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The Birth Of Jesus

Matthew 1:18-25

Perhaps what Matthew chapter one is most known for is the account of the birth of Jesus that it contains. Matthew gives us a perspective that is a bit different than that of Luke, and he provides some details that are worth taking a look at, even though we may be very familiar with this Christmas story.

The Birth Of Jesus

The birth narrative is one of those biblical events that we have become overly familiar with, since we hear it every year around Christmas. As a result, we often gloss over it when we read the Bible, thinking we’ve heard it all. And when we do that, we miss some things that are worth looking at a little more deeply.

In verse 18, Matthew writes, “Now the birth of Jesus Christ…” The word rendered here “birth” is the same in Greek that is translated “genealogy” in verse 1. This is the finishing statement of the genealogy given in the preceding verses, and is the point of the whole chapter. This event is worth taking the time to consider fully and deeply, with reverence and awe. The birth of any child is a wonderful occurrence, but the birth of Jesus is nothing short of a miracle.

Matthew shares the details of the engagement between Mary and Joseph. In Jewish culture, couples were engaged ten to twelve months prior to marriage. So sacred was the engagement that it could only be broken by divorce. Mary and Joseph were engaged, not married. Such a relationship was, from patriarchal times, a formal ceremony (see Genesis 24-25, the servant’s search for Rebekah, Isaac’s wife). It was regarded a binding obligation. Unfaithfulness in engagement was punishable by death (Deuteronomy 22:23-28; Leviticus 20:10).

However, Matthew adds a complicated wrinkle to the narrative. Mary is pregnant, and the two are not yet married. Both Matthew and Luke were careful to mention his miraculous conception (Luke 1:26, 34). This is a critical piece of information, because Christ’s physical nature was “begotten” by the Holy Spirit. Christ is the only example of such a birth in all of history. His birth, like his life and his resurrection, was a miracle. Mary, for the first three months following her visit by the angel to give her this news, was away at Elizabeth’s home (Luke 1:36). It was when she returned to Nazareth that Joseph learned of these circumstances. It must have been devastating to him.

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Bring Me To McDonald’s

Godly Men: Being Deliberate With Our Wives and Kids

The things my kids say… This happened when my son, Jadon, was four years old. He is now nine.

Bring Me To McDonald’s

My wife was at her doctor’s appointment for this last (hopefully!) week of her pregnancy.

I was at home with the rest of the kids. All of them were still asleep except for my four-year-old.

So I took advantage of the moment and had some good conversation with my son. In the course of our talking, laughing, and enjoying our time together, I asked him what I could do to be a better dad. This was mostly tongue in cheek, since he’s four…

He scrunched up his face, thought for a moment, and said, “Ummmm… Bring me to McDonald’s!”

Now, I could explain why we don’t eat often at McDonald’s, and the unhealthiness of it, and the expense of it, and lots of reasons why this is a bad idea. In fact, I can count my visits to McDonald’s in the past five years on one hand. Or I can explain that his happiness shouldn’t depend on what I buy him.

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Coffee Break – 06.25.2018

Your Monday Dose Of Inspiration

On this day in history: In 1867, Lucien B. Smith patented the first barbed wire. In 1876, Lt. Col. Custer and the 210 men of U.S. 7th Cavalry were killed by Sioux and Cheyenne Indians at Little Big Horn in Montana. The event is known as “Custer’s Last Stand.” And in 1968, Bobby Bonds, of the San Francisco Giants, hit a grand-slam home run in his first game with the Giants. He was the first player to debut with a grand-slam.

Coffee Break

Today Is National Leon Day!
Leon is Noel backwards, and it’s 6 months until Christmas!

5 Lies About Decaf You Probably Believe – I don’t drink a lot of decaffeinated coffee, but since I started roasting my own coffee, I have found that a high quality decaf doesn’t taste as bad as most people think. In fact, I have roasted several pounds of a Costa Rican decaf that is a fruity explosion of flavor in your mouth. But that stuff you buy at the grocery store? Get rid of it and find some better decaf. You’ll be glad you did.

