The Incarnation was more than just a footstep

It's Christmas, the "most wonderful time of the year."  My favorite season.  I've been doing some unexpected thinking this Christmas though-thoughts that came from an odd combination of hearing Christmas songs, and reading a friend's facebook postings describing the current development of their unborn baby.  Oftentimes the descriptions I hear about Christ coming to earth, either in song or word, make it sound as if it was just a quick step out of Heaven.  A long step, yes.  A drastic, humbling step.  But just a step.  As if one minute He was in heaven, and the next minute He was that little baby in the manger.

I'm sure it isn't a conscious thing when I hear phrases that seem to imply this.  Maybe it's just because the Incarnation is such a mystery to us anyways that we just can't handle more.  It makes our brains hurt trying to comprehend the wonder of it all.  But here are a few scriptures that have me thinking that there was more to it than just a quick step down to earth.  The highlighted emphasis in the following scriptures is, of course, mine.

Matthew 1:18-21  "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.  And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.  But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.  "She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."

Luke 1:30-31  "The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God.  "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus."

Luke 2:4-7  "Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child.  While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth.  And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn."


So what is my point, and why am I highlighting these phrases?  Theologically, we as Christians hold that Jesus Christ is "fully God and fully man."  One of the mysteries of our faith, which I'm sure has been written about by many people who are much smarter than I am.  And I have no doubt of its truth.  But something struck me recently.  That baby in the manger...that baby who was also God in human form...yet that baby was also, somehow, fully human.  And where do human babies spend their first 9 months?  Developing in their mother's womb.

God as a baby in a manger is hard enough to take.  But God taking the step of truly making Himself one of us, starting off as that small embryo that gradually learns to recognize its mother's voice in utero, that develops a heartbeat as it grows within the womb is mind boggling.  Really, each baby born is a mini-miracle of its own, straight from the hand of a loving God.  But God Himself being humble enough to go through that?!?!?  As I said before, thoughts like these blow me away and can make my brain hurt because they are too big for it to fully handle.  For those of you whose "love language" is quality time especially, this will give you something to think on, that God Himself took that time in order to reach us.

I don't have any deep words to wrap up this blog with.  All I can do is sit in awe realizing that Jesus, our Immanuel, "God with us", loved us enough to go to the utmost extreme to bring us back to Himself.  It was more than just a footstep from heaven to that manger.  His stay on earth began with nine long months hidden where no one could see Him...waiting to come out at just the right time to breath the air of His own creation, the creation He would win back to Himself at utmost cost.  It was more than just a footstep.

Merry Christmas!

A little bit of holiday fun.

Just a little something I found funny.  A more serious blog will be coming soon.  Merry Christmas!

It's the most wonderful time of the year...A Christmas rambling

Yep, it's that season again-probably my favorite holiday of the year.  I love the time with friends and family, the food, the music, the decorations, and of course most importantly the fact that it is a celebration of Jesus' birth.  :)  As I type this, I'm listening to Amy Grant singing about a "Tender Tennessee Christmas", which is a bit amusing when I really stop to think about it.  I've driven through Tennessee a grand total of two times in my life, and really have no burning desire to spend the holidays there, but I still love the song.  (In case anyone really wanted to know, which I'm sure you didn't. ;)

On the topic of music, I've always found Christmas music to be some of the best worship music out there.  I know not all of it falls into that category obviously, but if you stop and think about it the emphasis in many of the songs is one of joy and honor.  "This, this is Christ the King!", "O Come Let Us Adore Him", "Pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus our Immanuel".  Most of it just naturally leads me to worship.  I have to admit to also being a sentimental sucker for "The Little Drummer Boy."  I know it is a totally fictional story, but the whole idea of a little boy giving the only thing he has still gets me every year.  On a similarly random note, whenever I hear the line from "Do You Hear What I Hear?" that goes "a child, a child shivers in the cold.  Let us bring Him silver and gold."  I catch myself fighting to not say out loud "get the kid a blanket, for crying out loud!"  (While conceding that gold would buy a very nice blanket indeed.)

