Advent 2022 - Birth

 

This year I've been thinking about different kingdoms. And how this world was created by God but then corrupted by Satan to become an area in play that will ultimately be destroyed/cleansed to make room for a new heaven and a new earth.

I've been thinking about how Jesus was injected into this world under cover, the ultimate agent sent to help people become part of the kingdom of God. (See the parable of the vineyard in Matthew 21:33-40)

God even used different kingdoms here to protect his son. He sent Joseph, Mary, and Jesus to Egypt to get away from the things Herod was doing to try and preserve his kingdom. I think of Egypt as a different spiritual kingdom (Babylon) with a different set of ruling "gods" from whatever Herod was dedicated to. One of the puzzles there that helps me deepen my faith is that despite being the Creator he didn’t just put a bubble around his son to protect him. My thought is that because Jesus was in an area under another’s authority he honored that authority. I’m not sure about that but it helps me. 

While not exactly how Bible scholars teach about it I sometimes wonder if the heavenly host that sang announcement praises in front of the shepherds were actually so excited that they just couldn't help singing and rejoicing about the victory the birth of Jesus was and the result that it was leading to. 

While our God is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent this place we are in right now was created by him but is corrupted and not his kingdom. When we accept Jesus as Savior and Lord we become part of God's kingdom and wherever we go we are foreigners and strangers until his return. 

It's a different way to think about the story. But that's what I've been thinking about this year. 

I hope you think about Jesus and what he is to so many people this Christmas. 

Bonus material: 

A Child Is Born - Celtic Worship

https://youtu.be/_xOdbaLPJ1E

Paul Harvey Christmas Story - The Man and the Birds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY2pTAAn9pc

Bible Project video on the New Testament

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0BrP8bqj0c

Advent 2022 - Hope

One of my struggles is that I tend to look forward to things. I look ahead, I see the possibilities, then I set plans and aim for what I am looking forward to. I become attached to what I’m looking forward to instead of being “here” “now”. 

My experience is that to “hope” is to look forward to something with anticipation. “Hope” can also be some relief from a situation that isn’t quite here yet. I know a couple of women named “Hope” but that’s not what I’m talking about. 

Hope for me is aiming for a goal. I exercise faith and start doing things that lead to fulfilling the goal. The key tends to be that faith. 

 In the book of Hebrews in the Bible the writer says that “faith is the evidence of things not seen”. I like the Message transliteration of the Bible for Hebrews 11:1-2: The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.” (https://www.bible.com/en-GB/bible/97/heb.11.MSG)

It’s so hard when we can't see any evidence of God from where we are here in this life. But it helps to put your hope in something. And you will put your hope in something. 

Hope is like a chair. You can see the chair, see how it’s built, touch it to know it’s real. You hope it will hold you up. 

But faith is like sitting in the chair. Until you actually let the chair support your weight you haven't really put any faith into believing it will hold you up. 

Because of our instant feedback/instant access/instant gratification nowadays I find it challenging to exercise faith today.  I choose over and over to put my faith in God. I hope you do, too. 

Bonus material:

Pentatonix "Mary Did You Know" 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifCWN5pJGIE

Bible Project video on hope

https://youtu.be/4WYNBjJSYvE

YouVersion Bible app

https://www.bible.com/app

Advent 2022 - Peace

 

My music tastes have changed. I used to be the one playing loud music as I pulled up in my car, speakers blaring. Some sort of rock and roll, pop, or dance music, never country or metal (except for Quiet Riot, they were fun!). 

As I’ve gotten older I’ve learned that I still prefer to have music going, but not the loud stuff. I don’t like saying “What?” all the time when someone tries to talk over the music, and the beat tends to get me closer to that anger trigger point I’m trying to avoid, so I’ve turned the music down and changed what I listen to. 

But when I'm talking with someone I still like to have background instrumental music going. Less distracting than the loud music yet it still helps me not hear them breathing and making other bodily noises. 

As I’ve gotten older I’ve learned that habitual actions bring me peace. You could call them “rituals” if you want to use that word, though I tend to shy away from that characterization of what I do. 

Action stacks is something one of my online gurus used to talk about in his posts. He encouraged people to make checklists and use them even if you “knew’ how to do something so that you would hopefully not waste time solving the same problems over and over and become more successful. 

