All throughout Advent, we’ve been talking about what the Bible really says about the Journey to Bethlehem and the Nativity—contrary, many times, to what our tradition tells us. Well, it wouldn’t seem right unless we ended up this season the same way … in speaking about the biblical reality of the wise men … or ‘wise guys’ of Christmas, as I like to call them. So, what does the Bible really have to say about the wise men of the Christmas story … and others involved in this part of...
Sometimes, when we look at the Christmas story, it almost seems like a fairy tale, doesn’t it? ‘Lowing cattle as Mary gives birth in a barn, while the little drummer boy looks on. There’re shepherds summoned by little flying cherubs; and soon the three kings—Gaspar, Balthazar, and Melchior—follow the bright star to that first century barn in order to lay their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh at the base of the little wooden manger filled with straw… This version of the story makes for great Christmas carols, but did...
Have you ever found yourself in a situation that you absolutely did not want to be in? Perhaps it was some kind of a journey in life that you didn’t want to take—a job change, a move, a relational upset—but life seemed to be pushing you in that direction whether you liked it or not. It was the kind of a journey you were forced to take … against your will! How in the world would life ever seem normal again? I believe that’s what the holy couple must’ve felt...
As we hear the Christmas story over and over and over again, we sometimes become numb to what it really says. Why? Because we’ve heard it all before… But, have we? When many of us think of the town of Nazareth, that we talked about extensively last week, we tend to think that Nazareth is the town where Joseph & Mary are from—where Jesus was raised from his youth into adulthood. But, is that right? Last week, we listened to the start of the Christmas story from the Gospel of...
When I think of prophecy, I almost always think of foretelling the future. Maybe that’s what you think of, too. And, a modern day version of that might be what we call ‘forecasting.’ Now, there are many who ‘forecast’ today—two prominent ‘forecasters’ that come to mind are economic advisors … and the much coveted job of forecasting the weather. Looking to the future; that’s what forecasting is all about. And some, as you well know, have had much better luck at forecasting than others… What’s the old saying? Well, I...
