Craig T. Owens

Christians aren’t celebrating just one Advent, but two. The First Advent of Jesus gives us cause to celebrate, but the expectation of His Second Advent gives us reason to anticipate. Let’s make sure we are always celebrating both of Christ’s Advents. Check out the full sermon on hope.

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“When we elevate the end over the means, we miss out, because often God does some of His greatest work along the way. For Him, it’s all about the process, and less about the final destination.” —The King Is Coming reading plan on YouVersion 

“If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.” —C.S. Lewis, in God In The Dock 

I had never even heard of the heart cockle until I read this article. This amazing mollusk has a symbiotic partnership with a type of plankton that lives inside the shells. This plant needs photosynthesis to live and produce the food which the heart cockle needs to survive. But how does sunlight get through the solid shell of the heart cockle? Not surprisingly, our All-wise Creator designed the heart cockle with little “windows” perfect for letting in just the right amount of sunlight the S. corculorum requires. Amazing!

The Reader’s Digest uncovers some bizarre laws surrounding the Christmas season. For instance, “In 1643, England passed an ordinance ‘encouraging’ citizens to treat Christmas as a solemn holiday, rather than a celebratory feast. By the next year, Christmas had been banned altogether. Christmas remained illegal in England until 1660. … In 1659, the Puritan government of the Massachusetts Bay Colony went so far as to outlaw Christmas in order to discourage ‘disorderly’ behavior that might be ‘offensive to God.’ Anyone who failed to show up for work or participated in feasting would be fined five shillings. The Christmas ban lasted until 1681 and Massachusetts didn’t make Christmas an official holiday until 1856.”

“The future of our country and the quality of our lives is not determined primarily by who is in public office. Politicians are the fruit of the tree, they are not the tree. Our future will be determined by the strength of our families, and we all have control over that. Be great husbands, wives, parents, friends, and neighbors. Live for others, and live as if your kids, and God, are always watching. God is always watching, and our kids are watching more than we realize. Find things to be grateful for and resist the temptations to complain. Go out of your way to make someone else’s life better and yours will be too, even if you don’t like who is in the White House. If our joy is dependent upon a political outcome, we’ll never be happy.” —Joseph Backholm