Christmas 2025

No condemnation; we’ve been set free,

Our sin cast into the deepest sea.

Free from the law of sin and death,

Christ came to pay our heavy debt.

 

Angels sang, “Glory to God!”

Grace came down, so bring Him laud.

The Word made flesh and glory shown,

Immanuel, the Lord made known.

 

For unto us a Son is given.

Jesus came that we’d be forgiven,

Came in the likeness of sinful flesh,

Life brought forth that we’d be blessed.

 

He kept the law and then He died,

Propitiation made for His bride.

Jesus did overcome the grave

And forever lives to save.

 

Walk in the Spirit, indeed walk

Not in the flesh, where it’s dark.

In the Spirit is life and peace.

Step from death to life complete.

 

This present time cannot compare

To the glory that we all will share.

And now the Spirit intercedes.

We hope for what is ours indeed.

 

No height nor depth, nor anything

Can keep us from the loving King,

Love found in our Lord Jesus Christ,

The One Who came to pay our price.

Come and Stand in Awe

Condescended, came to earth

King of kings, now babe at birth.

Creator God, now helpless child.

Come and stand in awe.

He Who needs not a thing

Came to need everything

From His earthly parents’ arms.

Come and stand in awe. 

He came to live a perfect life,

To learn and grow as a child,

And grow into a righteous man.

Come and stand in awe.

He came to live and to die

Both for us, to pay our price

And rose triumphant from the grave.

Come and stand in awe.

Come and stand, come and bow, 

Come and worship Jesus now.

He has come to earth to save.

Come and live in awe. 

Merry Christmas 2024

Jesus Christ is His Name

Jesus Christ is His Name

 

Covenant-keeping, gracious God

Sent Christ to earth; let’s bring Him laud.

He came to live a perfect life,

To break the bonds of sin and strife.

 

Jesus Christ is His name.

The angels sang when He came.

“Glory to God Who lives on high,

Peace on earth” was their cry.

 

He lived a perfect righteous life

Though tempted just like you and I.

And then on Calvary’s cross He died.

“It is finished” was His cry.

 

He’d paid the price for rebel hearts.

We all have missed God’s perfect mark.

But so unfailing is His love

That by His grace, He shed His blood.

 

Up from the grave He did arise,

And now He calls for us to die,

To die to self and live for Christ,

Be forgiven and filled with life.

 

What shall we do with this great news?

If we have the Spirit and the truth?

Tell the world the Savior’s call

Come to Jesus one and all.

 

And live each day to bring Him laud,

This Prophet, Priest, and King, our God.

Jesus Christ is His name.

Forever we’ll sing because He came.

 

 

Merry Christmas 2023

Love, the McLennan

June 16

Tomorrow is June 16, a big day of celebration for our family.

My baby boy’s cheerful “Happy birthday, Pappy!” runs through my head and makes me smile and make me cry.

My little boy loves sharing a birthday with his Pappy.

Pappy said I’d never top that birthday present. 

And now the day has come to celebrate that little boy, and his Pappy isn’t here with us.

But oh how Pappy is in a place of celebration!
We cannot fathom the joy, the peace, the happiness.

So while we are sad, and that’s okay, we can turn our hearts to Heaven and praise God for eternity.

We can keep celebrating birthdays on earth and thank God for every day we have here and also remember that this earth is not our home and we are looking for the one to come, our forever home purchased with the blood of Christ.

“For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the one to come.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭13‬:‭14‬ ‭

Grief

Grief is such a fickle feeling,   

Waning and waxing like the moon, 

And sometimes sitting still like fog, 

Hovering, hindering sight. 

Sometimes it trickles down upon you; 

Sometimes it rains down hard, 

Flooding, drowning, carrying you 

To where it seems so dark. 

Then the sun shines through the rain 

And memories resurface, 

Those puffy clouds of happiness 

That turn your countenance. 

Yes grief is such a fickle feeling, 

But Jesus is the same today

And yesterday and tomorrow.

He changes not. I’ll rest in Him.

Pappy

Gone from us but not gone forever.

Though we mourn today, we’ll rejoice forever,

For earthly death is not the end of his story. 

He has a Savior that gives life eternal.

He loved his life with his wife and children.

His grandchildren were truly his crown of glory.

United in love because our God is love,

We will treasure this life and the one to come.

