God made man in his own image. And man, in his infinite wisdom, returned the favor. -Mark Twain
In my last post, I argued that if Christianity were a lie, we would have told a better lie. A similar line of thinking applies to God. Many gods have been invented by people. The God of the Bible, the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob, the Almighty God, Maker of Heaven and Earth, isn’t one of them. Here’s why no one would make up such a god:
God requires perfection. We would make up a god that settles for good enough. Our imaginary god would be happy with 70%. That’s good enough to pass. The best you can do is the best you can do. Who would ask for more than that? The God we wouldn’t make up, that’s who. Continue reading
Moses tells the story of Abraham, Paul mentions Abraham several times, but did Jesus ever talk about Abraham? He does at length in 
Isaiah prophesied of the coming Messiah, saying that a virgin would conceive and have a child, and his name would be called Immanuel. When Matthew quotes Isaiah he adds that Immanuel means “God with us.” That’s the true meaning of Christmas.
This is part two of 
There are many people who are big fans of Jesus that fall just a little short of understanding him. I’ve spoken before of Hippie Jesus, Smiley Jesus, Mr. Rogers type Jesus, but that’s not what I’m talking about here. There have been a gazillion (pretty sure that’s the actual number) books on the “historical” Jesus. There’s now lots of those, too. I’m talking about people that have read or listened to things Jesus said and consider him to be a great guy. I’m talking about people who know that Jesus loved everybody, talked about peace, refused to stone the woman caught in adultery, fed the 5,000 and raised Lazarus. Yet at the same time those people ignore his command to “take up the cross” and follow. They almost get Jesus. 
The first Sunday of Advent celebrates Hope, and we lit the candle of Prophesy. If you need the introductory lesson, click 
The Master's Table 