January 1, 2026 • 28 mins
The holidays can be loud with joy and still leave space where the heart aches. We sit down with Dr. Bill Hurst for a frank, compassionate exploration of the Christmas blues, the weight of complicated memories, and the quiet courage it takes to choose love when celebration feels out of reach. From childhood years in protective care to teachings that labeled Christmas “pagan,” Dr. Bill charts a path many listeners will recognize: confusion, pressure, and an uneasy relationship with a season that’s supposed to be simple. What emerges is a wiser way forward—treating Christmas not as a test of correctness, but as a practical season for love, hospitality, and gentle witness.
Dr. Bill opens the door to his most painful chapter: the loss of his youngest daughter near Christmas. He shares how faith steadied sorrow without erasing it, how hope reframed grief, and why this time of year can still be meaningful when the chair at the table sits empty. We talk about moving from theological fights to relational presence, welcoming single neighbors and elders with no nearby family, and giving gifts that say “you are loved” with no strings attached. Along the way, we return to a core question that changes everything: did we learn to love?
If you’ve ever felt alone in December, this conversation offers warmth without hype and clarity without judgment. We reflect on becoming light by lifting Jesus with our lives, letting the Spirit guide us from knowing about truth to living it, and using the openness of the season to share comfort, courage, and the nearness of God. Join us, then tell a friend who needs a place to breathe. Subscribe, share this episode, and leave a review to help more people find a hopeful way through the holidays.
Loving Yeshua/Jesus, Loving people... Come as you are and you will be loved!
Feel free to check out our website by typing in lifearoundthefire.com or Life Around The Fire ... We think you'll find some beneficial stuff to look at and apply to your life.
Shalom to you and your home.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:44):
Howdy folks, I want to welcome you back to another
episode of Life Around the Fire.
And today, in our studio, wehave a real privilege in that we
have Dr.
Bill Hurst as our guest speakertoday.
And he's no stranger to uh LifeAround the Fire, but he carries
every time he comes, he carriessomething with him that's that's
(01:07):
new.
Even though he's not new, thereseems to be something fresh.
And I believe that it's becausehe carries with him one of the
most tender hearts that I'veever met.
One of the most sensitive men tothe father's heart that I have
met, and I've met a lot ofpeople.
(01:28):
And it's it's our privilege tohave him here today, and we're
gonna be focusing in a littlebit on this particular podcast
episode on stuff that goesaround during Christmas time.
And specifically what I mean bythat is that sometimes this time
of year for people like myself,actually, who have had
(01:52):
throughout their life duringthis season some people call it
the blues.
Or you just don't feel likeyourself, or maybe it brings up
memories that are verydifficult, and you have to live
with those things, and it's kindof a a mixed feeling.
(02:13):
Where you've got people aroundyou celebrating, but you on the
inside aren't reallycelebrating.
In fact, you'd just as soon beby yourself.
And that might be you.
I know, as I said, that's beenmyself, but we're gonna be
looking at today this wholeaspect of this season and some
(02:34):
of the things that we encounterduring it, but also some of the
things that God has in store forus.
That really He gives us hope, Hegives us faith, and He gives us
love.
And the greatest of those islove.
But in our in our hope today, inour prayer, is that you'd be
really a recipient of somethingthat would help you navigate
(02:57):
through this time, that there'dbe some wisdom that you'd have
that would navigate, that wouldhelp you navigate.
And so, Dr.
Bill, once again, thank you forbeing here today, and good to
have you here.
SPEAKER_00 (03:07):
It's good to be here.
SPEAKER_01 (03:09):
Yes, and during this time of year, you've been in the
whole area of ministry for howmany years, Doctor?
Almost 60.
Just I'm I'm 66, so you justjust about there how old I am.
And I was just recently lookingat the fact that Joshua in the
(03:30):
Old Testament, when he took overfrom Moses, Joshua was close to
80 when he took over.
And it's interesting that I I II I I think that our best days
are in front of us, actually.
And you've experienced somereally good things in your life
from what we talked about inencountering in your
(03:51):
relationship with God some realencounters with him.
But also you've experienced alittle bit of the difficulties,
if I'm not mistaken.
And if someone's going through atough time right now, how what
what would you how would youencourage them, Doctor?
SPEAKER_00 (04:08):
Well, the first thing I'd like to do is tell a
bit of a story, a bit ofhistory, actually.
I was born in 1947, and for fivefive years I was actually in uh
child protective services uh inCanada.
It's called the Children's Aid.
(04:29):
And uh I did not remember anyChristmases before the age of
five.
At the age of five, I was takento my grandfather's house, even
though I didn't know it was mygrandfather.
And I was in my in my memory,now let me let me make that
clear, in my memory, I was takenthere and dropped off.
(04:50):
And it seemed like I wasrejected.
I want to say this, that many moquite often during this season
of the year, any abandonmentyou've been through, any
rejection you've been throughcomes to the fore.
