Over the years I have witnessed and participated in a variety of Christmas pageants (I made a good furry sheep) and have seen plenty of Nativity crèches, from tiny wooden ornaments to “live” representations. I largely accepted the scenes as moderately accurate. I eventually learned that despite the common appearance of three Magi in the…
We’ve started talking about the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus begins his longest recorded sermon by diving right in to descriptions of people found in that kingdom (poor in spirit, mourning, meek, merciful, etc.), which sound much more like people on this earth than those experiencing eternal bliss. Yet, his statements of how such individuals are…
There are a wide range of prayerful traditions, and a great deal of value in everything including liturgy, psalms, intercession, and so much more. Having seen God at work in many difference prayerful contexts, I find it hard to say the there is a “best” way to pray. Yet Jesus’ disciples asked how to pray,…
Devotional Day 23 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says to no purpose, “He jealously desires the Spirit whom He has made to…
It was the morning of Good Friday, almost 2000 years after Jesus was on trial. My father and other organization members had gone to the courthouse. I lived with my family in Central Asia, and for months our whole team had faced investigation from the government, court summons, attempts to sneak out of the country…