I find comfort in the known steps. Almost like grooves in my head smoothed out over time as I repeat those steps again and again. Less like a record player, more like a path through the woods. 

I wonder how much peace Jesus had as a baby? If he was fully God and fully man did he have to learn to control the tendency to just make things like milk and food? 

I imagine he was comforted by the repeated love and care his family gave him. 

I pray that you find peace during this Advent season. 

Bonus material: 

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel - The Piano Guys

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO7ySn-Swwc

Bible Project video on Peace

https://youtu.be/oLYORLZOaZE

Advent 2022 - Joy

 

I love to read! My mother instilled that in me at an early age by reading bedtime stories to me and my brother and by encouraging me to keep a book with me whenever I could. 

I try to read a little every night before going to sleep. I’m not always successful (married), but I enjoy mysteries and adventure books at night, self-help/improvement and history books during the day (not a lot of history, sometimes it’s just not fun :-), and of course current events/informative books by conservative authors. Although I do mix in more liberal authors to stay in touch with what they’re saying. 

One of my favorite authors for the past several years has been Mary Roach. She was a “science reporter” for some newspaper out there and wrote books with catchy titles about offbeat subjects that I’ve wondered about but never wanted to spend the time researching. “Gulp” was a favorite - it was about how the digestive tract works and the history of learning these things, which was a fun romp through lots of history. 

Another favorite of mine has been Lee Child, the author of the Jack Reacher series of books. Jack Reacher is one of my favorite fictional characters of all time! Lee Child seems to be handing the series off to his brother, which brings a different style, but it’s a fun series of books that I’ve enjoyed. 

What I’ve learned is that sharing things enhances the joy, even deepens it. But others are not always ready to receive what I’m trying to share :-)

It's challenging to relate all of this to the Bible, but here goes:

The wise men as well as every practicing Jewish person had read or heard the stories of the coming of the Messiah.

The joy they must have felt when they thought about what was coming must have been amazing! But also very different from our joy about Jesus. For us it seems like just a tired old story that needs some modern glitz to make it attractive. But I still find it a compelling story when I look past the glitz and hype. 

The angels that announced Jesus' birth must have been singing from joy. They knew him already, had spent so much "time" singing and praising about him and with him that it spilled over into the sky on the night of his birth! 

To me they were sharing the joy they felt about who Jesus is/was/would be. 

I hope you find joy in this season as we prepare for the birth celebration.

Bonus stuff: 

Pentatonix - Joy to the World

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXAWz1jwCow

            

Bible Project video on Joy 

https://youtu.be/qvOhQTuD2e0

Gulp by Mary Roach

https://www.amazon.com/Gulp-Adventures-Alimentary-Mary-Roach-ebook/dp/B00AN86JZ4/ref=sr_1_1?crid=KCXP0G0KX7KJ&keywords=gulp+mary+roach+book+kindle&qid=1670079850&sprefix=gulp+mary+roach%2Caps%2C1093&sr=8-1

Advent 2022 - Love

This year I’ve been getting to know someone new. He’s an older guy at work, which is pretty funny since I’m one of the oldest people there now. He is an engineer with lots of high-power experience around the world. He lost his wife of over 30 years earlier this year, then three months later one of his stepsons killed himself. 

This guy loves to read and is pursuing weird subjects, which is right up my alley. He started studying who wrote the Bible - the actual humans, not the Creator of the Universe. He is studying Egyptian knowledge about electricity, remote viewing (which sounds like astral projection), and other things that are a little far out there, even for me. 

A popular saying right now is "Love God, Love Others". Bob Goff's books "Love Does" and others are great reads. I like his writings so much that I've tried to listen to a reading from his devotional "Living in Grace, Walking in Love" each night this past year. I enjoy it but I always worry about stuff like this because of where the Bible teaches not to boil it down to catchy phrases. 

        

There are so many ways to show love to people. One of my favorite ways is to listen to people. In a world with opinions and advertising blaring everywhere listening is sometimes hard but helps me and hopefully helps who I'm listening to. (Like my engineer friend.)

I pray that you find ways to show and experience the love of God this Christmas season!

