Joyful Proclamation!

Joyful Proclamation!

by The Rev2 Comments
Have you ever had that experience where someone made a promise to you and then they came through? What did you feel like? What if that promise came years and years earlier and was fulfilled when you were least expecting it? You would probably be filled with utter joy. This is what the third week of Advent is all about. The third week is when we light the “Shepherds Candle” which represents joy. Could you imagine being one of the young shepherds that evening? For your whole life you’ve heard the stories of Messiah coming from your father and grandfather. Now you’re out there trying to stay warm while you watch over your family’s flock, this thing that you do every night. Then… The skies explode in light and angels appear telling you that Messiah has come and where to find him! Your heart is bursting with excitement and you run. When you get there, you find it exactly as the angels say it would...
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The War on Christmas

by The RevNo Comments
Did you know that there was a “War on Christmas”? Seriously, there’s a “War on Christmas”. It’s occurring in most churches. It breaks out in many hearts this time of year. Christmas is when we go out and buy friends and family lots of gifts. We spend lots of money on things people don’t need and some don’t even really want. A few of us even go to church on Christmas Eve and that makes us feel spiritual about spending all that money. When you look around at everything that we are inundated with every single day it’s clear what Christmas is all about. It’s about giving and receiving stuff. The war that is happening is happening in each heart. Some are uncomfortable with the battle that is happening in their heart and so they look for an enemy on the outside. That’s when some go to “war” with the “world”. Bemoaning the fact that “Christmas” parties at schools have become “Holiday” parties or...
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Coming in Humility

by The RevNo Comments
The second candle we light in Advent is the “Bethlehem Candle.” It is the reminder of how the Bread of Life came to the House of Bread in humility. Jesus, King of the Universe, did not come to the world by way of power or exceptionalism but by humility. He was born in a hole carved from the side of a rock and his cradle was a hay filled trough. This King of glory was completely ordinary. This second week of Advent we consider the ordinariness of the glorious King. A helpless baby born to a young girl on the outskirts of a small town. He was nothing special to the unassuming eye. He was just a baby. The King of glory was a just a baby. The King of glory was poor. The King of glory was nothing to behold. The King of glory would have been considered to have little worth. What do we do with such a King? How do we respond? How does...
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Kind or Nice?

by The RevNo Comments
Sunday night at our gathering we were spending time in Ephesians 4. During our conversation it struck me again how important it is for us to understand the difference between being “kind” and being “nice.” Verse 32 says, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Paul doesn’t command us to be “nice.” He commands us to be “kind.” This distinction is very important for our relationships. This command to be kind ties back to verse 15, “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ…” Kindness differs with niceness by the inclusion of truth. Kindness can be hard and can potentially cause pain. I asked the congregation what they thought was the difference between being nice and being kind. My son said this, “If your friend’s hair is messed up, the nice thing is to say, ‘Your hair is fine.’ But, the kind...
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The Day Is Coming!

by The RevNo Comments
Many people love Christmas. There’s a radio station in Detroit that has been playing Christmas tunes 24/7 for a few weeks. Christmas is nostalgic and beautiful. It tells the story of God the Son being born in humility to save the world. Christmas is great. But I love Advent! There is something special about the building excitement and anticipation of the season. The Christian new year begins with the first Sunday of Advent, not with Christmas. This communicates something intriguing about our faith. Advent plunges us into the already/not yet of our faith. Yesterday was the first Sunday of Advent, it is represented by the “Prophecy” candle. We read the following Scripture, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land....
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Tension

by The RevNo Comments
The Christian life is one of great tensions. Grace and truth. Mercy and justice. We live in the tension of these great ideas and concepts. Many of our theological debates center on which side is to have priority. In Ephesians 4:17–32 we see that this tension goes beyond belief. The very actions of the Christ follower is a life in tension. In this section Paul admonishes believers to “put off” their old selves and “put on” the new self. What is fascinating is that the new self is in some ways the old held in tension. Verses 26 and 27 say this, Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. (Ephesians 4:26–27 ESV) We often think of anger as being inherently sinful. How can anger be OK? Aren’t we supposed to be nice? You can’t really be both can you? This tension of “be angry and do not sin” is...
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Quiet in a LOUD World

by The RevNo Comments
If you’re like me, silence is uncomfortable. Sometimes it is almost unbearable. When I studied in college I needed noise, so the TV was always on. When I was in grad school, I needed noise, so I studied at the coffee shop. Now that I’m a pastor, I feel like I need the quiet. But I really struggle with knowing how to be quiet and embrace silence. These words from Eugene Peterson really struck me this morning, //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js How do you experience quiet? ...
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historical-nonfiction:

by The RevNo Comments
historical-nonfiction: Most of us are aware that sports, while supposedly an honorable contest of skills, is often anything but. WWE, for example, is a well-orchestrated show. And they’re just the most obvious about it. Well fixing matches is nothing new. The very first known bribery contract was found in a papyrus dated from the year 267 CE, which was salvaged from Oxyrhynchus, Egypt in 1905. The transcription has been recently deciphered, and as expected the content is quite licentious. The papyrus details the ‘arrangement’ between two young wrestlers Nicantinous and Demetrius for a grand bout that was to take place in the city of Antinoopolis along the Nile bank. According to the evidence, Demetrius openly agrees to lose the match for a handy bribe of 3,800 drachmas (which was oddly close to the price for buying a donkey)! Man, I feel like this needs to be an ESPN 30 for 30! ...
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Believe Us When We Say We’re Hurting

by The RevNo Comments
twloha: “The stigma surrounding mental health boils down to one thing: that if pain can’t be measured or seen, it doesn’t exist. People believe that illnesses that cannot be detected with medical equipment can do no harm. But that one dangerous concept has a variety of stealthy disguises. ‘Smile! Others have it worse.’ ‘Your life is great!’ ‘But you always seem so happy.’ ‘If you ignore it, it will go away.’ Sentences filled with salt for our wounds.” - Sammy Nickalls, “Believe Us When We Say We’re Hurting” ...
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