He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two… He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts… (Mk. 6:8) Recently I was behind a woman in the check-in line before a flight. When she put her suitcase on …
Category: Christianity
Through the Lens of Gratitude or Ingratitude
Though the fig tree does not blossom, and no fruit is on the vines; though the produce of the olive fails, and the fields yield no food; though the flock is cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord… (Hab. 3:17-18) Every year …
Continue reading Through the Lens of Gratitude or Ingratitude
A Journey That May Heal Your Own Heart
Although I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink; instead I hope to come to you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete. (2 John 12) I once had a serious break with my daughter that was breaking my heart. …
“Jamie, who are His People?”
An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham…. (Mt. 1:1f) If Jesus had lived in the neighborhood where I grew up, my grandmother would have been worried about me playing with Him. She would have wanted me to shy away from Jesus because He came from …
In the Manger with Jesus
And she wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them at the inn. (Lk. 2:7) I’d received a phone call from a distraught mother. Her 30-something daughter had disappeared. The mother feared that her daughter—let me call her Abby—could have committed suicide. A …
Jesus Born Again Anywhere
While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn. (Lk. 2:6-7) When my schedule permits, I visit some inmates in …
The Real Hope of Bethlehem
Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem… While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. (Luke 2:4,6) While visiting the Holy Land I was very excited to see Bethlehem—the place where Mary and Joseph traveled, where Mary gave …
Too Good Not To Be True
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors.’ (Luke 2: 13-14) One of the ways that some people get in the “spirit” of Christmas is to watch the old-time …
A Time and Place to Sing ‘Silent Night’
And the Word became flesh and lived among us… (Jn. 1:14) It was mid-December and my friends at the jail asked if I would bring them a Christmas songbook. The following week I brought one with several choices. They immediately began to argue over which one to sing first, until one guy said, “Stop wrangling. …
More Often Simply Laugh
Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. And all the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron; the whole congregation said to them, ‘Would that we had died in the land of Egypt!’ (Num. 14:1-2) This past year I attended a Christmas Eve service at the church I …