Important Caveat: How you celebrate Christmas, or even whether you celebrate it, is a matter of Christian freedom. You can celebrate Christmas on one day, two days, twelve days, or zero days. For this reason, I am not trying to bind anyone's conscience with this post. Instead, I want to shed some light on the historic Christian observation of Christmas. I also want to point out a few ways this can positively impact congregational practices and our individual lives. So, take this post for what it's worth. It's not a law to be followed. Rather, ...

My wife and I just finished a simple recording of some Christmas tunes this last week and we'd love to share them. It has been the driest December on record in Seattle this year (pretty cold too) and there has been an abnormal amount of fog in the mornings. Fog can be unsettling. It changes and disguises the appearance of the world around us. But after the morning, the fog lifts and the sun reveals what has been covered up and unclear. My hope is that these songs do the same thing. Though our lives can be bleak and at times unclear, the son o ...

If you watch The Office, you probably saw the loveable Stanley Hudson’s speech a couple of weeks ago. Instead of a Christmas party, the office had a holiday party. Stanley was bothered and went on a tirade about some of the effects of political correctness. Most of us are familiar with the cultural trend of modifying specifically Christian Christmas practices and vocabulary to become general and inclusive. We say “Season’s Greetings” instead of “Merry Christmas.” We go to Holiday, not Christmas, parties. Also, if you were once unfamiliar ...

Most of us will spend some time over the holidays with our families. Some of us are looking forward to this with great joy. Others of us are just hoping to endure. I wanted to give some pastoral guidance for those for whom “spending time with family over the holidays” is difficult. Of course, this is by no means exhaustive, but I hope it is helpful. Focus on What Is Good. In Philippians 4, Paul gives us gospel-driven parameters for how we should live in community with one another. He tells us to find those things in one another that are ...

Crazy, Stupid, Love, though at points overly sentimental and weirdly inappropriate, is brilliantly casted, saturated with memorable lines and laugh-out-loud scenes. But the film’s strength is its inspiring portrayal of love. In the opening scene, Cal Weaver (Steve Carell), a boring, passive, khakis-with-white-tennis shoes-wearing husband and father is told by his wife Emily (Julianne Moore) that she wants a divorce. Cal accepts her wishes. He doesn’t protest or ask why. They go home and he gathers his things and leaves. In subsequent d ...

There is A LOT of Christmas music these days. Yes, much (maybe most) of this music is overly cheesy and sentimental; or just straight-up bad. I'm not against sentiment and I have plenty of guilty pleasures, but I think everyone can agree that Christmas music in general tends to overdo it… At best, many albums are marketing ploys for record labels to make more money off of songs that have already been written. No offense to the next big pop star and the next holiday "hit," but there is actually some really good stuff out there. And thanks in ...

This Sunday someone asked me, "Why aren't we singing Christmas carols in church right now?" That's a great question. We are three Sundays into Advent and have yet to sing a single Christmas carol. And this is on purpose. At Grace, we are worshiping according to the ancient pattern of Advent first, Christmas second. Notice that Advent and Christmas are not the same thing. They are two distinct seasons. Advent is the four-week period immediately preceding Christmas Day. Christmas begins on Christmas Day and lasts until January 6 (Epiphany). ...

Linn and I watched The Tree of Life two weeks ago. Written and directed by Terrence Malick (The Thin Red Line), it is a powerful movie. I found it to be beautiful, provocative and full of depth. It's also a very polarizing movie. The film received the highest prize at the Cannes Film Festival but was also booed by many. What really blew me away about the movie, though, was Malick's courage. A devout Episcopalian, Malick assumes God's existence from the beginning of the film. The opening scene uses this quote from the book of Job. God, ...

Expectation is part of the Christian life. Regardless of who we are, we are called to expect life in midst of death. This may not seem that significant or even that demanding, but it is. Why? Death is all around. Everyday, people are diagnosed with life-threatening or life-ending diseases. Relationships fall apart. People live in famine, poverty, or under broken institutional structures. Individuals experience racism or discrimination. Those with little to nothing are violated. Some struggle with depression. Others die, sometimes t ...

Two weeks ago, Jerram Barrs preached a really good sermon on suffering. You can find that sermon here: Sorry, your browser doesn't support iFrames. Please <a href="http://www.graceseattle.org/resources/multimedia/details/?id=127450" _mce_href="http://www.graceseattle.org/resources/multimedia/details/?id=127450">click here</a> to view this media. In response to that sermon, a friend asked me about the difference between suffering for the sake of the faithfulness to God and suffering in general. ...

