30+ years in 120 days...

I see that the church has taken to reviewing the life of Christ each year in the choices of the scripture readings, Christmas through Easter. Good practice! Remembering is important and only happens with the retelling of the stories.

One thing that means is the stories of events in Jesus' life happen in very quick succession. We just celebrated the birth of Jesus and today we remember his family's flight to Egypt to escape the slaughter of babies ordered by Herod. A refugee, in a foreign land. As I read the news it appears that there are many refugees around today and some are right around you in this country. If you have a chance, start a conversation with one of them to get a perspective on the life of a refugee.

Perhaps you can check out some projects that Wheat Ridge has supported that minister directly with refugees. One in Denver, CO at St Luke's and one in the past in Chicago.

To Us A Child...

One of my favorite stories in the life of Christ is his birth - God became man. I must say I'm partial to "my version" of the story. The art work by He Qi is stunning.

The King has come. The King is coming soon.

iBand Christmas

I think Psalm 98 also includes this version of praising God. While this would have been amazing for my 1st Century friends to see, I'm pretty sure the angels were over the top incredible! Enjoy your celebration of Jesus' birth. Wait with expectation for his return! Live as his servant each day.

Digital Christmas Story

OK, so this is not how Mary and Joseph remember it, but it is a very 21st Century way of telling the story.

Times change. Feelings remain the same. And the need for the Savior and God's love for his creation trumps it all. Blessings to you as we remember Christ's first coming, and anticipate his coming again.

Christmas greetings from Dr Luke and from Wheat Ridge Ministries.

Sacramento, CA

I had a wonderful morning with the good people of Town and Country Lutheran Church and School in Sacramento, CA. I was privileged to deliver the message for the day and to lead the Bible Class hour.

Always a pleasure to join Christians while they worship and praise God together. That is where I feel the most 'at home' here in the 21st Century: hymns, Scripture, prayer, confession and words of forgiveness - just like we were doing back in the 1st Century.

Thanks to Pastor Russ Hess who was a great host. And blessings to the people there at T&C as they are led by God's Spirit to be "Jesus with skin on" there in Sacramento.

More on Play

I came across two interesting articles on play, specifically talking about children (although I must say, I'm very interested in learning more about play and the adult brain... judging from my observations over the past months, many adults need help with play).

Article one focuses on how "old fashioned" play helps develop self-regulation and the executive function part of the brain. By "old fashioned" it appears they mean play that is self directed rather than other or electronic media directed.

Article two asks "how much media exposure is too much?" (First I like that way of framing the question. It doesn't assume it is all good or all bad... it takes an intentional approach.) I include this under play because, from my observation, this is what many kids are doing with their "play" time.

Play is important for healthy kids. Sometimes to make it happen well you need to help the parents. That is what Wheat Ridge does with Peace Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls, SD in a project called Parentnet.

Looking Up...

Considering the way things work on the internet most of you have likely seen this already (I don't think that's what the Preacher has in mind when he wrote about nothing new under the sun...).

The "scale of the universe" web page is quite amazing. Things get pretty small (who knew what a yoctometer was?) and pretty large... and that is just what we know so far. The Hubble site gives some spectacular pictures of what's 'out there'. Put all of that together with my last post on brain pics and you have some glimpses of a wonderful creation. I've said it before and I'll say it again, we are fearfully and wonderfully made! And in the midst of that big creation, God chose to come to earth as one of us (I'm partial to this version of the story). That's love for the little ones!

And Wheat Ridge is motivated by that love to help congregations love the little ones around them - even if they are not so young. Check out a great project in St Louis at Christ Memorial Lutheran Church.

Looking Inside the Brain

Check out some unbelievable pictures of the brain. So much more knowledge about the human body here in the 21st Century than my 1st Century counterparts... and growing all the time.

With a finite body and some amazing technology will you some day hit the end of the road and know all there is to know about our bodies? There are already many things written about the conscious self and the soul. Or is there something special about us that will defy our human abilities to understand or comprehend or dissect?

I hope the leaders in the church are keeping up with the new knowledge of our bodies, especially about the brain - pretty important stuff, with lots of implications for use for good and even not so good. Christ's followers need to be part of those conversations.

Wheat Ridge is interested. And they are also excited about partnering with congregations who are interested in focusing on heath and wellness - whole person health, body and soul, at all ages and stages of life. Like this project in Murphys CA, a Senior Center.