Pray for All Persecuted This Holiday

Sergey Ponomarev/New York Times

HT: Nicholas Kristof

As we celebrate the holidays, let’s remember that this is one of those savage epochs when some families must choose between their faith and their lives. It is an echo of when Nero burned Christians alive, or when self-described Christians unleashed pogroms against Jews.

This article has some sobering truths about the religious persecution happening worldwide right now. And not just against Christians, but also Yazidis, Mandeans, Bahai, and Muslims. Christ have mercy. We should also be thankful for World Relief, whose work is mentioned positively in this article.

"Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother, and in His name all oppression shall cease."

Star Wars Weather Puns

The Brutally Honest Christmas Letter

HT: D.L. Mayfield

Hello! Greetings from the Mayfields. This was our hardest year ever, and we still haven't recovered!

In the past year we:

Left our mission organization. I experienced a traumatizing pregnancy and birth and nearly died. Our baby was born a month early and had to be hospitalized for several scary days at 6 weeks old. We moved across the country and said goodbye to amazing friends and jobs. We put our daughter through a hell of a lot of transition. Our baby never did learn to sleep very good.  Our van broke down never to be resurrected. We moved to the outer edges of Portland, a food-and-culture desert. We moved into a cramped, loud, chaotic apartment complex. Our upstairs neighbors drove their car into my daughter's bedroom. My husband got a job but it is taking forever to get back on our feet financially. Every month we hope that this time we won't qualify for food stamps, but it hasn't happened yet. My anxiety got so bad my body decided to get depressed in order to "fix things." I wrestled with my book manuscript, but it's hard to edit when you are sad and aren't sleeping and have little people to care for. We became very isolated, partly on purpose, partly because we didn't have the energy to reach out to old friends.

You can read the rest.

Star Wars and Nostalgia

HT: Andrew Barber

Thanks to Charles Taylor’s work A Secular Age, I’ve come to believe the most important question about big entertainment is not “what is this movie/videogame/album about?” but “what is it for?” I don’t think we need another article analyzing the nitty-gritty thematic details of Star Wars. It is a simple, well-told tale of good versus evil with memorable characters and mammoth effects.

What I’m interested in is the function of Star Wars. When thousands of fans line up outside of theaters on December 17 to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens (of which I will be one), what will it be for?

Primarily to have a good time, yes. But also, and perhaps more importantly, Star Wars will be helping fans to forget two things: the loss of childhood and the tragic version of adulthood we’ve received in its place.

You can read the rest.

The Year Jesus Was Born

HT: Philip Jenkins

Scholars differ on the exact birthdate of Jesus of Nazareth, though a fair consensus holds that it was not in the year 1. Many favor a date in or around 4BC, and for the sake of argument, let us take that as accurate. If so, the birth occurred during or near a truly dreadful time in the history of what was already a troubled and turbulent land. Although these events are familiar to scholars, they are not at all well known by non-specialists. This is unfortunate, because memories of this crisis certainly shaped memories and perceptions for decades afterwards, and conditioned attitudes during Jesus’s lifetime. If we don’t understand those conflicts, we are missing the prehistory of the earliest Jesus Movement.

You can read the rest.

The Promised Land For Rent

Well, this can't be good . . .

HT: Ed Stetzer

What Would Jesus Want For Christmas?

HT: Chelsea Patterson

Honestly, I’ve never really thought about what Jesus desires for the Christmas season until recently. Across the world, the Christmas story will be read, and discussions of keeping the Christ in Christmas (as cheesy as that sounds), will be had among Christmas.

If Christmas is all about Christ, what does He desire for the Advent season?

• Does He want us to put up nice trees?

• Does He want us to buy presents for one another?

• Does He want us to perform “good” deeds during this season?

• Does He want another Christmas pageant of musical?

The answer to what Jesus wants for Christmas is found in John 17:24.

“Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you have loved me before the foundation of the world.”

You can read the rest.