In my last blog post, I introduced a series on the liturgical calendar. The church has used the liturgical calendar for centuries to order its life around keystones of our faith. If you missed my intro, you can read it HERE. In today’s post, we will very briefly look at three events on the liturgical calendar that are directly connected: Advent, the 12 Days of Christmas, and Epiphany.Advent is the...  Read More

Are you a big reader?  Some of us would say we haven't read a book since we were required to in grade school.  Some of us read voraciously.  Frankly, I'm in the middle.  Recently, I revisited a book that I've read multiple times… "In the Pit of Lion on a Snowy Day" by Mark Batterson.  Mark challenges us to reflect upon the courage of Benaiah in 2 Samuel 23:20-21...  “He also went down into a pit o...  Read More

I’m writing this on the verge of a new year sitting in the South Carolina sun (46 degrees) while my favorite wife (thus far…) is doing some post Christmas returns/shopping. We are visiting our daughters and one new son-in-law, then later on this week our son, daughter-in-law, and 2 precious grandkids! Certainly a great post Christmas gift!I’ve entitled this blog “Embracing 2023.” I initially entit...  Read More

Happy New Year!! I hope you have all enjoyed celebrating. If I caused you significant confusion, stick with me. I haven’t lost my mind. I know it is December, and Christmas is still yet to come. And I know that the beginning of 2023 comes after that. So you don’t need to call anyone to take me away. The new year I am referring to is the beginning of the liturgical church year. The liturgical calen...  Read More

God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is and are eternally faithful. Jesus existed before his birth (John 1:1). Jesus came to earth and lived among us (John 1:14); he is our Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14). Jesus suffered on the cross, dying a slow and painful death (Matthew 7:45-56), took on our sin (1 Peter 2:24) and was raised again (Matthew 28:6). He is currently at the right hand of God the Father (Romans 8:34) holding all things together (Colossians 1:17), according to...  Read More

This Sunday I’ll be preaching on this beloved Christmas hymn…it certainly is a song that blesses us as we gratefully sing it out!If we’re honest though, we probably might cynically be thinking, “Joy to the world? How about joy to just my neighborhood? Or maybe just joy to my miserable aunt? Or to Giants fans? The world? Isn’t that a rather tall order? I mean, look around, there seems to be more st...  Read More