A Different Way: Holidays

Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts

Defending the Innkeeper at Christmas

Last week, Family Matters published a guest post of mine, called Don't Despise the Faithful Innkeeper. In this last weekend before Christmas, I figured it was worth promoting again.

Why? Because despite most of us being on vacation from school and work, the days are about to get busy. Really busy, and really hectic. And if you are hosting family and friends, you'll probably feel like an overworked and under-appreciated innkeeper.

Remember the innkeeper from the Bible, in the Christmas story? Of course you don't, because he's not in there. There is only an allusion to him in Luke 2:7.

And yet we look down and despise him in all our Christmas plays and stories. And it's time we stop.

Let's look at the innkeeper in a new light. And let's remember that just as he was faithful right where God had him, God has you in a very important role, too.

Read Don't Despise the Faithful Innkeeper, and be encouraged.

Related Links:

Preparing for Christmas

In case you don't follow 80 (seriously?) blogs and news sites like I do, here's a compilation of some great resources about Christmas:

Let Us Adore Him (David Mathis). "Christmas is not first about witness, but about worship... But beware your standard of who can come in worship. At Jesus’s own birth, it wasn’t the squeaky-clean, religious elites of biblical faith who bowed the knee in worship."

Christmas Generosity (Dave Bruskas). During the Christmas season, I must remember to be generous to my family, my church, and the world.

Make This Christmas Unforgettable for Your Children (Christine Hoover). A great reminder for all of us who feel the pressure to perform and make things "perfect" for our families.

Rethinking Santa (Tony Rienke). John Piper strongly cautions parents to not include Santa Claus in their Christmas traditions, and I think he gives good reasons why. (However, we have had great friends that do include Santa, and I think they have good reasons why, too.)

A Stress-Free Christmas: 5 Ways to Keep Santa in the Season (Christy Thomas). On a lighter note about Santa, please read this with the understanding that it was written with tongue-in-cheek!

5 Ways to Love Your Neighbor During Christmas (Ryan Kearns).

Listen
Draw near
Take the first step
Be inconvenienced
Endure

Advent: The Need (Paul Tripp). What makes the Christmas story so wonderful is the extent and depth of our brokenness.

The Presence of Advent (Jeremy Writebol). "As we increasingly consider God with us, we must ask ourselves are we displaying this reality to the world? Are we showing lonely people God with us by our presence with them?"

Life Decisions: Pick Two

From the Doghouse Diaries. Can you relate to these life decisions?

One way out is to have an army of children who you then could put to work. Hmmm...

My Commentary: In this context, shouldn't picking "children" count as two picks?

Perhaps Doghouse Diaries answered their own question with this illustration:

Or this one: Why I have no free time.

Deviled Eggs

I'm at my in-laws for Thanksgiving. Which means there will be deviled eggs. For them, not for me.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Being Missional on Black Friday and Christmas

My safe bet of the year: The holiday season will fly by.

We'll rush around, and we'll strain to fit in all the errands, shopping, and visiting we want to do. And come January, we'll wonder how the holidays zoomed past us.

I'm definitely putting myself in this same category. So, I want to encourage you (and myself) to slow down and be intentional this season, from Thanksgiving to Black Friday to Christmas (and if you are in the Espinosa family, you also have 3 birthdays and an anniversary to thrown in there).

Want to join me? Here are some articles that have me thinking along these lines, and I hope they'll inspire you, too.

When Black Friday Becomes a Mission
Among Christian circles, you either feel like bashing Black Friday or joining in the fun. Jon Bloom gives us a better option: redeem it by approaching it with a God-centered mindset. Particularly, he encourages us to:

Make it generous. "Loving generosity is a beautiful thing, and God loves it if it is fueled by faith."
Make it restrained. First give to the poor, and do not go into debt.
Make it about Jesus. "Make Black Friday about more than shopping. Make it a kingdom mission." And I love this idea, "Bless the harried cashier."

The Christmas Conundrum
The general standard my wife and I have followed is an idea we got from the couple that did our premarital counseling: Buy each of the children one small, personal gift, and then buy a bigger thing for them all to enjoy. As our children have gotten older, we've altered "the big thing" to be an experience that we all get to enjoy, such as some sort of mini-vacation (this was an idea from another mentor years ago).

