Recognizing the Reality of a Blue Christmas
I have known intellectually for a while now that not all Christmases are merry for all people. I have even preached that sermon on an occasion or two – to be sensitive to those who will have a hard time this Christmas. This is the time of year where a Christmas carol will make some […]
How I Told My Kids the Truth About Santa Claus
A few weeks ago our 4 year old son Elijah asked a question that was profoundly insightful and forced an important conversation. Here is what he asked “What did Santa Claus do to God? He knows everything about us…what did he do to God?” Kids need plenty of room to have their imagination. At the […]
A Generous Gift
Just before I left for Christmas one of our elderly ladies stopped by the church building with some Christmas cards for the ministers. Her health is not all that great, she has pain and doesn’t drive very many places like that. So I thought it was sweet she would make a special trip to bring […]
Jack Bauer Interrogates Santa Claus
This one is priceless. I laughed nearly as hard as the Greatest Action Story Ever Told video. The one thing that makes me hesitate posting this is some profanity at 1:37. To date I don’t think there has been a single instance of that in any way, shape, or form on the blog and that […]
Christmas Blog Sabbatical
Just a quick note that the blog will be pretty quiet over the next week. Feel free to browse the categories to the left or just spend some time with your family and friends. There may be an occassional post but no promises. I wish you all a very merry Christmas and many great reflections […]
Am I the Grinch?
I got my annual AFA “Would you boycott non-Christmas stores this holiday season” email today. I took the poll and said, “No” that I would not be willing to boycott stores that don’t use Christmas in their advertising. Turns out there were 22,471 “Yes” votes (98.7%) and 298 “No” votes (1.3%) at the time. Ouch. […]
Should We Celebrate Easter?
For those of you not from the Churches of Christ you might wonder why even ask such a question. For those of you who are familiar with the CofC you know exactly why I would ask such a question. We have traditionally backlashed so severely from denominationalism that we have drawn some lines where they […]
Ben Witherington on Paganism and Christmas
Thanks to Ben Witherington for this fantastic post debunking the pagan origins of Christmas. Here is the link.
If You are Going to be Silly You Might as Well Do it Right
Here are some pictures of me playing elvis at our church Christmas party. We have different members sing each year. This year I got asked to sing “Here Comes Santa Claus” as Elvis. If I can get some video maybe I will post that later. Here are some pictures for your enjoyment. Thank you…thank you […]
What Was Your Favorite Thing About Christmas?
I was almost surprised at how much I didn’t care about commercialism/materialism this Christmas. As appreciative as I was of everything I received I really enjoyed time with family and friends the most. Stores cannot sell the best gifts. You cannot go out and buy a gift card that guarantees more time with a loved […]