I come from generations of farmers, machinists, carpenters and clothing makers, all gifted with finely honed spatial skills. They are adept at deciphering maps, finding their way home without directions and creating clothing without patterns. My loved ones can conceptualize…
Christ came to make us truly human: Remade in the image of Christ
This is the second in a three-week Advent series. In six places in the New Testament, five of them in the (probable) writings of Paul, the image of God is reinterpreted in light of Jesus Christ. The imago dei becomes…
Seeking the Prince of Peace in a nation overwhelmed by threats
For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6) Peace I leave with you; my peace…
What The Little Prince taught me about Christmas
It’s nearly Christmas, but after the ongoing chaos of the last two years, haven’t you wished you lived on another planet and could visit earth if you wanted? That experience is the setting for The Little Prince, written and illustrated…
Angel wings and devil tails: Meditation on the Feast of the Holy Innocents
“This is no time for a child to be born, With the Earth betrayed by war and hate And a comet slashing the sky to warn That time runs out and the sun burns late.” —Madeleine L’Engle, “The Risk of…
This Christmas, they can try to control the Bible, but they can’t have Jesus
I wanted to be an R.A. They had so much more fun than the G.A.s. For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, for many years in Southern Baptist churches, Wednesday night programing for children was…
A Christmas lesson at BubbaDoo’s
To understand Christmas at BubbaDoo’s, you’d have to understand the setting for BubbaDoo’s itself. This large, old general store sits at a key crossroads in a small rural community. There isn’t much to the little community these days, save a…
This Christmas, don’t be so hard on the innkeeper
Although Luke’s Gospel does not mention the innkeeper in Luke 2, the notion that Joseph and Mary are turned away from the inn implies that someone did the turning away — and that person goes down as the reason the…
I want to experience Christianity much bigger than a shoebox
Every year about this time, old content from the Baptist News Global website starts lighting up, due to searches for “Operation Christmas Child.” As it turns out, people are not just searching these words because they love the program and…