Tonight is the first night of Hanukkah. Are you excited? Did you even know it was happening? For most people, Hanukkah is just another holiday celebrated in December. It really doesn't have anything to do with Christmas, but because it is close to that day it usually gets lumped together with all the "Happy Holidays" holidays. Maybe you didn't know this, but I am ethnically Jewish and have a wonderful heritage from my mother of celebrating some of the Jewish holidays. Hanukkah is one of these. We don't do much, but we do light our menorah and tell the story to our kids so they'll remember part of their heritage as well.
I could blog all about the amazing things done by the Maccabees and how they defeated the mighty Greek invaders and how God miraculously provided oil in the temple lamps after that battle for eight nights. However, I think I'll let these guys do it...
Each Sunday of Advent I'll be featuring a different Christmas song we use in our worship. Hopefully, you'll be introduced to some new and engaging songs that will bring freshness to your personal and corporate worship. ( 12.2 - O Sing a Song of Bethlehem / 12.9 - Christ the Lord is Born Today / 12.16 - When He Comes / 12.23 - In the First Light ) "O Sing a Song of Bethlehem" text by Louis Benson, melody by Lucy Broadwood and Ralph Vaughan Williams Alternative arrangement and lyrics- "How Suddenly a Baby Cries" by Keith and Kristyn Getty , released on Joy: An Irish Christmas , 2011 (this is the Getty's arrangement which gets pretty upbeat at about 1:40 into the song) You can find this original hymn in most of the hymnals at church. It is number 167 in ours. I like both arrangements of this tune as each emphasize different elements. Why I recommend this song for worship- The hymn text of this song traces the life of Christ from the cr...
My latest morning live session gave some insights into my own experience with Christian Deconstruction. If you aren’t familiar with this phraseology, think of it like tearing down a house in order to see what the foundation is made of. Many Christians go through this process once they are confronted with a crisis of adversity or prosperity. Jesus spoke about this directly in his parable of the different soils in Matthew 13. While only one of the plants in this parable bore fruit and proved to be genuine, two others looked like legit plants until they were confronted with trials, adversity, or the pleasures of this world. When those came around they were shown to be what they were, a fake plant. Personally, I went through this deconstruction process at the end of 2017. I was very suddenly without a spouse, job, or church. My roles of husband, pastor, ministry leader, and churchman were removed and I was left to consider what my faith really rested on. Was it based on what I wa...
These past few weeks I've been wrestling with loneliness. It's been a difficult transition; moving from having someone to talk to about everything to... well, to sharing that with a journal, and maybe a few highlights for my friends. The huge positive is that I talk a lot more with God. I know He's always known me, but I'm feeling like we're communicating better, and more often, than I ever have in the past. However, the loneliness still remains. I know I'm not alone in this life situation. My mother-in-law (how does that work now?) who will always be my second Mom lost her husband several years ago, and I know she's wrestled with this. I have friends who have been single all their lives, seemingly content with their friends and their God, but go through seasons of doubt and discouragement all the same. I know others who have lost a spouse through death or divorce. Still others who simply feel alone even within their marriage and outwardly perfect life. ...
stupid buffering, but that was fabulous. makes me proud to be a Jew...
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Made me smile. Just forwarded to my friend who married into a Jewish family. This video could become a part of their yearly tradition. Maybe.
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