There’s a Facebook video from an influencer named Josh from England. In it, he talks about an American tendency: “Every single American I’ve encountered, when in a car with them, they will do their best- their utmost, to beat that [GPS] arrival time. And guess what? They will. They will beat it… I promise you.” We live in a world that whirrs around us- rushing to and fro, always moving, always doing. As I’ve been thinking about our theme, I’ve noticed some tendencies in myse

I’m not entirely sure when I sang it- maybe in college, or seminary, but whenever I hear this text, I think of a choral piece my choir sang 15 or 20 years ago. This passage is, in many ways, the heart of the Gospel of John. John starts at the beginning, opening his Gospel by calling to mind Genesis 1- in the beginning God created. Because for John, he is giving us a new genesis- the story of God’s re-creation, and humanity’s redemption. In this year’s Christmas Eve devotion

I love A Christmas Carol . Ebenezer Scrooge starts out closed off to everyone. Accumulation of wealth is all he cares about. He lives in resentment, fear and the ice-cold frozen state of watching out only for himself. As he accompanies the Ghost of Christmas Past, Scrooge starts to thaw. When he sees himself as a child, alone at Christmas, he thinks of the young caroler he turned away. He sees the Fezziwig Christmas party and remembers how it wasn’t about the cost, but about

For the past few weeks, we’ve been talking about A Christmas Carol: how Scrooge starts out as the epitome of stinginess, greed, and “generally being in a terrible mood.” With the ghosts of Christmas past and present, Scrooge starts seeing how others live: some choose relationships and while it might cost finances, their lives are enriched because of it. And his actions have had a negative impact on others. Seeing that, Scrooge has been reconsidering his own life. But with the