I am notorious for listening to Christmas music at any time of year.  This produces a gamut of responses from utter disparaging of the thought to confessions of similar behavior.  My reason is never an attempt to sustain the festivities long past their due.  Rather, I am deeply and...

We’ve all heard it before—Bill O’Reilley’s rants over the “War on Christmas”. Bill doesn’t like when people call Christmas trees, “Holiday Trees”. He thinks gender-neutral toy commercials offend the little baby Jesus, and don’t even think about taking the “Christ” out...

With the recent tragedy in Connecticut there is reason to doubt. Last friday I was driving in my car listening to talk radio. The entire show was dedicated to the day’s horrific events. At one point the host started to explain that although he is not religious, he is...

“Pooh-pooh to the Whos!” he was grinch-ish-ly humming.   “They’re finding out now that no Christmas is coming!   “They’re just waking up! I know just what they’ll do!   “Their mouths will hang open a minute or...

Anyone who’s come over for dinner has seen my collection of Peruvian oil paintings of the Virgin Mary. Several years ago, a spending spree and newfound obsession with Catholic art (despite being a Reformed Baptist) landed me with a few too many Marys: three hanging in the hallway and one...

What does Christmas joy look like? And if so, how do we obtain it? This month, I’ve noticed that a lot of my Christmas reflections have sought to explore the emotional and spiritual dissonance that the soul can fall prey to during Christmastide. Personally, I do believe that nostalgia is not...

In keeping with the Christmas spirit that has been permeated the blog, I thought I would attempt to meld my two-kingdom series with something relevant for the holiday season. In the secularized west, the constant debate about Christ’s relationship to Christmas provides a fantastic peek into...

Survey anyone within the church, and if they are honest, they will let you know that there is at least one approach or method for sharing the gospel that makes them cringe. It’s not that there isn’t excitement about the spreading of the news of Jesus and His redemptive work to redeem and...

The concept is bizarre when you stop and think about it. Let’s take a couple of days off of work at one of the busiest times of the year.  We’ll time our school calendars so that the semester break occurs during the holiday. For the month preceding the holiday, houses and...

Today (Dec 13) I am flying home after my first term at St Andrews. It feels like time has sped up ever since I arrived. An hour seems a bit shorter than I remembered in the States. Whole weeks have felt like insignificant blocks of time that pass by all too quickly. Why does time seem so...