Along these lines, Jen Hatmaker wrote a long post, in which she explains (among other things) five categories of gifts their children receive. It's another idea worth your consideration:

Something you want
Something you need
Something to wear
Something to read
Something to give

3 Gifts to Give Your Kids This Christmas
Not the same type of gifts I've just been talking about. John Murchison reminds of these very important things that our children really need:

The gift of yourself
The gift of giving
The gift of knowing God

Above all else, will you give your children these gifts over the next month?

What We Get Wrong About Gift Giving
Challenging words from Dorothy Greco:

"I was confronted with the reality that I did sometimes buy gifts for the wrong reasons. As any of you who are parents or caregivers know, raising kids has a tendency to uncover our insecurities. . . . Without being aware of it, I bought to assuage my fear and feelings of inadequacy."

And for good measure, a couple of articles from this blog along these same lines:

**image courtesy of TACLUDA via rgbstock.com

Preparing for Thanksgiving

Here are some articles which can equip you to better lead your family this Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving, Thanksfeeling, and the Glory of God
A great reminder that we need to be continually driven by faith and repentance.

"Authentic heart-feelings are not in our control. We can’t make ourselves feel thankfulness. If our hearts are not moved by God’s goodness, we are ungrateful. Thankfeelings are a work of grace."

The True Story of Thanksgiving
Don't just focus on a single-day event. The ultimate story is about Creation - Sin - Redemption - Worship.

Puritans and Pilgrims
If you want to focus on more recent history, here's a great article. By no means were the Puritans and Pilgrims perfect. But I appreciate their over-arching sense of purpose:

"The Puritan vision of the Pilgrims saw the rule of Jesus Christ as extending over all aspects of culture. Nothing was considered secular, but rather everything from work to leisure was sacred and to be done unto the Lord."

5 Simple Ways to Have a Missional Thanksgiving
From Seth McBee and the Verge Network:

Write down and share what you are thankful for.
Play football in your neighborhood.
Include someone else in your dinner.
Party. Celebrate.
Help others, but don't rely on what you think needs to be done. Ask them. "Think partnership, not merely benevolence."

"Are They Pilgrims?"
A personal favorite, because it's about my daughter.

Thanksgiving Devotional
You can sign up for this free devotional from Paul Tripp.

Do you have any other resources to share? Let us know in the comments.

Favorite Tweets from October

I hope you get a monster amount of candy for Halloween. Or just because it's Friday. Whatever reason you need.

Here's another treat for you -- some of my favorite tweets that you may have missed this past month.

From Others:

@FallonTonight: A Russian group nominated Putin for a Nobel Peace Prize. "I'm all about peace," Putin said. "Piece of Ukraine, piece of Poland…" #fallonmono

@Jonnie_W: Just met @DrGaryChapman in an elevator, and I got flustered. Hope he knows my Love Language® is sweaty palms.

@BurkParsons: In his sermon on the mount Jesus demanded perfect righteous of us, in his death on the mount he fulfilled it for us.

@JoeWaters_GVL: "Childhood poverty gets biologically embedded." - Dr Gorski

@JamieTheVWM: Maybe we should stop saying "Jesus loves you." and start saying "I love you. Jesus taught me how."

@TheFatherEffect: Your kids learn about grace by watching you give it to others. #TheFatherEffect

From Me:

To boost young brains, get kids to #exercise. http://buff.ly/1nf5UMw #education

Definitely a good sign --> "As overtesting outcry grows, #education leaders pull back on standardized tests." http://buff.ly/1qKK5R2

Another reason why @AstronautAbby should be the first to go to Mars! http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science... #NASA

Will this video inspire students to go into #STEM-related careers? #Chemistry is beautiful!! http://buff.ly/1sGruZq

A little encouragement for the football coaches at Greenville High. @McDonalds http://ift.tt/1DxsPqp

Halloween 2014

I go through this every year. I filter through articles about Halloween and hear feedback about how other Christian families approach this holiday.

