Christmas Struggles and the Blessing of Advent

Photo by KaLisa Veer on Unsplash

Dear Neighbor,

Today marks the beginning of the advent season. During advent, we look back to the birth of Christ, while looking ahead to his second coming. During advent, a total of four candles are lit, beginning from a single candle, an additional candle is added each Sunday. The first candle is the prophet’s candle, lit on the first Sunday of advent, and it represents hope. The second candle, is the Bethlehem candle, lit on the second Sunday of advent, and it represents faith. The third candle is the shepherd’s candle, lit on the third Sunday of advent, and it represents joy. The fourth candle is the angel candle, lit on the fourth Sunday of advent, and it represents peace. Lastly, on Christmas Eve, a fifth candle is lit, it is the Christ candle, and it represents purity.

I love advent because these symbols are used to preach Christ. By them, Christ is preached in the Catholic Church, in the Anglican Church, in the Baptist and in many other protestant denominations. However, I must confess, especially this year, that I do not enjoy the Christmas season. Christmas outside of the church is a celebration of family and our family has had a lot of pain during the Christmas season.

On Christmas day, 2013, I forced my father on to a stretcher, against his will, by the request of my mother. He was suffering from Parkinson's and dementia; she was frustrated and needed assistance in his care. I believe that it was a bad decision to do this on Christmas day but it was the day that she had arranged. We celebrated Christmas, as a family, one last time, the day before; after which, he was taken to an inpatient hospice, and placed in a nursing whom, in which he died less-than two months later. This is something that I will not forget during this life, and I struggle with to this day.

On Christmas day, 2020, I awoke to a text message, and picture, from my daughter, announcing that she was a homosexual, and engaged to marry another girl. It is impossible for a woman to marry another woman but this is the language that she used. She solidified what I will call a civil union, just a few months later.

So why am I telling you these things? Should I not be painting the world, as a follower of Christ, as if it were all sunshine and rainbows? I am telling you these things because they are the truth. My life is not perfect. I have a great deal of pain in my life but I also have a great deal to be thankful for and even more to look forward too.

I am justified by the grace of God through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus and have the promise of Christ that he will return to raise me from the dead, on the last day. I have a wife who has loved me for 32 years; we became a couple during the Christmas of 1989, and we were married on June 30, 1990. I have a job that allows me to help others through a difficult and scary time in their lives. I have fellowship with other believers at Sylvania Church in Tyler, Texas. The Christmas season is a difficult time for me and it may be for you also, but through celebrating and participating in advent, we can remember the first coming of Christ for our justification and look ahead to the second coming of Christ for our salvation.

Until next week,

Your Servant for Jesus’ sake

Running and Remembering

One of my favorite things to do, is to go out for a run. The first run that a remember was with my earthly father at the age of five. My father encouraged me in running. When I was but a ten year old boy, he challenged me to run five consecutive miles in under eight minutes per mile. I wanted a pair of running shoes, he told me that if I met his challenge, he would purchase the shoes. I trained and met his challenge. I am thankful that my earthly father encouraged me in this way because it has given me a healthy activity on into middle age. I am not as fast as I once was, in fact, I am back to were I was at the age of ten. 

Currently, I am running at least five miles, at least four days a week, for a total of at least twenty miles a week, and trying to run those miles in under eight minutes per mile. The route that I take on Sunday mornings is my favorite because I pass three things that remind of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

First, I pass through the grounds of our local high school and this reminds me that our Lord Jesus Christ is our teacher.

 

John 1:37-38

The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. And Jesus turned and saw them following, and *said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?”

Second, I pass by a yard with many sheep. I run by this yard early in the morning and there is a guard dog who watches over the flock by night. The dog’s breed is a Great Pyrenees and they are known to be great livestock guard dogs. He is a very large dog, he always sends out an alarm when he sees me approaching, and he puts himself between me and the sheep. This reminds me that our Lord Jesus Christ is the good shepherd. 

