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“The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” Isaiah 40:3 For a number of Christians, the period between this last Sunday and Christmas Day is celebrated and known as Advent. Named from the Latin verb “to come,” it is a time of special observation and preparation for the incarnation of Our Lord into human flesh at Christmas. Not only do we celebrate His coming to us that night as a newborn child in a manger but we also celebrate His coming to us in its entire...
It is one of my favorite holidays this week - Thanksgiving. Between feasting, family, friends, floats, furlough and football, it always seems to be a fabulous time! There is a long tradition of Thanksgiving in our nation, dating all the way back to the Plymouth Plantation in 1623. Although it is not a holiday found in the Bible, giving thanks is certainly a very biblical thing to do. After celebrating a day of Thanksgiving on a couple of different calendar days, it was in 1863 that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed, by act of Congress, that...
“Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down. Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the great somebody.” (Romans 12:14-16 The Message) These last few months around here have been tremendously challenging as a community. There have been fires, some unexpected deaths, employment issues at the mill, families breaking up, more cancer diagnoses, increased alcoholism and drug use – all right here in Seeley Lake. Friends...
There is an ancient story in the Bible that speaks of hurt and hopelessness. This story is timeless as there are many around us who are hurting, suffering, and without hope…yet those around are unaware. The Old Testament tells about a woman named Hannah in 1 Samuel. Hannah was unable to bear a child. This is a still a heartache for many women today. Especially in Hannah’s day not being able to bear children was a source of shame to not be able to have heirs to pass on property and wealth. Hannah had a loving husband Elkanah who saw that somethi...
Remember Veruca Salt from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? She sang: “I want a party with roomfuls of laughter, Ten thousand tons of ice cream, And if I don’t get the things I am after, I’m going to scream! I want the works, I want the whole works! Presents and prizes and sweets and surprises in all shapes and sizes, And now! I don’t care how, I want it now!” Didn’t she get what was coming to her and isn’t this “Veruca Complex” very evident in our culture today? In a recent sermon on patience, the speaker told of a study conducted at Stan...
We are getting into the time of year where the signature look of the hunter moves from camouflage to orange. When it comes to hunting, there is a tradeoff between not being seen by the animals and being visible to other hunters who might otherwise shoot in your direction. When it comes to Christianity, there might be a similar debate when it comes to how much we should look like the world around us. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus makes it clear what he expects of us. “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be h...
It would be a mistake for us, as Christians, to imagine that God wants to make us perfect specimens of what He can do. The only perfect person was Jesus Christ. And while it is true that we will one day become perfect, that will not be true this side of heaven. God’s purpose is to make us one with Himself. Yet most of us spend more time asking God for things than we do actually seeking God. The more time we spend thinking about ourselves, the greater we hinder God’s work in, and through us. The Apostle Paul touched on this when he wrote to the...
