We are saving money — no plane tickets, no fancy restaurants, no Nutcracker this year. We are not seeing everyone we wish we were seeing, not doing everything we wish we were doing, and not having the Christmas we wish…
Facing life’s realities at Christmas: Listening to Rachel
It was Christmas Eve in the small New England church where I preached my first-ever Advent sermon, Dec. 24, 1971 — the first of four years I served as the congregation’s pastor while studying at Boston University. The First Community…
Humor: What an honest Christmas Eve order of service might look like this year
Columnist Brett Younger didn’t send us a traditional column this month. Instead, he sent us a humorous, yet not-so-humorous example of what an honest Christmas Eve worship order of service might look like. He reported that even the church administrator…
In border migrant camps, it’s a cold and lonely Christmas — but there is hope for the new year
The little girl playing in a migrant camp in Mexico broke into a big smile when asked what she wants for Christmas. “A pair of skates,” 9-year-old Jennifer of El Salvador said through an interpreter during a Zoom call on…
Amid COVID-19, some will do more for Christmas, some will do less, some will travel and some will stay home
Attending religious services, gift giving and travel are expected to decline for many Americans during this Christmas season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, LifeWay Research has reported. But the coronavirus apparently cannot dampen the spiritual yearnings of some Americans who…
5 ways to make the holidays meaningful in 2020
This year is, without a doubt, unlike any other. The daily events happening on a personal, professional and political level are enough to make all of us want to disappear from time to time. As we look ahead to the…
Getting into the holiday spirit is hard this year
Along with the election next week, I cannot ignore the fact that the darkest, loneliest period of the year begins Sunday with the end of Daylight Savings Time. Before my husband’s death in April 2009, I never paid much attention…
What the walking wounded need for Christmas
How my spinal cord injury happened during routine surgery two years ago hasn’t mattered to me for a good while; but the why and wherefore still get me. Now I’m just angry. And being a good Christian, I feel guilty for being angry.
Christmas in times like these: finding hope in the faith of a pre-Christmas people
Perhaps the only way to really experience Christmas as it was intended is to renew the faith of a pre-Christmas people who did not yet know the Savior whose justice and righteousness we seem to stubbornly resist at every turn
Christianity doesn’t need saving; people do
I have come to realize that Christianity hasn’t, doesn’t and won’t ever need saving. At its best, Christianity is a faith that dies again and again and again for the sake of other people.
Hope, peace, joy and love at Christmas. And sometimes grief and pain
Amid all the smiles and laughter, if you’re grieving this Christmas, it’s OK. Your anguish has a role to play.
Do American Christians care about moral character in our political leaders?
Our lack of concern for character in our leaders is impacting our ability to meet the great moral crises of our time.