Hearts are everywhere! Love is in the air! ‘Tis the season for love!
February 14th is called, “Valentine’s Day.” For lots of folks, it’s a time to express love for your special someone. Flowers, candy, balloons, jewelry – ahh, love is in the air.
Money spent in the U.S. last year was around 20.7 billion dollars! But wait! This year’s projections are at over 27 billion dollars! Even though less people celebrate this “holiday” every year, those who do are spending more. In fact, last year, for Valentine’s Day, people spent a whooping
Wherever you may be this time of year, I sincerely hope you have a joyful season filled with God’s love, remembering the greatest gift ever given to mankind: the savior of the world, God’s only begotten Son, Jesus Christ!
Below are some new links as well as links to posts from past years, including a movie I recommend, articles on topics like the Magi, Christmas trees, swaddling clothes, Simeon and Anna and even holiday stress! Plus, a video of Faith Hill singing, O Holy Night.
Have A Very Blessed Season And A Great New Year!
The Nativity Story (Blue Ray & DVD)Saw it for the first time last year, and it’s now my new favorite movie for this time of year. Great job of showing Joseph and Mary as real people and how they handled this unique situation. From the cruelty of Rome, to the Magi studying the stars, this movie does a really good job.
Holiday Stress
Short article with some helpful hints to avoid holiday stress
Simeon And Anna
From “The Eastern Eye” the great blessing to these senior believers in seeing the Christ child. A song about them by Lisa Tracy at the end of the article.
Christmas Tree Or Holiday Tree?
A podcast with some history of the “tree,” and, find out about a Jewish man who does not like it referred to as a Holiday tree.
Swaddling Clothes
What were they? What’s the significance? (If you’re interested in gaining more understanding of Bible culture, which helps greatly in understanding the Scriptures, you’ll enjoy my book, What Does It Mean? which explains dozens of Bible verses.
O Holy Night by Faith Hill
Oh holy night, the stars are brightly shining
It is the night of our dear Saviour’s birthLong lay the world in sin and error pining
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn
Fall on your knees, oh, hear the angel voices
Oh night divine, oh night when Christ was born
Oh night divine, oh night, o night divine
Truly He taught us to love one another
His law is love and His gospel is peaceChains He shall break, for the slave is our brother
And in his name all oppression shall cease
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we
Let all within us praise His holy name
Christ is the Lord, then ever, ever praise we
His power and glory ever, ever more proclaim
His power and glory ever more proclaim
His power and glory ever more proclaim
I posted this song, Oh My Soul, from Casting Crowns, a couple of years ago. In light of the article I shared a few weeks ago, The Delivering Power of God, this song is especially encouraging when going through a tough time. I do hope both the article and this song encourages you!
Check out my YouTube Channel; over a hundred (most under 2 minutes) inspiring and encouraging videos for practical Christian living. “Like” them! Subscribe! Share! Thank you!
If you’d like a signed copy of my new book, “What Does It Mean? Click Here
Do take a few minutes to watch these two very cool Andy Andrews videos, from, Father’s Day 2012
And finally, a number of years ago I recorded an interesting and perhaps insightful podcast, titled, Who’s Your Daddy, and What Does He Do? (In the gospel of John there’s a pretty intense discussion about, “Who’s your daddy,” between Jesus Christ and the religious leaders!)
Happy Father’s Day Weekend to all you Dad’s!
If you’d like a signed copy of my new book, “What Does It Mean? Click Here
Check out my YouTube channel;over a hundred (most under 2 minutes) inspiring and encouraging videos for practical Christian living. “Like” them! Subscribe! Share! Thank you!
Once again for Memorial Day, I’m posting 3 very moving videos that help put this remembrance into perspective.
Did you know Congress established an exact minute of remembrance? The National Moment of Remembrance Act,which was adopted in December of 2000, encourages every citizen to pause each Memorial Day at 3:00 p.m. local time to remember the brave men and women who died serving this country. In addition to any federal observances, Major League Baseball games usually come to a stop during the Moment of Remembrance, and for the past several years, Amtrak engineers have taken up the practice of sounding their horns in unison at precisely 3:00 p.m.
Formerly known as, “Decoration Day,” Memorial Day commemorates men and women who died while in military service to the United States. It began as a way to honor Union and Confederate soldiers following the American Civil War. Later, it was extended, after World War I, to honor all American military who died in all wars.
Take a little time to pause and remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice so we could have freedom. Pause and thank God for the freedom we still have, freedom given to us here in the United States at such a very high price.
If you don’t live here in the United States, take some time to pause and remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for your country.
