2nd Sunday of Advent ~ 2015

Jesus said, "With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." 

Mt. 19:26

In the quiet of the darkness of night, suddenly angels fill the sky singing, "Glory to God in the highest! And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!" Shepherds, bewildered and amazed, look up at the multitude of angels. Shepherds hear the angelic proclamation that a Savior is born in Bethlehem, a baby who is Christ the Lord. These who society considerd religiously unclean, these not legally allowed to testify in court - THESE simple shepherds are the first to be told of Christ entering this world. The shepherds go and see the baby lying in a manger. In celebration, these witnesses to the holy coming of Christ tell others about their unbelieveable experience.This ADVENT celebrate the coming of Christ. ~dho

WATCH...Christ is Coming! ~ Advent 2015

"The LORD will rise...and His Glory will appear upon you." Isaiah 60:2

"This Christmas story - it begins in the beginning, this love story that's been coming for you since the beginning. It begins with the always coming of Christ."  

Ann Voskamp, The Greatest Gift

There is deep beauty in the "always coming of Christ" that touches the soul with uncompromised hope. God's presence with His people, His shekinah glory, fills the imagination today in scenes recounted in the Old Testament. For Moses, after completing the tabernacle as God described, the "glory of the LORD filled the Tabernacle." For the people of Israel, "throughout all their journeys, the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in it by night." When the Ark of the Covenant was placed in the Holy of Holies in the temple Solomon built, "the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD." Solomon's prayer of dedication acknowledges that God cannot be contained in a dwelling built by man and declares "from Your dwelling place" hear the prayers of Your people. Shekinah comes from a Hebrew word meaning "dwelling of the divine presence of God" and affrims, "Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You." God's omnipresence exceeds the boundaries of time and space; He is infinite and everlasting. WATCH!

Hope speaks through the prophecies and promises of the coming of Christ, of a Messiah, a Savior. Isaiah gives words of a future hope, this always coming of Christ, "Darkness as black as night covers all the nations of the earth, but the glory of LORD rises and appears over you." From the beginning, God's everlasting covenant of love has contained a New Covenant, a Perfect Love, a Blessed Assurance ~ an always coming of Christ. In Revelation 15:8 John describes God's shekinah glory and power when the Messiah comes again, "The Temple was filled with smoke from God's glory and power." The promise that Christ is coming ~ always coming ~ prevails! The Messiah's words still echo through centuries of time and generations of waiting, "Look, I am coming soon...I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End." WATCH!

Full of signs and symbols, Advent gathers God's prophecies and promises of redemption. Centered around an evergreen wreath and the lighting of candles, the Eternal God calls to us in Scripture and story and song. Iconic pictures come to mind as we hear the Christmas story read once again. Familiar carols and children dressed as shepherds and sheep pause the world, if for only a moment here and there. In this stillness, God's glory fills us. Lost in the wonder of indescribable love and surrounded by the divine presence of God ~ remember and reflect and reclaim hope in the "always coming of Christ." Don't miss Him - WATCH! ~dho

* additional Scriptures referenced in post with links below from Biblegateway.com
 Exodus 40; 1 Kings 8:11; Isaiah 60:2; Revelation 22:12-13

1st Sunday of Advent ~ 2015

Jesus said, "With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." 

Mt. 19:26

God's shekinah glory, His presence manifested, comes to us full of wonder and mystery, full of wordless splendor, breath-taking and awesome. God promises His presence and glory to shine on all, uniting humanity and truth. This ADVENT celebrate the coming of Christ! ~dho

Thanksgiving Hope

But as for me, I will hope continually and will praise You yet more and more.
Psalm 71:14 NASB

In homes across America this week, preparations for Thanksgiving are in full swing - traditions requiring planning and grocery shopping for the annual gathering of family. So many decisions abound - to stuff or not to stuff the turkey, how much sage to put in the dressing, what kind of cranberry sauce to serve, and which desserts to include. Yes, it does sound a bit more like a celebration of indulgence than simple thankfulness. So, when did Thanksgiving become more about abundance of food rather than abundance of hope?

This past summer, my family took a great vacation to Maine. On our way we stopped in Rhode Island at Plymouth Rock. There is a complete replica of the Mayflower there; along the quaintdss streets there are souvenir shops, ice cream and t-shirt shops side-by-side historical markers. You see restaurants and lodging with iconic names like the Mayflower General Store and the William Bradford Inn. The view of the harbor is lovely, and old stone walls and churches tell a story of long ago. But the story of the first Thanksgiving reflects a people who endured great hardship on a long journey of hope.

Leaving Plymouth, England in September 1620, 102 people sail across the ocean for 2 months, some seeking religious freedom and some seeking prosperity in the New World, but all coming with hope. Only half of the original passengers would live to see Spring in New England. Within that first year, Native Americans would teach these pilgrims how to plant and harvest corn. While the Native Americans had a long tradition of celebrating the fall harvest, in 1621 they gather together in celebrating the pilgrims' first successful corn harvest. This merging of nations and traditions with a feast of thankfulness writes America's first Thanksgiving story. The hope of new beginnings, the hope of survival, the the hope of religious freedom, the hope of prosperity join together creating new traditions with new people. 

Pilgrim means a "person who journeys" or a "newcomer to a place". Some of the Mayflower pilgrims came to a new land looking for freedom to worship without mandates by the government. Some of these pilgrims came to make money. These settlers and many others would set the standard and endure the cost of these pursuits. There would be death and famines and wars and more than 150 years before the Declaration of Independence would be written and signed officially forming a new nation. When I think about those times and now, I see lots of similarities. We continuously find ourselves enduring uncertainties and often hardships (physical, emotional, or financial). We don't always get along with our neighbors. Sometimes, we are the newcomer and are not welcomed, other times the roles reverse. We constantly hear about death and famines and wars. Yet, we all need hope to pull us through; we need each other and need to gather together in feasts of thanksgiving.

