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The Voice of a Father
Leadership is broken because leaders are unbroken Christmas. The scent of a beautiful green tree filling the house decorated with colorful balls, shining lights, shimmering tinsel, and topped by an angel. Decorations generously spread from room-to-room, symbols of wonderful family memories passed down from generation-to-generation. I love Christmas and all it represents. One thing I get tired of, though, is pundits who annually quote Bible verses they don’t understand about peace on earth and good will toward men when they have no grasp of how to fill that longing… The human heart cries for deliverance from suicide bombings and ceaseless streams of refugees risking their lives in rickety boats…
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The Sign of Silence
Leadership is broken because leaders are unbroken Four-hundred years of silence. Not a sound. Not a word. Not a prophet. Not a spokesman. Not the screeching of a chair or the clearing of the throat as a speaker mounts a rostrum. Nothing. Just silence. And the nation was getting restless. Oh, they had enough through what God had said previously to live with hope and anticipation. They had His covenants and His promises and His faithfulness. He had kept many of His promises already. He had released them from Egypt and returned them to the Promised Land; He had delivered them from Babylon and once again restored them…
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Anticipating Advent
How can you not be drawn into the grateful expectation of Simeon as he realized that he held the long awaited Christ-child in his arms? Captured in the artist’s rendering is a story of culmination, of waiting, of being prepared by the Holy Spirit for this long anticipated event. Who was he? Who is Simeon and what can we learn from him in this brief passage about his life? He lived in Jerusalem and, as described in Luke 2:25-32, was a righteous and devout man – a man who cautiously and carefully observed the Jewish law and who had been waiting for the consolation of Israel; the promised Messiah,…
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The Rescue of “Emmanuel” and a Christ Play
The days before were particularly cumbersome and discouraging, pressure filled and crowded. It was easy to become myopic, self-focused and SO tempting to giving into being overwhelmed. Circumstances dominated, recent concerns trumped joy and the slithering down into the place of “why try?” was imminent. I hate that place. So, early that morning, when I walked into our kitchen and checked the emails, while the water was boiling for tea, I was not expecting anything more than my status quo of struggle. The crisis of a compromised pregnancy and delivery was still happening thousands of miles away for our dear friends recently returned to their home country. I read through…
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Advent, The Incarnation and Handel’s Messiah
A few short days from American Thanksgiving and we are full speed ahead into the Christmas season – into Advent, the “coming” or “arrival”. Celebrating the coming of Jesus Christ to earth is exactly what Christmas is about. Something dramatic happened, an event that changed the trajectory of human history. In the midst of fast lane pressure, press of crowds and shouts of bargains let’s pause, catch our breath and consider. A son was born. God took on human flesh relinquishing properties of deity. God became man and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory – the incarnation. Hardly a casual thing to say so easily – it was…