Blog: December 2020

Just think what we didn’t know one year ago.  We didn’t expect we’d be plunged into a global pandemic with all of the health and social and emotional and economic and employment ramifi­ca­tions it would bring.  We didn’t expect a year of “masks and distancing.”  What’s more, market volatility, racial tensions, and political turmoil kept grabbing our attention in startling ways. Suffice it to say:  there was a lot we didn’t know a year ago today. But we knew enough.  And that’s what matters—for both looking back and looking ahead.  We know ...

As we saw a couple weeks ago, in Mark 13 Jesus prophesies about how history will culminate with his Second Advent:  all people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory (13:26).  Jesus is drawing on Daniel’s prophecy (7:13-14) about the future appearing of “one like a son of man,” a figure who would be given dominion and glory by the “Ancient of Days,” and reign over all peoples and nations forever—an eternal kingdom. In his first appearing, Jesus announced and inaugurated God’s reign, and before his second coming ...

Andreas turned his head as the door shot open, and in burst his friend, Seth, panting and out of breath.  “I flew home as fast as I could,” he said.  “The whole place is stirring with amazement, everyone dashing about.  Did you hear the news?” Andreas answered, “What news?” “What news?  Ah, that’s just it:  what news!  We should have expected it, I suppose, but the King has caught us off guard again—this time with the most shocking plan.  You won’t believe it.” “Try me,” insisted Andreas. Seth paused, caught his breath, and began to ...

Friends:  Let’s all go to the Lord in daily prayer as we begin the new year, and let’s build our prayers around God’s amazing promises. Click HERE for a list of promises (or see below), one for each day of January. Make it your priority to read and meditate on the Bible promise indicated, and then PRAY in response in three ways: For yourself, that your heart would truly rest and take joy in what God is saying. For another Christian, that they’d be at peace and find their hope in God’s Word. For someone who’s not a believer, that ...

With the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Jesus’ disciples were empowered to carry out Jesus’ mission for them: to take the gospel to all the nations. More and more people believed in Jesus. They met together at the temple to praise and worship God, and the first church began. One afternoon, two of Jesus’ disciples—Peter and John—went to the temple to pray. They encountered at the gate a man who could not walk. Rather than give the man money, Peter gave him something much more valuable: immediate physical healing in Jesus’ name. As ...

In AD 405, Aurelius Clemens Prudentius of Spain had a mid-life crisis, left his work as a judge, and retired to write poetry and hymns—which were treasured through the Middle Ages (Kevin DeYoung tells this story in greater depth). His best-known hymn was “Of the Father’s Love Begotten,” an epic retelling of the great story of salvation from beginning to end.  Prudentius introduces the eternal, divine Son of God in verse 1: Of the Father’s love begotten, Ere the worlds began to be, He is Alpha and Omega, He the source, the ending He, Of ...

Plan now to be reading God's Word and feeding your soul daily in the new year.  Not planning to read the Bible is the same as planning not to read the Bible.  Don't let that happen. Our two-year reading plan for 2021-2022 is available now--click HERE to read or download the PDF. We're just a couple weeks away from 2021 and a fresh start in the study of God's Word.  Make it priority one in the new year to hear from God--the Lord God who has spoken through Scripture. God's Word is our life, as Jesus says:  "Man shall not live by bread ...

December is here, and the signs of Christmas are popping up all over—outdoor lights, holiday music at the store, and Christmas cards now beginning to arrive in the mail.  ’Tis the season! During Advent I love to revisit classic, even ancient, Christmas music.  Like “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence.” This ponderous fourth century carol portrays the incarna­tion from heaven’s point of view:  the Son of God departs from heavenly majesty, plunging down, down, down into our lost world.  Verse three imagines the myriads of angels watching in ...