From One Degree to Another

Phil Auxier's Blog

  • Home
  • About
  • Archive

Connect

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Powered by Genesis

O Holy Night (Gospelicious Version)

December 12, 2010 by Phil Auxier

Today in our corporate worship, Mandy Swisher blessed us with O Holy Night, done with different lyrics than we know. Some commented on where I found them, so here’s the links and the lyrics themselves.

Bob Kauflin’s List of Songs for Christmas 2010 pointed me to…

Kevin Hartnett’s version of O Holy Night:

Verse One (Placide Cappeau, trans. John S. Dwight)

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining;
It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth!
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!

Verse Two (Kevin Hartnett)

Humbly He lay, Creator come as creature,
Born on the floor of a hay-scattered stall.
True Son of God, yet bearing human feature,
He entered earth to reverse Adam’s fall.
In towering grace, He laid aside His glory,
And in our place, was sacrificed for sin.
Fall on your knees! O hear the gospel story!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!

Verse Three (Kevin Hartnett)

Come then to Him Who lies within the manger,
With joyful shepherds, proclaim Him as Lord.
Let not the Promised Son remain a stranger;
In reverent worship, make Christ your Adored.
Eternal life is theirs who will receive Him;
With grace and peace, their lives He will adorn.
Fall on your knees! Receive the Gift of heaven!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!

verses two and three copyright (c) 2007 Kevin Hartnett.

As you read them, don’t you see how it makes the song so much more Gospelicious?

Filed Under: Uncategorized

31 – ways or flavors for praying for your children…

December 11, 2010 by Phil Auxier

…found in this helpful post from Bob Hostetler. If you’re like me, you want to pray for your kids. You know that God has to work in them or there really isn’t much hope. You want Him to do His work. You just start rehearsing the same old things. These 31 ways would be a different thing you could emphasize each day of the month. I use Google Calendar to remind me of Psalms of the Day, Scripture memory for the week and could easily incorporate this.

Also, Andrew Case’s book Setting Their Hope in God is helpful for me these days in praying for my children. Whatever you use, though, Pray!

Filed Under: children, devotions, prayer

Gospel Centered Christmas Devotions for Families

December 11, 2010 by Phil Auxier

Found these 4 simple devotionals for families to use during days leading up to Christmas. What is so amazing about them is that they point to the Gospel in practical, inviting ways. So, enjoy.

(HT: Life Together)

Filed Under: advent, Family Worship, Gospel

So what about Santa?

December 10, 2010 by Phil Auxier

Mark Driscoll gives three options:

‘Tis the season . . . for parents to decide if they will tell the truth about Santa.

When it comes to cultural issues like Santa, Christians have three options: (1) we can reject it, (2) we can receive it, or (3) we can redeem it.

Since Santa is so pervasive in our culture, it is nearly impossible to simply reject Santa as part of our annual cultural landscape. Still, as parents we don’t feel we can simply receive the entire story of Santa because there is a lot of myth built on top of a true story.

Read the rest of the post for info on how the Driscoll’s seek to redeem this.

Filed Under: advent, Mark Driscoll, santa

Knowing Heretics

December 9, 2010 by Phil Auxier

There’s nothing new under the sun so says Ecclesiastes. Last night, my Wed PM class, which is working through Lloyd Jones excellent work on 1 John entitled Life in Christ: Studies in 1 John, came face to face with the Doctor’s opinion on this as it relates to the truth of Jesus. He said, in his explanation of 1 John 4:2-3, the following:

There is no modern heresy. All the clever people who propound their apparently new ideas about Christ are simply repeating what has already been said; there have literally been no new heresies since the first centuries. (p.415)

In that regard, then, let me recommend a series over on the Resurgence entitled Know Your Heretics. It is great know these things so that when things come up, we can “test the spirits” and have some measure of discernment against the standard of Christ.

