 Timothy 1:9; John 6:44, 45; 16:8-11; Acts 2:37; 26:18; Ezekiel 36:26; Romans 8:30; 1 Corinthians 1:24; 12:3.

I discovered this song today while listening to some Kenny G Christmas (“Faith” is the album)

It’s Auld Lang Syne (or however you spell it) in the background with news clips playing over it.  It’s a pretty cool look at history.

Listen Here

Nothing says Christmas like Nasty Christmas Lights.  The folks over at Ugly Christmas Lights know this – so they dedicated a site to it. Here are some of my favorites…

You’ve forgot to buy Christmas presents again, haven’t you.  Now, I’m a big fan of not commercializing and Advent Conspiriacy and things like that, but then again, who actually does that.

I found this blog post that I think is very good talking about last minute shopping.  As a Macy’s associate, I totally agree with what she says.

Here’s things I will echo to you:

-Ask for gift receipts first!

-NEVER trust the internet inventory.

and from my own experience…

-Dress for the occasion.  It may be a blizzard outside, but it’s going to be nasty hot inside.  And you don’t want to carry around a jacket – leave it in the car!

-Food court = worse lines than the stores.  Don’t plan on eating there

-If you have coupons, read the exclusions.  There’s about a 94% chance whatever you are buying is an exclusion.  Read, don’t whine

-Minimum wage cashiers don’t have control over anything in the store.  Don’t whine to them like they do.

-Make sure you have change.  Otherwise you feel like a jerk whenever you walk past a salvation army bell ringer.

Enjoy your last minute shopping.

And if you want to order online, here’s your deadlines for shipping.

I’m sure everyone has seen the dancing Christmas lights that are in sync with TSO’s Wizards in Winter.  You know, this…

And everyone wants to do that.  Lifehacker has a much easier way to do something like it.  All you do is hook up lights to your stereo.  I’d try it, but I don’t have a stereo.

Here’s the article.

For those of you interested in Church Planting (look at me assuming people read my blog…) you should really check out my pastor Dustin Neeley’s site Church Planting for the Rest of Us. There’s about a month’s worth of interviews and blog posts, as well as tons of resources.  I haven’t looked at all of it – but what I’ve seen is super!  Plus, I know this stuff is real – I’ve seen Dustin in action and he is legit – just like the website.

Tomorrow is Free Shipping Day

http://www.freeshippingday.com/

Good time to order (me) presents and save on time and money.

Just thought I’d let you know.

How does the Spirit apply to us the redemption purchased by Christ?

The Spirit applies to us the redemption purchased by Christ, by working faith in us, and thereby uniting us to Christ in our effectual calling.

1 John 5:1; Philippians 1:29; Ephesians 2:8; Acts 16:14; 18:27; John 3:8; 6:64f.