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Category Archives: Christmas
The Telescoping Reality (Luke 2:1-14)
Have you seen a telescoping spyglass? There is a wide cylinder in which a narrower cylinder rests, in which a yet narrower cylinder rests, and perhaps several more. I think our view of reality is likewise telescoping. We live in the narrow end and view our world through the lens of our own experiences. But we and our experiences are contained within a family circle, and our family circle exists within a community, and our community exists within a nation, and our nation exists within a world. Continue reading
Grinched! (Spiritual Experiences Are Not Enough)
(Viewing Time: 21:14.) On Christmas Eve we put on an original (and fun) skit that featured the Grinch of Dr. Seuss fame who was being interviewed on The Jenny Carson Show. In the highlight of the interview, the Grinch says, … Continue reading
Violent Night: When Evil Came for Christmas
Our future historian would present a compelling case that violence entered the holiday season in the latter part of the twentieth century, but he would be mistaken. Violence surrounding Christ’s birth dates back to the very first century – a violence that was more gruesome than anything the writers of Violent Night included. Continue reading
A Minute of Hope for Advent: Then You’ll See Him
Our hope includes seeing our loved ones again when Christ returns. They will astound us with their glory. It includes being glorified ourselves in the Great Revealing (Colossians 3:3-4). But our greatest hope is in the glory of God (Romans … Continue reading
Posted in Advent, Christmas, Encouragement, Theology
Tagged 1 John 3:2, beatific vision, Christ's Second Coming, glorification
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“Everyone’s Insane Now” – and Then
(Reading time: 4 minutes) Peggy Noonan’s lede in her Wall Street Journal column from October 15, 2020 read: “Everyone’s insane now. I mean everyone in Washington.” It is not uncommon for people, even columnists for respected newspapers, to speak of … Continue reading
Posted in Advent, Bible, Christmas, Encouragement, Theology
Tagged Caligula, Herod Antipas, Luke 3:1, Meaning of Christmas, Peggy Noonan, Pontius Pilate, Tiberius Caesar
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Have You Got the Time?
You will think that you have seen it all when you see your friends and family, and especially when you see yourself. You will be stunned and overwhelmed. “After this,” you will think, “nothing will ever surprise me again.” And then you will see him – him who made the worlds – and in that moment, you will know why you were made, why everything and everyone was made, and you will know that the making was good, was “very good. Continue reading
Christmas and the God of Surprises
Christmas is proof that God loves surprises. According to the prophet Isaiah, God had promised to bring light to people living in darkness, joy to replace sorrow, and freedom from the burden of oppression. He would do this by sending someone to rule with justice and spread peace everywhere. What is surprising about that? That the someone he was sending would be a baby. Continue reading
Posted in Christmas, Theology
Tagged Bethlehem, Christmas story, Colossians 1:15, why doesn't God do something?
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Wide Angle: Christmas, in God’s Time, in God’s Way
It’s time to zoom out and consider the Christmas story from a wide-angle viewpoint. After four hundred years of radio silence, heaven re-established contact and sent messengers (that is the meaning of the Greek word we translate as “angel”) to … Continue reading
Posted in Bible, Christmas, Encouragement, Theology, Wide Angle
Tagged Christmas, God and time, God's ways, Isaiah 9:6-7
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Wide Angle: Operation Bethlehem
If you remove the Christmas story from the larger narrative that surrounds it, from the promises of God to rescue and renew his people, you still have a nice story but you may just miss the point. This little child … Continue reading
Posted in Bible, Christmas, Theology, Wide Angle
Tagged Bethlehem, Caesar Augustus, Christmas, Cleopatra, Herod, Herod the Great, Julius Caesar, Slaughter of the Innocents
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Christmas Through the Wide Angle: The Line Becomes the Point of it All
If you remove the Christmas story from this larger narrative, from the promises of God to rescue and renew his people, you still have a nice story, but you may just miss the point. This little child is the fulfillment of the great promises. He is the king. Bethlehem is not just an inhospitable town; it is an invasion site. Bethlehem ought to be listed with Thermopylae, Troy, Normandy, and Omaha Beach. With the coming of this child the forces of the eternal kingdom have arrived, and the deciding campaign of the Long War has begun. Continue reading
Posted in Bible, Christianity, Christmas, Wide Angle
Tagged Bethlehem, Christmas misconceptions, Glory to God in the highest, Magi
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