Missiongathering Christmas Eve

Magi in a Modern Nativity

Sanctuary was pretty chill tonight. We hung out at Emily's place and she provided AMAZING snacks. She had these little bite size desserts (that I could eat) that she called "Yum Yums." Haha. It is a family recipe of marshmellows, rice crispys, white chocolate and (I think) caramel. Really good. On top of that, she had eggnog for us all to enjoy. Good Christmas times...

After a really long week... and a challenging one at that, I was stoked to hang out with my sanctuary folks. We has a cool conversation about Joseph's role in Jesus' birth and growth. A man that truly embodied compassion and righteousness. I think it would be awesome to learn more about Hebrew cultural norms in that time.

We talked about the role of the Magi as well and I figured Id share it with all of you:

My thought was that the grassroots movement that became the announcement of the Messiah was done through a group of influential tribal leaders that were committed to telling the story of Jesus' birth. I think we often think about the Nativity as a huge "city-wide" event that everyone attended... but the reality of the story is that probably even the inn-keeper didn't know about Jesus' birth at the time. Probably years later, he had a realization that the young pregnant woman who came to his establishment in need of shelter actually carried the Messiah. Or maybe not. Who knows... but the point being that Jesus' birth was something that kind of happened under the radar.

But through the Magi... (the influential men and women of the time) the nation of Israel began to understand that the world was changing. Their words, to those around them, began to tell the story of Emmanuel. Their journey to find the Christ-child eventually led others to journey toward this same story.

Which leads me to this thought: maybe we are the Magi of our time. We have journeyed to the "stable" and experienced the reality of Emmanuel in our lives. And all of us have a level of influence within our circles of friends and family.

Maybe the message of Christmas... the true message of HOPE... is not something that is meant to broadcast across a large cross-section of people we dont know and probably never will... but instead, the message of HOPE is to be spread from our mouths... to those who we have relationship with... to those that we carry influence with.

I think we are the Magi in this modern Nativity.

Egyptian Tea Room

I am in the college area with my friends Hammerhead and Gayle, hanging out at this cool little coffee / hookah / tea shop. I had a bad day... and a frustrating night (lets just say it took me five different coffee shops to finally find one that was open... and cool. Im leaving soon... and going to bed. Im glad I got a chance to hang out with my friends tonight. They made me smile.

My Family

Me, Amy (10), Rachel (17), and my Mom.

Grandma's 80th

Me and my precious Grandmother Beverly.

Trailer Park Christmas

Hey All,

I would like to cordially invite you to our first annual "Trailer Park Christmas: Gingerbread Trailer" Party. We will be making our own trailer park "lot" and then at the end of the night putting them all together to form our very first Christmas Trailer Park.

Make sure you bring supplies for your personal "lot" of land as well as a bag of candy to share with everyone. We will provide the graham crackers, "lot of land," and the frosting. Anything else, is up to you.

Please feel free to get dressed for the occasion. I know I will be.

The Facts-
Who: You... and Me... and some others... invite whomever you would like to.

What: Gingerbread Trailer Park decorating party and then we are going to be packing backpacks for Border Angels.

When: Wednesday, December 12, 2007. 6pm till we are done.

Where: Pastor Rich's house. 3485 Copley Ave, SD, CA 92116.

Why: Because we can... and to help in a good cause (Border Angels).

see you wednesday.

CLICK ON THIS IMMEDIATELY

A very important message from the Missiongathering staff

Inspire Thought #4

O Come O Come Emmanuel

Click here to listen.

O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Dayspring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
And drive away the shades of night
And pierce the clouds and bring us light
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Desire of nations, bind
All people in one heart and mind
Bid envy strife and quarrels cease
Fill all the world with heaven's peace
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

Inspire Thought #3

Inspire Thought #2

Inspire Thought #1

Inspire Thought

I've started a new design series called "inspire thought." I needed new things to inspire thought while I stared aimlessly into my computer. So you can use these as simple desktops, or print them and take them to meetings or whatever... but enjoy. Give me your feedback, I'd love to hear it.