Because the season is touted asa season of joy and
(05:15):
thanksgiving, and it is that andit should be that.
But often the greatest impact ofsorrow happens at this time.
So I was with my grandfather andthey celebrated Christmas.
I was with him for from the ageof five to the age of eleven.
(05:36):
Then my mom came home and tookus boys, just the two of us, and
we had some good Christmases andsome bad Christmases.
But when I grew up and got closeto marriage and got married, we
celebrated Christmas, but we wedidn't sell it wasn't it was
(05:59):
Christmas light, let's put itthat way.
Number one, because we were juststruggling in ministry and and
learning how to uh be a family.
And number two, it's because wehad run into some theories about
Christmas being pagan.
And of course, we didn't want tobe pagan, so we backed away from
(06:22):
a lot of the stuff that was onat Christmas.
And then I we came in contactwith a group and went to be with
them for seven years.
They did not celebrateChristmas, they preached against
it, they talked about it notbeing the time when Jesus was
born, and uh Christmas beingbirthed in pagan roots.
(06:46):
And so when we got the left footof fellowship from that group,
we came back, we came back hometo our home hometowns, and of
course, her parents were notsaved.
They celebrated Christmas, so wehad some interesting times
there.
But we we we struggled throughthis whole minefield of the
(07:14):
theories around Christmas andaround Jesus' birth.
And so when when we came to aconclusion after many, many
years that we would take it atwhatever level the children
needed it.
Cause you see there's more thanjust religious and theological
(07:41):
construct around Christmas.
And we begin to celebrate it asa family time.
At first we didn't celebrate iton the day, but we did we got
together as family.
We used it as family time, weset a day aside for all the
family.
And of course, as the familygets bigger when you have five
ki five kids and a foster child,as the family gets bigger, the
(08:05):
event gets bigger just by reasonof numbers.
And so we had some joyful timesand we had some difficult times.
But the kids they begin to loveChristmas.
And because that's the time whenthey get gifts for it's not
(08:26):
their birthday, it's not anyanniversary of theirs, they get
it just because they're loved.
And they knew that the Christmasgifts were because they were
loved.
See, the issue is, the realissue is, how do I express love?
The issue is not, is itChristmas?
It becomes a convenient time todo that, but the issue is how do
(08:52):
I express love?
Is is there a time and a seasonwith my kids, with my grandkids,
with my great-grandkids, withthose around me that I can
express love without themthinking there's an agenda.
Now, in the world, Christmasdoes become an agenda.
(09:16):
And we give because we want toget.
But the issue really is, do infact, one dear brother that that
we listen to, he's gone to bewith the Lord now.
But he said when he had a visionof heaven and and he died and
went to heaven and God sent himback, but before he did, when he
got to the gate, he said thequestion he was asked was, Did
(09:41):
you learn to love?
That's right.
That's it.
Did you learn not not how manysouls did you win to Jesus?
Not what good works did you do,not how many were healed in your
ministry, not how many weredelivered, but did you learn to
love?
You can do all these things, andif you have not love, there's
sounding brass and tinklingsymbol.
(10:02):
So we need to, and and I likethe way God put that to him, did
you learn to love?
We don't come loving, we comeselfish.
It's part of the fallen nature,and we need to learn to love.
And Jesus said, Take my yokeupon me and learn of me.
(10:25):
Learn how to love.
Learn how he loved, learn how tolove as he loved.
And so down through the years,we have learned to love.
I learned to love my kids, Ilearned to set them free to make
their decisions and to sufferthe consequences.
The older they got, the more weallowed the consequences to
(10:47):
correct them rather than uscorrecting them.
And so, about, I guess it'sabout 13 years ago now, I was
already move in the States, mykids were back in Canada, and I
come home from a trip, and wehad visitors from another
(11:08):
country.
I come home from a trip and goton on Facebook just to check my
stuff, and I found out onFacebook that my daughter was in
the ICU in the hospital.
My wife said I looked absolutelywhite.
We had to find places for thevisitors to stay while I went up
(11:32):
because we didn't know that theycould have gone up with us and
found a place to found them aplace to stay and stayed with
us.
During that time, I said goodbyeto my youngest daughter.
And it was, I think it wasDecember 22nd.
(11:52):
And it was a difficult,difficult time.
Because everybody knows the babyin the family is special.
It's not that we love them more,it's just that they're special.
And so God took her home to bewith him.
She never recovered to be ableto say goodbye, Dad.
We said goodbye to her.
I arrived there at three o'clockin the morning.
(12:14):
Ten minutes later, the doctorcame in and told us what the
situation was.
She lasted a day and a half.
We had to pull the plug inCanada after a certain amount of
time.
The plug is the decision has tobe made to either pull the plug
or keep going.
And the doctor said her brainwas not functioning.
(12:36):
So we suffered great loss.
That was a very difficult,difficult Christmas.
But you know something?
The thing that comforted us iswe knew where she was going.
