Author Archives: Clark Bunch

Merry Christmas!

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God is in the manger.  Merry Christmas.

“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.   For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”      Matt 2:10-14

 

A Lesson in Humility: God is in the Manger Part II

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When the wise men came from the east seeking Jesus, they went to Jerusalem.  They were looking for a newborn king, so they naturally went to the palace located in the capital city.  King Herod knew nothing of a king being born, because the birth of Jesus was not one fit for a king. Continue reading →

God is in the Manger

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UPDATE: This is part 1.  Part 2 here.

The nature of all sin is that we are so easily willing to settle.  We could have the very best of all that God has in store for us, but all too often we take the easy way, the short cut, the path of least resistance or instant gratification.  Instant gratification may the biggest temptation our culture offers today.  A functional relationship with an actual human being takes time and effort, whereas “hooking up” for a one-night stand requires no long-term commitment.  I contend that the long-term benefits make the commitment a worthwhile endeavor.  A thief – or simply someone who is lazy – is thinking hard work pays off eventually, stealing pays off right now.  But there are also consequences for cheating to get ahead.  Sin is almost always an attempt to skip to the good part.  Satan tempted Jesus three times with shortcuts; turn this bread to stone, prove yourself by jumping from a high place, bow down and worship me. (1) Any of those would have brought more immediate although less rewarding gratification than by taking the slow, painful path to the cross.  Sometimes God’s will is the slow, tough path.  The problem is that we are willing to settle for less.

The same is true with Christmas. Continue reading →

Yes, I Have a Pastor

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Every now and then I make a reference to something my pastor said or did, and each time I expect someone to ask about that.  Yes I have a church pastor, no that’s not really him in the picture.

In 2003 I was working a full time job, and doing ministry on the side.  I was a church deacon, directed Vacation Bible School, taught youth on Wednesday nights, was one of several leaders on mission trips, volunteered at our local Baptist Center, and preached from time to time. Continue reading →

From the Archives: Christmas

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Here are a few articles on Christmas from years past that might be worth another look:

Rethinking the Angelic Choir examines the words of scripture carefully and challenges our notion of the angels that announced the birth of Jesus to the shepherds.  The first thing angels always say when they appear in full glory to human beings is “Do not be afraid.”  If they were beautiful women in choir robes, why would people tremble in fear?

Santa Claus Has Not Sold Out suggests that Santa has not become commercialized, but rather our American image of Santa is the product of commercialism.  He wears a red and white suit because of those early 20th century Coca-Cola ads, and comes down the chimney because of department store Santas standing on the roof.

Christmas Card Theology is from last year, and begs the question what do we learn from the pictures on the Christmas cards we send? There are several things besides the fact that angels are beautiful women with long blonde hair.

All of the posts for Christmas and Advent are listed under the tag in the categories list, but these are a few of my favorites.

Celebrating Advent

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I sort of imagine there are two kinds of people out there: those who understand Advent well and continue to observe time honored traditions, and then those who don’t know/don’t care what it is.  If you are from a rich tradition of keeping Advent, then I should probably be reading your thoughts on the subject.  If you’re in the don’t know/don’t care camp… well, I guess you didn’t even read this far, huh?  But perhaps there is a third sort of person.  If you have heard about Advent and are curious, then just maybe I can help you. Continue reading →

Enter his Gates with Thanksgiving

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Christimas is the celebration of Jesus’s birth, but there is no biblical command to observe it.  There are however feasts, songs and prayers of thanksgiving are all over the Bible.  I’m not saying there is anything wrong with Christmas; during his lifetime Jesus was an observant Jew, and every indication is that he ovserved all the Jewish festivals, including the historical ones not just the religious festivals commanded in scripture.  The arrival of “God with us” is a major turning point in all of history.  But we are commanded to praise God and give thanks.  Moses sang songs of thanksgiving, David composed them.  James reminds us that “every good gift and perfect gift is from above.”  The United States was the first country to observe a national holiday for giving thanks.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! -Psalm 100:4

The word thanksgiving appears 9 times in the Psalms.  It appears a total of 42 times in the ESV Bible.  Click here to see them all.  If you look up variants, such as “give thanks,” you will find many more.  Whatever you read, however you celebrate, do not forget to thank God.  No matter what this year has been like, there is much to be thankful for.

ESV Online

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I’ve been linking passages and references from my blog posts to ESV text as long as I’ve been blogging.  ESV.org used to be where all of those links were directed to.  For example, if you click this John 3:16 link that verse appears in a separate window.  Well, things have changed.  I’m usually hesitant to accept any type of change whatsoever, but the fact of the matter is sometimes we just have to deal.  The good people at Crossway are of course always looking to improve our experience with the ESV Bible, and here’s what that means to you.

ESV.org is now the place to learn about the ESV Bible.  You can read about it’s history and the people that endorse it, find out about the translation philosophy behind it, study it’s features and more.  This site answers every question imaginable about the ESV, but the text of the Bible itself is not there.  ESV Online is now the place to read the ESV text as well as access features and notes from the Study Bible.  When the ESV Study Bible first came out, you needed to purchase a copy in order to gain access to the online resources.  Purchasing the digital access only was also an option.  The Study Bible website is being phased out, and existing user profiles are being migrated to ESV Online.  Readers can now sign up for a free account.

The ESV Bible in the previous format (the one I linked at top) is still accessible for the time being.  I will continue linking scripture references from my blog posts as long as it is available; I particularly like the advanced search features.  At any rate, I’m updating the ESV page – note the tabs up top – and my links in the sidebar to reflect the changes.  When I first starting using the ESV, very few resources were available and I’m glad to be able to share them now.

Bible Survey: Jacob’s Ladder

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I’ve just added a new post to Bible Survey, my 30 year plan for reading through scripture!  I exaggerate slightly.  At any rate, Jacob’s Ladder explores Genesis 28.  Describing Jacob’s dream is easy; interpreting what it means, that can be a different story.  Jewish and Christian traditions differ, but at the end of the day I think there’s only one place we can land: it’s about Jesus.

Read Genesis 28: Jacob’s Ladder at Bible Survey.

The Church Year

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Chaplain Mike is doing a series on the liturgical church year at Internet Monk.  I’m not going to link each post, but this is the introduction.  The first follow-up has already been posted.  We are about to enter the season of Advent, and this would be a great time to start.  I grew up in the Baptist tradition which tends to do little with liturgy, but even the SBC churches I’ve been in light the candles of the Advent wreath each week.  If the concept of the Christian calendar is new to you, I highly recommend following Chaplain Mike’s series.