She gave birth to her firstborn Son and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. — Luke 2:7 ESV As much as we may want to, sometimes we can’t afford to pull out all the stops at Christmas. Maybe this year…
Fiction Friday: Christmas Stories
Gabriel’s Questions Gabriel must have scratched his head at this one. He wasn’t one to question his God-given missions. Sending fire and dividing seas were all in an eternity’s work for this angel. When God sent, Gabriel went. And when word got out that God was to become man, Gabriel was enthused. He could envision…
Angels We Have Heard on High
Many images accompany Christmas — fun and frolic, snow and decorations, laughter and family gatherings — images so ingrained in most people’s minds that they find it difficult to imagine the holiday any other way. Yet, in truth, Christmas only recently became the festive holiday we now cherish. For almost fifteen hundred years, the observation…
Identity: Who Does God Say I Am?
What is identity? How can we discover it and know our worth and value? Identity is defined as the qualities and beliefs that distinguish a person. Our identity is the core of who we are. Everything we do and say stems from our confidence in who we believe we are. We make decisions or take…
Welcome to Because of Bethlehem Week One!
The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. — John 1:14 MSG The celebration of Advent is possible only to those who are troubled in soul, who know themselves to be poor and imperfect, and who look forward to something greater to come. — Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Welcome OBS friends, new…
“O Holy Night”
Many different traditions hover over our carol repertoire like the stars on Christmas Eve. This one is French, rooted in the music of the nineteenth-century Catholic Church, half-opera, half-soirée, designed to echo cavernously round the gloomy spaces of some vast Gothic church, reverently bellowed by a trained opera singer, all vibrato and shirt frills, accompanied…
The Dude’s Guide to Marriage: Listening to Your Wife
Husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way. — 1 Peter 3:7 Women like it when you listen to them. They are funny that way. My wife often asks if I hear what she says: “Are you really listening to me?” Many times I’m not. I mean, I am, but I’m not. I…
The Spirit Prays for Us
One lesson we learn from seasons of pain, darkness, and doubt is that when we’re hurting, a person’s presence with us is far more significant than any words he or she might say. Just having someone sit silently next to us when life is hard communicates genuine love and concern. Besides, when we’re hurting, we…
Christmas Traditions That Keep Christ In Christmas
“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and they will call Him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). – Matthew 1:23 Every year, as my husband and I plan our Christmas activities for the season, my mind cannot help but wander down memory lane to reflect upon Christmas’s past. I am flooded with…