This is it for me. I will not write about Halloween on this blog next year. I've probably said and written enough, and I'm sure I've linked to a plethora of other bloggers. Don't believe me? Check out what I posted in . . .

2013: Weighing the Options (includes a really funny comic from Doghouse Diaries)
2012: Thoughts on Halloween for a Christian Parent
2011: Halloween Thoughts
2009: Halloween

From this, you can tell how we feel about Halloween. It's fun for our children, but mostly we use it as another opportunity to connect with our neighbors and community. We look forward to doing that again this year, especially since we've just moved into this neighborhood 3 months ago.

Want More?

But maybe you can't get enough. So, here are some other great articles I've come across.

Halloween on Mission (Grace Church Kids). Includes a link to another great article from Desiring God.

Halloween Is Not Important (The Resurgence). "Your standing before God doesn’t change depending on what you do on October 31. To be honest, it doesn’t change no matter what you do any day of the year."

3 Tips for Discipling Your Kids Through Halloween (Verge Network). Remember these three crucial parenting principles: 1) Every decision is an opportunity for discipleship, 2) Do not fear, and 3) We are all on the same team.

Halloween -- From a Christian Parents Perspective (Family Matters). "You can choose to set limits on what your family will do or not do (like I do in mine). The Spirit will lead you. The one thing we simply can’t do is withdraw and surrender the day to the powers of darkness."

Where Did Halloween Come From? Can a Christian Celebrate It? (Center for Apologetics and Research Ministry). Just what the title says!

Candy Rapping! (DeStorm Power). OK. This is just for fun. It's your reward for making it through this list of blog posts.

That's a lot of articles! Just pick a couple to read and work through. And then spend time after Halloween thinking and discussing what you'd like to do differently next year.

Missing the Point of Rosh Hashanah

Our shofar, a ram-horn trumpet blown on Rosh Hashanah / Yom Teru'ah

If you have any Jewish friends (or family), you probably know that Rosh Hashanah begins this year on the evening of September 24. What you may not know is that how this holiday is celebrated (as the Jewish New Year) is not how it was originally intended.

Even more, your Jewish friends probably doesn't know this either.

Trumpets to New Year

Rosh Hashanah means "head of the year," and is celebreated on the first day of the Jewish month of Tishri. (The Hebrew calendar is a lunar-based calendar, with the first day of each month coming at the new moon.)

However, the origin of this holiday comes in Leviticus 23. At this point (vv. 23-25) it was called Yom Teru'ah, "day of trumpets." This was one of the seven major Feasts of the Old Testament. At that point, Tishri was the seventh month of the year, not the first. (For support of this, see v. 5, which puts the first month in the spring, when Passover was celebrated.)

What happened to make this shift? The most common explanation I've heard is that it came at the time of Hebrew exile in Babylon and Persia. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I was told that one or both of those cultures had their new year in the fall (around the time of Tishri), and that when the Jews were in exile, they adopted that cultural practice.

Others say that the religious calendar begins in the spring, and the civil calendar begins in the fall (at Rosh Hashanah). But nowhere is this taught in the Hebrew Bible. In fact, the one time the term rosh hashanah is used (in Ezekiel 40), it most likely refers to the a day in the spring.

Either of these explanations misses the point of Yom Teru'ah.

Missing the Point

The defining moment of this Feast was the blowing of a ram's horn, or shofar. The holiday of Yom Teru'ah was ordained by God as a time to get the attention of Israel (as a loud blowing of a ram's horn would do), and to gather them for the Feast of Yom Kippur. In that solemn day, a great atoning sacrifice would be made for the whole nation of Israel. For most observant Jews (then and today), Yom Kippur is the most serious holiday of the year, as you can imagine. Therefore, Yom Teru'ah should be, too.

But nowadays, Yom Teru'ah (or Rosh Hashanah) is just a time to wish each other a "Happy New Year." We have completely missed the point! We have moved from a focus on giving attention, glory, and worship to the great Adonai, to giving each other sweet pleasantries.

