This song taken up residence in my heart since I heard it for the first time this past Sunday. Goosebumps, I tell you, goosebumps! How many greats have become the least for me? Only one. That, my friends, is the message of Christmas.

This is Jesus, "Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped and made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross!" (Philippians 2:6-8)

A father's son. A king. Humbled. Rejected. Despised. Lowered. All for me. And for you.

What kind of king, indeed?!

Captain, my captain...

...or should I say "show boat?!" Nah. I love this goal and am thrilled that this kid is wearing the blue and orange this season. Yet another reason that I think this is just going to continue to be a fun season for the Oil...I've said it since the beginning of this season, they may not win a bunch but it sure will be fun to watch.

One of the things about this time of year that I enjoy is the plethora of "best of" the year lists that come out. I find them fun and fascination and, if I'm being honest, a little disturbing when I consider how few of the items I've heard of on some of the lists. Talk about head in the sand, Sparshu. Where have you been!? Anyway, Chapters has out their best of 2010 list. Books, movies and music. Just fun.

When you do your Christmas shopping this year, try keeping this in mind:

If we can resist the trap of giving easy gifts, and if we can reject the assumption that giving expensive gifts or many gifts is the best way to express love, something else might begin to happen. We might experience moments of relational giving that our friends and family will care about and remember. Our kids will learn what it means to give gifts that are personal and meaningful. Our neighbors and coworkers and friends will watch us celebrate Christmas differently, and they’ll hear the good news loud and clear through the seasonal static. (Advent Conspiracy, Rick McKinley, Chris Seay and Greg Holder)

Who's the jerk?!

"We don't wait well. We're into microwaving; God, on the other hand, is usually into marinating." -C. Peter Wagner

As I've been walking through the Christmas season this year, I've been particularly aware of the sense of waiting that fills the advent season. The Christmas story is filled with waiting.

The Israelites waited for the promised one, the coming King, for over 400 years. I wonder if they'd given up, thinking that God had failed to "come through" or if impatience filled them. I wonder if they forgot the promise over time or if they still passed it on from generation to generation with the same sense of anticipation. I don't like to wait a couple months for something, let alone 400 years!

Then there's Mary and Joseph. Greeted by an angel and promised a child and yet they wait for His arrival. I'm sure if God wanted to, he could have done it another way but He chose to bring His son into the world through humanity's reproductive process, couched in waiting, anticipating and preparing.

Then there's the shepherds. Oh, and don't forget the wisemen. They were waiting too.

Generally, as North Americans, we don't do well with waiting. We grumble in lines (I hold firm that it's the poor service that agrivates me, not the waiting...you believe me, right!?), we road rage, we have instant coffee and fast food, and we use instant tellers and high speed internet.

Instant. Now. Forget waiting.

I freely admit that I'm not a patient person. Once I've made my mind up about something, I want it, well, like yesterday. But God waits. Maybe there's something for me to learn about waiting this Christmas season. If advent is about preparing - not just 'for the season' with baking, shopping and decorating but truly about preparing my heart to fully experience the joy of Jesus at Christmas - then perhaps, just perhaps, there's something to be learned about the discipline of waiting this Christmas.

I love this! A Christmas classic for sure!

"Answers to prayer are wonderful, but they are secondary to the main function of prayer, which is a growing, perpetual communion. It is out of this refreshing life of communion with Jesus Christ that answered prayer comes as a happy by-product" (Richard Foster).