I recently uploaded my 200th post since beginning this blog back in January 2009!  According to my admittedly hasty calculations, that means I blog just over once a week – and once weekly was my original goal.

If you are reading this, please know that I am honoured and grateful that you are.  I pray that by God’s grace and the work of the Holy Spirit, my reflections have helped you in thinking and living Christianly.

You’ve probably noticed the new colour scheme and layout here.  I thought after three years, it was time to “spruce things up” a bit.  You can still access the different “pages” and the archives on the left.  The blogroll now appears on the Weblinks page.  The Facebook and Twitter sharing buttons are still at the bottom of each post.  There’s one new thing: I added a search bar at the upper left.  So what do you think of the new look??

If you don’t already, you can subscribe to my blog via email or RSS feed – that’s also to the left.  Then, whenever I post something new, you’ll be notified.  New posts also automatically appear on my Twitter profile.

And comments…  I love your comments!  They make my day!  So please share what you think about what I think about.  I like hearing what God is putting on your mind and heart, too!

I enjoy sharing things here that God brings to my mind and puts on my heart, and look forward to continuing to do so!

May the words of my mouth
and the meditations of my heart
be pleasing to You,
O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.
~  Psalm 19:14  ~
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Self-improvement is no more God’s plan than self-salvation.  God’s plan is not just for us to be saved by grace – it is for us to live by grace.  God’s plan is for my daily life to be given, guided, guarded, and energized by the grace of God.  To live in grace is to flow in the Spirit.  (p. 39)

As amazing as that is, what happens next also gives me plenty to reflect on: “Then [the disciples] were willing to take Him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.”

First: The part about the disciples’ willingness to let Jesus into the boat reminds me of how Jesus does not force His presence on anyone.  The disciples needed to be willing to have to Jesus; an invitation is necessary for Jesus to join them.

I wonder how often Jesus is standing on the water near my storm-tossed boat in the middle of a tempest, waiting for me to invite Him in.  But I ignore Him or forget He is there, thinking that I can handle the situation on my own.  He might not be there to calm the storm, but He’s offering to calm me with His much-needed peace.

Second: The part about the boat immediately reaching the shore has led to speculation that this is a bonafide miracle.  At one moment, the disciples are in the middle of the stormy lake; then, in the blink of an eye, they discover they are safely in the harbour, just like that!

Regardless of whether it’s Jesus’ supernatural ability that instantly powers the boat to shore, or the disciples just don’t realize how close to land they actually are, the disciples are infinitely better off when Jesus is in the boat with them.  In fact, I’d add that I reach my destination the moment Jesus joins me no matter where I am going.

(Graphic from Marquette Magazine.)

I think what our town needs (and you might be interested in doing this in your town, too) is a great, big, massive nativity scene!  It will be of such size and grandeur that people will drive for hours just to see it.

And it’ll be a nativity scene like they’ve never seen before.  Sure, it’ll have a baby, and Mary and Joseph.  But instead of shepherds, we’ll put cut-out figures of Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock on display.  Instead of a wise man, we’ll set up a statue of Nelson Mandela.  And sheep?  Forget about sheep.  Everyone’s nativity display has sheep.  For our roadside attraction, picture this: smurfs and hobbits.  And finally, we’ll rig something up so that a character can fly in circles around it all – not a boring angel, but how about a pterodactyl?!

This is my vision for a nativity scene next Christmas.  Who wants to sign up and help me turn this into reality??

…I suspect that I’m going to have a hard time finding people who will catch my vision.  There’s something awfully wrong with it, isn’t there?  Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Nelson Mandela, smurfs, hobbits, and pterodactyls aren’t supposed to be in the Christmas story, are they?  Just just don’t belong.

Well, guess what?  Even though we’re so used to seeing them there, neither do the magi!  But the fact that they are indeed present in the Christmas story says something about belonging – about how the magi belong and about how God sees us as people who belong, too.

Please continue reading here.  And, for the first time ever online, you can also hear and watch a video of me delivering this sermon here!
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As Monica and I look towards 2012, we hold to the truth of this old saying…

I do not know what the future holds,
—- but I do know who holds the future.

So as we enter a new year with all its potential, we give to you as well as receive for our family this traditional Gaelic blessing…

May the road rise up to meet you;
—- may the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
—- and the rain fall soft upon your fields.
And, until we meet again,
—- may God hold you in the hollow of His hand.
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My husband thinks that every Nativity scene should be packaged with an authentic barn smell.  Shall we call it Eau de Stable?  He believes it would be a powerful testament to the love of the Father and the humility of the Son of God.

I think it’s a great idea.  Really I do.  But I still prefer a pristine kind of manger scene.  I am especially fond of ours.  The handcrafted pieces, made of sturdy pine, are simple figures of the most important characters in the Christmas story.

At our old house, this Nativity sat at the crossroads of household life, on a half wall that separated the kitchen from the living room.  It was a small display, but I hoped its central location would give it pre-eminence over the presents gathering under the Christmas tree.

But, as crossroads have a tendency to do, this junction in our home attracted a lot of traffic and a lot of clutter.  Sure enough, the detritus of daily life sifted down and landed around my precious exhibit.