I shouldn't be surprised. After all, at one time I was blinded to these truths, and to the truths about Yeshua Ha'Mashiach ("Jesus the Messiah"). And Jesus predicted the same (in John 12):

“He who believes in Me, does not believe in Me but in Him who sent Me. He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me. I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness." (vv. 44-46)

I was once in this darkness, and by the grace of the Lord, I am in the light. And now, I feel burdened for my Jewish family and friends who are in the darkness and don't see the truth about the Messiah.

Missing the point about Rosh Hashanah or any other holiday is a symptom of the bigger issue of missing the truth about Jesus. I didn't always feel this weight, but God has grown it in my heart (as I explained in this post).

Does God Have Your Attention?

Most Jews today are anticipating the coming of the Messiah. And when I was growing up and attended Hebrew private school, I was taught that the Messiah would only come when there was peace on earth. The goal, therefore, was to work really hard to bring about this peace.

But this, too, misses the point. We sinful humans can never overcome evil on our own. It's not that the Messiah will come when we get everything right in this world.

The truth is that He has come already, as a suffering servant, to get us right with God. We don't need a shofar to get our attention. What should get our attention are the truths that God is holy, and we are sinners.

And we definitely need more than pleasant well-wishes.We need faith in the great atoning sacrifice of God's Son, the Messiah, as the only way to bridge the gap between God's holiness and our sinful nature.

Related Links:

Do Your Children Labor?

Earlier this month, government officials in Canada ordered a farm to stop using child labor. But this isn't your typical case of exploitation.

The children in question were the children of the farm owners. That's right -- what may be considered household responsibilities or chores, was now deemed illegal.

(After a large public outcry, the decision was reversed.)

Here's a great commentary on Canada's child labour pandemic. (It's a joke! And you'll love it.)

For more on responsibilities (and allowances), check out this post.

I hope you have a restful Labor Day weekend!

Patriotism and the Church

Between Memorial Day and Flag Day and Independence Day, thousands of churches across the US have celebrated (or will celebrate this coming Sunday) some sort of "patriotic day" during their weekend services.

And I think it's entirely wrong.

No, I'm not a communist (probably what I would have been accused over 50 years ago). And I'm not against asking God to bless America.

I think "patriotic days" are wrong in that they miss the point of what a church service should be about. A worship service needs to be focused on glorifying Jesus, not praising a government. The sanctuary is where worship takes place, not where patriotism takes place.

"Every element of the worship service should direct our focus to the praise and worship of God, so I felt that this song ["Proud to Be an American"] had no place in the time of worship since it primarily exalts the nation." Matthew Kelley (Arlington UMC, Nashville)

Church vs Government

I don't believe that it is inherently sinful to be patriotic, and I definitely think that today's liberal understanding of the "separation of church and state" has been misinterpreted and wrongly applied.

But in promoting Sunday morning patriotism, many churches draw a sharp line between the "holy" church and a "pagan" government. They reflect back (with a biased viewpoint) on days when there was a "Christian America" (though I don't think there ever was one). And in defense, they want to form a safe huddle under a steeple.

The problem is that we don't see this separation (holy people vs pagan government) in the Bible. We see Mordecai go out of his way to do the right thing and save the life of a pagan king (Esther 2:21-23); and later, we see God use this righteous deed for an even greater good.

And more specifically, Paul (in Romans 13) commanded the early church to submit to the government's laws. Peter told them to honor the king. But did the early church celebrate "patriotic days"? And if they did, should they have?

I don't think so, in either case.

For Jesus, or For Country?

Yes, Christians should be engaged in the political process, in love and humility. But let's not just pull in Jesus and attach him to our patriotic and political leanings.

Our primary citizenship is in God's kingdom, not under any government on earth. And when we sing the 4th stanza of My Country, 'Tis of Thee or the 3rd stanza of The Battle Hymn of the Republic, we must remember that Jesus really is focused on liberty. But He is most concerned with our spiritual liberty from sin, and not any physical or political liberty. Don't you remember what he did first for this paralyzed man?

So, should a church choose to recognize some sort of patriotic day? Maybe. Maybe it's not such a big deal. In itself, that's neither wrong or right.

However, it might point to a bigger picture of what that church deeply believes about the supremacy of Christ. Church members in the US need to remember that before they are American, they are Christian.