We knew that she'd been withJesus, that she was with Jesus,
and it didn't take away thesorrow, but it made it easier to
(12:57):
bear because there's going tocome a day when the family is
going to be reunited around thethrone of God, worshiping and
praising Him for eternity.
Plus, in my understanding of theages to come, there's still
going to be a lot of work to do.
So we'll be working together forthe purposes of God.
(13:19):
We have evolved in ourcelebration of Christmas.
When I got married the secondtime, my wife loved Christmas,
has beautiful memories aroundit, and our house looks like it.
And, you know, one of the thingswe found is when we came to the
(13:40):
church here on Christmas Eve, wewould have all the single folks
over, and especially the olderfolks who had no place to go and
no family close.
We'd have them over and we wouldhave a wail of a time.
They would thoroughly enjoy it.
And several times they left andthey said, Thank you.
We didn't want to be aloneChristmas Eve.
(14:04):
It's a time when loneliness, ifyou're alone, loneliness is more
stark and more painful.
And so when I was wrestling thisthrough with God, I said, Lord,
what about Christmas?
He said, There's no greater timeto share that when people are
(14:24):
more open to the gospel thanChristmas time.
That's so true.
And he said, I want you to takeadvantage of the season, not put
it down, not put people down forcelebrating it, but I want you
to be able to help them withjoy, with comfort, and with
(14:45):
their openness to the gospel,even hearing another stage of
the gospel, they may not haveheard.
They may be saved, but they maynot know more about him than
that.
And it's a time to share Jesusin all of his aspects, in all of
his glory, and all of his power,and in all of his humility.
(15:05):
You see, this is a season ofhumility.
God humbled himself to become aman so that he might show us how
to become mature sons of God.
That's what why he came.
Came to bring many sons untoglory, many to maturity in
(15:27):
relationship with him.
It starts with initialsalvation.
It starts with accepting Jesusas your Savior.
But that's just the beginning ofyour journey.
And I was listening to a rab amessianic rabbi this week that I
happened upon on social media,and he was he said 80, what, 80%
(15:50):
of both Christians and andespecially messianic Jews do not
believe they should celebrateChristmas.
He made a point.
He said this.
He said, although it was nevercommanded in Scripture for the
Jews to keep Hanukkah, Jesuskept Hanukkah.
(16:12):
He kept a celebration that wasnever commanded in Scripture.
And he said, There's no reasonwhy we should not use the
Christmas season to celebratethe birth of Jesus, to celebrate
the fact he was born, tocelebrate the fact that a Savior
(16:32):
came from heaven to save oursouls and to make it so we could
be with him for eternity.
We need to focus on the positivethings of this time rather than
on the negatives, and weshouldn't, we shouldn't.
I believe we've becomedistracted with theology.
And it's time for us to get backto relationship.
(16:56):
One of the things God told meyears ago, he said, Bill, I
can't when when I created man,the first thing I did with them
was come down and walk with themin the cool of the day.
I came down to have relationshipwith them.
In the center of the scripture,which is Psalms and Song of
Solomon, it's all aboutrelationship with Him.
(17:18):
Song of Solomon is leading herinto a deeper relationship with
her beloved.
She is the type of we who knowhim as our Savior.
He, of course, is a type of theLord Jesus Christ, drawing us
into a deeper intimacy with him,a greater desire.
He has a desire for you.
He desires you more than youdesire him.
(17:40):
And so why don't you respond tothat desire?
Why don't you say to him, LordJesus, not only come into my
heart but lead me into alltruth?
You know, when when it says thathe's come to lead us, the Holy
Spirit come to lead us and guideus into all truth, I have to
(18:02):
admit something.
I don't know what all truth is.
I don't know how to walk intotruth.
I don't know how to manifesttruth.
I need to be led and guided intothose realities.
And so our challenge today isnot do we celebrate Christmas or
don't we?
Our challenge today is not do wefocus on the negative of
(18:24):
Christmas.
And I mean, I this could be oneof the saddest times of the year
for me.
But it's become a time of joybecause I get to share Jesus, I
get to share joy, I get to helppeople through things that uh
through times like I wentthrough back, I think it was
2011.
unknown (18:44):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (18:46):
Why?
Because Jesus is the answer.
No matter what my problem is, Ineed to say, Holy Spirit, show
me and lead me to the answerthat Jesus is to this question.
The answer that Jesus is to thispain, the answer that Jesus is
to this rejection, this sense ofabandonment, this sense of
(19:08):
aloneness.
Lead me there, lead me to theplace where that is no longer
ruling my life and ruling mythoughts.
But the thing that's ruling mylife and ruling my thoughts is
how much I'm loved of Jesus.
By the way, when you get to theend of the book, Revelation
twenty two, it says this, andthe spirit and the bride say
(19:30):
come.
Let him that is a thirst saycome.
The spirit and the bride areboth relationship.
God is in relationship.
