The day after Christmas, I watched my young adult son back out the driveway to travel to his other “home.” The reality of Christmas now vs Christmases past continued to stir in my heart. I can remember, in what seemed only a few sleeps ago, his body wiggling excitedly as he lied in bed on […]
Advent/Christmas
Why I Embrace the Thrill of Hope in a Year That Didn’t Conclude as Expected
Sometimes the reminder of why we celebrate Christmas looks like nothing expected. In fact, it may feel like the sting of sin in the midst of dazzling decorations. And that’s when we sit in the tension of living in a place that is aching toward reconciliation and restoration. Weary souls are still seeking their soul’s […]
How Adoring Jesus Goes Beyond the Lyrics of a Christmas Carol
“O Come let us adore Him O come let us adore Him O come let us adore him O come let us adore him Christ the Lord.” The chorus evokes warm nostalgic memories and ecclesiastic connection to Christmas’s past as the words pour from our lips. There is reason for that: for the church and […]
Jesus’s Birth was Not Reason for All to Rejoice
Not everyone was happy. “In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising,[b] and have come to pay him homage.” 3 When King Herod heard […]
Why We Must Offer Up Our Full Selves to One Another
“ 37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38 give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the […]
What it Means That Jesus Entered a World that was Not Calm and Bright
Truthfully, I find the lyrics of “Silent Night” a bit misleading. All is not calm or bright on this earth. It never has been. The world in which Jesus entered was characterized by greed, lust for power, sexual deviation, oppression of marginalized people, violence, murder……One need only scan through scripture to recognize the destruction of […]
