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Intentional Christmas
Acts 4:25 – 28 says: You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:
“‘Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
26
The kings of the earth rise up
and the rulers band together
against the Lord
and against his anointed one.’
27 Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. 28 They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.
I often wonder why the massacre of all baby boys under the age of two in Bethehem was not mentioned in historical accounts. If such an event were to occur today, it would be on all the podcasts and news feeds within hours of the event. Frankly, the people of that time feared King Herod so much they cowered under his ruthless rule and never challenged his deeds. There is a record of a revolt against Herod around the time of Jesus’ birth in which hundreds, and possible thousands of Jewish populace were crucified and the crosses lined the road to Jerusalem. THAT was recorded in history.
But the death of maybe a dozen children in a small obscure village was not significant in the vast ocean of Herod’s foul deeds.
It is hard to accept that all of these events were allowed by God to accomplish His greater purpose. Let’s face it, the worst deed in the history of mankind, that is the death of God in man form on the cross, led to the greatest deed in the history of mankind, the empty tomb and death conquered.
As we consider the Christmas story, which is far more than a fable, let us pause and reflect on the cost of the Prince of Peace’s journey into our midst. After all Jesus was a baby born to die. But death would soon perish beneath the power of the Resurrection. And this is Good News indeed in a world heavily burdened by fear and chaos. He came to bring us good tidings of great joy.
May you find peace and joy this season as the year comes to a close.
And, I was hoping I would have my book available before Christmas. Here is the cover for the ebook.
I am waiting for the final version of the print cover and then I can release the book. I am excited about this next to the last chapter in the Chronicles of Jonathan Steel.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Jonathan Steel is Returning!
I have just finished the rough draft for the next book in the Jonathan Steel Chronicles. Tentatively it is entitled “The Ninth Demon: Cross Time”. It will still be a couple of months before I hope to get it into press but for those of you who have been waiting patiently these past two years, here is the Prologue to give you some idea of what’s going on. (Or, not!)
PROLOGUE
It was time to die. The man standing at the window did not want to die. But, neither did he want his two girls to die. The window looked out over a vast cavern filled with sunlight streaming in through the far opening. A transport airplane appeared in the distance, touched down on a dirt runway and pulled into the huge cavern. Workers converged on the plane like ants to honey.
“Are you ready to die?” Someone said behind him. He had not heard the man enter the room.
The Basin
This is the fifth entry from my upcoming booklet, “Our Darkness, His Light”.
THE BASIN
Matthew 27:24
Miriam awoke from a restless sleep to the voice of her mother calling. She quickly arose from the small pallet in the corner of the one-roomed hovel that she called home. Across the dim room she saw her mother’s figure huddled in the far corner on her own pallet. Early morning sunlight streamed through the slats of the wooden window and one pale beam cast its rays across her mother’s hair.
Miriam hurried across the room and knelt beside her mother. Her mother lay on her side, her face turned away from the center of the room. Miriam reached out to touch her face.
“Mother, you’re hot.” Her tiny voice echoed in the room. Her mother lay back and Miriam saw the beads of sweat that covered her face. She saw the stains where the sweat had soaked through the armpits.
“Miriam.” Her mother’s voice was weak. “I am ill. It is the fever. You must go and work for us today.”
Bruce Hennigan 
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