Roger Kevin McLennan

June 16, 1955-January 29, 2023

“Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,”

‭‭John‬ ‭11‬:‭25‬ 

Incarnation: Glorious Manifestation (Christmas 2022)

Oh think of the blessed Incarnation;

Ponder the great majesty of Christ’s birth,

Oh that glorious Manifestation,

God’s love in human form brought down to earth.

The Prophecies told how Jesus would come.

The shadows and pictures were drawn of Him,

On David’s throne and over his kingdom

The Lord of hosts, glorious diadem.

But humbly He came as a baby boy,

And meekly that child grew into a man.

That man laid down His life for the joy

Set before Him and according to plan.

The sovereign King died that we would receive

Eternal life and calls us to believe.

He Came to Save (Christmas 2021)

Our Sovereign Savior came to earth.

Glorious ones announced His birth.

They came to shepherds keeping sheep.

The message made them run and leap

To see the Babe, to see the King,

The One Who came to save.

They beheld the Lamb of God.

These lowly shepherds gave Him laud.

He came to do what man could not,

To walk our road, to take our lot.

To keep the law, to die our death,

The One Who came to save.

The invitation: come believe,

Come by faith and come receive

Salvation from Christ our Lord

Jesus the One by shepherds adored.

Because He loved, because He paid,

Because He came to save.

Christmas 2020

 I AM: Before time began He was.

CREATOR: Without Him nothing was made that was made.

IMMANUEL: God with Us is His name.

SON OF DAVID: Prophecy fulfilled, He’s King of Kings.

FRIEND OF SINNERS: Praise God for His mercy to us.

SAVIOR OF MAN: He came that we might live.

SACRIFICE: His love held Him on that cross bearing our sin.

RISEN: Sin’s price has been paid, and He lives. 

LORD: Every knee will bow and declare that it’s true.

JESUS: He came to deliver His own.

CHRIST: He’s Messiah, Jesus Christ. Praise His name! 

Oh praise to the Father, the Spirit, the Son!

2019 Comes to an End with Deliberate

        At the beginning of 2019, I decided to walk through the year with the word deliberate.  I had successes and failures throughout the year, but the goal was to walk out the year deliberately walking out the good works God has so mercifully prepared for me as Ephesians 2:10 says,

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good 

works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should 

walk in them.

And God is so good. The failures are not for nothing. The hurts are not for nothing. The good, the bad, it’s all for His glory. It’s for our good. It’s all filtered through His great love for His people.

               I was driving a few days ago and thinking about this year, about how I walked out the year with deliberate. I was thinking about how I didn’t really think about the word a lot during the year. I just wanted to live the life God has for me and to live it for His glory. I fail daily, but I know that I must keeping walking forward in faith, knowing one day He will make all things right, knowing He is still working in me. I thought about past years and the words I have chosen and how this is not about me; it’s always about learning more about God, more about His great mercy, his faithfulness, etc. And this year was no different. It hit me: God is always deliberate. Through sermons from Judges, Ruth, and a series on evil and suffering, the truth is there that God is deliberate. He is sovereign over all of His creation.  His purposes are good. It can be an incredibly hard truth to wrestle with, but in it is found great peace. It was His deliberate plan and by His foreknowledge that Jesus Christ was handed over to be crucified (Acts 2:23). It is for great good that Christ came into this world to save sinners. It is for great good that through suffering and evil, we see God’s great goodness, mercy, and grace.

               2019 was a good year. God is growing our family in knowledge of Him in our new home. I look forward to what God has planned for 2020. May we walk it out for His glory.

Advent - Remember (Merry Christmas 2019)

Advent- “the Coming”

We know that He came.

So what are we counting?

The work has been done.

We count to remember

The work of the Son

And the Father and Spirit

When He stepped down from His throne.

He came to save sinners,

Of which I am one.

He’s always been and will be,

But He came down for His own,

So let’s remember.

Remember why He came.

Remember the pictures and shadows.

Remember the prophecies.

Remember how it all pointed to Him.

It’s all written in The Book.

Remember how He came. 

Remember the baby and shepherds.

Remember the special gifts.

Remember the sinless man,

Fully God and fully man.

Remember the miracles.

Remember the curses He took.

Remember the cross where He hung.

Remember He said, “It is finished.”

All that was written came to pass.

Remember the empty grave.

Remember the ascension.

Remember He’s coming again.

Remember and praise Jesus Christ!

