Every once in a while, I pass a car with a “Question Authority” bumper sticker, which seems like a great description of our current culture. With so many scandals, investigative reports, and “fake news” items, many of us aren’t just questioning authority, we’re questioning everything. The inspiration for those bumper stickers is often identified as Timothy Leary, a controversial psychologist from the 60’s, although some attribute the original thought to the ancient Greek philosopher, Socrates (see, question everything). Coming on the heels of Watergate, the controversy of the Vietnam War, and ..read more

Devotional After Christmas, the church calendar enters twelve days of Epiphany – from Dec. 26 to Jan. 6. The dictionary defines an epiphany as “a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something, an intuitive grasp of reality through something (such as an event) usually simple and striking or an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure.” To have an epiphany is to say, “Aha” or “I get it now.” That is what we should experience on the other side of Christmas. For 1500 years, church traditions continued the season for 12 days. Maybe this year yo ..read more

Devotional So far we've spent the month of December trying to see Christmas through the eyes of the people who actually lived it, and we've learned a lot about God in the process. We see: 1. It is always better to obey God, even when it doesn’t make sense. We can trust God. Even when we’re skeptical, when we can’t see how God can do what He says He will do, we can and should trust in Him. Just ask Gabriel, Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, or Joseph! 2. He works through ordinary people, not rulers or kings or rich people. He even works through government officials who don’t believe in Him. Zechariah ..read more

Devotional The story of Jesus saturates the Bible narrative and prophecies of His first Advent are found throughout the Old Testament. One scholar, J. Barton Payne, found as many as 574 verses in the Old Testament that somehow point to or describe or reference the coming Messiah. Alfred Edersheim found 456 Old Testament verses referring to the Messiah. Conservatively, Jesus fulfilled at least 300 prophecies in His earthly ministry. As one of the major prophets, the book of Isaiah has many of those prophecies, perhaps more than any other book of the Old Testament. In fact, Isaiah 53 is the most ..read more

Devotional Why include John the Baptist in the characters of Christmas? Think back to the beginning of the Christmas story in Luke – it starts with the birth of John the Baptist. The two were cousins. No doubt they spent a lot of time together growing up; their mothers were close after all. And the two are intricately tied to Jesus’ ministry on earth. John would, ultimately, prepare the way for Christ, calling people to repentance and baptism. You can’t have one without the other. Apart from Jesus Christ, John the Baptist is probably the most theologically significant figure in the Gospels. Th ..read more

Devotional Gabriel, the angel sent by God to be His messenger and coordinator of all His plans, had one more task to complete the Christmas season. An angel appears to Joseph, again in a dream, letting him know his family was in danger and he needed to get out of town. Gabriel isn’t specifically mentioned, but since this whole story started with Gabriel being the angel in charge, it’s reasonable to assume that God had him complete the task. And given Joseph’s response, it’s equally possible Gabriel was the angel because the history of trust between them would help Joseph to respond quickly. Jo ..read more

Devotional Unlike most popular versions of the Nativity story, Luke’s doesn’t end at the manger, and the three Magi do not appear. Instead, like any Jewish newborn of the day, Jesus is circumcised eight days later and is presented at the Temple in Jerusalem (Luke 2:21–22). At this occasion, a devout man named Simeon rejoices to see the Messiah and gives a prophecy concerning him (Luke 2:29–32). Who is this Simeon character that just appears from the shadows into the Gospel story? Luke only included one thing about Simeon – he was “righteous and devout,” waiting for the consolation of Israel (t ..read more

Devotional Every year on Christmas Eve my father would grab the family Bible, open it to the Gospel of Luke, and read the Christmas story to seven young children, wide-eyed and rapt with attention. Yes, it was a requirement before we were allowed to open our presents, but we couldn’t wait to hear the story and we hung on his every word. Without the Gospel of Luke we wouldn’t know the details of the birth of Christ. We wouldn’t know about the characters involved in that birth and we certainly couldn’t look as deeply into the spiritual meaning of Jesus’ birth like we have throughout these Advent ..read more

Devotional Prophecy is an indispensable part of the Nativity story – with good reason. God has always spoken and acted in real history, through actual events and real human lives. He has made promises and kept them, and called people to record and remember them. He’s not an obscure deity of myth and legend, but the true God who has done wondrous things – none more so than the birth, life, death and resurrection of His Son. The facts of Jesus’ life matter. The Christmas story isn’t just about having all the holiday feelings. It’s about a God who promised men and women long ago that he would sen ..read more

Devotional Stop for a minute and think – you have great news, the best news ever. Who do you want to tell? Who do you go to first? I don’t know about you, but I’d tell my spouse, my closest friend, someone I trust, someone who would be there to celebrate with me. Who did God choose to be the first to hear about Jesus’ birth? The chief priests or religious leaders of the day? The kings or rulers of the land? No, God chose a bunch of shepherds out in the fields around Bethlehem. Why shepherds? The Old Testament highlights several shepherds among Christianity’s fabled past, including Abel, Abraha ..read more