This Christmas slogan is overused by organizations around the world in order to increase their end of year donations: “a season for giving.” That’s quite often the summation of Christmas—simply a season of giving. With this in mind, you can likely think of similar slogans such as “it is better to give than receive.” That…
The Two Christmas Responses
The Gospel of Luke juxtaposes two different responses to God’s deliverance. In being pitted against each other we quickly see how God’s coming pushes people in two directions. The question left for you is simply, which response is yours? The Doubting One Luke 1:5-25 recounts the story of Zechariah being told by the angel Gabriel…
Shaken By Ultimate Calamities
Last week as news headlines were again gripped by terror—the new normal in today’s world—I began to wonder why Christians seem to react the same as everyone else: fight for your rights, demonize the supposed enemy, declare war on anyone who disagrees with you. These reactions, based completely on fear, define who we are as…
A Guide to the Advent Season
Advent is nothing new, even though all the cool kids are talking about it now. Here’s a great in-depth summary of what Advent is. Advent comes from a latin word meaning “coming.” Advent covers the 4 Sundays (starting a few days back) leading up to Christmas, followed by a celebration feast for twelve days, ending in…
When Obedience Over Politics Puts You in the Minority
“You are the God who sees me. I have now seen the One who sees me.” The God of the Bible is the God of the outcast, the helpless, the homeless, and the refugee. In Genesis 16 Hagar flees from her angry boss Sarai. Not long before this moment when Hagar is forced to flee…
Why I Write Less (among other reasons)
I used to post here six or seven times a week. Then I wrote five days a week. Then three days a week…you see where this is going. Now I’m lucky when I get a post up here once a week. It’s been a slow fade, but a fade nonetheless. I have plenty of reasons.…