Bonus stuff: 

Pentatonix “Prayers for this world”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzav80_4kao&list=PLaONuT5QUpidKOBovDhtfzfs8XUndW-8J

Bible Project video on love

https://youtu.be/HV_LUs2lnIQ

Bob Goff’s “Love Does” book:

https://www.amazon.com/Love-Does-Discover-Secretly-Incredible-ebook/dp/B0078FA8HU/ref=sr_1_6?crid=2RVITKA108RA4&keywords=bob+goff+books&qid=1669388712&sprefix=bob+goff%2Caps%2C535&sr=8-6

Okra and gumbo ~

Over the past few years I've tried to change my diet so that I eat more vegetables. It's part of the whole "getting healthier" thing that we tend to do as we get older.

My tastes have changed. I used to hate V-8 but now I can drink and actually enjoy it. I used to dislike the taste of green bell peppers but I've eaten the sweet red and yellow and orange peppers enough to where the green bell peppers taste okay to me now. I still prefer them cooked instead of raw but they taste okay.

One of the dishes that I like to make is roasted brussel sprouts. And I really like it! Which surprises me a lot. When I was growing up the only brussel sprouts that I knew came in TV dinners and they were mushy nasty things that I always skipped. But roasted brussel sprouts where they're just getting soft in their little crispy on the outside are delicious to me now. Throw in some mushrooms, onions, and red peppers not the spicy kind and it makes for a really delicious dish!

Recently I wanted to try something different. So I asked my wife to pick up some fresh okra if she could on her next grocery run. And she did.

I love okra when it's fried, but I don't really like okra in a soup or a gumbo. So I cut up the okra into the pieces like I get when they fry it, coated them with some olive oil and spices, and then roasted them like I do the brussel sprouts. They turned out delicious! Good flavor with the whole full okra taste, no sliminess, just goodness. I could've cooked them a little bit longer because some of the pieces were little tough to chew, but that probably explains why most people put them into a soup or gumbo.

It was funny because I was telling a friend from Louisiana about that. He laughed and asked if I knew what the word "gumbo" meant. He told me that okra was one of the few vegetables that was brought over from Africa and is mostly grown in the South. He said that the word "gumbo" is derived from the African word for okra. And so gumbo means okra. He laughed and he said so when people say that they like gumbo but they don't really like the okra he knows that they don't really know the meaning of the word gumbo and the history of the vegetable. Very funny!

Give roasting okra a try. It turned out really well! 400 for 45 minutes in a cast iron skillet worked well for me. Enjoy!

Driving the older car ~

Growing up I watched my dad drive the older car instead of the new one. When we were in Hawaii I remember he bought a Datson when there weren't very many Datsons out there. He spent many weekends tinkering with the car trying to get the distributor cap to work properly and making sure the engine ran because it was not in great shape. It was a very old so I didn't understand very much of what he was doing but I knew he said a lot of bad words while he was doing it.

The only time I remember him having a new or newish car was when we had a Ford Gran Torino. It was a big car but because it was a two-door it was hard for me and my little brother to get in and out of the back seat. We ended up taking a road trip with my grandmother in that car out to the Grand Canyon and back. My dad drove almost the entire time, Grandma was in the front passenger seat taking video with her movie camera of almost every interstate sign that we passed. My brother was six years younger than me so he was probably about four years old or maybe three. Mom sat in the backseat with us, my brother stretched out with his head in her lap. He slept most the time, that left me to sit in the middle between the bucket seats on all watching everything passed by. It was fun!

As I got into my teens we got a Volkswagen Bug. It was an old 1968 model that dad called "Hitler's Revenge" because it never ran right. No air conditioning, corner vent windows that you turned to get the wind as you were flying down the highway. It was fun to drive! I learned how to push a car and pop the clutch to get the engine started in that Volkswagen.

Dad ended up taking my old Ford Pinto when I moved up from it to a Subaru hatchback. I ended up buying the Subaru brand-new but being a four-cylinder engine Dad didn't think it would support air conditioning so I drove around Central Florida with no air conditioning for a couple of years.

But he drove that Ford Pinto for years until it stopped working. He didn't like that car but he drove it.

When he got a truck he bought an old Chevy pickup truck with a manual transmission and the shifter on the steering column. No air conditioning in that, but he loved driving the truck. He drove it all over the place and ended up driving it on a road trip to Tennessee and back.

As he got older he finally bought a new vehicle, a Mercury Grand Marquis. It was smooth and he enjoyed driving ita lot. After he died I got to drive that car for a little while and even though it was older it was still a smooth ride.

Through all of that my dad taught me that driving older vehicles is okay and usually saves money. Good lesson!