Soul Sister Time

              Advent draws our thoughts towards the beyond-good-news that God shared with the world over 2000 years ago.  God’s news spread throughout the whole world and continues to encircle the globe.  This news began broadcasting long before our modern media communication tools.  Similar to the way the good news spread in the vicinity of Bethlehem on the eve of His birth, this particular news has best been shared through word of mouth from individuals whose lives have been personally transformed after encountering Jesus.  After the angels, sent from heaven, startled the shepherds by announcing the birth of Jesus, the people of God have taken it from there.  The church can’t stop sharing the reality of what it means that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ came to our world to be one of us.  He did this so that God could restore any who will put faith in Jesus Christ to become one with Him....

            How does joy become holy?   It all depends on the object of your joy.   If your joy is about having a certain experience, receiving a certain gift, getting a certain reaction, then you will or will not have joy based on whether your expectations are met.   Presto-magic joy is achievable under certain circumstances.             Holy joy is an altogether different experience.   If your joy is found in the thing that cannot be taken away from you, you can have joy in every circumstance you encounter this Christmas season.   Let’s say you are stuck in the airport for seventy-two hours while your dream vacations melts away.   That is definitely not a joyful thought.   You are hungry, tired, broke, disappointed beyond measure.   You can experience holy joy.   This comes from making the object of your joy the reality that ...

            Advent rolls around again. It’s not the first time I think about Christmas.   In fact I have been seeing Christmas decorations in all the stores since before Halloween.   It is the first time I accept Christmas.   It is the week I begin turning my heart to what the season is meant to be all about.   As I begin to experience Christmas again this year, I need to hold my heart open to the holiness of the season or I have no chance of making it a holy season.             It starts with fighting off the world and all its trappings at Christmas.   There is nothing holy about frantically buying gifts I can’t afford, packing my schedule with events and parties that drain my energy, and eating every delight that is set before me.               The season begins with high hopes that ...

                Traditionally, the season of Advent has been a time of penitence in preparation to celebrate the Feast of the Nativity. This is why the church color for the season is purple even though it clashes with the red and green we typically associate with Christmas.   Purple signifies the season of repentance.   The Feast of the Nativity on December 25 marked the beginning of Feasting and celebrating.   The Feast went on for the 12 days between December 25 and the Epiphany on January 6.                   Through the years the traditions have been altered in different ways by our culture.   In the Greek Orthodox Church, for example, the period of fasting in preparation for the Feast of the Nativity begins in November yet they do not wear purple at all during Christmas because they consider their fast a...

                The Season of Christmas is not over for the church.   We still have much to think about and much to celebrate.   The Twelve Days of Christmas, also known as Christmastide, is celebrated in the church from December 25 through January 5.   Christmas isn’t officially over until January 6 when the Feast of the Epiphany is celebrated.   I heard a new Christmas Anthem that opened my heart to the reality of Christmas.   It is entitled Christmas Grace , and the songwriter wrote it for her granddaughter.   In it she tells of the wonder of Christ.   One line in the song states: Grace to share our frailty, understand our fragile lot; Jesus laid aside His power to be helped, trained, and taught.   To know the sting of hunger, feel the pain of grief and loss, God’s Son allowed Himself to be born for us!   He traded heaven’s majesty, He left His glorious throne for ...

The first week of Advent found me double-booked with activities that included two opportunities to share about the work that God did on our summer mission trip and another opportunity to share the Gospel with a group of senior adults.   On top of that there were regular teaching sessions and several parties to attend.   Though I had to prepare food, devotions, lessons and talks, I cannot contain the joy that was mine for the privilege of sharing with others how God was near to me.   It is what Paul felt in his Philippian jail where he wrote, Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!   Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near ( Philippians 4:4-5).   Joy which results from winning the national championship, landing the big job, or winning the grand prize dream trip is easy to understand.   It is when joy comes from unexpected circumstances that it becomes God-given joy.   It is this kind of joy that we celebrate on the thi...

            Recently I had a conversation with someone from another country who did not grow up hearing the Christmas stories about Jesus.   She asked me an interesting question.   She asked me if I could show her a picture of God.               Like any good-hearted American I pulled out my Iphone and googled picture of God .   Up came several famous ones—like Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel painting.   As I showed them to her, I told her about the Bible and the Ten Commandments, explaining that the first four Commandments talk about our relationship with God.   I explained that God is the one who told us not to make an image of Him.   I told her about Noah wanting to see Him and how God hid Moses in the crest of a rock and passed by so that he saw His back as He passed by.   God did this so Moses could see Him and live.   Our sin kee...

            It’s the first week of Advent and no one expects you to be ready for Christmas, but if you are not ready for Advent you will miss this amazing spiritual oasis in the middle of a season full of pressure, empty promises and stomach aches.   The Advent Season begins with HOPE.   You light the first candle hoping in the promises of the prophets of old that have yet to be fulfilled—His second coming to rule the world in peace, and the ones that were fulfilled in the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus on earth.             If you live your life focused on the words of Jesus, Advent Season might show you that you are ready.   Jesus didn’t create a church calendar.   It was put together by our church fathers who wanted to give us a way to focus on the life of Christ through special Feast Days and Seasons that celebrate Jesus’ life.   We def...