When we promote patriotism, we may be

sending out a confusing message to the saved and unsaved,
missing an opporunity to equip Christians, and
neglecting a proper focus for the worship service.

I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments: Did your church celebrate a "patriotic day"?

Related Links:

Good-Bye, Christian America
Liberty
Born Again on the Fourth of July (Desiring God)

**image courtesy of bosela via sxc.hu

Easter: The Crux of the Matter

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you'll agree with me that Easter is no more about fluffy bunnies, plastic eggs, and chocolate than Christmas is about cute angels, decorated trees, and chocolate. This is our baseline.

And we have to remember that Easter is not about the disciples who abandoned Jesus, or the criminals crucified next to Him, or the women who came to the tomb -- just like Christmas is not about the shepherds, wise men, or even Joseph and Mary.

Easter is about Jesus. And not just Jesus in general, but about how He was resurrected from the dead.

What's the Big Deal?

Why am I making such as fuss about this? Maybe it's because we once went to a Good Friday service at a church where the focus was on the disciples. Jesus was never mentioned, not even one single time.

Maybe it's because of articles that I've read throughout the year (and especially this time of the year) that make a case that Jesus wasn't the Messiah, or never claimed to be God, or especially that He didn't rise from the dead.

Or maybe it's because of some of my most popular articles on my blog, which get lots of push-back from supposed intellectual atheists. For example:

How Do We Know That God Is Real? (including a response to my favorite comment from an atheist)
"How Do You Know That Jesus Is Real?"
I Am a Six-Day Creationist

Regardless, this is a great time for us to remember that all of Christianity is based on one fact -- the literal resurrection of Jesus Christ. Different than any other belief system, Christianity is based on a historical event. Eliminate the event of the Resurrection, and you've nullified Christianity.

Paul, who authored more books of the Bible than anyone else, says this in I Corinthians:

¹²Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; ¹⁴and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. ¹⁵Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. ¹⁶For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; ¹⁷and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. ¹⁸Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. ¹⁹If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.

What's the Origin of the Passover Afikomen?

This year, the Jewish holiday of Passover begins on the evening of April 14. Since I'm the "token Jew" for many of my friends, I tend to get a lot of questions about holidays like this. And I'm happy to try to help.

Here's a question I got from a good friend of mine, who was a part of a leader training for a church-led Passover Seder, through Grace Church's Children's Ministry:

"I have a question about the afikomen -- the piece of matzah that's broken, wrapped up, and hidden. So, before Jesus, and in the regular Jewish passover, this has different meaning for us. Where did that come from, and what does it mean to non-Messianic Jews?"

She was referring to the part of the Passover Seder where one of the three pieces of matzah (unleavened bread) is broken, hidden away, and later found. In the Messianic Jewish perspective, the afikomen points to Jesus.

For non-Christian Jews, the afikomen is mostly used as a distraction for children, giving them a game of hide-and-seek when they finish their dinner. The finder gets a reward. (PS -- my Jewish grandfather used to always hide it under the pillow he was sitting on. ALWAYS.)

When Did the Afikomen Tradition Begin?

The funny thing about the Afikomen is that it probably wasn't in the original (before Christ) Seder. At the least, we don't see it in any Old Testament passages.

Afikomen is a GREEK word, not Hebrew. More than likely, it was brought in by Jewish Christians (who lived in a world that was predominately Greek-speaking), and the non-Christian Jews later adopted it.

I forget what most non-Christian (or, non-Messianic) Jews today say it means. Some say the three pieces of matzah represent Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Others say the Priests, Levites, and Israelites. Some say other things.

Afikomen means "that which comes after." But it's not just a dessert (unless you can find the honey and spice matzah -- that's good stuff!).

The three pieces of matzah represent the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The middle (the Son) is broken, as Jesus was on the cross. It is wrapped up and hidden, as Jesus was prepared for burial and place in a tomb. Later, it is rediscovered, just as God the Father raised Jesus from the dead.

Jesus is "that which comes after." He is the promised Messiah, and the early church added the afikomen to celebrate this truth.

Now for a Funny Story . . .

