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 …
Tag: Love
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 …
What Jesus Knew
Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. (Jn. 8:6) The woman caught in adultery stands in the midst of the crowd ashamed of her actions and afraid for her life. The Pharisees are feverishly using that woman to set up Jesus. Many of the townspeople are gathered around with great curiosity, some …
Forgiving Someone From Our Heart
So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart. (Mt. 18:35) The man was a respected leader in town. The man also had a secret life. During business trips he indulged in risky behavior. In time, he contracted a …
Turning Aside
Then Moses said, ‘I must turn aside and look at this great sight and see why the bush is not burned up.’ (Ex. 3:3) Today’s scripture is such a small moment that had such incredible outcomes. If Moses hadn’t turned aside and obeyed God’s calling out of the bush, the Hebrew people would have remained …
Our Time in Midian
Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. (Ex. 3:1) For the first 40 years of his life Moses had been trained to be a commander of armies. For his next 40 years Moses …
Answering God’s Call
During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ (Acts. 16:9) Paul dreamed about the “man of Macedonia pleading” with him while he was in Asia Minor. Although the distance between Asia Minor and Macedonia was only a few …