John 10:11

“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”

Third, I pass by a yard with a donkey. The donkey reminds me that our Lord Jesus Christ road into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey’s colt; then, at the end of the week, he carried our burden with him, on his back, to the place of the skull where he was crucified. 

John 12:14-15

Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written, “FEAR NOT, DAUGHTER OF ZION; BEHOLD, YOUR KING IS COMING, SEATED ON A DONKEY’S COLT.”

John 19:17-18

They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha. There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between.

Lastly, the run occurring on the first day of the week is a reminder to me that our Lord Jesus Christ is risen! 

John 20:19-20

So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and *said to them, “ Peace be with you.” And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

Why do I write this blog?

Why do I write this blog? I do not believe that writing this blog serves any purpose other than to fulfill my desire to express what has been laid upon my heart. My work involves asking and doing but there is not much opportunity for sharing. I write this blog in order to fulfill my desire to share the gospel. The word gospel simply means good news and there is no news greater than the gospel. 

The apostle Paul wrote: 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10

For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.

Is there any better news than to know that God has not destined us to wrath, but to obtain salvation from the wrath that we deserve through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him?

It is the desire of my heart that everyone should read the Bible, for through reading the Bible I came to know God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I am a member of and regularly attend a local church, but it was not through the church that I came to know God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. I am a member of and regularly attend a local church because believers fellowship together and share life together as a family. This is the reason that we refer to one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.

There is nothing about me to follow or immolate. Much of my life has been a real struggle, especially this past year. I have even begun to question my vocation. Should I even continue in nursing or change vocations? Is my unsettledness about nursing related to the difficulties that I am having outside of my work? Why do I feel so unsettled and have periods of anxiety when I believe in the gospel? I have heard it preached, that a Christian should always have joy, but if truth be told, I am not always joyful. Truly, I am often very despondent. Does this make me a bad Christian that I often have despondency? 

I do know and believe that I am loved by God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for my sins and rose again. I trust in his promise of eternal life in the new heaven and new earth which is yet to come. While the world and those who are of the world do not mean for my good, I know that God means all things for our good, to those who love him, to those who are the called according to his purpose.

Created for the glory of God

What is your desire? What causes you to get out of bed in the morning and go forth? Is it pleasure that you seek, or riches that you desire, or maybe it is fame? It is my desire for all to know God and the Lord Jesus Christ. I call this blog, The Nurse Theologian, because I am a nurse who thinks and writes about God. I do not write about nursing, though I may mention my profession on occasion, but it is God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ whom I write about, and whom I desire for you to know. 

Several years ago, when seeking how I might tell others about God and his Christ, I came across a teaching, The Way of the Master. This teaching, uses the Law to bring the knowledge of sin before presenting Jesus Christ. Using the Law to bring the knowledge of sin is biblical. Most people know that it is wrong to lie, to commit adultery, to murder, but they do not consider the reason these things are wrong. We live in a godless society, resulting from modernistic ideals. Modernism taught our society to only believe that which can be perceived by our senses and can be proven through science. Most do not even know that theology is a science, in fact, it is the greatest of all sciences, for theology is the study of God. 

Can God be proven? There are two revelations given to us that prove God. There is the natural revelation, creation, and there is the special revelation, the Bible. I believe that the Bible is greater than the natural because the Bible uses the Law to bring the knowledge of sin, that he or she who reads the Scriptures might repent and believe in the gospel. The Law does not work on our senses but on our conscience. This word conscience is a combination word in which two words put together gives an entirely different perspective than when used apart. Con means with and Science means knowledge; therefore, Conscience means with knowledge. It is with-knowledge that we sin against God. 

So why is it wrong to lie? It is wrong because we were created in the image of God and we know that God is truth. Why is it wrong to be unfaithful in our relationships? It is wrong because we were created in the image of God and we know that God is faithful. Why is it wrong to hate someone? It is wrong because we were created in the image of God and we know that God is love. We do not need our senses to tell us that these are wrong because we have the knowledge from birth that these are wrong, nonetheless, we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But God being, not like us, is rich in mercy, loved us, and gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him, should not perish, but have eternal life.