Years ago, we did a Passover Seder with some other families from our church. Besides helping to lead the Seder, I was in charge of getting the reward. I forgot to get something, and didn't realize it until we were at their house.

I had to run to the local convenience store to pick up ice, and thought about getting some candy for a reward for the child would would find the afikomen. But I had a better idea. I bought a lottery ticket.

The other co-leader was fine with this, but another guy's head was about to explode. Oh, well.

The child who found the afikomen was the son of a pastor at Grace Church. (Un)fortunately, the ticket was not a winner. I would have loved to see this boy interviewed by the news:

News Person: "How did you get this ticket, young man?"
Boy: "Well we were doing a Passover Seder with the church where my Dad is a pastor. And this Jewish guy who is a deacon at the church, he gave me this lottery ticket as a prize for finding the matzah, which is like Jesus' body."

People would have been so confused.

What about you? Does this explanation help? Or do you have any more questions? Let me know in the comments.

Related Links:

Celebrating Passover as a Messianic Jew
The Connection of Passover and Easter
From Christmas to Passover? (Grace Church Kids)

**First image: photo credit: Avital Pinnick via photopin cc

**Second image: photo credit: doncav via photopin cc

Favorite Tweets from March

The best parts of last month were not about me. Even most of my best-liked tweets (@EspinosaJoey) were snippets that I stole borrowed from others. And my most-liked picture on Instagram (@JoeyEspinosa) was from a play that I was not in.

Good.

Top Tweets from Others:

@servantlife: The most unloving thing a Christ follower can do is say nothing & do nothing. #GO http://www.servantlife.com

@Family_Matters: "Jesus seems more interested in finding the lost sheep than he is in why or how they got in that position." @TimKimmel #gracebasedparenting

@Arun_S_Andrews: The Gospel doesn't simply affect cultures it transforms them. May this season of Lent make way for deeper transformation in us & around us!

@JimThompson777: "Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance, but laying hold of His willingness." Martin Luther

@Lecrae: When you’re reminded that God owes you nothing you find yourself more grateful and less entitled.

@JonAcuff: "It's encouraging to see so many bars actively and vocally celebrating the sainthood of Patrick." Your most naive friend.

My Top Tweets:

Want to be more productive in the afternoon? Maximize your lunch break: 8 tips from @Buffer. http://buff.ly/1gNw7cG

Ten Things I Hate about Link Bait (via @BlimeyCow) http://buff.ly/P6zO5Y // Or in other words, "Why @Buzzfeed sucks."

Some things we considered in our decision to leave #AllendaleSC this summer... http://buff.ly/1fiHSKI

"Your best decision will happen AFTER you take the next step." & "We can have clarity without certainty." http://buff.ly/1epst6X #leadership

"We've lived in offense to a holy, righteous God, who reigns in justice. We deserve death for what we've done." @KyleIdleman #AHA #gospel

"Conceding a tightly held belief triggers our insecurities. Insecurities release our defense mechanisms." #ouch http://buff.ly/1kT8pS3

According to @teachingquality, all students need to write fiction. As an @NaNoWriMo novelist, I agree! http://buff.ly/1g1JbxX #education

Well, that was my final meeting with some great men in the prison whom I've been meeting with for 1.5 years. #myeyeswatering

Tell About the Real Saint Patrick

St. Patrick's Day is on Monday, March 17. Be sure to take time this weekend to explain to your children who the real St. Patrick was, and why he should be a type of Hebrews 11 example of faith.

There are a lot of articles that you can use, but here is a great post from a couple of years back, from The Resurgence Blog, called Get to Know Saint Patrick.

Here are some key things I learned from this article:

Patrick was never an official saint.
He was English, not Irish.
He was a rebellious non-Christian teenager who had come from a Christian family.
God told him (in a dream) to escape from his slavery.
After being trained as a pastor, God told him (in another dream) to return to Ireland to preach the gospel.
In his ministry to the Irish people, he saw thousands of converts, trained 100 pastors, and planted 700 churches.
He "was the first noted person in history to take a strong public stand against slavery."

Read the full article by Mark Driscoll.