Our Savior, Immanuel.

Merry Christmas from the McLennans 2019!

King of Kings and What a Savior

Life is a battle.

I’m my worst enemy.

I try and try again

To be in charge of me.

But what I want to do,

I don’t even do,

And what I don’t want to do

Is what I do again.

Oh who will save me,

My wretched soul?

Praise be to God!

Jesus Christ is my Savior!

You stepped in and died,

And then You rose again.

Praise be to God,

What a Savior!

Jesus, You are King,

King of Kings,

Lord of Lords.

Jesus, You are King,

And what a Savior!

And as for me and my house,

We will serve the Lord.

As for me and my house,

We will serve You.

And when we don’t,

Because we can’t,

You step in 

And show us grace upon grace.

Jesus Christ, what a Savior!

Jesus, You are King,

King of Kings,

Lord of Lords.

Jesus, You are King,

And what a Savior!

Memorial Day

Freedom has never been free.

It always comes at cost.

We often take for granted

All that freedom costs.

If we start to feel perhaps

Our freedom slipping away,

We do not take it lightly.

We want our liberty.

But are we truly thankful

For those who walked before us,

For those who walk beside us,

Ensuring we stay free?

All those gravestones line the ground.

All those flags wave freely.

All those soldiers say goodbye

And leave someone behind weeping.

No, freedom never has been free.

How thankful that I am 

That death is not the end,

That by the death of our dear Lord

We’re free from death and sin.

Today I’m truly thankful

For freedom in this life 

And for those who bought that freedom.

Praise Jesus, praise the Son!

20 Years: And We Stand Together Forever

“Canon in D,”

“To Make You Feel my Love,”

“Standing on Holy Ground.”

I was walking on air 

Because you were there 

Marrying me that day.

I looked at you.

We were so in love.

And you stood by me.

And you stand by me.

And we stand together forever.

Moving away from home,

College Degrees,

Buying our first home.

Great adventure with you 

As we learned and grew

Doing life just us two.

I looked at you.

We were so in love.

And you stood by me.

And you stand by me.

And we stand together forever.

Baby makes three

And then four, five, six,

And even seven.

Twenty years and two more moves.

I still love our life 

Together.

I look at you.

We are so in love.

And you’ve stood by me.

And you stand by me.

And we stand together forever

Deliberate in 2019

Deliberate is the word that I have chosen for 2019. With a move in this new year, I think it will be the perfect word to walk with as I seek to walk in the good works God has prepared for me. My verse is Ephesians 2:10.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good 

works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should 

walk in them.

Ephesians 4-10 is a beautiful passage about God’s rich mercy and love that made us alive in Him by His grace. What a gift! Because He has prepared good works for me, His child, I want to be deliberate in walking out His works. I want to be deliberate in walking out a life of love in worship of my Savior. Twenty years ago January 2^nd, Ephesians 5:1-2 was read at our wedding.

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk

in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, 

offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

Deliberate is defined as done consciously and intentionally. It is from the Latin deliberatus, meaning “considered carefully.’ It can be translated deliberate, determined, resolved upon, and worked out. This is how I desire to live my Christian life. Colossians 3:17 is a great verse to remind me that this is my calling.

Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the 

Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

I wrote a poem/song to start off this year. I hope to write more this year. I have started a Bible study on encouragement and Lord-willing will finish it this year.

May it be a blessed year! All praise to Jesus!

Do we live our lives like they matter?

Do we really know why we’re even here?

If we really know all about Jesus,

We know each day is made for Him.

Be deliberate.

Do it on purpose.

Be deliberate

Every day.

Ev-er-y day

Ev-er-y hour

Ev-er-y moment

Let’s be deliberate

In honoring Him.

He created us to worship Him.

He created us to live for Him.

Let’s live and breathe the love of Christ.

Let’s live our lives to worship Him.

Be deliberate.

Do it on purpose.

Be deliberate

Every day.

Ev-er-y day

Ev-er-y hour

Ev-er-y moment

Let’s be deliberate

In honoring Him.

In Christ Jesus, we are created

For good works, which He’d prepared.

Now let’s walk in them

The way He planned for us.

Let’s walk in them deliberately.

Be deliberate.

Do it on purpose.

Be deliberate

Every day.

Ev-er-y day

Ev-er-y hour

Ev-er-y moment

Let’s be deliberate

In honoring Him.