Merry Christmas! Yes, I know it’s a few days late, but the wishes are genuine. I hope your time of worshipping the Christ Child was indeed joyous, and that it hasn’t ended already! Jesus is definitely worth more than a passing holiday’s worth of honor and glory. This year, my most attention-grabbing gift was the […]
christmas
Blessed Christmas Mourners
Monday was my father-in-law’s 87th birthday. We celebrated with him by visiting his and my mother-in-law’s graves, and decorating them with a little Christmas arrangement. They both loved and celebrated Christmas in a special way, as did my mother. There is an array of special memories that haunt me and my wife as we dash […]
Time to Get Ready
Time to Get Ready! We’ve heard it and may have already sung it this season… Joy to the World! The Lord has come Let earth receive her king. Let every heart prepare Him room And heaven and nature sing! In a couple of weeks Christians around the world will be challenged to celebrate the true […]
Ready for Christmas
The weather is in the low 20s at night. Seasonal decorations have been in the stores since before Halloween. Hobby Lobby has had their bows and ornaments and fake trees on sale 60% off for weeks! We have most of our Christmas presents purchased, and will have most of them wrapped by the end of […]
Mary Christmas!
No, that’s not a typo. As we blast through these final days before “The Day,” I think we can learn something important from Mary, Martha’s sister. In Luke’s gospel, Jesus heads into Bethany to preach, and is invited by Martha to stay at her house. As you can read in the account (which you can […]
Christmas Lights
We said good-bye to my father-in-law last week. He had lived a wonderful life that touched many, many others with laughter, encouragement, respect, and kindness. I will miss him very much. One of his favorite times of year was Christmas. Born in December and a joyful church-goer, he had many reasons to relish this time […]
Back in Wonder
At this time of year, I have often found myself thinking of how things were when I was a kid. My mother always made the season of Christmas magical for us, putting up decorations and our big tree early, displaying lights all across the front of our house for neighbors (and many others) to enjoy, […]
Giving or Thanks: Which Comes First?
Around this time of year, I sometimes ponder the order of our holidays. Thanksgiving comes before Christmas. I know about the historical significance of Thanksgiving being a time of remembering from whence our bountiful harvest comes – God’s great blessings. But didn’t God give us our greatest gift at Christmas? So, shouldn’t Thanksgiving follow Christmas? […]