“We want to be like Jesus, but our understanding of what Jesus is like may be in need of repair. Instead of ‘truly God and truly man,’ perhaps our definition of the Incarnation is more often mostly God with a dash of man. . . . A skewed view of Jesus can actually contribute to […]
“The incarnation, Christmas, means that God is not content to be a concept or just someone you know from a distance. Do what it takes to get close to him. Christmas is a challenge as well as a promise about fellowship with God.”- Timothy Keller, Hidden Christmas “That which was from the beginning, which we […]
Hidden Christmas: The Surprising Truth . . . Timothy Keller wrote Hidden Christmas: The Surprising Truth Behind the Birth of Christ (Viking) in 2016. Pastor Keller started Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City in 1989 with his wife and three sons. Today more than five thousand people regularly attend on Sundays. The author finds […]
“Some have argued that the supreme miracle of Christianity is not the resurrection of Christ from the dead but the incarnation. . . . Of all the things Christianity proclaims, this is the most staggering.”- Timothy Keller “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will conceive […]
“If God has really been born in a manger, then we have something no other religion even claims to have. It’s a God who truly understands you, from the inside of your experience. . . . Christmas shows he knows what you’re going through. When you talk to him, he understands.”- Timothy Keller “For to […]
“God loves dirt. God made dirt. After creating all other living things through the power of His Word, God knelt down into the dust, forming humanity with His own hands. . . . with human beings, God got His hands dirty.”- Rev. Jeffrey Leininger “Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the […]
“We are weakened . . with broken hearts, weary spirits, and fading vision. The distance between where we are and where we want to be is impassable. . . . We have a high priest who is able to understand. Since he understands, we find mercy and grace when we need it. We are not […]
“If intimacy is shared experience, then the Incarnation is its greatest expression, its highest articulation, its deepest sacrifice.”- John Ortberg In Chapter 14 (“At Last: Real Intimacy”), the concluding chapter of I’d Like You More . . . , John Ortberg beautifully describes the Incarnation, in the context of intimacy, as shared experience. Pastor Ortberg […]
“When our faith is built upon a theology of no more pain, we fail to hold dark and light together and cannot experience the fullness of God.”- Matt Bays Matt Bays begins Chapter 5 (“Put Away the Glitter- God Wants You to Tell the Truth”) of Finding God in the Ruins by stating that God’s […]