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Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation. (Luke 2:29-30)

All of us experience significant moments in life. As evangelicals, we are firmly rooted in a tradition that acknowledges and places great value on the crisis experience of the new birth, a distinct moment in time when we put our faith in the Lord Jesus and are saved from the guilt and power of sin. Most of us can think back in time and remember exactly when and where we were at that moment. It’s a beautiful thing. Continue reading He IS Salvation →

Let us go straight to Bethlehem then. (Luke 2:15)

The account of the shepherds in Luke 2 is one of the most well-known and recognizable events surrounding the birth of Jesus. There they were, keeping watch over their flocks by night, when suddenly the glory of heaven shone all around them accompanied by the marvelous revelation that a savior had been born in the City of David. We all know how it goes. It’s an amazing story that has been forever memorialized in every nativity crèche ever made. But I happen to think that the story of the shepherds is about so much more than a heart-warming story. I believe that the events concerning these unsuspecting individuals are a picture of every single person’s saving encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ. Continue reading Let Us Go Straight to Him →

For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given. (Isaiah 9:6)

If Hollywood had scripted the coming of the Son of God into the world, I am sure it would have looked quite different than the way it actually happened. Hollywood’s version undoubtedly would have included natural disasters, wide-scale destruction, and a cheesy, predictable “love-at-first-sight” story. To be honest, that’s probably how I myself would have imagined it. After all, we’re talking about the Creator of the cosmos entering into our three-dimensional reality. One would expect volcanoes, tidal waves, mushroom clouds, and global panic. Yet the God who came did so in such a way as to almost escape attention entirely. As the late Carlo Carretto once wrote, “God is made human in Christ. God makes himself present to us with such a special presence, such an obvious presence, as to overthrow all the complicated calculations made about him in the past.” Continue reading His Simple Coming →

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)

At Christmas we celebrate the coming of the True Light (John 1:9) who is the unique revelation of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). God truly came to be with us, among us, as us. Jesus told his disciples that they have seen God the Father because they have seen Jesus (John 14:9-10). They saw him, heard him, touched him – a real, living person – flesh and blood (1 John 1:1-3). This same Jesus who ascended back to the Father has come to us again through the Person of the Holy Spirit (John 14:18). He tabernacles, makes his dwelling place, in you and me, the church. We are children of Light, bearing the fruit of Light, because the True Light lives in us (Ephesians 5:8-10). What a remarkable mystery, God with us! Continue reading God With Us →

Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! (Deuteronomy 6:4)

It might be hard for us to fully grasp the significance of Deuteronomy 6:4. After all, as monotheists (mono – one; theos – God) we take for granted that there is only one God. As products of a Judeo-Christian culture our worldviews have been shaped from the day we were born to accept that there isn’t a pantheon of gods out there swarming around the heavens, but for the peoples of the ancient world this was as significant of a revelation as there is. When all the nations worshipped an array of deities, Israel stood alone as the people of the one and only God of the universe. As they prepared to cross into their promised land, it was imperative that they understood that there is but one God and that Israel owed its exclusive loyalty to him (Deut 5:9; 6:5). Jesus himself even affirmed this to be the greatest command of them all, to love the one God with all of your being (Mark 12:29). Continue reading God is One →