I have noticed that by the time Christmas comes, my family gladly collapses together because we are all so tired from ‘celebrating’ for a full month. What if Advent is about more than simply anticipating Christmas? As a self-identified…
Baptists open eyes to Epiphany
By Jeff Brumley For Christians who observed Epiphany on Sunday, Jan. 6, the holiday signified a formal end to the Christmas season and the world’s recognition of Jesus’ divinity. While it meant all of that to Baptist minister Don Flowers, for…
Casting visions from the pulpit
By Jeff Brumley Some pastors may look forward to — and even need — a post-holiday lull. But not Doug Dortch, the senior minister at Mountain Brook Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala. Instead, he’ll be busy those first few days…
Jesus, Buddy the elf, and the reindeer that ran over grandma
I enjoy hot cocoa, chocolate covered peanut butter snacks, sausage balls, and homemade Christmas cookies. I enjoy the lights and I also enjoy looking for the tackiest as well as the most beautiful. I love sneak Santa games and real…
Green Day: on Holiday
The holiday season has reached its peak. Decorations, parties, calories and music abound. Some of this music is soul inspiring. I am warmed each time I hear Sheryl Crow’s “Blue Christmas”, The Barenaked Ladies’ “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” or…
Marching to a different drummer
The poinsettias are ablaze with holiday red. The Advent wreath is in place and we are on our countdown toward lighting the Christ Candle on Christmas Eve. Among the poinsettias, the wreaths, and the candles, there are numerous Christmas trees…
What’s Cyrus have to do with Advent?
As the semester comes to a close for me, I am able to do a bit of reflecting on the work I’ve done and what I’ve read. One line from Xenophon’s Cyropaedia in particular stood out to me: For I…
The original Christmas village
“O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie. Above thy deep and dreamless sleep, the silent stars go by.” This past summer Amanda and I did a lot of walking while we were in the United Kingdom…
Churches grieve Sandy Hook shootings
By Bob Allen Pastor Jason Coker opened his third Sunday in Advent sermon at Wilton Baptist Church, written earlier in the week, with words describing irrepressible joy. “Circumstances dictate change,” Coker told parishioners Dec. 16 before switching gears to preach…
Churches grieve Sandy Hook shootings
By Bob Allen Pastor Jason Coker opened his third Sunday in Advent sermon at Wilton Baptist Church with words describing irrepressible joy written early in the week. “Circumstances dictate change,” Coker told parishioners Dec. 16 before switching gears to preach…
Where Christmas music originates
Christmas songs are among the popular music in the world. Music historians believe the first explicitly Christmas hymns were composed in Rome in the 4th century. However, in Luke 1:46-56 we find a story culminating in Mary’s song, the first…
Christmas lessons
By Bill Wilson Current Christmas celebration habits are a uniquely post-World War II phenomenon. Much of the excess we experience stands at odds with the way Western society approached the holiday only a few years ago. This shift has lessons…