Like many people, I used to think that life after death would be me playing a harp on a cloud forever. I now understand that everything incredible and beautiful about our world and our bodies awaits us in heaven times a hundred.
Even in a secular move like “Shrek”, we see clearly and emphatically that we gain true life and true joy when we give our lives away.
If you’re fixated on whether or not Jesus actually rose from the dead, you’re missing the point.
If we’re not careful, nostalgia can make us forget that all good things come from God.
When we are in Christ, we are a new creation.
When we suffer we are hit with two arrows. The first arrow is our pain, and the second arrow is our reaction to it.
Although Jesus was the creator and rightful ruler of the entire universe, he did not use his authority for his own gain at the expense of others. He taught us through word and example to understand hierarchy as involving service, dignity, uniqueness, and order.
Although not all of us hold an official position of leadership, we all have a sphere of authority – our own dominion. This includes any people we may have direct authority over, but it also includes our possessions, and perhaps most importantly, it includes ourselves.
Effective people know what they want, and decide what to do by working backwards from what they want.
No matter how difficult our circumstances are, nothing can take away the joy of Bethlehem. Nothing can take away Emmanuel.