Christmas 2014

"Jesus stepped out of the stained glass".

...that phrase came to my mind after pondering the encounter in John 3 between Jesus and Nicodemus.  I believe that I have always "heard" Jesus' voice in King James English in regards to this encounter.

           Truly, truly....verily, verily....
                        hushed and holy...

far removed from the world in which we live ...
                 the world in which we encounter a daily barrage of pain...

On this day, however, Jesus stepped down from the stained glass....at least  in my mind!
         The reality is that He WAS never  there to start with....I had put Him there!

In this encounter between the very "religious" Nicodemus and the very "down to Earth" Jesus, Nic acknowledged that Jesus HAD to be from God.  Realizing that Nic still didn't understand, Jesus continued to give him instructions and images to clarify who He is in the flesh.

"Religion" makes it very hard to see God.  Stained glass windows are so ..... faraway and one dimensional.  Christmas reminds us that the invisible God stepped down from that which is faraway and invisible to us and became REAL....putting on flesh that could be wounded....in order that we might know Him, that we might begin to LIVE in the Kingdom of God!

We thank God for allowing us to be part of His Kingdom!  We have so much to be grateful for and we join along with those of you whom we love so dearly in celebrating His birth.


Sending you our love,

Denny & Cindy

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