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 MoreCategory Archives: Christmas
Looking 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 MoreA Week after Christmas
EVER WONDERED WHAT happened shortly after Jesus was born? That’s an interesting question. We all feel that sense of uncertainty and even confusion after the crowds leave. When the house is still and quiet. The beautifully wrapped Christmas paper lies in piles, amid open boxes, stray ribbons, and bows. The once-hidden Christmas surprises sit silent and unattended under the tree now revealed.
Read MoreOperational Arrival
MERRY CHRISTMAS! Lost in the wonder of it all, I believe a little child upon my knee would whisper simple words of advice up close to my ear. Let’s slow down. The special joy of Christmas is spending extra hours with folks you love. That takes time. Rather than talking about how much we’d like to make it happen, why not slow down and do it?
Read MoreThe First Christmas Eve
IN 1818, a roving band of actors was performing in towns throughout the Austrian Alps. Their performance on a starry December night in Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria, impacted local pastor Joseph Mohr as the words of the Christ story remained in his heart. On his walk home, Mohr traveled up a longer path home, which took him up a hill overlooking the village.
Read MoreThe Real Reason for the Season
YOU’VE SEEN IT. SO HAVE I. The phrase is on bumper stickers, it appears on coffee mugs, it often finds its way onto greeting cards, billboards, and church signs. It has become almost synonymous with Christ. What is that expression? Jesus is the reason for the season. Catchy, isn’t it? Sure makes sense on the surface. In fact, an entire retail industry has been practically erected around this singular notion.
Read MoreA Simple Season
THE WONDER OF AMAZON just continues to spread. Tens of thousands of employees and hundreds of thousands of square feet of operations all work with amazing precision to coordinate the receiving, packaging, and shipping of millions of products all around the world. Now then—if one man can come up with an organizational plan as complex as all that, think of how much more efficient God’s arrangement was almost two thousand years ago.
Read MoreThe Gift That Lives On
“WHAT IN THE WORLD can I give to ______ this Christmas?” Sound familiar? Sure, it’s probably the most frequently asked question every Yuletide season. In our pocket of society where pampered affluence is rampant, we are often at a loss to know which gift to buy. For some people (especially those who “have everything”) the standard type of gift won’t cut it. Nothing in the shopping mall catches our fancy.
Read MoreAn Unexpected Gift
CHRISTMAS DAY NEVER arrived so slowly, but finally it dawned. While no one was looking, I had shaken the box enough to know that it had to contain what I had been wanting so badly—right size, right weight, everything. When my turn came I tore at the wrapping and ribbon, pulled open the top, and to my disbelieving eyes there it was, a world globe the exact size, shape, and weight of a basketball!
Read MoreThe Irony of Incarnation
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 More