Monthly Archives: December 2013

2013 in Review

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Each year WordPress generates a set of year-in-review graphics based on stats. There is a link to the presentation below. (Be sure to scroll when you get there, it’s more than the fireworks animated in the banner.) None of the most read post this year was written in 2013, but I am pleased that “Lesson in Humility: God is in the Manger Part II” is one of the most popular posts I’ve ever published.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 57,000 times in 2013. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 21 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Best Dressed Man of the Year

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Francis First, Pope Francis was selected as Time’s Man of the Year. That was a very classy choice. Now he has been honored with a title that I imagine he is less thrilled about: Esquire Magazine’s Best Dressed Man of the Year. This pope is known for his acts of humility, such as packing his own luggage and moving into a small papal apartment. But it may be that sense of modest style that earned him the recognition. Check out this headline from the Daily Mail:

Screenshot 2013-12-30 at 6.50.26 AMHe was selected ahead of Joseph Gordon Levitt and other Hollywood types for his “unadorned style” and “humble clothes.” I think Martin Luther would approve.

 

 

Happy Monday

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jesus loves meSome of us will be back at the old grindstone, perhaps others have a few more days. This will be the last edition of Happy Monday of the year, but we’ll see you in 2014. (In other words, next week as usual.)

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Re-gifting

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Screenshot 2013-12-26 at 10.09.03 AMChristmas was yesterday. The birth of Jesus is the greatest gift the world has ever known. The wise men brought valuable treasures to be sure, but the most precious gift was rocked to sleep by Mary. The first odd thought I had today, the day after Christmas, was about gift exchange. Although some gifts can and should be returned, the gift of God’s love is often swapped for things of lesser value. Exchanging God’s gift would be tragic. For those of us that have accepted, we are called to re-gift!  Continue reading →

Exchange Day

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Screenshot 2013-12-26 at 8.10.57 AMWe (collective we, as a nation/society we) have been Christmas shopping since October. We went out Thanksgiving Day, got up early on Black Friday and/or hit the Christmas Eve specials for one last hurrah. And now here we are: December 26th, the day after. It’s time to make those left-over ham sandwiches and take it all back. The Walmarts of the land will have an aisle or two handling nothing but returns. It’s a tradition as old gift giving itself; returning what you got in order to get what you really wanted.

I had a funny thought this morning; this may be a stretch, but hang in there. On Christmas Day we celebrate the greatest gift the world has ever known. Continue reading →

Happy Monday

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Isaiah 9 6

Hide, MondayEven if you will not be at work all week, shopping, travel, cooking and gifting could end up being more stressful than a regular week. Whatever you will be doing try to focus on the most important thing. Let’s start things off with a Happy Monday!

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Advent, Fourth Sunday

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 4th Sunday Advent lesson, originally published December of 2011.

advent-wreath“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

In Luke 2 the sky was filled with the heavenly host proclaiming the gospel of peace to a few lowly shepherds.  Last week, Joy, was about the shepherds.  They found the baby as the angels had said, and went out of Bethlehem rejoicing and praising God.  This week we celebrate Peace and light the Angels’ Candle. Continue reading →

Phil Robertson, A&E, and the Beliefs of True Christians

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phil A&E has suspended Phil Robertson from the reality series Duck Dynasty, and the Internet is blowing up. It has nothing to do with anything said or done on the show, but remarks he made in an interview with GQ magazine. Here is part of what Phil said:

“Don’t be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers—they won’t inherit the kingdom of God. Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not right.”

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Christmas Scriptures

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bibleThere are many well-known passages of scripture that make their way onto Christmas cards and into sermons this time of year. Prophesies of Isaiah and Micah foretelling the Messiah are common, and the birth of Jesus is recorded in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. While Christmas celebrates the birth of the Christ child, there’s a lot more going on than just a birthday. The incarnation is about God robing himself in flesh. Emanuel is God with us, and the New Testament has much more to say about the incarnation than it does the night it happened.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. (Colossians 1:15-20, ESV)

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