May the Lord be with you and bless you on this Christmas Eve.

Know the Ideal Church. Commit to a Real Church.
Here are some practical steps for applying the doctrine of the church to real life.
A Real Christmas
“As a mother, I wanted to shield my children from the harder parts of the Christmas story in order to create memories untainted by ugly truths. So we focused on singing angels, wondering shepherds and a miraculous star. The familiar story reminds us all that one day goodness and beauty broke into history to show us the way home.”
The Good News Story
The Gospel is the air we breathe and need to breathe again and again. Whether you are just starting your journey of faith or have been traveling the road for years, discover how it all ties together in The Good News Story. Explore the Bible cover-to-cover to behold the grace, wonder, beauty, goodness, joy, and love of God in the person and work of Jesus! Watch and download this multi-video series and illustrated study guide for free at thegoodnewsstory.com. (Sponsored Link)
The 2021 Word of the Year – “Allyship”
“Dictionary.com has an annual tradition of naming a ‘word of the year,’ and this year’s winner is the term allyship.” Denny Burk explains why this is significant.
Stop Being Fearful; Start Being Joyful
“In the midst of the busyness of this season, it’s hard to find time to consider Christ. Isn’t it? Probably most of us have thought at one time or another that this time of year is so busy that we almost dread it. We’ve taken this special time of the year when we could consider Christ and we’ve made it so busy, so crazy, so frantic, that we don’t consider Him.”
There Will Be No Burden-Bearing if There Is No Burden-Sharing
Glenna Marshall explains something important in this article. “A friend from church called to check on me that Saturday. She knew I’d been having a particularly rough time, and when I expressed how poorly I was doing and how embarrassed I was to miss a service project when I look completely normal to anyone watching, my friend gently rebuked me…”
2022 Reading Challenge for Kids and Teens
Redeemed Reader has announced their annual reading challenge for kids and teens.
Flashback: Why We Know So Little About Jesus’ Birth
We know so little about Jesus’ birth. While it has been the subject of billions of dramatizations and endless speculations, the historian Luke gives it all of one sentence

The Christian’s armor will rust except it be furbished with the oil of prayer. —William Gurnall

I’m so thankful to P&R for sponsoring the blog this week to tell you about their new printing of The Gospel of Jesus—a helpful resource for better understanding the gospels.

Today’s Kindle deals include at least a couple of especially interesting books.
Westminster Books is offering a steep discount on an excellent series.
Credo House has their “Seminary in Your Pocket” on sale for a short time.
(Yesterday on the blog: New and Notable Christian Books for May 2023)
Quarantine Is Not a Good Option
What do we do when we see so much immorality around us? “As tempting as it might be, don’t move your family to a plot of land without internet, electricity, and running water. I’m suggesting that instead of being overwhelmed, we intentionally inoculate our children. Let me explain.”
Pastor: Help Your Congregation Navigate Pride Month
Here are some pointers for pastors that may prove helpful as they help their congregations navigate this month.
What is Your “One Thing”?
“When I talk to people, many individuals confess to following Jesus, loving Jesus, and desiring to honor Jesus. At the same time, many of those same people willingly follow Jesus in every area of living except one or two specific areas.” Do you have your own “one thing?”
The Lord Opened a Door for Me … So I Shut It
This is an interesting little verse that I hadn’t pondered before.
Beware The Leech’s Daughters
And then there’s this verse as well. “The leech has two daughters: Give and Give.” What’s that one all about?
God Is Eager to Forgive You
It’s so wonderful to consider that God is truly eager to forgive us.
Flashback: The Space Between Courting and Hooking Up
Courtship and hooking up are two very different approaches for a relationship, but they share a common consequence: They put too much weight on too weak a relationship.

When death becomes the property of the believer it receives a new name and is called sleep. —William Arnot

Today’s Kindle deals include God and the Transgender Debate by Andrew Walker, Welcome by Jen Oshman, and Philippians For You by Steve Lawson. That’s a good day!
Meanwhile, Westminster Books has the New Studies in Biblical Theology series on sale this week. The discounts get deeper the more you buy.
(Yesterday on the blog: Is Watching Porn a Sin?)

Alan Shlemon answers this one well by distinguishing between the different uses of the name “Allah.” “There’s confusion about the word ‘Allah.’ Recently, a commentator claimed that ‘Allah’ is just the Arabic word for God, and that it doesn’t specifically refer to a different god. Her reasoning? ‘Arabic-speaking Christians pray to Allah.’ Is that true? Yes and no. Some nuance is needed. Here are four points to understand.”

This is a helpful explanation of the different categories of doctrinal weight in Christian theology. We are all tempted to elevate the categories that are most important to us, so it’s important that we continue to refresh ourselves on this!

Andrew Walker discusses a biblical view of self-defense.

I really enjoyed this telling of the conversion story of Delhi’s first Indian Christian.

“Whenever I write, I try to keep four goals in mind. I don’t consider something ready to publish until it has, more or less, accomplished all four goals. I wrote down these goals before I started writing my book and returned to them throughout the writing and editing process. It was important to me that I could read through the book and know that my writing was doing specifically what I wanted it to do. It also gave me a rubric for editing. If something didn’t accomplish these goals, I needed to fix it.”

“God, give me the faith to believe that you are always good no matter the circumstance. Help me to see your fingerprints in my story and trust that you will provide. When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail, help me stand on the promises of God.”

I’ve observed that some sermons are actually Bible studies and some Bible studies are actually sermons. Though I will grant there can be a fine line between the two, I find it helpful to force myself to distinguish between them, especially when I am asked to lead one or the other.

The most universally awesome experience that mankind knows is to stand alone on a clear night and look at the stars.
—J.I. Packer