In Advent, we prepare to commemorate the Word becoming flesh. Over the last few years there have been some great Advent guides and worship songs published to help in this effort. I want to tell you about a couple of these. First, our friends at Park Slope Presbyterian in Brooklyn have put together this helpful and thoughtful Advent guide. My wife and I went through it last year and plan to do the same this year. The following is an excerpt: The four week season of Advent starts the new church year, preparing the people of God for the ...

Once a year on Thanksgiving, we are invited to participate in two activities: eating and giving thanks. I think most of us find the former easier than the latter. I’ve been reflecting on the difficulty of giving thanks over the last few days. Why is it hard for me to give thanks? What do I need to believe to be better at giving thanks? I think it comes down to three things. First, I have a sense of entitlement. I really believe that I deserve blessing. This posture isn’t even a result of Christian faithfulness. Rather, I believe that I o ...

'Songs for the Supper' is a collection of music based on the Lord's supper from musicians and churches across the country. This compilation was put together by Bruce Benedict (Cardiphonia) with the hope that people inside and outside the church will be blessed by thoughtful, diverse, and creative music. Songs for the Supper is the 3rd in a collaboration of songs dedicated to serving under-emphasized themes in our worship music. All of these artists have donated their songs to this end - that as you gather with family, friends, and churches ...

I like watching Modern Family. Last year, I was convinced it was one of the best shows on television. Although the writing has slipped a little this year, it is still worth seeing. One of the things I like about the show is that it gives a pretty consistent picture of what grace in community can look like. Every week, there is generally a resolution that involves the extension of forgiveness and the embrace of others. What makes this embrace beautiful is that it is a movement towards those who are not only different—they are also far from ...

Bifrost Arts is an inspiring project based out of Charlottesville, VA that aims to create beautiful and creative sacred music that can be listened to and played in a variety of contexts. Bifrost has released two albums (Come, O Spirit! and Salvation Is Created) in which musicians from around the country were recorded playing and singing original arrangements of hymns and spirituals. The churches in Seattle that I am connected with have benefited greatly from these albums and I am excited for Bifrost's third record. They have aKickstarter ...

I was transfixed the first time I heard “St. Peter’s Cathedral” by Death Cab for Cutie. I wasn’t sure why, and even as I write this, I’m at a loss to what was initially captivating. I suppose that’s the way with music. It sometimes just meets you. No perceivable reason, it simply takes you to another welcomed dimension. I listened a few more times. I continued to be mesmerized but with each listen, a palpable discomfort emerged. The sacred was being redefined. I was being told about faith and God. And what was this message? What was I being ...

In the past week, the sex abuse scandal at Penn State has rocked the sports world. On November 4, the Pennsylvania Attorney General indicted Jerry Sandusky on 40 counts of molesting 8 young boys over a 15-year period. Sandusky was a long-time football coach at Penn State. On November 9, the Board of Trustees fired head football coach Joe Paterno. Coach Paterno was made aware of at least one allegation of sexual abuse in 2002. He fulfilled his legal obligation and reported the information to his superiors but did not act beyond that. Until ...

A few weeks ago, Robert Jeffress, a prominent Southern Baptist pastor who has a great deal of influence, labeled Mormonism as a cult and therefore Christians should not vote for Mitt Romney as President of the United States. This declaration precipitated all sorts of discussion about Mormonism and its relationship to Christianity. Is it a cult? What do Mormons really believe? Everyone had an opinion; however, in all the articles I read, which I must admit wasn’t many, none really dealt with the real questions people are asking: what is ...

For the last eight years, Seattle has been my home. Seattle is well-known for not being fertile soil for Christianity. I have lived in other places known for the same thing—most notably San Francisco and New York. This is one of the main reasons I feel called to Seattle and love living here. I think God has created me to live out and tell the gospel in a place where Christianity is not part of the dominant culture. When people ask me the difference between Seattle and other cities, this is how I often describe it. In other cities, if you a ...

I have heard many sermons over the years. I have preached a few too and rarely do I feel inspired. Comforted, corrected, and instructed but not often inspired. This is changing. We are preaching through the Gospel of John at Grace Seattle and week after week, we have been given an intimate perspective into Jesus’ interactions with others. Time is slowed and we can hear and see, really hear and see, how Jesus is with people and it is inspiring. I have sensed this more the last couple of weeks. Jesus, passing through Samaria, stops and risks ...