This season of the year is not joyful for everyone. Put bluntly, some dread it. They are filled with such melancholy memories of painful days gone by, they find it hard to sing the carols. “Joy to the World!”—not really. “How Great Our Joy!”—well, maybe for you but not for everyone. Now, before you call […]
Read MoreCategory Archives: Christmas
Playing with the Box
It’s been a while now, but I can still remember the worst Christmas present I ever gave my wife. What was I thinking? Idiot! So don’t worry, this isn’t going to be one of those pieces about finding that perfect gift for the one you love. If you had been there on that fateful morning, […]
Read MorePondering
One part of the Christmas story has recently come to speak to me – and it’s not even central to the story! It could almost be considered as an aside comment from Luke. You will find it in Luke 2:19, where he writes, “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her […]
Read MoreOperation Arrival
For the longest time I didn’t understand the new-car industry. I had always thought it worked like this. When a guy wanted a car, he dropped by the local dealership, kicked a few tires, slammed some doors, and fiddled around with radios, hoods, and trunk lids. Then he would rap with the salesman, dicker over […]
Read MoreThe Gift for the Person Who Has Everything
In our pocket of society where pampered affluence is rampant, we are often at a loss to know what kind of gifts to buy our friends and loved ones on special occasions. For some people (especially those who “have everything”), the standard gift won’t cut it. Nothing in the shopping mall catches our fancy. I […]
Read MoreThe Night After Christmas
I’ve decided that during the holiday season we should change the mall’s name to “maul.” I’ve never seen such mayhem—kids running, parents screaming, people impatiently standing in long lines—all to the music of “Joy to the World” in the background. Good grief! The irony of it all seemed somewhat humorous. (But not really.) And if […]
Read MorePeace on Earth…We Need It Now
In the latter half of the twentieth century and continuing through today, a rather significant push for peace has been made from many different corners of our world. People sickened by war, fed up with oppression, and weary of abuse have joined together in a fight against fighting. Ironically, many Christians—followers of the Prince of […]
Read MoreMy Advice This Christmas
If I may borrow from Charles Dickens’s famous opening line, Christmas can be “the best of times, and the worst of times.” We have them both, don’t we? Who hasn’t cringed in early-October as stores drag out the artificial Christmas trees and put them on display? Who doesn’t dread the extra traffic and the gaggle […]
Read MoreGod’s Unusual Leading
Almost 2,000 years ago Joseph and Mary journeyed to Bethlehem. Approximately 2,040 years before, Jacob and Rachel, another expectant couple, traveled south along the same road. Rachel gave birth to Benjamin, but died soon after delivery, and Jacob buried her near Bethlehem (Genesis 35:19). Rachel’s death foreshadowed the devastation that the territory of Benjamin would […]
Read MoreGiving the Unexpected
There are various ways to describe it: turning the other cheek . . . going the extra mile . . . doing good to those who hate us . . . loving our enemies . . . pouring coals of fire on another’s head. We may say it different ways, but the action amounts to […]
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