And, regardless of where we live, how thankful we are for the ultimate sacrifice made by our Lord Jesus Christ – bringing us eternal life – the ultimate freedom – freedom from death itself!
I recorded the video below a few years ago, because I love baseball. One of the things I love about the game is there are many analogies to life itself. In this video I mention what Arizona D-backs 3rd baseman, Matt Williams, told me in an interview about getting out of a slump. Just like in baseball, in life you can find yourself in a slump.
Note: I’m almost finished re-formatting a number of videos I recorded a few years ago. You can find them on my Youtube channel – Michael A Verdicchio – over 150 short inspiring videos like this one! Most of them are under 2 minutes.
Soon, I plan to begin recording some new videos that will go directly to my channel. So, check it out – go my my Youtube channel, and subscribe for free. Enjoy the dozens and dozens of videos that are already there, and, coming soon, more videos!
The song below, No Matter What, was released last year. It was the third single from Ryan Stevenson’s second studio album. Here’s what he said in an interview about the inspiration for this song.
“Over the course of the last several years, I’ve continued to ask the Lord to give me songs that exist for a reason. As we were working on this new record, a reoccurring theme I felt the Lord continually whisper to my heart was ‘beloved identity.’ I, like many of us, grew up in the church- a religious environment, where we weren’t necessarily nurtured and taught about God’s grace, patience and compassion. As I continue to grow and experience life, the truth I continue to encounter is ‘I am His son, no matter what.’ It is easy to fall into the trap of performance-based relationship with God when we’ve been taught in religious environments that He’s mostly disappointed with us. This song hopefully will encourage all of us…”
NO MATTER WHAT
Ryan Stevenson
A lot of us grew up believing
At any moment we could lose it all
And at the drop of a hat
God might turn His back and move on
A lot of us feel like we blew it
Thinking that we’re just too far gone
But I want you to know
There’s still a hope for you now
No matter what you’ve done
You can’t erase His love
Nothing can change it
You’re not separated
No matter what
There’s never been a better time to get honest
There’s never been a better time to get clean
So come as you are
Run to the cross and be free
Oh, be free
No matter what you’ve done
You can’t erase His love
Nothing can change it
You’re not separated
No matter where you run
He’s always holding on
You’re still a daughter, you’re still a son
No matter what
I don’t know what you’ve been taught
Don’t know what you’ve been told
All I know is my God
Will never let go of you, no
And I don’t know what you’ve seen
Don’t know what you’ve been through
All I know is my God
Will never let go of you
He’ll never let go!
He’ll never, never, never let you go
No matter what you’ve done
You can’t erase His love
Nothing can change it
You’re not separated
No matter where you run
He’s always holding on
You’re still a daughter, you’re still a son
No matter what
You’re still a daughter, you’re still a son!
No matter what
__________________________
If you’d like a signed copy of my new book, “What Does It Mean? Click Here
Check out my YouTube channel;over a hundred (most under 2 minutes) inspiring and encouraging videos for practical Christian living. “Like” them! Subscribe! Share! Thank you!
The song, You Say by Laren Daigle came out last summer. It was not only her third #1 hit single on the Christian Charts, but was a big hit on Billboard’s Hot 100. It’s a beautiful and powerful song. The lyrics are below the video. If you like it, share this post.
YOU SAY
I keep fighting voices in my mind that say I’m not enough
Every single lie that tells me I will never measure up
Am I more than just the sum of every high and every low
Remind me once again just who I am, because I need to know
You say I am loved
When I can’t feel a thing
You say I am strong
When I think I am weak
You say I am held
When I am falling short
When I don’t belong
You say I am Yours
And I believe
I believe
What You say of me
I believe
The only thing that matters now is everything You think of me
In You I find my worth, in You I find my identity
Taking all I have and now I’m laying it at Your feet
You have every failure, God, and You’ll have every victory
Oh, I believe
Yes, I believe
What You say of me
Oh, I believe
I am continuing to add more videos to my YouTube channel from my video archives. These are 1 – 2 minute videos I did awhile back. Some are on this blog, but I’m in the process of getting all of them on my channel, and, looking forward to producing new videos this spring!
Right now you’ll find over a hundred inspiring and encouraging videos for practical Christian living. Go to my YouTube channel; if you like them, subscribe for free to the channel, and let someone else know about them too!
Below is one of the recent videos added from my archives.
btw… If you’d like a signed copy of my new book, “What Does It Mean? Click Here
Hearts are everywhere! Love is in the air! ‘Tis the season for love!
