“So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.”
‭‭John‬ ‭1:14‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Twice today overcome across this passage. And both times I could feel the way these words bring immediate peace to me. Just hearing them calms the riot of thoughts in my head, stills the emotions and worries in my heart, makes my breathing slower, more even. 

 It’s like I can hear God whispering through these words: all shall be well – all manner of things shall be made well. 

This is an important thing at this time of year and at the moment in human history. As we journey towards Christmas, things only grow busier and more stressful. There is so much to be done, and time seems to speed up. As we look around us, the world is a bit of a mess: there are wars, terrorist attacks, mass shootings, natural disasters. 

It would be easy to lose any sense of peace we might have. But the words at the beginning of the Gospel According to John tell us to slow down, to relax, to trust that the unfailing love and faithfulness present in the Christ child is still among us now as God leads us onward. 

And in doing that – in putting our trust in the One who deserves it – we find that peace that passes understanding. It may not make sense to others, but in Jesus we find our peace. 

This Advent, may the words that bring you peace come to you just at the moment you most need them. And may they remind you to trust the God who became like one of us in order to reconcile is to Him.  

 

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭9:6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Yesterday was the Advent Sunday of Peace. Our Advent journey continues. We draw ever nearer to the celebration of the birth – that moment when God took on flesh and moved into the neighborhood. 

Advent is a time of waiting. A time of thoughtful preparation. This week, we contemplate peace – what it means, why we need it, how God desires it for us and what God requires of us that we might be peace-makers. 

Jesus is named in ancient prophecies as the Prince of Peace. He is the one whose leadership, whose example, whose words and deeds we can look to, if we sincerely want to learn to be peace makers. 

Jesus gave up a perfect existence in heaven, to put on frail human skin, to be limited in a time and a place, to ultimately be beaten, humiliated, crucified. Because in this way – in choosing our salvation over his comfort, our need over his right, our freedom over his own – peace was made between humanity and God. 

Peace isn’t easy. It demands that we die to ourselves. That we choose the way of the Prince of Peace. That we give up all the things we might feel entitled to, in order to give someone else what they need. 

But peace is worth it. 

As our Advent journey continues, may you know the Prince of Peace chose to die in your place. May you see Him with clear eyes and a clear heart. And may you find ways to BE him to those around you. 

  

““But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”
Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time
when she who is in labor bears a son,
and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites.
He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they will live securely,
for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth.”

‭‭Micah‬ ‭5:2-4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I had the pleasure of being at a Christmas concert at Clarkson Road Presbyterian Church in Mississauga last night. Jacob Moon and Ali Matthews were playing. I have loved Jacob’s music for many years now. But Ali was new to me. And I adored her. 

My favourite moment came when Ali sang a song a Capella called “One Small Child.” (Yes, that’s a link, check it out on YouTube!)

The song gave me chills. I reminded me of a line from the Lord of the Rings. Near the beginning of Return of the King, Gandalf says, “All our hopes rest now on two little hobbits, somewhere in the wilderness.” 

Sometimes the target of our hope is small: just two little hobbits, more more than three feet tall. Or a tiny child in a land of thousands, born in an Empire backwater. 

But when the aim of our hope is true, it doesn’t matter how small the target may be – wondrous things happen. In the case of the Lord of the Rings, those two small hobbits defeated Sauron, where all the armies of Middle Earth could not. 

In the case of the one small child, death itself was undone by his sacrifice and sin’s power washed away in his blood. 

God has a way of using what seems frightfully fragile – just a tiny human baby – to accomplish what seems immeasurably immense – the salvation of humanity. 

This Advent, may you know the joy of hoping in God – who takes what is fragile and accomplished through it, that which is mighty. 

  

“I waited patiently for the LORD to help me,
and he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the pit of despair,
out of the mud and the mire.
He set my feet on solid ground
and steadied me as I walked along.
He has given me a new song to sing,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see what he has done and be amazed.
They will put their trust in the LORD.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭40:1-3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The people of Israel would wait long years, centuries even, for their Messiah. And when he came, he would do so quietly. In a small town, in the dark of the night. The first witnesses to his glory, not the mighty and powerful, but a few guys who working the midnight shift of the lowliest job of their time. 

I wonder – did the people wait so patiently that they forgot they were waiting? That they didn’t notice the star shining over Bethlehem? That they weren’t ready to see the signs around them?

We wait during Advent. Some of us more patiently than others. But our waiting is expectant. It is active waiting. We wait while we observe the season: maybe we work through a daily devotional, maybe we pray some special prayers, maybe we take the time to blog daily, maybe we go to services and participate in study groups. However we go about it, as people of faith our waiting is not to be passive. It is to be almost anxious – as we keep our eyes trained on the One who is to come. 