He's not in doctrine.
I didn't say he doesn't havedoctrine, I said he's not in it.
There are theologians that areimmersed in doctrine.
(19:52):
Much of what they preach istrue, but they don't have the
relationship to back it up tominister substance to God's
people.
So I think it's time that webegin to put our priorities
right.
The priority for us is arelationship with the Lord Jesus
Christ.
The priority for us is growingup into Him in all things.
(20:18):
And that's even in our attitudetoward those that don't agree
with us.
If we do that, we're going tomanifest the nature of Jesus
Christ.
And what we're going to see,folks, is they shall see your
good works and glorify yourFather which is in heaven.
One more scripture before Iclose.
(20:44):
Jesus in the midst ofeverything, it says, and his
life, not his words.
His life was the light of men.
Jesus said, While I'm with you,I'm the light of the world.
But then he said, You are thelight of the world.
(21:04):
I think some of us need ourinternal globes cleaned so
people can see Jesus in us.
That's the could I say that?
That's the core of the gospel?
That people see Jesus in us.
And Jesus said this, and I, if Ibe lifted up, I will draw all
(21:25):
men unto me.
I remember one day years agoback in the, I think it was the
70s, we had a a house group inin Canada.
And the Lord said to me, Hesaid, Bill, why aren't people
coming?
And I was taken aback.
(21:45):
He said, Why are people coming?
I said, if I be lifted up, Iwill draw all men unto me.
Why are people being drawn?
The only conclusion I could cometo was Jesus is not being lifted
up.
That's when I began to realize Ihad my theological concept of
what it meant, but I didn't knowwhat it meant in reality.
(22:07):
Ever since then I've beenpraying, Lord Jesus, would you
come?
Would you so clean up thisvessel that you are seen in me
and people are drawn to you inme?
That should be our prayer,folks.
This is a season when Jesus isthe reason.
(22:27):
Jesus is the reason for theseason because he seasons my
life with himself.
May God bless you.
SPEAKER_01 (22:38):
Hallelujah.
You know, there's a storyconcerning Jesus when uh the
disciples or a couple of hisfollowers after his
resurrection, and shortly afterhis resurrection, his followers
were going to a location thatthey had to walk some distance.
(23:01):
And anyway, on their way, astranger came up alongside of
them and was asking questionsabout different things.
He goes, What's what's going on?
He goes, They said, Haven't youheard?
And it's been like living undera rock or something, I'm
paraphrasing.
And they said, No, no, no, no.
So then this stranger continuesto talk with them and explain to
(23:21):
them from the scriptures allabout Jesus, all about what was
to take place, had taken place,and was going to take place.
And then these these twogentlemen, their eyes were open
and they saw Jesus.
And after that, he showed afterthat he vanished from their
(23:46):
view, but they said tothemselves, they said when he
talked, didn't his words justburn inside as he was explaining
things.
Doctors, you were sharing my thespirit of the Lord and my spirit
were just burning on the inside.
(24:06):
There was a warmth and a peaceand a love that I felt, tangibly
felt.
And I have the notion thatsomeone's experiencing that very
same thing right now.
There's something called warmthgoing on on the inside, and you
wonder, what's this?
(24:26):
That is Jesus opening things upto you and he's using this
simple podcast, this simplemessage to transform something
from the inside out.
And Dr.
Thank you for being that thatthat that vehicle, but thank the
(24:48):
L really we thank the Lord foraccomplishing what he did and
how he can over how he canliterally take and transform us
if we allow him to.
But you said something else, andI wanna I wanna cap off with
this and ask you to close inprayer, please.
(25:11):
Uh and it's this you you saidsomething concerning the
children and how if for no otherreason, if it would be no other
reason than just to give a giftin the name of Jesus and use
this as a time that could beright around his time of birth,
who cares if it's the exact timeof the you know, day on the
(25:33):
calendar.
Uh those are important, but inthis instance, what's more
important can be what istransmitted or communicated to
the wives of children and how wecan make a big difference.
And so we have orphans listeningto this podcast episode right
now who are in various placesall around the world, and some
(25:55):
in Kenya right now specifically.
And Doctor, would you just callus in a word of prayer and and
and invite the Holy Spirit tomanifest Jesus to us, please?
SPEAKER_00 (26:06):
Lord Jesus, you stopped in the middle of a
sermon to bless the children.
You had your priorities right.
The disciples didn't have itright.
The Pharisees and Scribes didn'thave it right.
But you knew, you said, sufferthe little children to come unto
(26:30):
me, for of such is the kingdomof heaven.
And so, Father, we bring theorphans to you at this time of
year.
We bring the neglected to you.
We bring the bruised and thewounded to you.
We ask that at this time ofyear, when Jesus is the
(26:50):
emphasis, that they would feeland experience Jesus and His
presence.
Some of them as children may notknow you yet, but may your
presence be so strong that theycome to you at this time.
For a seed planted in good earthwill bring forth.