I looked over one day to find stuff crowding Jesus and company.  So I took inventory: one toy monster truck, one shoehorn, one prayer list, one present, one stereo remote, one toy fighter jet, one Advent devotional book, one ballpoint pen, a bundle of Christmas cards and a bunch of coins.

The everything-has-a-deeper-meaning side of me was taken aback.  I knew it had to be a sign that we were too busy and our hectic lives had to be simplified.  The pragmatic mother part of me wanted to whisk all intruding items away from the Nativity and restore it to tidy perfection.

But maybe our family got the Nativity right that year, after all.  Work, play, worship, service and relationship were all represented in the items laid at the feet of Jesus.  And if He was so bothered by messes, why did He choose that smelly stable for the place of His birth?  Maybe I could put aside my own pretences of perfection and come to my Saviour, who is “gentle and humble in heart,” and find rest for my soul.

This year, watch what lands in your Nativity display.  Is there anything you need to add?  Maybe a cellphone or TV remote, a calendar or shopping list, your laptop or chequebook?  Whatever it may be, lay it at the feet of Jesus.  Then, with the quiet figures at the manger, stop, and find rest.

© 2011 Marcy Hires. This article originally appeared in the Dec 2011 issue
of Thriving Family. Posted here with the kind permission of the author.
Nativity set pictured above is available for purchase from Little Alouette.
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This year I’ve noticed that the pushback against this particular form of political correctness has gone up a notch: I was encouraged at one point to boycott stores that don’t use the word Christmas.  I guess that means in order to pick up my mail and parcels, I’ll instead need to go to… Um… Uh oh.

Personally, advocating such a boycott strikes me as rather demanding and quite graceless, especially considering that it’s supported mostly by Christians.

What’s more, few Christians seem to notice the irony in how “Happy Holidays” is usually an acceptable alternative when “Merry Christmas” is not permitted.  As my colleague Michael Engbers reminded me the other day, the word holiday is derived from holy + day.  In saying “Happy Holidays,” people are still acknowledging whether they realize it or not that there is something sacred about the Christmas season.  When someone says “holiday” instead of “Christmas,” a follower of Jesus can affirm that there’s indeed something special – holy even – about this day on which we celebrate the birth of our holy Redeemer.  A winsome response will likely get one further than a harsh protest.

So be blessed as you celebrate the Christ child’s birth, and be a blessing to others regardless of what they call this season.
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That’s the way I know (and am currently preaching) the book of Ruth.  But not everyone reads it that way.

Some people see Naomi not as helpless, but as shrewd and manipulative: Her instructions to Ruth to sneak up on Boaz in the middle of the night on the threshing floor is a sly way to arouse the rich relative of Ruth’s late husband.  Naomi’s instructions to Ruth include this line: “Don’t let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking.”  The verb to know often has sexual connotations in Scripture, such as in Genesis 4 where “Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived” (KJV).  When Ruth uncovers Boaz’s feet, the original Hebrew can alternately be read to mean that Ruth uncovers Boaz all the way up to his waist, exposing his private parts.  Finally, historical evidence suggests that the only women who visit a threshing floor at night are prostitutes offering their services to the workers there.  Is Naomi hoping that Boaz and Ruth will have sex, which Naomi could possibly use to pressure Boaz to marry and then provide for Ruth?

Personally, I still go with the reading I grew up with.  Naomi seems too despondent to be devious.  Boaz sounds like a righteous man beginning with the first words we hear out of his mouth (“The LORD be with you!”).  Ruth is characterized as “a woman of noble character;” her words consistently echo of loyalty and humility.  With the whole threshing floor incident, I see a Godly woman taking a bold initiative with a man who is righteous.  I myself do not question the integrity or purity of any of the characters.

But even if one day I am proven wrong – that Naomi and Ruth indeed acted scandalously, even immorally – I don’t think I’ll be overly distraught.  Regardless of Naomi and Ruth’s motives and morals, Ruth is still the great-grandmother of David and the ancestor of the Christ child laying in the manger on Christmas morn.  That is to say, God will use and bless us when we’re at our best; however, God will also work in and through us when we’re at our worst.  It’s not that Spirit-filled people strive for it, but scandal does not frighten God.  Regardless of whether Ruth is at her best or at her worst on the threshing floor, God graciously wove her story into His larger tapestry of redemption.

And it’s into that redemptive tapestry our stories are woven, too.  Even the embarrassing and scandalous parts.

Credits:
Two resources I have on Ruth that reflect the “alternate” way of reading Ruth and the way I grew up with are Kathleen A. Robertson Farmer’s commentary on Ruth in the New Interpreter’s Bible series and Restored! God’s Salvage Plan for Broken Lives by Daniel Schaeffer, respectively.

Artwork found here.  Original artist unknown.
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If you wanted to learn how to heal the blind and you thought that following Christ around and watching how He did it would make things clear, you’d wind up pretty frustrated.  He never does it the same way twice.  He spits on one guy; for another, He spits on the ground and makes mud, and puts that on his eyes.  To a third He simply speaks, a fourth He touches, and a fifth He kicks out a demon.  There are no formulas with God.  The way in which God heals our wound is a deeply personal process.  He is a Person and He insists on working personally.  For some, it comes in a moment of divine touch.  For others, it takes place over time and through the help of … others.  (p. 127)

What healing is God offering personally to me today?  And personally for you?-
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