Hello There,

It is cooler in Austin this week. It got way down below forty degrees. 
Please keep all such future weather where it belongs.

It does make us to think of holidays and all that goes with them. Fanny 
Crosby wrote words for every occasion (5,000 poems). That gifted songwriter 
strikes a holiday theme in my heart with--TELL ME THE STORY OF JESUS
TELL ME THE STORY OF JESUS,
WRITE ON MY HEART EVERY WORD.
TELL ME THE STORY MOST PRECIOUS,
SWEETEST THAT EVER WAS HEARD.
TELL HOW THE ANGELS IN CHORUS,
SANG AS THEY WELCOMED HIS BIRTH.
"GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST!
PEACE AND GOOD TIDINGS TO EARTH"

Refrain TELL ME THE STORY OF JESUS,
WRITE ON MY HEART EVERY WORD.
TELL ME THE STORY MOST PRECIOUS,
SWEETEST THAT EVER WAS HEARD.

FASTING ALONE IN THE DESERT,
TELL OF THE DAYS THAT ARE PAST.
HOW FOR OUR SINS HE WAS TEMPTED,
YET WAS TRIUMPHANT AT LAST.
TELL OF THE YEARS OF HIS LABOR.
TELL OF THE SORROW HE BORE.
HE WAS DESPISED AND AFFLICTED,
HOMELESS, REJECTED AND POOR.

TELL OF THE CROSS WHERE THEY NAILED HIM,
WRITHING IN ANGUISH AND PAIN.
TELL OF THE GRAVE WHERE THEY LAID HIM,
TELL HOW HE LIVETH AGAIN.
LOVE IN THAT STORY SO TENDER,
CLEARER THAN EVER I SEE.
STAY, LET ME WEEP WHILE YOU WHISPER,
LOVE PAID THE RANSOM FOR ME.

"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under 
heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved". Acts 4:12

HOW ABOUT IT?-This week stop telling God how big your storm is, and tell your 
storm how big your God is.

FEEDBACK-Is gratifying. Blaine Bowman sent me tapes and CDs. Thanks! He 
also sent an e-mail concerning my outline on John 7:37-39. "Yea, verily....I 
WILL preach that outline". I am flattered.

MORE FEEDBACK-A reader wrote me about a son who I stated was probably grown. 
He tells me that Ryan Bach is 27 and married to a fine Christian young lady. 
When you can say nice things about other peoples' children, that is really 
something!

OOPS!-Seems that due to a technical "goof" I failed to get the 11/17 issue of 
THOUGHTs to Mike Knibbs for posting. It is now there. My fault.

BEFORE YOU ASK-Sometimes God is at work. A few weeks ago, a reader called me 
with a prayer request. "Del", a mutual friend, was passing blood through his 
kidneys. Before I even wrote you, they called back. Symptoms had ceased and 
tests showed no problem.

MORE GOOD NEWS-The pastor with back and leg problem continues to improve. 
Now the doctor is not so insistent about more tests.

HOW ABOUT----------TEN THOUSAND HALLELUJAHS!!!!

ADVENT SEASON-Please don't allow the days between Thanksgiving and Christmas 
to be "lost" this year. 

I have had to radically readjust from my years as a pastor. I must guard 
against "sitting in the seat" of a critic. My goals as we lit candles and 
rehearsed were built on a three-legged platform. These are worthy and lofty 
goals.

SIMPLICITY-Christmas has become too complex. Musical productions are more 
akin to Broadway than to Bethlehem. We, in the church world, have been swept 
up in a "one up-manship" with preceding years and the church down the 
street. Kids, carols and candy are just not adequate for our senses it 
seems. Our Internet tastes leave us "bankrupt" come December 26.

SINGULARITY-Wesley's New Testament renders the verse above "....in fact, 
there is no second name......". The way I understand the scenario is-- It is 
not haughty or hidebound to insist that Jesus is "the" way and not "a" way. 
Mankind in its rebellion did not deserve "any" way. God sent His only Son 
as a baby to be my payment for transgressions.

SIGNIFICANCE-Each aspect of the miracle of the Incarnation reveals a part of 
the nature of God. i.e. Globalism is pictured by wise men from the East. At 
this season, I used significant leaders in the life of the local church to 
light wreath, etc. They, in turn, used a prophecy and a fulfillment that 
revealed God's plan. Seasonal music is undoubtedly one of the best tools 
that the church possesses to teach doctrine.

SAFE, EVERYWHERE-Jeanene is safely in Seattle. The Blaylocks are safely here 
for five weeks or so. (They actually stay across the street with the 
McKnights in a special apartment.) My sister was here last week She has 
returned to Princeton and New York City to celebrate birthday and holidays 
with coworkers. Thanksgiving Day, I watched parades with three of my four 
grandchildren and ate too much with Randall and family. Phil and I get along 
quite well with help from Megan, Collin and Owen.

THANK YOU-For caring in prayer for my brother, Jack. The tests at Mayo are 
inconclusive. We are in a three month "holding pattern" again.

SPECIAL GREETINGS-I received special holiday e-mails from all over the world. 
Thanks!

TIRED OF SAME OLD, SAME OLD-Christmas card greetings? Go to e,mail 
cco@usaor.net to solve that problem and to tie into a ministry to campus 
needs. CCO is Coalition for Christian Outreach out of Pittsburgh area. CCO 
1998 at 5912 Penn Avenue in Pittsburgh, PA 15206-3805. Phone (412)363-3303, 
Fax (412)363-1005.

THE BIGGEST BLESSING-Is others who share this journey. Dr. Roger Olson, 
Becky and daughter Sonja shared their holiday company with me on Saturday. 
Galen and Beverly Frye, two of their children and a grandson drove down from 
Waco with the Olsons. A quarter century ago, the Fryes and the Olsons 
worshipped with us in Des Moines. There was much laughing and loving. All 
ended with a period of prayer and praise for the faithfulness of God. The 
road for us all had been rough at times, but God.... 

His,
Ron Krantz

"Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy 
thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto 
thee." Psalm 40:5