"A 10 minute vacation for the soul."
“Christianity is not about building an absolutely secure little niche in the world where you can live with your perfect little wife and your perfect little children in your beautiful little house where you have no gays or minority groups anywhere near you. Christianity is about learning to love like Jesus loved and Jesus loved the poor and Jesus loved the broken.”― Rich Mullins
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Dig a Little Deeper:
As followers of Jesus, how can we love like Jesus loved?
Here we are again at the beginning of the month of December when we celebrate “Christmas.” Are you one of the people who dread this time of year and just wish it would be over? Do you feel like you are going through the motions of the season because you don’t want to let your family down or that you wouldn’t be a “good Christian” if you didn’t? Are you tired of the great festival of greed and excess the holidays have become? Have you noticed that instead of bringing us together, the divisions that separate us seem to grow even deeper during this season? So what do we do?
Well I have a suggestion. Let’s realize that the busyness and excess surrounding the holiday called “Christmas” are not part of the Christmas story or the message of Jesus. Let’s take the myths and fables out of our celebrations. And finally, let’s stop worshiping the baby in the manger and start following the life and teachings of Jesus, the way shower and master teacher.
This month we are going to be looking at the life and teachings of Jesus and how they apply to the lives of his followers in the world today. My personal preference of translation of the Bible for my personal study is the King James version because I love the language, but I have chosen to use the New International Version (NIV) for this series because it is easier to read.
Each day’s post will end with an opportunity to dig a little deeper into the lesson, by considering a question or questions. I encourage you to think about these, live with them for a while. Journal about them or post your thoughts to the comments. Please get active in this discussion, we really want everyone to gain a real understanding of what it is we are celebrating during this holiday season.
Yes, this may be challenging, but it will be life-changing if you allow it. Please join us in this great adventure into the life of Jesus.
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Dig a Little Deeper:
During the month of December Christians celebrate light and Jesus.
Why?
How do our celebrations reflect the light and life of Jesus?
As November comes to a close please remember to choose joy. This is an important way we will overcome the darkness in our world.
Now for this little reminder from Terry Wilder.
Please respect everyone’s right to feel as they do about any holiday. Most likely there is a valid reason they feel that way, or that they celebrate the holidays they choose.
It is our tradition here at Espirational to post a fun video on Thanksgiving Eve. So please take a minute to stop your busy preparations, take a break and enjoy it. (Hey, everyone, this is really cool. Take about three minutes to view this.—Bob.)
“Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.” —Henri J.M. Nouwen
“Joy is you at the deepest level, and your joy is one with the infinite timeless joy of this unbound universe.” — Robert Ellwood
“To make this world joyful, let your heart overflow with joy.” — Debasish Mridha
“A joyful life is an individual creation that cannot be copied from a recipe.” — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
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