This is shaping up to be a busy Christmas season for me, between finishing things out here with School of the Bible, fundraising, packing my life up to move into a dorm as soon as I get back from Christmas break...oh, yeah, and shopping for gifts, plus the rest of the normal busyness that seems to go with this time of year.  I will be up in Seattle for a few weeks, spending some time with my family and hopefully seeing a few friends.  There are always so many to see, and so little time to see them all.

So how do I end this rambling Christmas blog entry?  All I can do is say a very Merry Christmas to everyone, and add a scripture that is probably familiar to many of you:  John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life."  Oh Come Let us Adore Him!

Ye olde video fun

Ok, so I thought I posted the actual video the first time, but evidently not.  Here's the video I planned to post.

The changing of the Seasons

Once again, it seems to be about time for my annual blog post. I really do have the best of intentions, but seem to have a knack for neglecting this blog in favor of other pursuits. Maybe this time I can really kick-start it up again. :)

This past year has been a good one, full of both challenges and blessings. I've had the privilege of teaching in our School of the Bible here, both last year (class of 09-10), and with this year's awesome group of students. I really do love my job. I also had the opportunity to visit Seattle for a few weeks back in August (thanks Mom and Dad!) to see people again, relax a bit, and enjoy a break from the brutal Texas heat.

A new season has come again. Fall has always been my favorite time of year; cooler temperatures (although here in Texas we are still wearing t-shirts), the changing of the leaves, pumpkin pies and sparkling cider...I could go on and on with what I love about Fall, but I will spare everyone the lengthy list. The new season has also meant the beginning of a new School of the Bible. Once again, we have a wonderful group of students. 16 students, from 6 different countries. All are thinkers, and all are hungry for God. I love hanging out with them, as well as teaching in the classroom setting.

But this new season is also a time of change for me in another way. While I love what I do here, teaching as well as helping out in our Christian school's office part-time, there are other areas in my life that I feel it is time to develop. I've been journaling for years, and seem (in the expressed opinion of others) to have at least somewhat of a knack with words. I even had a snippet of my work published a few years back. :)

At this point, I am planning to make a big change in my life. I am going to be moving to YWAM Woodcrest, which is just down the road from YWAM Tyler's main campus, to do a School of Writing. The School of Writing will run from January-March, and will focus on learning how to write in different genres, as well as covering editing and how to market your work for publishing. I'm including a link to the page, at the end of this post, for those who want to see all of the details.

There is one big challenge, however, and that is the need to raise the tuition to attend the school. While I have part of the tuition raised, I still have a ways to go. I would like to ask those who read this blog to pray about giving towards my tuition. If you would like to give, you can make a check out to YWAM with a separate note saying that it is for me. If my name is on the check, they can't process it. All gifts given through this are tax-deductible. The address to send the checks to is P.O. Box 3000, Garden Valley, TX 75771.

I have also added a paypal button to this blog (kudos to my friend Jeff Holton for helping me with that!), for those who wish to give that way. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how to make that tax-deductible, but it is still an option for anyone who chooses it.

To wrap this rambling up, I just want to say I am realizing once again how blessed and thankful I am, and looking forwards to what is next.

http://www.ywamresonate.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=118&Itemid=54

It's been awhile...

Ok, I've neglected this blog for waaaaay too long...

I would like to claim that I have just been too busy, but really, it's just a matter of how I've been allocating my time.  I really do want to start blogging more often again.  :)

A brief update on life at the moment:
I'm still living in Tyler, TX, and still on staff with YWAM.  I went through YWAM's School of the Bible (aka SOTB) last summer, and ended it with an amazing outreach in Nepal, during the month of July.  Since then, I've been involved in staffing the latest SOTB, which began at the end of August 2009-it's hard to believe it's already half way over!  I have the privilege of teaching from time to time, as well as encouraging our students in the everyday rough and tumble of life.  I LOVE our students!!!

On the personal front, there are a number of areas in which I am being challenged right now...I will probably blog more about some of these later.  Suffice it to say, there is a lot floating around in my head right now.

And thus ends my rambling for the day...  :)