During the year a lot of folks stopped by WinnNotes looking for information about heart stints. I can understand that, but the following referents leave me somewhat baffled.

• son baths with dad pictures (I don’t think they found what they were looking for!)
• jesse james
• frank james (I wonder if it was the same person looking for Jesse)
• trips to hot springs ar.
• henry isaac venema
• catholic wedding colossians 3.12-17
• how to develop patience sermon evangelical free church james
• intuitive eating
• intuitive eating scale
• earthlink-peoplepc-wssynd
• too much lettuce (Can this be?)
• abmany
• a holy ghost takeover (One of my favorites)
• mormon funny
• ruth in the bible generic wife (What is a generic wife?)
• 60.0 . 0….
• list of wedding songs approved for elca church
• d-www-en-us_i-e9745h7idjak5d5d_s-26 (Go figure!)
• toilet clogged Eugene
• kathleen kenyons mother
• fatal attraction biblical

Here’s one, the same number of people found drwinn.com using the phrase “come into my heart lord jesus” as did “heart cauterization.”

I’m just happy these folks found me this year. I figure if these words were important during 2005, they may be important during 2006, so, I set this page up optimized for the search engines. I hope they come back again along with you during 2006.

Happy New Year, and you can be sure that God will take care of everything you need, his generosity exceeding even yours in the glory that pours from Jesus.

BTW: Why not set us up in your RSS reader and also try out some of my other blogs which are listed in the left hand column.

While attending a Christmas Eve service and hearing the phrase “no room for them in the inn,” I reflected on what I had heard about that phrase over the years. Mostly, that from the beginning Jesus was rejected, i.e., even at birth there was no room for him just like there is often no room for him in people’s lives today.

What if, “no room for Them in the Inn” was a signal of God’s grace. I think that often when one reads this phrase or a similar one in the text of Scripture, they often think of a modern inn, add Holiday, or Hampton, or another hotel chain’s name in front of the word “inn.” The first century inn was certainly not like the twenty-first-century inn. Picture this. One room with a dozen or so folks all sleeping together on the floor.

Could it be that in the telling of the story of the birth of Jesus that “no room…in the inn,” sent Joseph and Mary to the stable where there was some privacy for the greatest event since the Creator God had created his universe.

I wonder…

After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.” So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel.

Matthew’s Use of the Old Testament
In these two chapters Matthew has quoted the Old Testament four times (1.22; 2.6, 15, 17, 23). Matthew 1.22 is a reference to Isaiah 7.14. Matthew sees in the prophetic word about Isaiah’s own son a fulfillment in the son of David, Jesus.

The four Old Testament quotes in Matthew 2 have to do with the geographical movement of the infant Jesus. They were probably an apologetic effort to downplay any embarrassment because of the quiet well-known fact that Jesus was from Nazareth, when the Old Testament pointed to the birth of the Messiah to occur in Bethlehem.

• Matthew 2.6 is a reference to Micah 5.2. The meaning is straightforward: Bethlehem was the predicted place for the origin of the Messiah. The birth of Jesus in Bethlehem fulfills this prophetic word.
• Matthew 2.15 is a reflection of Hosea 11.1 which plainly refers to the Israelites leaving Egypt in the Exodus. The key to this passage is the word Egypt. It is a geographical point supported by the context of verse 15 where Jesus had just arrived and settled in Egypt, rather than verse 21 where he left.
• Matthew 2.17 is a reflection of Jeremiah 31.15. The passage in Jeremiah points to the exile of the children of Israel, not their death. There was precedence for the exile of Jesus into Egypt.
• Finally, the quote in Matthew 2.23, which is a quotation of substance rather than exact words from the Old Testament, links Bethlehem and Nazareth.

How then do we use the Old Testament? We should let the Old Testament speak on its own terms, and refresh its meaning when the New Testament refreshes its meaning. (more…)

Here’s some Christmas Fun with sight and sound.

• Video Light Display
• More Video Light Display
• Jingle Bells Light Display
• Feliz Navidad Light Display

When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”

The names that Matthew calls Jesus are interesting. He is called the Son of Abraham (1.1); the Son of David (1.1); the Son of Joseph (1.16); the Son of Mary (1.16); and the Son of God (2.15). What is the significance of these names? What do they describe about his character? The Son of Abraham and the Son of David describe the roots of Jesus as being Jewish. The Son of Joseph and the Son of Mary describe his human-natural person. The Son of God describes his divine-supernatural person.

The Comparison of Jesus With Moses
It is Matthew’s intention to help the believers understand that Jesus was the new leader of the new people of God. For the Jews, Moses was hailed as their leader, and the Covenant was the relationship code which the Jews were to abide by. With Jesus there was a new people of God—the church. The church has a new leader—Jesus. So Matthew takes time to demonstrate and contrast events in their lives. His basic goal is for his readers to see Jesus as the new leader for the new Israel. (more…)

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.’” Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said.

Where God Guides, He Provides
Herod
The Herod who is mentioned in this passage was one of five Herods mentioned in Scripture. He was jealous for his throne. He had killed his wife, mother-in-law and three sons who were thought by him to have ideas of taking over his throne. It was commonly said about Herod that it was better to be one of his pigs than one of his sons. There is a play on words between pigs and sons in Greek. They sound alike.

He was the leader of Israel, but had no conception of the possibility of the great event of the birth of Jesus that would occur. He had to call together the chief priests and teachers of the law for their interpretation (1.4). All Jerusalem was worried with him about the birth of this child because of his jealous bend. They were afraid for good reason as the story goes on to tell. He was a conniver and liar (1.7-8). (more…)