Filed Under: heresy, Jesus, Lloyd Jones

Weekend Recap – Love

December 5, 2010 by Phil Auxier

Today, the second week of Advent featured some great singing and reveling in God’s love for us through a very familiar place. The sermon, Love, from John 3:16 is now online. During one part of the sermon, I was pressing how many times our appreciation for the Gospel is much like our appreciation for “black socks”. We really do need them, but it really isn’t what we want. Similarly, most Christians know they need the Gospel but what they really want is for God to make them healthy, wealthy and blessed. Being passionate for those things over and against the Gospel is treating the amazing gift of love in Jesus like “black socks.”

It was a great morning. Just got out of Missions Committee meeting, much to be excited about there with potential opportunities for ministry soon. Anticipate rich fellowship tonight in small group as well. Hope you had a great Lord’s Day.

Filed Under: advent, God's Love, Weekend Recap

Christmas Traditions

December 3, 2010 by Phil Auxier

Here’s a great post from Life2gether on Our Christmas Traditions with lots of practical tips for families. I sent this to Meg last season and we plan on doing some of these things this season.

* Advent Calendar – This has been a fun way for our family to count down the days in anticipation of Christ’s coming. The kids take turns as we talk about the Christmas story. Be sure to choose a calendar that centers on the birth of Jesus!

* What God Wants for Christmas – This is a great interactive kid-friendly nativity – with seven gift boxes, a colorful pop-up, and an illustrated poem that we’ve used for the last couple years. It’s a fun way to talk about the Christmas story together. (available at FamilyLife.com)

* Christmas Devotion Jar – Looking for devotions to do with your kids? All you need to do is cut out red, green, and white little strips of paper and write Christmas verse(s) to read together, or craft/activity to do together, or creative ways to reach out to others. Put the slips of paper in a jar, decorate the outside, and set it on the dinner table to pick one out each night.

* Christmas Cookies – We take an evening and let our kids help us make cookies that they themselves deliver to teachers, neighborhood friends, special babysitters, people in need, etc.

* Scripture Memory – The best way we’ve found to memorize a passage of Scripture is by putting it to song. Thankfully the folks at SEEDS Family Worship have done just that. On the Seeds of Encouragement CD, the song Joy is taken right from Luke 2:8-14. Great song!

* Listen to Christ-Centered Christmas Music – As we travel, we try to have a few good CD’s that exalt Christ during this Christmas season. Our kids seem to like Savior: Celebrating the Mystery of God Become Man by Sovereign Grace Ministries the best.

* Re-enact the Christmas story
– Every year we have fun acting out the story from Luke 2. We actually do it with Jaime’ sister and family and video the whole thing. It’s pretty funny!

* Serving and Giving Together – Christmas is a time of giving. This year we made and delivered Thanksgiving baskets to needy people in our community and hope to deliver Christmas baskets as well. We also gather our old clothes and toys and give them to Goodwill. Our kids really enjoyed it.

What are some of your Christmas traditions? Feel free to share.

Filed Under: advent, Jesus, Practical

Ask for Correction – I Dare You!

December 2, 2010 by Phil Auxier

Saw this on the Peacemaker Ministries website: Asking for Correction. Ken Sande writes:

Since character growth is a lifelong challenge, I am going through this process again by asking my family and a few friends and coworkers for their loving correction. Realizing that lasting change comes only as God works in my heart, I am digging deeper this time. I am asking these people to help me identify the desires of my heart that give rise to ungodly behavior, and to pray for me as I seek God’s help for change.

I have developed two short letters that ask seven questions. The answers will help me see myself more clearly. One letter is for family and friends, and the other is for co-workers. The questions include the following:

* Please describe three character qualities, behaviors, or attitudes in me that have disappointed, annoyed, or offended you or others, or seemed to undermine my witness for Christ. Give specific examples, if possible.
* What things have you seen me make idols out of? (An idol is any desire—even for good things—that I have elevated to a demand, become excessively preoccupied with, looked to for security, had to have in order to be content, or allowed to control me.)
* If there were just one change God would bring about in me in the next six months, what would you pray it would be?

These are great thoughts for us as we pursue holiness. So…

pursue it!

Filed Under: Correction, Peacemaking, Practical

Must Listens: Tullian & Chandler

December 1, 2010 by Phil Auxier

2 more amazing audio resources came available in recent days and, in God’s grace, they are available for free…

This past Lord’s Day, Tullian Tchividjian preached at Covenant Life Church on Jesus + Nothing = Everything from Colossians 1:9-14. There are amazing quotes and lines and truths from this that you simply must listen to. He discusses the 2 manners in which legalism tries to sink its tentacles into our lives, which was very enlightening. But take time and listen.

