Gifts have been opened, turkey and ham have been eaten, carols have been sung, candles have been lit. We have once again celebrated the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Now that the glitter (and shopping) of the Christmas season is over, how do we as the church pick up the pieces and move on?
First Snow
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Tara and I come from Indiana, where we often were left merely dreaming of a white Christmas. More common was the muddy or occasionally green(!) Christmas. But with last weekend’s snowfall firmly in place, we seem to be set on the most traditional of courses this season. Why does the weather seem to affect our experience of this Christmas season? Continue reading
Celebrating Birthdays
‘Tis the season… to celebrate birthdays. We are in the season of Advent, in which we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. As if that were not enough reason for me to celebrate, today (which will have passed by the time you read this) happens to be my thirty-first birthday. If you will humor me, then, I will try not to draw too strong of a comparison between the two birthday boys.
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Moving Away from God
In a perfect world, I would be writing about the joys and challenges of Thanksgiving, since that is the holiday of the week. But this is not a perfect world, and I ran across an article this week that describes something quite significant for us. Are you concerned by the absence of young people from churches? Have you ever wondered why “Young Doubters Exit the Church” in great numbers today? The magazine “Christianity Today” recently published an article by Drew Dyck asking that very question.
Church from a dog’s perspective
This morning, I took my dog Lindy to the church office with me. She’s a 60-lb. Rhodesian Ridgeback mix with a lot of energy and curiosity. Would you believe that I learned something from her today?