As the days of Advent roll by, may you be actively waiting. May you never forget what it is we wait for – the coming of the King. And may you always find that hope in Him is what carries you through this season of waiting. 

  

“Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God.
“Speak tenderly to Jerusalem.
Tell her that her sad days are gone and her sins are pardoned.
Yes, the LORD has punished her twice over for all her sins.” Listen!
It’s the voice of someone shouting,
“Clear the way through the wilderness for the LORD!
Make a straight highway through the wasteland for our God!
Fill in the valleys, and level the mountains and hills.
Straighten the curves, and smooth out the rough places.
Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed,
and all people will see it together.
The LORD has spoken!”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭40:1-5‬ ‭NLT

I was reminded tonight that it matters what road you take. All of us have done this at some point: gotten on the highway intending to go to one place, only to find that we hadn’t been paying attention, and we’d ended up somewhere else entirely. 

Maybe we missed an exit, maybe we got on the wrong highway entension, maybe we got on the highway going east when we intended to go west. 

Whatever the reason, we got on the wrong road and it lead us somewhere we didn’t want to go. Life can be like that too. Our faith journey can be like that – if we don’t pay close attention, we can find ourselves miles from where we want to be. 

The people of Israel did this over and over again. The Old Testament is the story of God’s people wandering away from God – through inattention or pride or willfulness – and God calling them back to him again and again and again. 

I find hope in these stories – in the fact that God never gets to a point where enough is enough. He always has more time, more forgiveness, more love for his people. No matter what they have done or how they have wandered. 

And when the time was right, he sent his Son to be the final atonement for his willful, wandering, inattentive people. Jesus is the highway to our God – the straight path that leads to the One who created us. 

This Advent, may you be attentive, may you choose the right road, and may you find that you are traveling ever closer to God. 

  

“Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.
‭‭Malachi‬ ‭3:1‬ ‭NLT‬‬

This is the promise of God. That the messenger of the covenant is coming. That the one who IS the message, who IS the promise, who IS he covenant is coming. 

This is why we have hope – because God has promised us a new way, a new life. A life of salvation and freedom, of joy and peace, of love. Of hope. 

In these Advent days we wait. We wait for the coming of the messenger, for the coming of the new covenant, for the realization of our hope. 

We wait for Jesus to be born.

May you know the message Jesus embodied. May you know that your hope is realized in him. That a new way of life awaits each of us daily, as we put our trust in him. And may you rejoice even as you wait. 

  
 

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name.”

Psalm‬ ‭100:4‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The thing about good news is that it lifts you up. It makes a dark day brighter. It reminds you that you are right to live in hope. 

Even if it’s not your own good news. I heard from a friend today that he and his wife are expecting. It’s good news. It doesn’t directly affect my day to day life, but I am happy for my friends. I will be praying for them and looking forward to the day when the first pictures of the new child are shared. 

This good news reminds me that hope is a good way to live. That if I choose to live a life in which I find hope in the promises of God, that hope will be rewarded. Good news will happen. And with good news will come celebration.

The angelic announcements of the coming of the Messiah were very good news. And though they were sometimes met with uncertainty, with doubt, even with some fear – it’s been more than 2000 years and we are still celebrating the good news brought by the Angels. 

The birth of the Messiah, the coming of the King, is to be celebrated. Not just at this wonderful time of year, but daily. In good seasons and bad seasons, in easy times and difficult times, in the exciting moments and in the moments of dull routine. 

Because the Messiah, Jesus, is where our hope is found, where our salvation is found, where our freedom is found. 

May you – and I – remember daily to enter his gates with thanksgiving in our hearts, and enter his courts with praise. For the Messiah. For Jesus. For the very good news!

  

“Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has visited and redeemed his people.
He has sent us a mighty Savior
from the royal line of his servant David,
just as he promised through his holy prophets long ago.
Now we will be saved from our enemies
and from all who hate us.
He has been merciful to our ancestors
by remembering his sacred covenant—
the covenant he swore with an oath to our ancestor Abraham.”
Luke‬ ‭1:68-73‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Today is the Advent Sunday of Hope. The beginning of my favourite season of the year. A time of expectant waiting. A time in which we prepare for the birth of the saviour – for the coming of the King. 

The time of wonder has arrived. For us, living in today’s world, the time of wonder comes every year.  We mark it with celebrations. By lighting candles and stringing lights. By putting up special decorations. By taking part in traditions and rituals. By singing special songs. 