Puzzling Gravestones – While I probably wouldn’t ever do this, it is kind of… puzzling.

A Man’s Introduction To Color – Most men I know are notoriously bad when it comes to matching their clothing. That’s because they do not understand color. Check out this explanation from RMRS, and step up your men’s fashion game!

View Of Earth – This was a live view of Earth from the International Space Station, posted on NASA’s Twitter. It’s a beautiful view!

Spring – Summer officially began last week, but around here there are still a lot of the signs of spring. We have some vines blooming down the road from our house that are beautiful. So here’s a time lapse video full of reminders of spring.

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Memorize Scripture: Psalm 119:65-68

Hiding God’s Word In Our Hearts

The next three stanzas of Psalm 119, found in verses 65-88, deal with suffering and affliction and persecution. And yet, this first section is perhaps one of the most comforting passages in all of Scripture. Take a look at these verses in Psalm 119:65-68:

Psalm 119:65-68

In this world there is a lot of pain and suffering. It’s a consequence of the Fall, and we cannot escape it. That has led many to question why, and even further, to question why God would allow such suffering, and even questioning whether or not God exists. While those are legitimate questions, they fail to account for the totality of what Scripture teaches. There is a purpose to suffering, as difficult as it may be.

There are several reasons why suffering exists. This is a deep and probing questions, and not one that can be answered adequately in a few brief words here. First, as mentioned, it is a result of sin and the Fall. It simply happens. We live in a broken world, and it will not be fixed until that day when Jesus returns and it is created anew.

Second, suffering can be instructive. We can learn more about ourselves and how we are to grow in our character and Christlikeness. In Romans 5:3-4, Paul tells us that “suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” We can rest assured that we can grow through such times.

Third, there is suffering where the only purpose may be to bring God glory through it. In John 9, the man born blind suffered in this way for the purpose of revealing the glory of God when he was healed. We long to attribute such suffering to sin, or something we have done wrong, but Jesus clearly denied that idea in this case.

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Send Down The Rain by Charles Martin

A Book Review for The Randleman Review

Send Down The RainI am always on the lookout for a good story to read. Though most of my reading lies in the area of nonfiction topics of interest, a good fictional story is always welcome. And that’s what I found in Charles Martin’s book Send Down The Rain – I found a good story.

I was surprised almost immediately at the storyline. Without giving too much away, the main characters are all in the later stages of life, not old by any means, but no longer young. The story begins when they were young kids, and there are some flashbacks that help to explain the beginnings of the story, but the majority of the book rests in the present day, with characters in the mid- to late-sixties.

I don’t know why, but that surprised me. Thinking about it, I’m sure I have read other novels with similarly aged characters, but I can’t really point to one specifically. After my initial surprise, I dug deeper into the story and was fully immersed before the first few pages were turned. Those kids, the ones who were young when the story started, are now adults, lives lived all over the place, with joys and tragedies, wars and careers, and the scars of life to show for it.

And then life brings them all back together and seems to give them a second chance… Or does it?

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Book Review – Miracle In Shreveport by David & Jason Benham

Miracle In ShreveportI am not too much of a sports kind of guy, but if I were, that sport would be baseball. I am intrigued by baseball, and find it more pleasant to watch than almost any other sport out there, except for perhaps curling. So when I was given the opportunity to read and review Miracle In Shreveport, written by David and Jason Benham, I couldn’t pass up the chance.

I was not disappointed. The Benham brothers weave a spellbinding tale of God’s involvement in their baseball careers, through Little League and high school level sports, into the college scene, and finally to the professional level of playing baseball. And always, in the back of their minds, was the prayer that they one day might play together, on the same team, at the stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Through many twists and turns, this story unfolds, and it’s an incredible tale to read, as these two brothers chased what they felt was a God-given dream, leading them all the way to their ultimate desire: Shreveport.

The story was entertaining and captivating, but the writing style could have used some more attention. Since both brothers were writing this together, and both were writing in the first person, sometimes it was extremely confusing as to which one was telling the story. Too many times, I had to flip pages back and forth to figure out who was writing at any given moment. A little more attention to detail in this area would have made this a much easier book to read.