Also, 9Marks just released their leadership interview for the month. It is entitled Engaging Your Generation and features Matt Chandler. They summarize this interview as: “Matt Chandler discusses his past year, his approach to preaching, and what it takes to engage this generation with the gospel.”

Grab both of these and be edified and built up.

Filed Under: Free Audio, Matt Chandler, Tullian Tchividjian

Manhood Stuff

November 30, 2010 by Phil Auxier

There were a couple of great resources on the web yesterday on manhood and issues related thereunto…

The DG Live Interview with Darrin Patrick, author of Church Planter, is now online (there is audio and video available). In this interview, Patrick talks about the “ban” epidemic (men who are neither boys nor men) among other amazing things. This is a very helpful interview in helping to understand many issues with what it means to be a man.

Also, the Art of Manliness have posted their holiday gift guide. Lots of fun stuff there.

Filed Under: Darrin Patrick, Manhood

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 144
  • 145
  • 146
  • 147
  • 148
  • …
  • 247
  • Next Page »

From One Degree To Another?

Yeah, that's right. My one, consuming passion is Jesus Christ, my Lord. I'm totally gripped by one message: the Gospel - the good news that God came after me when I was far from Him. So, the life I live, I live by faith in Him: He loved me and gave Himself for me.

From One Degree To Another is the change that He's accomplishing in me by grace. Growing downward in humility, upward into Him, outward toward others, and inward with renewal characterize my existence.

This site is where I flesh all of these types of things out, including my life as a slave to Jesus, husband, father, coffee-enjoyer, and pastor. I hope it encourages you.

RSS My latest sermons at Crestview

  • Walking in God's Plan September 14, 2025
  • Ephesians Remix September 7, 2025
  • The Power of God's Plan August 31, 2025

Categories

  • 1 Corinthians
  • 1 Samuel
  • 2016
  • abide
  • advent
  • Apologetics
  • application
  • Baby Dedication
  • Bible Intake
  • Book Review
  • Books
  • Camp
  • CBCH2Go
  • CCM
  • Chandler
  • Church
  • Colossians
  • conference
  • conferences
  • confession
  • COVID
  • Crestview
  • CrestviewKids
  • devotions
  • Easter
  • Elders
  • Elyse Fitzpatrick
  • Ephesians
  • Evangelism
  • Faith
  • family
  • food
    • ChickFilA
  • For The Church
  • Free Audio
  • Funeral
  • Goals
  • Good Friday
  • Gospel Friday
  • Gospel of John
  • gratitude
  • Great Commission
  • H2Go
  • health update
  • heart
  • Heaven
  • Holy Spirit
  • Holy Week
  • Hutchinson
  • Isaiah
  • Jesus
  • Job
  • Judgment
  • kansas
  • leadership
  • life
  • Lord's Supper
  • love
  • LRC
  • LRCAA
  • mental health
  • Missions
  • Music
  • Palm Sunday
  • Parenting
  • Paul Tripp
  • Peace
  • personal
  • Piper
  • Planning
  • prayer
  • Preaching
  • Psalms
  • Ray Ortlund
  • reading
  • recommendations
  • rest
  • Resurrection
  • Retreat
  • revelation
  • Revival
  • Russell Moore
  • salvation
  • Scotty Smith
  • Scripture Memory
  • Sermons
  • service
  • Shai Linne
  • sin
  • Small Groups
  • Suffering
  • Sunday School
  • Technology
  • Thanks
  • Thanksgiving
  • Uncategorized
  • vacation recap
  • valley of vision
  • VBS
  • Weakness
  • Week of Prayer
  • Weekend Preview
  • Weekend Recap
  • women's ministry
  • worship

Recent Posts

  • Middle Letters Continue: Into Colossians
  • No Cruise Control
  • July 2025 Sermons
  • A Deep Dive on Thinking About Applying a Sermon or Sermon Series
  • The Word of Victory