I’ve been in pastoral ministry for 35 years. During that time I have aways preached Christmas messages during the whole month of December. Many of my friends in ministry have difficulty coming up with a unique Christmas message once or twice a year but have preached from five to nine Christmas messages every year for […]
When the Lights Come Down
Here is a classic re-post to help you adjust to the post-Christmas season. Let’s start with this wonderful song that captures all that I am trying to say: My son Chuck is now sixteen years old. He’s six feet tall and he’s starting to get muscles. The other night he was doing his evening push-ups. […]
I’m Special (Christmas)
Gideon is a little fellow in my church who is afflicted with Downs Syndrome. The first time I met him I reached out to shake his hand and he looked a little frightened or confused. He hid his face in his mother’s lap. Eventually he got used to me and within a few weeks he […]
The Bancroft Paper (A Christmas Story)
During the four years that Carole had studied at Cornell her childhood faith had eroded away almost completely. It was at Christmas time she hated that the most. She wistfully remembered her naive childhood when she excepted the stories of Jesus birth without dark doubts clouding her mind. But every year at Cornell seemed to […]
Coffee and Christmas Lights
Ken and Paul sat in their dorm room and counted their change. They had returned bottles and scoured their pockets for the money. The semester was nearly over and Ken would make his way home to Ohio and Paul would spend Christmas in Houston. Between the two they had enough to buy coffee at Starbucks, […]
Christmas Plumbing
I’ve always enjoyed going to the in-laws for Christmas. Some years they seem tolerant of me, too. Mostly I think they just want me to get Lois and the kids and the presents there and then stay out of the way. I have really never been very good at keeping out of the way. I […]