(27:10):
We thank you that you plantcertified seed.
So, Father, we pray in yourprecious name that that sense of
your presence would go out withthis podcast, that sense of your
love for them, that sense of whythe Savior came, why he was
born, for without that birththere would be no death, there
would be no savior.
(27:31):
So, Father, we thank you foryour birth.
We thank you for the birth ofJesus Christ, your son, and we
ask that you would make it realto the people at this time of
year.
In your precious name I pray.
Amen.
SPEAKER_01 (27:46):
Thank you, brother.
Folks, we love you.
And if there are any thoughts,questions, concerns that you
might have, please feel free todrop us a line at life around
the fire at gmail.com.
That's our email address, or youjust type in Life Around the
Fire and look us up on the web.
We would love to hear from you.
In the meantime, God bless you.
(28:07):
Adios, amigos.
Howdy folks, I want to welcome you back to another
episode of Life Around the Fire.
And today, in our studio, wehave a real privilege in that we
have Dr.
Bill Hurst as our guest speakertoday.
And he's no stranger to uh LifeAround the Fire, but he carries
every time he comes, he carriessomething with him that's that's
(01:07):
new.
Even though he's not new, thereseems to be something fresh.
And I believe that it's becausehe carries with him one of the
most tender hearts that I'veever met.
One of the most sensitive men tothe father's heart that I have
met, and I've met a lot ofpeople.
(01:28):
And it's it's our privilege tohave him here today, and we're
gonna be focusing in a littlebit on this particular podcast
episode on stuff that goesaround during Christmas time.
And specifically what I mean bythat is that sometimes this time
of year for people like myself,actually, who have had
(01:52):
throughout their life duringthis season some people call it
the blues.
Or you just don't feel likeyourself, or maybe it brings up
memories that are verydifficult, and you have to live
with those things, and it's kindof a a mixed feeling.
(02:13):
Where you've got people aroundyou celebrating, but you on the
inside aren't reallycelebrating.
In fact, you'd just as soon beby yourself.
And that might be you.
I know, as I said, that's beenmyself, but we're gonna be
looking at today this wholeaspect of this season and some
(02:34):
of the things that we encounterduring it, but also some of the
things that God has in store forus.
That really He gives us hope, Hegives us faith, and He gives us
love.
And the greatest of those islove.
But in our in our hope today, inour prayer, is that you'd be
really a recipient of somethingthat would help you navigate
(02:57):
through this time, that there'dbe some wisdom that you'd have
that would navigate, that wouldhelp you navigate.
And so, Dr.
Bill, once again, thank you forbeing here today, and good to
have you here.
SPEAKER_00 (03:07):
It's good to be here.
SPEAKER_01 (03:09):
Yes, and during this time of year, you've been in the
whole area of ministry for howmany years, Doctor?
Almost 60.
Just I'm I'm 66, so you justjust about there how old I am.
And I was just recently lookingat the fact that Joshua in the
(03:30):
Old Testament, when he took overfrom Moses, Joshua was close to
80 when he took over.
And it's interesting that I I II I I think that our best days
are in front of us, actually.
And you've experienced somereally good things in your life
from what we talked about inencountering in your
(03:51):
relationship with God some realencounters with him.
But also you've experienced alittle bit of the difficulties,
if I'm not mistaken.
And if someone's going through atough time right now, how what
what would you how would youencourage them, Doctor?
SPEAKER_00 (04:08):
Well, the first thing I'd like to do is tell a
bit of a story, a bit ofhistory, actually.
I was born in 1947, and for fivefive years I was actually in uh
child protective services uh inCanada.
It's called the Children's Aid.
(04:29):
And uh I did not remember anyChristmases before the age of
five.
At the age of five, I was takento my grandfather's house, even
though I didn't know it was mygrandfather.
And I was in my in my memory,now let me let me make that
clear, in my memory, I was takenthere and dropped off.
(04:50):
And it seemed like I wasrejected.
I want to say this, that many moquite often during this season
of the year, any abandonmentyou've been through, any
rejection you've been throughcomes to the fore.
Because the season is touted asa season of joy and
(05:15):
thanksgiving, and it is that andit should be that.
But often the greatest impact ofsorrow happens at this time.
So I was with my grandfather andthey celebrated Christmas.
I was with him for from the ageof five to the age of eleven.
(05:36):
Then my mom came home and tookus boys, just the two of us, and
we had some good Christmases andsome bad Christmases.
But when I grew up and got closeto marriage and got married, we
celebrated Christmas, but we wedidn't sell it wasn't it was
(05:59):
Christmas light, let's put itthat way.
Number one, because we were juststruggling in ministry and and
learning how to uh be a family.
And number two, it's because wehad run into some theories about
Christmas being pagan.
And of course, we didn't want tobe pagan, so we backed away from
(06:22):
a lot of the stuff that was onat Christmas.
And then I we came in contactwith a group and went to be with
them for seven years.
