But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14 There’s something nice about new beginnings. Remember starting a new school year in elementary school? Everything felt so fresh and clean. I had new notebooks, new pencils (number 2, freshly sharpened), new tennis shoes and a new teacher. There was a new locker combination…
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in a manger. Luke 2:15-16 Years ago when I was in Pennsylvania the Philadelphia Eagles made the playoffs. (Hang with me now, all of you Redskins fans, I know you can’t relate…
In many ways, the Christmas story shouts out loud the presence of God. From two miraculous pregnancies (John the Baptist and Jesus) to angelic choirs; from Divine visitations to the mysterious Magi with royal gifts, God’s power is on open display. And yet, even in the Advent, there is a certain restraint. After all, Jesus was born through a peasant woman in Bethlehem, he didn’t walk down a giant heavenly staircase in Rome. And while there was a generous smattering of…
Matthew 24:12 [At the end of the age]… the love of many will grow cold. On Monday my son Josh and I sat together in the woods of Northern Pennsylvania hunting about a 1/2 mile south of the New York state border. It was early morning, dark and cold well before the sun was up. Wind gusts were driving a fine powdered snow in our faces. The sleety flakes were rushing down out of the sky and bouncing off our…
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world… and everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth… to Bethlehem because he belonged to the house and line of David. Luke 2:1-4 Making a 90 mile trip on the back of a donkey in the middle of winter during the last few days of pregnancy wouldn’t be on my top ten list…