You can also see this short video from Rose Publishing:

Don't Be a Seasonal Christian Parent

If you are like me, you are trying to get back into a routine after a busy month of Christmas. You made another determined effort to "keep Christ in Christmas" this year, and you feel good about what you did. Sure, you bought your kids toys and books and games and clothes, but you also went through Advent material ~~every day~~ almost every day.

Through all the gifts and gatherings, and all the shopping and decorating, you kept teaching your kids about the real meaning of Christmas. Great work. They needed that reminder.

Sometimes they seemed to get it, and talked about how they love Jesus, and want to serve and love others. But sometimes your efforts seemed fruitless. Like that time when you taught another Advent lesson, and within 15 minutes your kids were bickering over a toy, or over whose turn it was to sweep the floor, or over who got to brush their teeth first.

But it was worth it. Those nuggets of truth that came through your intentional teaching moments, and through your conversations at the dinner table or in the car or in the grocery store? They all added up to help your children grow a little closer to God this past Christmas season.

Now that it's January, I only have one encouragement for you: Don't stop.

Don't stop having intentional conversations with your children.

Don't stop teaching them about the amazing grace of our Lord.

Don't stop making Jesus the focus of every part of our lives.

Don't stop opening the Bible and reading Scripture to them.

Don't stop asking them spiritual questions.

Don't stop praying with them.

Don't let Easter be the next time that you disciple your children in God's holy word.

My middle school social studies teacher proclaimed that he was a "Bells and Buzzard Baptist." He only went to church for weddings and funerals. Don't be that. And don't be a "Christmas and Easter Discipler." That's just wrong, and it doesn't have the same ring as what my teacher bragged about.

Stay in God's word with your children. Pull out the storybook Bible that's been collecting dust on your shelf, or buy a new one to bring some excitement and newness.

Want to go to another level? Buy a book like Big Truths for Young Hearts, and delve into deeper topics to help your children grow in the Lord. Or teach them how to do inductive Bible study (and learn for yourself!), such as with Boy, Have I Got Problems.

Do you have to have daily family worship? No. At least, don't start like that. You'll probably get burned out quickly.

Andrew Weiseth gives a simple and practical outline for a family devotion time. And he highly recommends incorporating play in your family worship.

Just do something. What you do is not nearly as important as why you are doing it. You must keep teaching them so that they will learn to focus everything on Jesus, so that they will see that Jesus is the center of our lives.

Don't be a "Bells and Buzzard Baptist." Don't be a "Christmas and Easter Discipler." Don't be a seasonal Christian parent.

Don't stop being the parent that your children need. Don't stop helping them grow in and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

I say it to you, and I mostly say it to me: Don't Stop.

"And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise."

Deuteronomy 6:6-7

"Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it."

Proverbs 22:6

Year in Review

And just for kicks and smiles, I looked over Facebook's list of my top 20 moments for 2013. I'm not sure how they calculated those events, but some of my favorite were:

January 2 --> Started working at USC Salkehatchie. (I wrote about this in an update on my jobs and ministries.)

April 21 --> (A conversation I had with my son.)

Me: "Why did you make that craft in class?"
Sender: "Because I HAD to."
Meaningful time today at Grace Church Childrens Ministry.

May 5 --> Got to witness a historic moment in #AllendaleSC: 2 black teenagers baptized at Allendale Baptist Church.

May 26 --> Love former neighbors who still invite us over for cul-de-sac parties. — with Jamie Fuller and 2 others.

July 18 --> Happy anniversary (of our engagement) to my incredible wife, Joanna Wimmer Espinosa. It has been a wonderful 14 years since you said "Yes."

And after some teenage boys from Allendale told me yesterday, "Your wife is beautiful," I answered, "I know. Why do you think I married her?"

September 17 --> When you place an order at the drive-thru microphone at Hardees, & the response is, "Ok, drive around, Mr. Joey."....

October 15 --> (see image to the right) She was supposed to be studying for a science test, but decided to make this scarecrow instead. #creativemess

November 23 --> (Too long to copy over here. You can read what I wrote in Thankful: The Best 2 Years of My Life.)

Edit: Here are the top 5 posts from my other blog, Misson: Allendale.

