I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

We are coming to the end of 2025, and I can’t believe we are almost at 2026. Looking back, it has been a roller coaster, some seasons rushing by, and others moving slower than molasses in winter. I have had struggles this year, maybe you have to, and we are not the only ones. Many have gone through trials, but how they faced them is how they are distinguished from each other. 

This is a season to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, no matter what has happened. If God brings us to it, He can bring us through it, and it is up to us to have a positive attitude towards our situation. 

American poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, lived from 1807-1882. He suffered through several tragedies; his wife died, and his son was shot during the Civil War (he did survive). On December 25th, 1864, Longfellow heard the church bells ring out their annual message of “peace on earth, goodwill to men,” but to Longfellow, they did not match the real world. The world he knew was in conflict, and his country was tearing itself apart. Something inside of Longfellow changed; he went to go write a poem that would move him from despair to hope; it was titled I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.

In 1872, John Baptist’s Calkin put the poem to music. The fourth and fifth verses were excluded because they are focused on the Civil War. 

I heard the bells on Christmas Day

Their old, familiar carols play, 

And wild and sweet

The words repeat

Of peace on earth, goodwill to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,

The belfries of all Christendom 

Had rolled along

The unbroken song

Of peace on earth, goodwill to men!

Till ringing, singing on its way,

The world revolved from night to day,

A voice, a chime,

A chant sublime

Of peace on earth, goodwill to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth

The cannon thundered in the South, 

And with the sound

The carols drowned

Of peace on earth, goodwill to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent

The hearth-stones of a continent,

And made forlorn

The households born

Of peace on earth, goodwill to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;

"There is no peace on earth," I said; 

"For hate is strong,

And mocks the song

Of peace on earth, goodwill to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; 

The wrong shall fail,

The right prevail,

With peace on earth, goodwill to men."

Habakkuk questioned God, yet he still chose to rejoice. “ O Lord, how long shall I cry, and Thou wilt not hear! Even cry out unto Thee of violence, and Thou wilt not save!  Why dost Thou show me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? For spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention.  Therefore the law is slack, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.” (Habakkuk 1:2-4) “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” (Habakkuk 3:18)

Like him, Longfellow sees unfairness in the world, but he still acknowledges God’s authority and power. God is always there, He is a living God. As Longfellow put it “God is not dead, nor doth He sleep.”

Why should we rejoice in a season like this? You may have different reasons, and there’s no right one to have, but I can give you some for you. We have a God in heaven who is graceful, merciful, and powerful. There is Jesus who came down to earth, to save us all. He is God, He did not have to come down and be born of a virgin, or die on the cross, but He chose to do so, and this is something we can absolutely celebrate all year round and not just in December. 

If you have been having a bad year, you have a new year to start over. That’s not the only chance you have; there are new weeks, new days, even. “The Wrong shall fail, the Right prevail, with peace on earth, goodwill to men.”(Prevail means to succeed; become dominant; win out.) So no matter what yesterday looked like, today is an opportunity to choose better, do better, and move forward with hope. If we keep choosing what is right, even in small ways, peace and goodwill can begin with us. 

Merry Christmas! 

PRAISE THE LORD

It’s almost 2026, a new year.

A new, exciting, and mysterious new year.

Now, while I could go into so many different topics such as love, service, humility, and others, I decided on a different topic today.

Praising the Lord Jesus Christ.

Psalm 117:1; O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise Him, all ye people.

Wow, it has been a year. There have been so many ups and downs, and in taking some time to think about it, I do not believe I could have gotten through this year without Jesus. In the middle of plenty of battles, whether they had to do with things going on in the outside world or the personal struggles I had in my heart, God was with me.

Even in the lowest moments, God never stopped being God, meaning He never stopped being good. In fact, when I felt like I couldn’t go on anymore, there was a love that kept me going. It was the same love Jesus had for us at the time He was on the cross. The same love the Father had for us when He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. When I thought a step forward was impossible, it became possible because of how much love Jesus has for me. That is the love that kept me going.

I look back at everything, and realize that God had me in everything. I believe if we all just looked back, we would see we were being held in every single moment. There was not one time God left any of us, even if we left Him.

I just have to say it, God is good all the time, and all the time God is good.

Can I get an AMEN?

While that by itself is reason enough to praise God, that isn’t the only reason we have. Another one is God wants us to have a relationship with Him, and He chose us to serve Him. Even with the fifty million other things we can do, there is (in my opinion) quite literally nothing that could even come close to that. The fact that we are hand picked by God to serve Him for our entire lives is just incredible to think about. Then to make this so much better, He doesn’t want us to just serve Him. That isn’t who our God is. No, He wants us to talk to Him, spend time with Him, give Him our burdens, and help us. All we have to do is place our trust in Him.

Somebody praise God for that!

Want to hear something crazy? I have barely even started with the list of all the reasons we have to praise the LORD. I do believe if I went through all the reasons we have to praise God, I would be typing for another good year or so. Reasons such as the life we have in Him, the protection, the assurance that everything works out for the good of those who believe, the joy in the midst of sadness, the peace in the storm, and so many more things I could go on and on about. That would still be the case even if I wasn’t going into a lot of detail as I am doing right at this moment. So for the sake of time, I unfortunately will not be going through this whole list, as much as I would love to.

The thing I want all of you to remember is, no matter what you are going through, good or bad, there is always a reason to praise. With this year getting closer and closer to the end, I want us all to just take a minute and give God some praise that we made it through another year, which in its own right is a huge blessing. Remember that it also doesn’t have to be just about making it through this year, just give God some praise for everything He has done for you.

I love you all with the love of Christ.

Christopher Haney

Prophecies Fulfilled

Many prophecies were fulfilled because of Jesus’s birth and they show us how much we can

trust what God says. Here some of the prophecies that were fulfilled because of Jesus’s birth.

1. Born of a Virgin

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall

conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

This prophecy was fulfilled 700 years later in the book of Matthew. Matthew: 1:22-23 Now

all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,

Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name

Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

2. Born in Bethlehem

Micah 5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of

Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings

forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

This prophecy was written by he prophet Micah and was fulfilled around 750 years later in

the book of Matthew. Matthew 2:1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the

days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem.

3. Jesus’s Parents Fleeing to Egypt.

Hosea 1:1 When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.

When Herod made the decree to kill every child 2 years and younger (Matthew 2:16),

Mary and Joseph took Jesus and fled to Egypt. Matthew 2:14-15 And he arose, and took the

young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: And was there until the death of

Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of

Egypt have I called my son.

4. Preceded by a Messenger (John the Baptist)

Isaiah 40:3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the

LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. This was also written by the prophet

Isaiah and was fulfilled in Matthew 3. Matthew 3: 1-3 In those days came John the Baptist,

preaching in the wilderness of Judaea... For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet

Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make

his paths straight.

These are only four of many prophecies that were fulfilled because of Jesus’s birth. They

show how these prophets were inspired by God and how we can trust what the bible says.

Merry Christmas.

Isaac S.