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Our Favorite Christmas Movies (Podcast)
Read more: Our Favorite Christmas Movies (Podcast)In this episode, we talk about our favorite Christmas movies. We give some nods to Christmas classics as well as more than a few surprises. Listen and see if your favorites end up on each of our top five Christmas films lists! Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Rev. Dr. Nathaniel…
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A Christmas Reflection
Read more: A Christmas ReflectionPhoto Credit: “Nativity” by jeffweese is licensed under CC BY 2.0. Christmas and the Christmas tradition can trigger a host of emotions and memories for nearly everyone who lives in our country. Whether it’s the decorations in the neighborhood, the familiar holiday music on the radio, or the fact that nearly everything shuts down on Christmas Day, it’s…
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Women in Matthew’s Genealogy of Jesus with Dr. Jeannine Brown (Podcast)
Read more: Women in Matthew’s Genealogy of Jesus with Dr. Jeannine Brown (Podcast)In this episode we talk about the significance of the women mentioned in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus. For this conversation, Dr. John Anthony Dunne and Brandon Hurlbert are joined by Dr. Jeannine Brown, Professor of New Testament at Bethel Seminary (St. Paul, MN), member of the NIV Translation Committee, and author of a few commentaries…
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Revelation Advent Sermon (Why The COVID-19 Vaccine Is Not The Mark of the Beast)
Read more: Revelation Advent Sermon (Why The COVID-19 Vaccine Is Not The Mark of the Beast)At my local church here in Minneapolis, Mill City Church, we’ve been reading through and preaching through the New Testament, and the plan was always to preach through Revelation for Advent. This was planned long before 2020 became the “apocalyptic” year that we all think of it as. At present, one of the particularly relevant…
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On Contentment and Simplicity: An Advent Reflection
Read more: On Contentment and Simplicity: An Advent ReflectionEnough for him whom cherubim, Worship night and day, A breastful of milk, And a mangerful of hay; Enough for him whom angels Fall down before, The ox and ass and camel, Which adore (A Christmas Carol, Christina Rossetti) It’s hard to imagine the King of the universe, the Word of God through which everything has been…
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Advent and Jerusalem
Read more: Advent and JerusalemO come! O come! Emmanuel! And ransom captive Israel; That mourns in lonely exile here, Until the Son of God appear. Advent is a time of mournful waiting. Participants in this season undergo a theatrical embodiment of the struggles of the people of God. In this drama, the Church relives, in a sense, a time…
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Advent, Betrothal, and a whole lot of waiting
Read more: Advent, Betrothal, and a whole lot of waitingFor those who don’t know, I am getting married in about 30 days from now. The prospect of this fills me with such joy, primarily because my wife-to-be is my best friend and someone I choose not to live without. There will be so many practical benefits to our marriage: Cutting commute time in half,…
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Why is the bush not burned?
Read more: Why is the bush not burned?Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it saved Israel. As he unwittingly proto-typed Jesus, the Good Shepherd, Moses was distracted by a curious phenomenon: “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” (Ex. 3:3) Read the rest of the story here. Why is the bush not burned?…
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Anxiously Advent-ly Waiting
Read more: Anxiously Advent-ly WaitingI appreciate the season of Advent – not just for the joy of Christmas parties, decorations, carols, eggnog, gift-giving and receiving, and celebrating the holiday with family and friends, but also for the longing and anticipation that comes with the Advent season. I’m grateful being reminded that the joy of Christmas and the reality of…
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Let Christmas Continue
Read more: Let Christmas ContinueIt’s been 27 days since most American’s have begun the bell curve that is participation in Christmastide, and the participation in Advent, for those who chose to devotionally and/or liturgically relive the anticipation of the coming of Messiah. Yet now, the gift wrap is all torn asunder, and presents have all been revealed. The holiday…