** first image courtesy of rkirbycom via rgbstock.com (other images mine)

Favorite Tweets from December

@BuzzFeed: Well played, Florida pic.twitter.com/HQKOOLc9u4

It's the last day of 2013, and I'm thinking about my blog. And the warm weather I enjoyed in Florida. And these Tweets.

You should think about them, too.

Tweets From Others:

@LeeClamp: You know what's worse than getting beat 5 years in a row by USC? Walking back to your car after watching it happen...wearing orange.

@PaulTripp: Thankfully God's commitment to us is based on his character and not on ours.

@RheTelBrian: Dough my bread, my uncooked bread. Ray, the guy that cooked the eggs. Me, the guy that cleaned my plate. #soundofbreakfast

@plonkertons: Don't listen to disagree or agree... Listen to Understand #weekendtoremember

@Rev_NoRespect: A recent study shows that 0% of people repent because they were rebuked for saying "Happy Holidays!"

@LeadersServe: Focus on the pursuit not the outcome.

@mbspannSC: The Christian life is a perpetual state of dying to yourself so that your heart will flourish. @gracechurchsc #luke

@Gospel_Project: “Cut the Bible anywhere, and it will bleed. The blood of Jesus stains every page.” @AdrianRogers

@JohnSowers: The nativity scene is only part of the Advent vision. The cross also lies in the manger, alongside the scandalous Hope of redemption.

@ClintArcher: The 9 words of Christmas: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. 1Tm1:15

Tweets From Me:

#ThingsJesusNeverSaid: "We should have more programs in the synagogue."

My main message for about 80 #college students: "Get up and do something." http://buff.ly/18vQlX3 #GreaterGood

15 minutes late & I'm still the first one here. #AllendaleSC

"A man's responsibility in any environment should be to make it better." Bill White #cultivate #mensroundtable

"Inside the Box" http://buff.ly/18OWD6L // We don't value innovation as much as we say we do.

My 6 year old: "Those hash browns tasted like potatoes."

My Christmas Gift to Myself . . . and to My Family

Next week, I have one post scheduled for this blog, on Monday (for my birthday boy). Other than that, I'm taking a week off from blogging. This break is a gift to myself, and to my family.

Have a great weekend, a great week, and a very merry Christmas!

PS -- I trust that you are ok with this decision. I hope I didn't make you faint, like Mary did in this manger scene.

7 Inspiring Articles on Christmas

Unpacking treasures stored away for a year.

Now's the time of the year where every blogger writes about Christmas. And I'm no exception.

I'm sure you have seen and read plenty of Christmas articles over the past couple of weeks. But here are some more great articles (some from last year, and some from this year) that have helped me worship Jesus this Christmas.

The Scandal of the Incarnation. "I’m glad that the Almighty God of the universe loved his people so much that he was willing to come in obscurity, to live in humility, and die shamefully so that we might be forgiven and have life to the full."

Christmas in a Cold Prison. Dietrich Bonhoeffer spent the Christmas of 1943 in prison, and again in 1944. Commenting on this fact, Tony Reinke writes, "We can miss this meaning of Christmas if our celebration is only wrapped up in comfortable warm fires and the fellowship of friends and family. We can miss the memory of our desperation that required the Son of God to suffer for us. We can miss the personal desperation met in the manger. And we can miss out on the fellowship of his sufferings."

The Incarnation. Not an article, but a beautiful 3-minute video by Odd Thomas. You can click on the link, or just watch it here:

3 Tips for Sharing Jesus with Others This Christmas. Adam Ramsey reminds us that we are surrounded with opportunities to share the gift of the gospel. "Freely we have received. This Christmas, let’s freely give."

Five Things to Teach Your Children This Christmas. "Christmas provides a wonderful opportunity to pour the truths of the gospel into the hearts of our children. It’s an ideal time to show them the greatest gift they could ever receive, the gift of Jesus Christ."

Why Jesus Came. From an Advent devotion from John Piper, it's the entire mission of Jesus in two verses.

Jesus in Prison. An excerpt of a sermon that a friend of mine gave in a young offender's prison. The gospel could not have been made more relevant.

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