Celebrating Advent: December 3

Isaiah 11: 1-10

A Branch from David’s Line

Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot—
yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root.

And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
 the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

He will delight in obeying the Lord.  He will not judge by appearance
 nor make a decision based on hearsay.

He will give justice to the poor and make fair decisions for the exploited.
 The earth will shake at the force of his word, and one breath from his mouth will destroy the wicked.

He will wear righteousness like a belt 
and truth like an undergarment.

In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together; the leopard will lie down with the baby goat.
 The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion, and a little child will lead them all.

The cow will graze near the bear.  The cub and the calf will lie down together.
    The lion will eat hay like a cow.

The baby will play safely near the hole of a cobra.
    Yes, a little child will put its hand in a nest of deadly snakes without harm.

Nothing will hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, for as the waters fill the sea,
 so the earth will be filled with people who know the Lord.

In that day the heir to David’s throne will be a banner of salvation to all the world.
 The nations will rally to him, and the land where he lives will be a glorious place.  (NLT)

Celebrating Advent: December 2

Isaiah 9: 2-7 


The people who walk in darkness
 will see a great light.
  For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine.

You will enlarge the nation of Israel, and its people will rejoice.
  They will rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest
 and like warriors dividing the plunder.

For you will break the yoke of their slavery and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders.
You will break the oppressor’s rod, just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian.

The boots of the warrior and the uniforms bloodstained by war
 will all be burned.  They will be fuel for the fire.

For a child is born to us, a son is given to us.
  The government will rest on his shoulders.
    And he will be called:
  Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

His government and its peace will never end.  He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity.
  The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!  (NLT)

Celebrating Advent: December 1

This Advent season, my family and I will be reading a Bible verse each day after dinner.  Please join us as we celebrate the coming of the Lord!

What is "Advent?"

Advent is a church season celebrated each year in the four weeks leading to Christmas.  The word "advent" comes from the Latin word for "coming."

In church history, this season was marked by fasting, prayer, and anticipation of the Lord Jesus' return.  Advent fasting ended in celebration feasts and gatherings with other believers.

Many churches celebrate Advent with the lighting of four candles, one for each Sunday leading up to Christmas.  

Why should we celebrate Advent?

As a boy, the best part of Christmas was the excited anticipation of opening presents.  It was difficult to wait, almost unbearable, when wrapped presents would emerge from my parent's closed off bedroom.  

Advent teaches us about waiting, which seems so foreign to us in these busy times.  "Waiting" seems to be replaced (earlier each year, I might add!) by "getting" and "consuming."  Left to ourselves, we're tempted by idols such as efficiency, justifying our busy-ness with the belief that waiting is wasteful.  

As Christ-followers, we confess that the infant born has the last word; we celebrate the waiting for the final Advent; we connect with early believers who witnessed the birth of Jesus; 

How can we celebrate Advent?

During Advent, we can take time to practice the discipline of waiting.  Here are a few ideas: 

- Reading Scripture together as a family;

- Keep the TV off for a time to focus on how we can serve others;

- List how God is working in life today;

- Deepen our relationship with God through reading, prayer, and serving together;

John 1: 1-5 


The Eternal Word

In the beginning the Word already existed.
    The Word was with God,
 and the Word was God.  He existed in the beginning with God.  God created everything through him,
 and nothing was created except through him.  The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone.  The light shines in the darkness,
 and the darkness can never extinguish it.  (NLT)

Toxic to Transformation

One of my recent assignments was to write a paper on toxic leadership and pose a question, then do a mini-analysis.  Wow, really?  I haven't been in school for years, and now I need to do a research paper (although I was relieved that it was only a "mini," of 5 pages minimum - which does not include the cover and reference pages, folks!).

It took lots of prayer and writer's block before coming to a decision: "From Saul to Paul: The Journey from Toxic to Transformational Leader." (Impressive, huh?).

Think of it - one of the most toxic enemies of Christ-followers - hunted them down and endorsed killing them to defend society from blasphemers like Stephen. He was well-known in his circle for being ruthless, tortureous, and going on house-to-house searches, dragging believers from their homes and throwing them in prison, or worse (Acts 8:3).

The Paul we know (he changed his name to the Greek version of Saul) is a result of a personal encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. See, Saul was on his way to Damascus to gain government support to have more Christ-followers persecuted, arrested, beaten, and taken back to Jerusalem.

Jesus had another idea - an idea that would not only change Saul, but the Church. The rest of the story (as Paul Harvey would say) is filled with skepticism of Paul's intentions, followed by amazing, Spirit-filled growth, encouragement, adventure (prison, beatings, starvation, travels, shipwrecks, etc.).

While our own story may not be this glamorous, our stories are not insignificant - they are eternally etched in time forever.

Remember your story.  What was life like before you recognized Jesus as your Lord?
What's life like since? What adventures are you on?
How are you helping encourage growth in the Church?
How are your spiritual gifts being used to build the Church?  (Or do these still need to be unpacked?)

To view the full paper on Paul, click this link:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1EUNUp4iEw5MjlhZ3JPbUlHUHc/edit?usp=sharing

A Day Like No Other

Biking on a dirt path along Lake Vadnais.
Surrounded by a gust,
A surreal vortex of color and of scent; dry pine, birch, oak.
A quick gaze at the whitecaps in the middle of the lake,
Met suddenly, calmly, by still, cold, blue water.

Could it be that The Author, The Artist, The Groom put this in front of us, His love of loves - us - for us as a gift?

It's amazing what kind of legacy a parent leaves, and my dad had a lasting impression on my mom, sister, and I.

One August day while on a family vacation along the North Shore, three of the four of us were sick of the foggy, muggy, cool weather while stopped at in the Cascade area.  It was rather windy and the waves on Lake Superior displayed a respectable anger as they crashed onto the rocky shoreline.

"Our whole vacation is ruined!  We didn't have a single sunny day!" we lamented.  "What is this?  Summer?" I said, feeding into the attitude of doom.

Dad took a very different approach, saying, "You know, this is the only day we have.  We'll never see it again.  There won't be another one like it.  Ever."

As he paused and looked at each one of us, we all knew exactly what he was saying.  This is the one and only day we have today.  It could be gone tomorrow.  This is it.  The present.  This moment.

Dad walked toward an area of rock where the crashing waves made a blowhole, making an amazing geyser of water every so often.  As I followed, we discovered that we could time the geyser just right to "dare" the water to drench us.

As time went on, we waited a bit longer for the water, seeing how close we could get without getting soaked.

We must have done this 20 or so times without getting more than a little damp, when one of the waves was off.  Right when we took our positions over the hole to wait, the wave showered us with so much power, we were almost knocked off our feet.

All I could see as I looked at Dad were his eyes as big as golfballs and a smile I never again saw so huge.  I saw a boy.

We ran all the way to the road laughing until our throats were sore, looking like we jumped into the lake rather than sprinkled by it.

We were cold and soaked, but had the time of our lives.  Those of us who are left remember and speak of that day often.

"This is the day that the Lord has made!  I will rejoice and be glad in it!"  Psalm 118:24