They did not celebrateChristmas, they preached against
it, they talked about it notbeing the time when Jesus was
born, and uh Christmas beingbirthed in pagan roots.
(06:46):
And so when we got the left footof fellowship from that group,
we came back, we came back hometo our home hometowns, and of
course, her parents were notsaved.
They celebrated Christmas, so wehad some interesting times
there.
But we we we struggled throughthis whole minefield of the
(07:14):
theories around Christmas andaround Jesus' birth.
And so when when we came to aconclusion after many, many
years that we would take it atwhatever level the children
needed it.
Cause you see there's more thanjust religious and theological
(07:41):
construct around Christmas.
And we begin to celebrate it asa family time.
At first we didn't celebrate iton the day, but we did we got
together as family.
We used it as family time, weset a day aside for all the
family.
And of course, as the familygets bigger when you have five
ki five kids and a foster child,as the family gets bigger, the
(08:05):
event gets bigger just by reasonof numbers.
And so we had some joyful timesand we had some difficult times.
But the kids they begin to loveChristmas.
And because that's the time whenthey get gifts for it's not
(08:26):
their birthday, it's not anyanniversary of theirs, they get
it just because they're loved.
And they knew that the Christmasgifts were because they were
loved.
See, the issue is, the realissue is, how do I express love?
The issue is not, is itChristmas?
It becomes a convenient time todo that, but the issue is how do
(08:52):
I express love?
Is is there a time and a seasonwith my kids, with my grandkids,
with my great-grandkids, withthose around me that I can
express love without themthinking there's an agenda.
Now, in the world, Christmasdoes become an agenda.
(09:16):
And we give because we want toget.
But the issue really is, do infact, one dear brother that that
we listen to, he's gone to bewith the Lord now.
But he said when he had a visionof heaven and and he died and
went to heaven and God sent himback, but before he did, when he
got to the gate, he said thequestion he was asked was, Did
(09:41):
you learn to love?
That's right.
That's it.
Did you learn not not how manysouls did you win to Jesus?
Not what good works did you do,not how many were healed in your
ministry, not how many weredelivered, but did you learn to
love?
You can do all these things, andif you have not love, there's
sounding brass and tinklingsymbol.
(10:02):
So we need to, and and I likethe way God put that to him, did
you learn to love?
We don't come loving, we comeselfish.
It's part of the fallen nature,and we need to learn to love.
And Jesus said, Take my yokeupon me and learn of me.
(10:25):
Learn how to love.
Learn how he loved, learn how tolove as he loved.
And so down through the years,we have learned to love.
I learned to love my kids, Ilearned to set them free to make
their decisions and to sufferthe consequences.
The older they got, the more weallowed the consequences to
(10:47):
correct them rather than uscorrecting them.
And so, about, I guess it'sabout 13 years ago now, I was
already move in the States, mykids were back in Canada, and I
come home from a trip, and wehad visitors from another
(11:08):
country.
I come home from a trip and goton on Facebook just to check my
stuff, and I found out onFacebook that my daughter was in
the ICU in the hospital.
My wife said I looked absolutelywhite.
We had to find places for thevisitors to stay while I went up
(11:32):
because we didn't know that theycould have gone up with us and
found a place to found them aplace to stay and stayed with
us.
During that time, I said goodbyeto my youngest daughter.
And it was, I think it wasDecember 22nd.
(11:52):
And it was a difficult,difficult time.
Because everybody knows the babyin the family is special.
It's not that we love them more,it's just that they're special.
And so God took her home to bewith him.
She never recovered to be ableto say goodbye, Dad.
We said goodbye to her.
I arrived there at three o'clockin the morning.
(12:14):
Ten minutes later, the doctorcame in and told us what the
situation was.
She lasted a day and a half.
We had to pull the plug inCanada after a certain amount of
time.
The plug is the decision has tobe made to either pull the plug
or keep going.
And the doctor said her brainwas not functioning.
(12:36):
So we suffered great loss.
That was a very difficult,difficult Christmas.
But you know something?
The thing that comforted us iswe knew where she was going.
We knew that she'd been withJesus, that she was with Jesus,
and it didn't take away thesorrow, but it made it easier to
(12:57):
bear because there's going tocome a day when the family is
going to be reunited around thethrone of God, worshiping and
praising Him for eternity.
Plus, in my understanding of theages to come, there's still
going to be a lot of work to do.
So we'll be working together forthe purposes of God.
(13:19):
We have evolved in ourcelebration of Christmas.
When I got married the secondtime, my wife loved Christmas,
has beautiful memories aroundit, and our house looks like it.
And, you know, one of the thingswe found is when we came to the
(13:40):
church here on Christmas Eve, wewould have all the single folks
over, and especially the olderfolks who had no place to go and
no family close.
We'd have them over and we wouldhave a wail of a time.
They would thoroughly enjoy it.
And several times they left andthey said, Thank you.
