I am reading an Advent devotional put out by Christianity Today and Rich Villodas reflects on Isaiah 9:1-2 in a powerful way. Villodas pastors in New York City and is a native New Yorker. He admits he’s never been to the 9/11 Memorial. He hasn’t gone because it is a reminder of intense darkness.
Tag Archives: Isaiah
The Great Hope of Advent
We have entered into Advent. It is a time of longing. This season brings a renewed sense of longing for the second coming of our Lord. Each year brings a new perspective to me. Sometimes it is remembering his first coming and the longing of Israel. This time it is a longing to see theContinue reading “The Great Hope of Advent”
Keeping perspective
It is good to camp in Isaiah 40 from time to time. In an age where it is easy to be upset because of whatever economic or political situation is going, we need the long view. We are not satisfied with the long view any longer, which is why I need Isaiah 40.
The One who is WITH us
He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. (Isa. 53:3) We want a warrior Messiah. We want the Jesus mean and wild. We want the celebrity Jesus all too often. So, when JesusContinue reading “The One who is WITH us”
In the wilderness
When the pandemic hit earlier this year, it was during Lent. A popular saying I heard among liturgical friends was this: “This is the Lentiest Lent I’ve ever Lented.”
All can be “well” and we can STILL be blind
One of the common mistakes we make in diagnosing current times is “how things are going.” If things are going reasonable “well” for us, we can’t see what might wrong beneath the surface, or care to explore that beneath the surface. In the U.S., we can say, “Hey, the economy is humming along (for usContinue reading “All can be “well” and we can STILL be blind”
Ready to be molded
Being molded by Someone else isn’t always comfortable. We always have more “grand” ideas as to what we should look like or do. We end up trying to help God in forming our own image.
Praying the prayers of Zion
The Lord has me praying and meditating through Isa. 60-61 and other places in the latter part of Isaiah. The past couple of days have been in Isa. 61.
Prevailing Prayer and Adoration
No matter the condition on earth, the action in heaven is worship.
Rituals don’t matter without the heart
The heart set right looks out for the margins of our world.
Apprentice 2 Jesus 