by Josh Waltz | Dec 31, 2023 | A Pastor's Heart
For centuries, Christians have cultivated their relationship with God through the regular practice of several simple habits, often called “spiritual disciplines.” Most of us are familiar with the main ones: Bible reading, prayer, and scripture memory. These practices...
by Josh Waltz | Dec 24, 2023 | A Pastor's Heart
The trimmings of the season were all around me during my Bible reading one morning a few years back: the Christmas tree next to my chair, the glow from the seasonal lights reflecting off the pages of my Bible, mellow carols quietly playing in the next room. It seemed...
by Josh Waltz | Dec 17, 2023 | A Pastor's Heart
Was Jesus born on December 25? Probably not. The Bible doesn’t specify a date or even a month, but what little evidence we have points to a time for Jesus’ birth sometime in the fall, not the winter. Nonetheless, Christians have commemorated Jesus’ birth on December...
by Josh Waltz | Dec 10, 2023 | A Pastor's Heart
The biblical account of Christmas is filled with unusual features—angels appearing to shepherds, a beckoning star, a baby lain in a manger. But perhaps the most unusual of all is that Mary was a virgin when Jesus was conceived. That, obviously, is impossible. And...
by Josh Waltz | Dec 3, 2023 | A Pastor's Heart
The word “advent” simply means “coming.” When used in a Christian setting like ours, it refers to the arrival of Jesus Christ in the world at His incarnation. For the people of God, however, Advent usually has much more to do with waiting than arriving. The four outer...
