Have you considered spending more time comparing yourself to others? It's a great discipline and one I highly recommend.  You'll find it especially helpful this time of the year as you frantically finish up your Christmas shopping and baking.  Now don't be surprised if you find yourself coming up short.  No worries because that willContinue reading "How to Lose your joy in less than 30 seconds … guaranteed or your money back!"

We must all finally admit, there is a tremendous amount of mystery and wonder in God becoming man.  In the end, the human mind accepts the incarnation by faith, even as we ponder its mystery, its paradox.  The truth remains:The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadowContinue reading "Oh the mystery: Fully God; fully man; completely glorious…"

We never pretend, even as we make merry and await the celebration of the birth of our Savior.  And so very sadly today we mourn the deaths of more than 130 Pakistani children yesterday, grieving with their parents, as we read today's Advent words from the gospel of Matthew chapter 2:The Escape to Egypt13 When theyContinue reading "Advent is for imagining but never pretending…"

My friend John Stanford, retired Iowa State University physics professor,has been writing about Ephrem the Syrian who lived during the third century and was about 19 years old in 325 AD, the time of the Nicene Creed.  The famous creed counters the false claims that Jesus was not fully God and fully man, which is ofContinue reading "Yes indeed, the virgin gave birth to a human son, fully God!"

My friend Carolyn Butler writes of Joseph, "Joseph doesn't get much press in the Nativity story.The angel tells Joseph to take Mary as his wife!  Mostly he stands in the background on Christmas cards, leaning on a staff and looking down pensively into the manger crib."I am thinking today of the scores of ordinary peopleContinue reading "Good old Joseph … a righteous man indeed!"

Do you know about the wild Nativity scene described in Revelation chapter 12?  That was the top of my religion column on Sunday December 14.

During Advent, two of my favorite theologians remind us as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus that what is at stake for Jesus entirely is his love for humankind.  Born as a baby, Jesus enters into the guilt of we humans, finally and ultimately taking that guilt upon himself on the cross, givingContinue reading "Taking on our guilt during Advent…"