THE CHRISTMAS STORY HAS been so sanitized and romanticized over the centuries that even Hollywood—as jaded a culture as can be found anywhere—fails to capture the gritty pathos that surrounded Jesus’ arrival. Truth be told, even some churches annually idealize the birth of our Savior. Yet it was anything but ideal.
Read MoreCategory Archives: Christmas
Tears at Christmas
I’VE LIVED LONG ENOUGH TO know that sometimes Christmas hurts. And when words fail, tears flow. In some remarkable way, our complex inner-communication system knows when to admit its verbal limitations and signal its need for assistance. It’s an amazing thing. Lips that previously moved freely begin to quiver.
Read MoreLooking at the Big Picture . . . and Finding Hope, Part 2
Without realizing it, mighty Augustus was only an errand boy for the commencement of “the fullness of time.” He was a pawn in the hand of God . . . a mere piece of lint on the pages of prophecy. While Rome was busy making history, God arrived. He pitched His fleshly tent in silence on straw . . . in a stable . . . under a star.
Read MoreLooking at the Big Picture . . . and Finding Hope, Part 1
The Christmas story has been so sanitized and romanticized over the centuries that even Hollywood—as jaded a culture as can be found anywhere—fails to capture the gritty pathos that surrounded Jesus’s arrival. Truth be told, even some churches annually idealize the birth of our Savior. Yet it was anything but ideal.
Read MoreFocus on What Matters
SHOPPING SEASON HAS ARRIVED! Admit it: you’re already on a roll! You’ve started swiping your credit card all over town hoping to get in on the early bird sales. And Black Friday is coming still! But in the midst of all the shopping, preparations for family to arrive, and just sheer mayhem when it comes to getting ready for this special time of year, I urge you to pause regularly as a family and consider God’s perspective on what really matters. Start by reading the following aloud.
Read MoreSlowing Down before the Holidays
APPOINTMENTS, ACTIVITIES, ASSIGNMENTS . . . demands, decisions, deadlines . . . schedules, services, seminars . . . plans, people, programs . . . STOP! Sit down and think. Think about your pace. How in the world did you get trapped in the busyness cycle? What is it down inside your boiler room that keeps pouring the coal to your fire? Consider the past three or four months. Has anything significant been accomplished? Probably not, if you’re honest.
Read MoreI Brake for Christmas
The bumper sticker caught my eye. Made me think. Even aroused some guilt. I was on the freeway as his car was pulling off. My day had been full and it was far from over. Stuffed in my pocket was a list, most of the items not yet purchased. A little panic rushed over the back roads of my mind as I pondered all the things yet to be bought in those few days left before Christmas.
Read MoreFour Seasonal Dangers and Strategies
I’ve been giving a lot of thought these days to the subject of God’s will. While engaged in a study of that issue recently, I came across a term we rarely use or read these days: providence. The root meaning of providence is “foresight . . . to see in advance” or “to provide for.” But those definitions could leave us with too shallow an understanding. Providence contains far more than a passive reference to God’s foreknowledge.
Read MoreLet Every Heart Prepare Him Room
If news networks had been invented in 1809, they would’ve covered one story: Napoleon sweeping across Austria like a wildfire. Napoleon was the talk of the world, on the move from Trafalgar to Waterloo. Everything was about Napoleon. Now, at the same time, babies were being born, but who cared? Someone should have! Whole cadres […]
Read MoreLet Every Heart Prepare Him Room
If news networks had been invented in 1809, they would’ve covered one story: Napoleon sweeping across Austria like a wildfire. Napoleon was the talk of the world, on the move from Trafalgar to Waterloo. Everything was about Napoleon. Now, at the same time, babies were being born, but who cared? Someone should have! Whole cadres of world-changers took their first breaths in 1809. Let’s take a trip back and see for ourselves.
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