We didn't want to be aloneChristmas Eve.
(14:04):
It's a time when loneliness, ifyou're alone, loneliness is more
stark and more painful.
And so when I was wrestling thisthrough with God, I said, Lord,
what about Christmas?
He said, There's no greater timeto share that when people are
(14:24):
more open to the gospel thanChristmas time.
That's so true.
And he said, I want you to takeadvantage of the season, not put
it down, not put people down forcelebrating it, but I want you
to be able to help them withjoy, with comfort, and with
(14:45):
their openness to the gospel,even hearing another stage of
the gospel, they may not haveheard.
They may be saved, but they maynot know more about him than
that.
And it's a time to share Jesusin all of his aspects, in all of
his glory, and all of his power,and in all of his humility.
(15:05):
You see, this is a season ofhumility.
God humbled himself to become aman so that he might show us how
to become mature sons of God.
That's what why he came.
Came to bring many sons untoglory, many to maturity in
(15:27):
relationship with him.
It starts with initialsalvation.
It starts with accepting Jesusas your Savior.
But that's just the beginning ofyour journey.
And I was listening to a rab amessianic rabbi this week that I
happened upon on social media,and he was he said 80, what, 80%
(15:50):
of both Christians and andespecially messianic Jews do not
believe they should celebrateChristmas.
He made a point.
He said this.
He said, although it was nevercommanded in Scripture for the
Jews to keep Hanukkah, Jesuskept Hanukkah.
(16:12):
He kept a celebration that wasnever commanded in Scripture.
And he said, There's no reasonwhy we should not use the
Christmas season to celebratethe birth of Jesus, to celebrate
the fact he was born, tocelebrate the fact that a Savior
(16:32):
came from heaven to save oursouls and to make it so we could
be with him for eternity.
We need to focus on the positivethings of this time rather than
on the negatives, and weshouldn't, we shouldn't.
I believe we've becomedistracted with theology.
And it's time for us to get backto relationship.
(16:56):
One of the things God told meyears ago, he said, Bill, I
can't when when I created man,the first thing I did with them
was come down and walk with themin the cool of the day.
I came down to have relationshipwith them.
In the center of the scripture,which is Psalms and Song of
Solomon, it's all aboutrelationship with Him.
(17:18):
Song of Solomon is leading herinto a deeper relationship with
her beloved.
She is the type of we who knowhim as our Savior.
He, of course, is a type of theLord Jesus Christ, drawing us
into a deeper intimacy with him,a greater desire.
He has a desire for you.
He desires you more than youdesire him.
(17:40):
And so why don't you respond tothat desire?
Why don't you say to him, LordJesus, not only come into my
heart but lead me into alltruth?
You know, when when it says thathe's come to lead us, the Holy
Spirit come to lead us and guideus into all truth, I have to
(18:02):
admit something.
I don't know what all truth is.
I don't know how to walk intotruth.
I don't know how to manifesttruth.
I need to be led and guided intothose realities.
And so our challenge today isnot do we celebrate Christmas or
don't we?
Our challenge today is not do wefocus on the negative of
(18:24):
Christmas.
And I mean, I this could be oneof the saddest times of the year
for me.
But it's become a time of joybecause I get to share Jesus, I
get to share joy, I get to helppeople through things that uh
through times like I wentthrough back, I think it was
2011.
unknown (18:44):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (18:46):
Why?
Because Jesus is the answer.
No matter what my problem is, Ineed to say, Holy Spirit, show
me and lead me to the answerthat Jesus is to this question.
The answer that Jesus is to thispain, the answer that Jesus is
to this rejection, this sense ofabandonment, this sense of
(19:08):
aloneness.
Lead me there, lead me to theplace where that is no longer
ruling my life and ruling mythoughts.
But the thing that's ruling mylife and ruling my thoughts is
how much I'm loved of Jesus.
By the way, when you get to theend of the book, Revelation
twenty two, it says this, andthe spirit and the bride say
(19:30):
come.
Let him that is a thirst saycome.
The spirit and the bride areboth relationship.
God is in relationship.
He's not in doctrine.
I didn't say he doesn't havedoctrine, I said he's not in it.
There are theologians that areimmersed in doctrine.
(19:52):
Much of what they preach istrue, but they don't have the
relationship to back it up tominister substance to God's
people.
So I think it's time that webegin to put our priorities
right.
The priority for us is arelationship with the Lord Jesus
Christ.
The priority for us is growingup into Him in all things.
(20:18):
And that's even in our attitudetoward those that don't agree
with us.
If we do that, we're going tomanifest the nature of Jesus
Christ.
And what we're going to see,folks, is they shall see your
good works and glorify yourFather which is in heaven.
One more scripture before Iclose.
(20:44):
Jesus in the midst ofeverything, it says, and his
life, not his words.
His life was the light of men.
Jesus said, While I'm with you,I'm the light of the world.
But then he said, You are thelight of the world.
