Christmas--- for many individuals, this word evokes feelings of exhaustion, worry, and dread. The holiday season can be filled with endless activities, such as preparing food for gatherings, attending pageants and concerts, and wrapping up end-of-the-year responsibilities. On top of these tasks, many anguish over choosing the perfect Christmas gifts, or become troubled over the fact that they do not have the adequate means to buy such gifts. And while Christmastime is often an occasion to gather with loved ones, it can also be a time of remembering those whom we’ve lost or those with whom we are now estranged. Christmas is by no means a word that conjures celebration for everyone.Read more

Jesus, the Son of God, left his Home to come to us, to suffer and die for us, that he might bring us back Home.

That feeling you get-- the deep, deep joy of being home, the delight in having your loved ones home-- that feeling was created in you by God. But even while you are immersed in the fun and laughter and joy of being home, simultaneously don’t you often feel a longing for something more? A longing for this experience not to end? This longing ache amidst the experience of joy occurs because as good as being home for Christmas is, you and I were made for a better, eternal Home.Read more

For the first time in my life, I read through the Bible in 2010. I wanted to get a better sense of the patterns and narratives and themes in the Bible. In honor of the year 2010, I’ve written 10 patterns I found repeated in the Bible; let me know any additions, thoughts, or corrections you have for this list.

1. Faithful patience over long periods of time is rewarded. Old Testament characters get promoted to greater responsibilities after proving themselves faithful in trials. For instance, Joseph faithfully endures slavery and prison, and both trials result in gaining great honor. The same is true for Daniel and David who are tested and prove themselves faithful before gaining great esteem in their respective cultures. Read more

“My view of Christianity is such … that I think no man can consistently profess it without throwing the whole weight of his being against this monstrous system of injustice that lies at the foundation of all our society; and if need be, by sacrificing himself in the battle.” These words in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin are quite orthodox even though the character who utters them is not a Christian. Rather, Augustine St. Clare he is an unbeliever and a slave-owner in the antebellum South who is critical of his culture and yet disappointingly not willing to stand against it. He continues, “I mean I could not be a Christian otherwise, though I have certainly had intercourse with a great many enlightened and Christian people who did no such thing; and I confess that the apathy of religious people on this subject, their want of perception of wrongs that filled me with horror, have engendered in me more skepticism than any other thing.” (321-22)Read more