It's hard to believe that it's only 5 days left until Christmas. Every year, since it's a much quieter period for me, I really try to deepen my personal relationship with Jesus, and fall in love with Him again during this season. It really is amazing when you stop to think about what really happened on this momentous event. My favorite picture of Christmas is that of heaven colliding with earth - God physically touching the very ground that He created - in the person (baby) of Jesus Christ. The Creator of everything we see, becoming weak, helpless, and humble, so that one day, He'd save us and be able to help us in our worst times of weakness, helplessness, and humiliation.

I love this excerpt from "The Jesus I Never Knew" by Phillip Yancey:
"As a Christian, I believe that we live in parallel worlds. One world consists of hills and lakes and barns and politicians and shepherds watching their flocks by night. The other consists of angels and sinister forces and somewhere out there places called heaven and hell. One night in the cold, in the dark, among the wrinkled hills of Bethlehem, those two worlds came together at a dramatic point of intersection. God, who knows no before or after, entered time and space. God, who knows no boundaries, took on the shocking confines of a baby's skin, the ominous restraints of mortality.
'He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation,' an apostle would later write. But the few eyewitnesses on Christmas night saw none of that. They saw an infant struggling to work never-before-used lungs.
Could it be true, this Bethlehem story of a Creator descending to be born on one small planet? If so, it is a story like no other. Never again need we wonder whether what happens on this dirty little tennis ball of a planet matters to the rest of the universe. Little wonder a choir of angels broke out in spontaneous song, disturbing not only a few shepherds, but the entire universe."

I don't know about you, but this truth about the first Christmas amazes me and brings me to my knees. God GAVE HIMSELF TO US. Just think about that.

I feel like there are 2 very appropriate responses during Christmas:

1. Spend extended time in deep, personal worship - gazing at and loving Jesus.
Come and behold Him. Fall on your knees. Spend quiet time with Him. Love Him for who He is and what He's accomplished. Let your faith be strengthened by the fact that He came near, and is still here, redeeming this broken world, and everything that is wrong in our lives.

2. Focus on giving and being a blessing, rather than receiving.
The two biggest distractions from Jesus during Christmas are the obsession with gifts/shopping, and the obsession with self, that too often leads to depression and anger. How do you avoid these things?
One thing my family and I decided to do this Christmas is to not get gifts for each other, but to pull together the money we would have spent on each other and donate it to children who are alone, without families, and who normally do not receive gifts during Christmas. For some reason, doing this has freed my selfish heart, that usually calculates the cost of gifts, stresses over the quality of gifts, etc. Instead, my heart feels MUCH joy, peace, and fulfillment as I'm able to look outward to give, instead of looking inward to receive.

Do you guys want to have a blessing-filled, happy, truly Merry Christmas? - Then kneel before the Lord Jesus to adore Him, let your heart prepare Him room, and give yourself away to serve others and completely forget about yourself.

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On that note, yesterday, a bunch of us still in the Philly area embarked on Project 4000 - giving out care packages with food, gloves, socks, and thermal shirts to the homeless in the center city area. Because of the rainy weather, we had to enter the Septa subway stations where most of the homeless families were hiding out to stay warm and dry. It was a tremendous blessing to spend a rainy, cold Friday December evening this way rather than staying home, watching movies, and just thinking about ourselves. We were able to really extend the love of Christ to others, pray for them, and see the Lord touch them as we were able to help meet some of their physical needs. It was wonderful experience for all of us.



This is one of the thermal shirts that were generously donated to us to give out. It was a blessing seeing people wear them around with the Gospel written all over it. I kind of wanted to wear one, myself.

If you're looking for a great, non-threatening book to give out for Christmas that explains the heart of the gospel, I highly recommend Tim Keller's new release, The Prodigal God. (Order it today to get it by Christmas!)



It's an easy, short read (I read it on the plane in a couple hours), based on the Parable of the Prodigal Son(s) in Luke 15. Years ago, Dr. Keller heard a sermon on this parable by former Westminster professor Dr. Edmund Clowney, and it revolutionized his view of God and the gospel. (I heard this same sermon a few years ago, and it profoundly impacted me as well.) This book is inspired by that sermon and goes deeply into the heart of our Prodigal God toward irreligious and religious people.

You should get it and read it for yourself. Every "churched," religious person needs to read this, so that you don't fall into "elder brother" tendencies. You will be reassured of your heavenly Father's deep love for you, and the power of the gospel to change hearts.

Then, give it away to anyone and everyone who is open to receive the gospel, both "younger brothers" and "elder brothers" alike. Right now, this is the one book I would give to seeking unbelievers.

Hello all! Coming to you live from the East Bay in north Cali!

I know some of you guys are still pressing on in these last days of finals. You're overstressed, sleep deprived, bodily unclean, exhausted from anxiety and adrenaline, mentally drained from cramming, unmotivated, unable to hold more facts in your short-term cranium. I know that feeling like it was last week. (Yep, last week I had some "finals" for my ordination, and so I was up late nights myself.)

Well, you're almost there. A few more days and all this will become a distant memory (including the information you're cramming!) through sleep and rest and play. It's easy during finals, being so physically and mentally spent, to become irrational and short-sighted. You might feel you're not going to make it through all right, and you become frustrated and hopeless. This is when you need to remember that your test results will not change God's good, perfect will for your life. God's "best" plan for you, although it's always not what you expect, is everlastingly secure, and you can never fall out of it. So finish well with hope and peace in your heart!


Anyway, I'm in Cali visiting some precious family and friends I haven't seen in a while. Including, if you remember, my friend who generously gave me his Jeep, which recently went kaput. (I haven't told him yet.)

Here's some pics so far:


This is becoming like a once-a-year fix.


The usual: Double-double animal style.


So BYoung told me the best place to visit in Oakland is the waterfront at Jack London Square. This is even worse than Penn's Landing. Way worse. (To his credit, Brian said Oakland sucks.)


The center of Jack London Square. A happening place.


Just like Rockefeller Center, only the exact opposite.


Named after Jack London, of The Call of the Wild fame. The city is just as ominous as his stare.


The only thing to do on a Monday night in San Leandro. Watch the EAGLES on Monday Night Football! In the #2 Sports Bar in the nation according to SI.


Raiders Nation. The only thing they got going for them are relics from the past.


I've never seen Donovan's head bigger in a restaurant.


The Bay Area's way better half. Downtown San Francisco.


Nice.


Loved doing this as a kid, putting on the finishing touch.


They set it up like 30 Rock. The New York of the West Coast.


By the way, the weather here is schizophrenic. You get all four seasons within each day, even within the hour, even all at once! It'll be bright and sunny with rain (and even hail) coming down. Outta control.