While washing up the breakfast dishes this morning I heard a Christmas song by one of my favorite singers, Randy Travis. The words gripped my heart. As the tears began to flow, I thought about the circumstances of how she birthed The Lord Jesus. Natural childbirth with no epidural drip for the pain -- in a dirty 'barn' surrounded by the animals. She had no comfort zone, no soft bed, no midwife to help her....Oh! but God was there during this labor of love!

I wish I would've written this song. Here is the lyric. Be so blessed!!

Andrew Peterson

It was not a silent night, there was blood on the ground
You could hear a woman cry in the alleyway that night on the streets of David's town
And the stable was not clean and the cobblestones were cold
And little Mary full of grace with tears upon her face had no mother's hand to hold

It was a labor of pain, it was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark with every beat of her beautiful heart...

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In Psalm 33:3 it states "Sing to Him a new song, play skillfully, and shout for joy". While these simple words are easy to gloss over in the midst of an otherwise beautiful passage of scripture, I believe these simple words contain crucial keys to vital worship.

Sing to Him a new song... I received an email yesterday from a dear friend who observed "almost all churches do the same music". Certainly, the catalog of worship songs available today is as good as it's ever been, but are we in danger of being so comfortable with the established liturgy that we deny our magnificent Lord the fruit of His gift of creativity? Creativity is not limited to a specific role or position or necessarily related to music at all! In fact, some of the most intimate worship I've ever experienced has been in total silence. Creativity is boundless, uniquely personal and intimate – a piece of ourselves, if you will – and therefore wholly suitable for worship.

[i...

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Each night, in preparation for bed, I trade the shirt of the day for a simple, unattractive, and yet amazingly comfortable T-shirt. While over the years I've collected a wide variety of sleep shirts from which to choose, I know from experience that one specific option will afford me the most comfortable night of rest.

The other night as I slipped on this shirt I realized something really quite amazing not only in its simplicity, but in the fact that it was so obvious that I've never given it a moment of attention. One of the reasons this shirt is so comfortable is because it's made from cotton. Cotton, as is well known, is harvested from an otherwise uninteresting looking shrub and spun into thread and yarn that that is then used in the construction of comfortable, breathable clothing.

In Jeremiah 29:11 the Lord says "I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future". Sounds pretty comfy, doesn't it? Of course,...

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Hi Dear CSN Family,
Much time has passed and I didn't know for sure if this
song lyric would become a song with music.
But two dear Christian friends, Deb Rempel and Spiritwind pop answered Gods request and helped make this
song lyric into a very heartfelt song.
It is on my Soundclick and is finished according to what our Dear Lord
God wanted.
Please let others know about this song that has a Very important message
that needs to be conveyed to Many in the USA!

Blessings to All,
Your sister -in Christ Jesus,
Ellen or Heleana Maria

I’ve been doing some research lately. My research is far from complete, but it's giving me a better picture of things. As a Christian, having been raised to see marriage as a good thing, I’ve realised that if it’s something that could be in my future, I better find out what it’s really about. After all, marriage today seems to be very important and specific to individuals, but on a universal scale it often appears to be nothing more than a retractable contract.

I have a friend who, last I checked, was opposed to marriage. He claims it doesn’t make sense. Under any other circumstance, you wouldn’t sign a contract with a lifetime commitment. 1 year? 3 years? 10 years? Sure, depending on the business. But until you die? Most people would call that a bad business move.
So I decided to see if I could get to the bottom of it. I wanted to see the roots of this union. My research is far from complete, both based on biblical sources and non-biblical sources. But some important questions I wanted to...

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