Jesus said, “I am with you for only a short time, and then I am going to the one who sent me.” (John 7:33, NIV) Spending time with children is the joy of my heart—sitting with them among the carpet squares, sharing stories with light-hearted laughter, and learning about our great God together. Prayer time gives […]

“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip. (John 1:46, NIV) Many years ago, I was particularly impacted by a Christmas sermon by Tim Keller that continues to have significance for me today. Twenty-seven years ago I began a PhD program in Counseling Psychology at Columbia University in New York

The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. (1 John 3:8, NIV) First John 3:8 doesn’t sound like a verse for a Christmas meditation! There’s no Christmas Carol I know that exalts destroying the devil’s work as a key contribution of Jesus’s Incarnation, but this is a liberating and wonderful

“A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” (Matthew 2:18, NIV) The words “joy,” “merry,” “peace,” and “celebrate” are common during the Christmas season—not the words “weeping” or “tears.” Yet the Gospel of Matthew records that, as a

“If it had not been the LORD who was on our side,” Let Israel now say—Our help is in the name of the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. (Psalm 124:1, 8, NKJV) A few months after my father suffered a horrific car accident in 1949, friends presented him a wonderful get-well-gift. My dad, Barclay Allen, was

“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” (Luke 2:10, ESV) Joy is defined as “the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; keen pleasure; elation.” I have experienced many things that have given me joy, but no experience

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. (1 John 4:9, NIV) My wife and I have eleven precious grandchildren who get so excited during the Christmas season that they affect the entire family. Sometimes this obscures the true

The gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans

I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. The hair on his head was

Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to Him!” (Mark 9:7, NIV) One of my sweetest Christmas memories is riding in the backseat with my four-year-old granddaughter as we oohed and aahed over the dazzling celebration of lights hung throughout her