I did a definition search on the word “hallow.” The basic definition is, holy. I searched for the meaning of the suffix “een.” IIt is considered to be a contraction of the word “evening.” It seems to have in its definition the meaning of “not something” Evening is the time between day and night. It is neither. So what do Christians do with a holiday that is not holy but is between?

"I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God's gift to man." Ecclesiastes 3:9-10

As I prepared to teach Ecclesiastes this week, I thought of this post that I wrote in 2010.

What a wonderful trip our entire family took this month!

Title: A shared meal with God on Mount Sinai
Aim: To stress that the Lord’s majestic presence abides with His people.
Scripture: Exodus 24:1–11
 
The geographical context: Mount Sinai
 
An examination of Exodus 19:1–2 indicates that the events recorded in chapter 24 took place at the foot of Mount Sinai. Some specialists think this is the same place named “Horeb, the mountain of God” (3:1). 
 

The United States has just past through a particularly contentious news cycle. What about in your country?

Today I'm grateful to have guest blogger Seana Scott here to share her heart with you: 

Friends from college are abolishing slavery. Neighbors are fostering to adopt. A family’s church planting in Poland, and the mom with a van full of kids is launching a book.

We may love or hate it, but we can’t avoid Halloween—it comes around every year.

As you talk with your friends, neighbors, and co-workers about all the revelry, don’t miss these two divine opportunities.

Do you live your life wanting to be seen or unseen? Whether seated in an office maze of cubicles, standing behind a podium before a grand audience, or mopping up spilled milk and cereal for the third time today, we want to be acknowledged, understood, and liked. 

Our current world of social media has not helped our helpless and desperate desire to be noticed. These days if we do not post a photo of our dinner out, our vacation, our birthday, our promotion, or our child’s new accomplishment, it’s as though it never happened. Additionally, we want our online friends to see, like, or love our posts.

Only if the digital world sees do we feel seen.

She is my Father’s house, she is a den of thieves, she is Christ’s Bride, she is corrupt enterprise, she’s built on the rock, she’s fractured by heresies, in her is Light, in her is Darkness, it is the age of information, it is the age of ignorance, it is the era of connection, it is the era of dissidence, it is the summer of evangelization, it is the winter of apostasy, we have everything before us, we have nothing before us—in short, the Church[1] is more Picasso than van Gogh.

Pedophiles parade as priests. False teachers masquerade as preachers. Pastors auctioneer salvation at altar calls. Christians re-package daytime TV as Gospel. Leaders demand a loyalty that teeters on idolatry. Polity weakens and accountability softens. Autonomy intensifies and egos inflate.

“Come.”  It may be the most overlooked, yet powerful word in the English language. It speaks of being included. Of belonging. It comforts us in our deepest area of need to say: we are noticed. We matter. We are wanted. It is a wonderful thing to be on the guest list. Who doesn’t want to be included?