It’s true that Christmas may not be as festive or lighthearted as past years, but even in the face of the bad news of our world and in our lives, the good news of God should resound in our hearts and minds as we enter the Christmas season: God is with us. I am reminded of the angel’s message to the shepherds:

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.—Luke 2:10–11

There have been years on which Christmas Eve was my best day of Christmas shopping—not because it was the best of several good days, but because it was my only day! Covid-19 put me a little ahead this year, because I purchased my gifts online.

I love giving to Terrie, our children, and our grandchildren. But as we approach Christmas this week, I’m mindful of the fact that Christmas itself is a gift. Christmas is when we received Emmanuel—God with us!

And with Jesus’ very presence, He gives us gifts:

In a fast paced world where we often try to see how many things we can “multi-task” at a time, it’s easy to forget the importance of spending real quality time with those we want to see grow spiritually. There are many aspects to this, and I think all of them are important, I’m going to simply mention a few from a missionary/pastor point of view.

One of the great desires of my life is to finish well. At the end of my race, I want to be able to say with Paul, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).

We have hope in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that our Lord died for our sins and was resurrected from the dead. In Him, we have a victorious hope.

This Thanksgiving season we face several harsh realities—the ongoing election debacle, our biased media, civil unrest, indefinite restrictions as a result of COVID-19—I could go on and on.

When the Lord laid a phrase from Philippians 3:13, “Reaching Forth,” on my heart for our church theme in 2020, I had no idea that less than three months into the year, our plans would be derailed by a global pandemic.

The Creator desires the best for each of His children. For centuries, royal families had silk as a luxurious commodity in their wardrobes.

As a private citizen of the United States of America, I still believe that:

Jesus gave the church a very clear command—evangelize the world. But each church cannot do this alone. The only way we can reach the world before the “night cometh when no man can work” is to support the work of pioneering missionaries.