In Zechariah’s time it was announced by Heavenly messengers and signs of wonder: the barren Elizabeth bore a child who would prepare the way for the Messiah. 

If we are people of faith, we are called to live in hope. To allow our hope – centered in the promises of God revealed through the birth, life, teachings, death and resurrection of Jesus – to reach out and touch the world around us. To change the world around us. 

I wonder what you can do – what I can do – each day of Advent to show the hope that is in us to the world? Maybe a kind word, said at the right moment. Maybe a gesture of generosity to those in need. Maybe a healing hug for one in despair. 

The time of wonder has arrived. Let’s participate in the wonderful hope we have found in Jesus, and share it with the world around us. 

  

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. Hebrews 12:1 NLT

One of the amazing things about the journey of faith is that it is not done in isolation. There are always others involved. Sometimes a church community, sometimes a few friends, sometimes authors and songwriters and artists. Sometimes, you don’t have the faintest clue about how you’ve impacted the faith journey of another.

Andrew Peterson wrote this about the death of another singer/songwriter named Rich Mullins, whose music had a great impact on Peterson:

 Three Days Before Autumn, A cold winter came
Blew in on a telephone cord, when my friend went away
And I swear I heard thunder at the sound of his name
And he never even knew me at all,
But I loved him the same

(Andrew Peterson, Three Days Before Autumn

The first time I heard that song I was struck by the lines, “And he never even knew me at all, but I loved him the same.” I knew just what Peterson was saying. There are so many who don’t know I exist, but whom I love. I could make a list of preachers whose words have taught me from afar: Erwin McManus, Bruxy Cavey, Rob Bell, Andy Stanley, Christine Cain, Barabara Brown Taylor, John Ortberg – to name a few, and in no particular order.

I could make another list of singers, songwriters and bands whose music have brought me through the various dark nights of my soul: Ginny Owens, Michael W. Smith, Caedmon’s Call, Nichole Nordeman (who featured in yesterday’s post), Larry Norman, Third Day, Casting Crowns.

All of these speakers and singers have been witnesses – surrounding me with works telling of God’s love, God’s mercy, God’s grace. God has used each of them to teach me, to encourage me, to continue the process of faith formation in me.

But when it comes to Andrew Peterson – well, he’s kind of my favourite. There’s something about the lyrics he writes and the way he composes music. I can’t tell you exactly what it is – all I know is that his music speaks directly to me. I’ve never seen him perform live, I’ve never really interacted with him. He doesn’t even know me at all. But I love him the same.

So I am excited (so excited!) for his new cd, The Burning Edge of Dawn, to release on October 9th. If you’re interested, go to the Rabbit Room website – you can pre-order the cd (and receive an instant download of three of the songs from the album -they’re beautiful!). You can also poke around the site and find many other witnesses whose art, music, and writing may just point you to God’s love, God’s mercy and God’s grace.

On your journey, may you also be surrounded by witnesses whose encouragement will help you run with endurance the race that God has set before us.

It’s been a long while – too long a while – since I posted on my blog. Summer is an easy time to be distracted by other things – the slower pace, the gorgeous weather, books to read, movies to see, ice coffees to be sipped. And I fully admit to having spent a season of distraction.

But today is September first. September means the beginning of fall (I know it doesn’t officially begin until late in the month!). All the stores are suddenly stocking sweaters and boots and scarves. The decor sections are festooned with golden and burnt orange and crimson leaves. There are back-to-school supplies EVERYWHERE.

The season is changing. Fall has always held a special place in my heart. There is something a little sad, and a whole lot beautiful about this season. There is a wistfulness in the loss of Summer and the approach of winter. There is a glory in the colors that explode on the trees and the bounty of harvest as all becomes ripe for the feast.

The truth is – every season has its beauty, it’s gifts, if one will open their eyes to see them.

I love what Nichole Nordman sings in her song, Every Season: “Still, I notice You when change begins, and I am braced for colder winds…”

The “You,” of course, is God. And if we would open our eyes – He is indeed all around. Present in every season. Palpable in the beauty of creation, unmistakable in times of joy, consoling in times of loss, sometimes silent in times of struggle, but always, always, always WITH US.

So as the season changes, I pray that you and I will open our eyes. That we will see God all around us. That our hearts might be strengthened and our faith deepened by all places that we notice Him.

I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!
If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave, you are there.
If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me.
I could ask the darkness to hide me
and the light around me to become night—
but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
Darkness and light are the same to you.
Psalm 139:7-16 NLT