(21:04):
I think some of us need ourinternal globes cleaned so
people can see Jesus in us.
That's the could I say that?
That's the core of the gospel?
That people see Jesus in us.
And Jesus said this, and I, if Ibe lifted up, I will draw all
(21:25):
men unto me.
I remember one day years agoback in the, I think it was the
70s, we had a a house group inin Canada.
And the Lord said to me, Hesaid, Bill, why aren't people
coming?
And I was taken aback.
(21:45):
He said, Why are people coming?
I said, if I be lifted up, Iwill draw all men unto me.
Why are people being drawn?
The only conclusion I could cometo was Jesus is not being lifted
up.
That's when I began to realize Ihad my theological concept of
what it meant, but I didn't knowwhat it meant in reality.
(22:07):
Ever since then I've beenpraying, Lord Jesus, would you
come?
Would you so clean up thisvessel that you are seen in me
and people are drawn to you inme?
That should be our prayer,folks.
This is a season when Jesus isthe reason.
(22:27):
Jesus is the reason for theseason because he seasons my
life with himself.
May God bless you.
SPEAKER_01 (22:38):
Hallelujah.
You know, there's a storyconcerning Jesus when uh the
disciples or a couple of hisfollowers after his
resurrection, and shortly afterhis resurrection, his followers
were going to a location thatthey had to walk some distance.
(23:01):
And anyway, on their way, astranger came up alongside of
them and was asking questionsabout different things.
He goes, What's what's going on?
He goes, They said, Haven't youheard?
And it's been like living undera rock or something, I'm
paraphrasing.
And they said, No, no, no, no.
So then this stranger continuesto talk with them and explain to
(23:21):
them from the scriptures allabout Jesus, all about what was
to take place, had taken place,and was going to take place.
And then these these twogentlemen, their eyes were open
and they saw Jesus.
And after that, he showed afterthat he vanished from their
(23:46):
view, but they said tothemselves, they said when he
talked, didn't his words justburn inside as he was explaining
things.
Doctors, you were sharing my thespirit of the Lord and my spirit
were just burning on the inside.
(24:06):
There was a warmth and a peaceand a love that I felt, tangibly
felt.
And I have the notion thatsomeone's experiencing that very
same thing right now.
There's something called warmthgoing on on the inside, and you
wonder, what's this?
(24:26):
That is Jesus opening things upto you and he's using this
simple podcast, this simplemessage to transform something
from the inside out.
And Dr.
Thank you for being that thatthat that vehicle, but thank the
(24:48):
L really we thank the Lord foraccomplishing what he did and
how he can over how he canliterally take and transform us
if we allow him to.
But you said something else, andI wanna I wanna cap off with
this and ask you to close inprayer, please.
(25:11):
Uh and it's this you you saidsomething concerning the
children and how if for no otherreason, if it would be no other
reason than just to give a giftin the name of Jesus and use
this as a time that could beright around his time of birth,
who cares if it's the exact timeof the you know, day on the
(25:33):
calendar.
Uh those are important, but inthis instance, what's more
important can be what istransmitted or communicated to
the wives of children and how wecan make a big difference.
And so we have orphans listeningto this podcast episode right
now who are in various placesall around the world, and some
(25:55):
in Kenya right now specifically.
And Doctor, would you just callus in a word of prayer and and
and invite the Holy Spirit tomanifest Jesus to us, please?
SPEAKER_00 (26:06):
Lord Jesus, you stopped in the middle of a
sermon to bless the children.
You had your priorities right.
The disciples didn't have itright.
The Pharisees and Scribes didn'thave it right.
But you knew, you said, sufferthe little children to come unto
(26:30):
me, for of such is the kingdomof heaven.
And so, Father, we bring theorphans to you at this time of
year.
We bring the neglected to you.
We bring the bruised and thewounded to you.
We ask that at this time ofyear, when Jesus is the
(26:50):
emphasis, that they would feeland experience Jesus and His
presence.
Some of them as children may notknow you yet, but may your
presence be so strong that theycome to you at this time.
For a seed planted in good earthwill bring forth.
(27:10):
We thank you that you plantcertified seed.
So, Father, we pray in yourprecious name that that sense of
your presence would go out withthis podcast, that sense of your
love for them, that sense of whythe Savior came, why he was
born, for without that birththere would be no death, there
would be no savior.
(27:31):
So, Father, we thank you foryour birth.
We thank you for the birth ofJesus Christ, your son, and we
ask that you would make it realto the people at this time of
year.
In your precious name I pray.
Amen.
SPEAKER_01 (27:46):
Thank you, brother.
Folks, we love you.
And if there are any thoughts,questions, concerns that you
might have, please feel free todrop us a line at life around
the fire at gmail.com.
That's our email address, or youjust type in Life Around the
Fire and look us up on the web.
We would love to hear from you.
In the meantime, God bless you.
(28:07):
Adios, amigos.
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