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He Came!

  He came. He really came. The prophets said it would happen. It finally did. The long-awaited Messiah came into the world. He came as a baby born to a young Jewish virgin. He came to a little town called Bethlehem. Angels announced it. Shepherds were amazed by it. Mary marveled at it. Tiny fingers and toes. Cries from a manger. The Word became flesh and lived among us. God became man without ceasing to be God. Why? “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). He came to die on the cross for sinners. He came to take the place of sinners. He came to redeem. He came to seek and to save. He came to reclaim. He came to save sinners. That is what we celebrate this week. That is what Christmas is really all about. It is about God sending His Son into the world to save sinners. “ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). He was sent. And He came! Merry Chri...
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The Journey

  It was the longest, most difficult journey of my life. It was my second mission trip to Haiti. I was with a team of about 10 other people. We traveled from near Port au Prince to the Mole St. Nicholas area in the back of a large truck. There was a wooden bench on each side. The bed of the truck was surrounded by a large metal frame. Look up a Haitian tap tap and you will get the idea. We were told that the trip would take about 6 hours. We rode for 17 hours in the back of that truck. The roads were terrible. There was a metal bar located just above my beltline that hit my back hundreds of times on the journey. As the day wore on, the hot Haiti sun began to heat up that metal cage. It was almost unbearable. And that was before we made it to the desert. There was sand everywhere for hours. As we met other vehicles, the dust coated us. It got on and in everything. The roads were so rough that the metal cage began to fall apart. Every time we stopped, we were told it would take 4 m...
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All the Parts Matter

  Every time I hear “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” by Bruce Springsteen, I find myself standing in the back room of the Western Auto store in Linden, Alabama. During high school, I worked at Western Auto for the Christmas season. My job was in the back putting together Christmas presents that people bought for their kids. There were 3 of us guys who worked back there. We were probably more like the 3 Stooges than the 3 Wise Men. There was no heater in the back area. Q 101 was playing Christmas music in the background. They must have played Springsteen’s song every hour as Christmas neared. We spent the days leading up to Christmas putting together Big Wheels and bicycles. It was always a challenge trying to fit 2 bikes and a Big Wheel into a parent’s Ford Pinto (look it up). I had a lot of fun, made a little extra money, and learned a couple of important lessons along the way. One thing I learned is that it is important to follow the instructions. A Big Wheel doesn’t always go t...
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