Greetings Holy, Healthy and Happy People of God,

As I write this eNote to our faithful and devoted community of radical followers of Jesus Christ, I am reminded of this Christmas season and the gift of unexpected invitation.  One of my favorite Christmas activities is opening Christmas cards.  The unique faces, the smiles, and the overall love that each picture portrays is an expression of  JOY!

On the day of the birth of Christ, I often imagine the Nativity scene.  There were Joseph and Mary, family members, God’s angel, a variety of animals and also shepherds.  Yes, the shepherds, the very low end of the social scale were invited to witness the birth of Christ.  But they probably wondered how could they get an invitation, no one ever invited them anywhere.  The angel reassured them that the invitation was legitimate and “Don’t be afraid!  Look!  I bring good news to you-wonderful joyous news for all people.”   Luke 2:10 CEB

Luke wants to make sure everyone reading his gospel is clear that Christ is coming to redeem everyone; no one gets excluded!  So the shepherds get invited because they were excluded from the joyous occasions of everyday life.  Everyone is part of the God’s Nativity scene.  But where are we in the picture?  We are right there in the center, we represent the manger, the place where the Christ child is laid and desires to be laid into our hearts.  God put us in the picture with the Christ child!  As we read Luke’s version of the birth of Christ we get to follow the dramatic witness, “The shepherds returned home, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen.  Everything happened just as they had been told.”   Luke 2:20 CEB

Hear the W.O.W., the Words of Wisdom,
“God decides who’s in the picture!”