two good reads

since it is winter break, i am finally catching up on all the blogs i read regularly but put off during the weeks of final exams and christmas preparations. i read two posts on a blog that i really like to read - called parchment & pen - because it makes me think but isn't so much that i can't understand.

the first is about restoration - "the gift of resoration."

the second is about ministering in our weaknesses and letting others see our messes - "cracked." (this is what i want my life and my ministry to be like.)

so good!

who is christmas for?

in my scanning of blogs today, i read a good article by matt redmond.

"Christmas--the great story of the incarnation of the Rescuer--is for everyone, especially those who need a rescue. Jesus was born as a baby to know the pain and sympathize with our weaknesses. Jesus was made to be like us so that in His resurrection we can be made like Him; free from the fear of death and the pain of loss. Jesus' first recorded worshipers were not of the beautiful class. They were poor, ugly shepherds, beat down by life and labor. They had been looked down on over many a nose...

Christmas is really about the gospel of grace for sinners. Because of all that Christ has done on the cross, the manger becomes the most hopeful place in a universe darkened with hopelessness. In the irony of all ironies, Christmas is for those who will find it the hardest to enjoy. It really is for those who hate it the most."

you can read the rest here.