I will make breath enter you and you will come to life. Ezekiel 37:5   God created life with His breath. He breathed His clean, pure, empowering breath and shaped lifeless clay into a breathing, thinking human being. It was this same breath that pumped tiny lungs and opened Jesus' nostrils to utter his first cry into this world. Our Creator God reversed the earth-to-heaven journey we will make after death and sent Jesus from Heaven to  earth all in a breath.  It was one power

Magi from the east came . . . to worship him. Matthew 2:1,2 The longest journey we ever made at Christmas on land was from Bryan, Texas, to Warm Springs, Georgia, where my husband's parents lived. It was 840 miles, which made it a two-day trip for our small family. But it was worth every mile to see family we didn't see as often as we wanted to. The Magi get the prize for taking the longest journey at the first Christmas. While no one knows exactly where the Magi originated

Yet I hold this against you, You have forsaken the love you had at first. Revelation 2:4 I know . . . that you are neither cold nor hot. Revelation 3:15 Christmas isn't a time for neutrality. No one looks forward to a low-key, gray-toned Christmas. We want color and excitement, music and laughter. We are anything but neutral about Christmas. Besides, neutral ity doesn't ask much. Neutrality means neither for nor against. It is a ho-hum response. If you're neutral, you're

Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.  Luke 3:4 We have begun the Christmas season.  Are you already behind with everything you wanted to accomplish? Today, we need another message.  It is the voice of wilderness John confronting the emptiness that our push and rush produce.  He cries today using Isaiah’s words, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight paths for him.”  This isn’t a call to decorate, overspend, or overwork.  This is a desperate plea to

The scene is private.  We would have seen nothing unusual if we had been visitors to the Temple that day.  A young couple brought their...

My favorite Christmas angel story is not when Mary receives her message from an angel. It is the story of Zechariah and his angel visit....

In the last five years, we have all lost what we believed would not change. The pandemic stole a sense of reliability. We understand...

I spent a frightening time in the hospital supporting our daughter one Christmas. She developed a heart infection that was on the brink...

Advent reminds us that we are waiting for more than December 25. We are waiting for the world to be made right. We are waiting for an end...

“We’re going straight through,” my father announced as he loaded two sleepy girls and too much luggage into a car that would shrink with...

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and Sunday is the beginning of Advent. It feels like they run together. but maybe they should. Gratitude...