Day 25: Fear “Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people.”—Luke 2:10 Merry Christmas! I hope you are celebrating big time. I know it’s the big day, so I will keep my reflection quick on this final day of Advent and the first day […]

Day 24: Need “The Child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.”—Luke 2:40 Many of us suffer—and I do mean suffer—from that all-American value of independence. At our best, we say, Let’s do this. At our worst, we say, I got this. In chasing efficiency and productivity at […]

Day 23: Attention “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his start as it rose, and we have come to worship him.” Matthew 2:2 The eve of Christmas Eve is upon us. For my family and our church, that means the start of a hectic 24 hours. Tonight, we will open the doors […]

Day 22: Unexpected “And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.” Luke 2:8 It’s often asked, “What’s the best Christmas present you ever received?” What’s UNEXPECTED is to hear, “What’s the best gift you’ve ever given?” My answer to the latter question is also UNEXPECTED. I’m fairly […]

Day 21: Breaking “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14 There are two kinds of breaking. Breaking bad and breaking good. We can binge on either one. Sometimes at the moment of the breaking, we get to decide which it will be. The flavor of breaking […]

Day 20: Goop “Today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:11 Many years ago, I had a dream that I was walking down a long narrow dirt road. Barefoot and pregnant. Full term. I waddled next to a large wagon that carried all […]

Day 19: Room “While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.” Luke 2:6-7 The Christmas and Thanksgiving tables are important symbols for […]

Day 18: With “Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. It flowed down the center of the Main Street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit… The leaves were […]

Day 17: Peace “When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.” Matthew 2:3 If we have but two choices, heaven or fear, most of us will select heaven which is peace. We would much rather have a kingdom of heaven than a kingdom of fear as the kingdom implements strategies and […]

Day 16: Father “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” John 1:1-3 “It’s a simple fact that everyone has parents. I know not everyone […]