We are still on a long journey but now live those very freedoms the hope of the pilgrims of 1620 brought to the New World. None of us are perfect; we are flawed and yearn for more. At times money motivates and differences divide and fears fetter our hearts. For more than 200 years after the first harvest feast, America found ways to celebrate the hope of freedom, but it would not be until 1863 when Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving an official holiday with this proclamation:

Lincoln asking Americans to "ask God to command to His tender care on all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife." He called for an annual day of Thanksgiving, the last day of November to "heal the wounds of a nation."

We are all pilgrims on a journey of hope - a hope for better, a hope for more. Let us strive to be a brighter light and a kinder neighbor for there is enough darkness around us. Let us seek to love better and judge less for there is more than enough suffering already. Let us shout praises of thanksgiving for the freedom of America and freedom of our souls. Let us offer prayers of thanksgiving to God whose blessings of mercy and grace define our Hope. Let us gather together - with family or friends or whoever we meet on Thanksgiving day - and remember, we are pilgrims who are prone to wander...prone to leave a God who pursues us, loves us, rescues us. Jesus continues to seek the newcomers and the strangers and those who have simply lost their way. Let our Thanksgiving Hope rest in God's goodness! Let His goodness refine our HOPE! ~dho

**side note: In 1941 FDR signed a bill making Thanksgiving the 4th Thursday in November (rather than the 'last'); the purpose was to stimulate retail sales during the Great Depression. Hummm! -dho

Praise in the Thankfulness

Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good. His love endures forever.  Psalm 136:1

Hallelujah!

For our Lord God Almighty reigns.

Revelation 19:6

While Hallelujah occurs many times in the Old Testament, according to Bible scholars, "Hallelujah" is used only 4 times in the New Testament and all can be found in Revelation chapter 19. Over the many centuries, time and time again, God's love replenishes His people. References to God as "Almighty" appear 9 times in the book of Revelation. The Hebrew title for God, El Shaddai, God Almighty, reminds us that God is sovereign, all-sufficient and all powerful. To the Creator: Give thanks to the God of heaven; His love endures forever. (Psalm 136:26)

On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast 

of rich foods for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine - 

the best of meats and the finest of wines.

Isaiah 25:6

The words of the Great Hallel (Psalm 136), which the Jewish people traditionally sing at Passover, likely fill the Upper Room at the Last Supper. With Jesus' obedience to death in Crucifixion and power over death in Resurrection, Grace rebirths us, gives us new life in Christ. No longer does tragedy or despair, homelessness or injustice define our destiny; rather, our inheritance comes from God Almighty - the One who remembers us, who chooses us. Christ, our Deliverer, invites each of us to the wedding supper, to His feast, to a future in Him. Give thanks to the God of heaven; His love endures forever.   

... Blessed are those who are invited to 

the wedding supper of the Lamb! 

Revelation 19:9

God Almighty reigns! This feast will begin the celebration of Christ's Promise to return for His people. Hallelujahs rise! Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! From prophecy to testimony, Jesus reveals God's plan of eternal redemption. Our Redeemer lives! Perhaps as Christians gather around the banquet table at the wedding supper of the Lamb, we, too, will sing the Great Hallel and in unison respond: His love endures forever. 

This Thanksgiving, let our celebrations sing Hallelujah! In one chapter of his book Finding God in Unexpected Places, Philip Yancey contrasts Genesis with Revelation, the garden with the New Jerusalem, and he writes, "We live out our days between memory and foretaste." In our hallelujahs we linger in remembrance of God's indescribable gift and wait with joy for the wedding supper of the Lamb! RSVP @ Romans 10:9-12. Infinite Love never ends! ~ dho

[hallel, Hebrew for 'praise']

God's Goodness

Then Moses said, "Now show me your Glory." And the LORD said, "I will cause all My goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim My name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."
Exodus 33:18-19 NIV

Four years ago our family prayed its way through a journey of brain cancer, surgery and radiation; we asked God to heal, to strengthen, to comfort Thomas, my nephew then 9 years old. Our prayers and the countless prayers of family and friends and friends of friends also asked for encouragement and energy, for patience and peace, for calm and courage. Holy praises were offered to the Lord for joy in simple things, for small victories, and for laughter. We had not asked God like Moses, "Now show us Your Glory", but He did! God's great goodness passed in front of us! His Glory evidenced in moments and minutes and memories of His never-failing Presence during the journey.

The question of why suffering exists and who is healed or not healed will never be adequately explained or understood by earthly minds. Soon after the beginning, human weakness invited sin to stand between mankind and God. Only through Christ can we ever find a way back into a relationship with God. Even then, we will wrestle with uncertainty and chaos and questions. However, when Christ returns for His people, Certainty and Peace and Truth will reign. For now, we can find this possibility within the heavenly realms, in God, the Creator himself who has all authority. Not bound by time or distance or circumstance, God constantly remains omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. God's ways will always exceed my understanding.

Neither knowing why nor understanding His Ways, I can say for certain that we felt God's mercy and compassion, that we witnessed God's mercy and compassion, that we will continue to tell of God's mercy and compassion. As every petition would rise like incense to this Holy God, each one overflowed with thanksgiving for such undeserved, unmerited mercy and compassion. Truly the Goodness of God passed in front of us, too, during this difficult time. God's goodness and glory still surrounds us - even now in the ordinary, everyday moments of doubt or minutes of disappointment or memories of difficulty. We continue to marvel that God let His goodness pass in front of us. We choose to see God's infinite goodness embracing us each day, especially when we do not understand.~dho