Perfect Christmas

Tonight at 8:00 pm on TBS begins 24 hours of “A Christmas Story.” Millions of viewers will sit down in front of their TVs to watch one of the most beloved Christmas movies of all time.

“A Christmas Story” is set in the 1940’s, and it centers on a nine-year old boy named Ralphie. Ralphie’s dream is to receive a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. Or, in Ralphie’s words, “A Red Ryder carbine action two-hundred shot range model air rifle.” When he tells that to Santa, the man in the big red suit replies, “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid.” Then, Santa pushes Ralphie down the chute with his boot.

Watch!

I bike a lot to church, to WLS, to Shoreland, and other places. In that biking, I’m on major roads. I want others to be watching out for me. So when the weather is nice, I wear a bright yellow shirt. Because I take my computer almost everywhere with me, I have a reflective vest from Waste Management permanently pinned to my computer bag. Because I bike very early in the morning to school or late at night from the high school, I have bright lights on my handlebars and my helmet and flashing red lights on the back of my bike and helmet.

The Saints Coming Out of the Tribulation

St. John receives a revelation from Jesus Christ. In a portion of that revelation, St. John sees a mighty army at rest. He hears a grand choir in song. He sees and hears what you and I can only see and hear with the eyes and ears of faith – a mighty throng, a faithful crowd, a noble people gathered before our God and the Lamb. This is a vast multitude of saints – God’s faithful believers who have died and entered the glory that Jesus reserved for them. They are being gathered from the four corners of the earth by God’s harvesting angels. These saints are streaming into glory from every nation, tribe, people, and language. These are the beloved saints of old, of today, and tomorrow.