Ken Winter
Advent – We Three Kings (Balthazar’s Story)

If you would prefer to listen to this post as a podcast, CLICK HERE.

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Introduction to this post:

This is the fourth of this year’s weekly Advent posts. Those of you who have followed the blog for more than a year know that it is my annual practice to post a weekly story for the season of Advent about the incarnational birth of Jesus. My hope is that the stories have become a part of your Advent tradition as you remember and celebrate the Good News of the advent of our Lord and Savior.

This year’s posts are as follows:

Week #1 - November 27th: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (Joseph’s Story)

Week #2 - December 4th: Away in a Manger (Achim’s Story)

Week #3 – December 11th: Silent Night (Moshe’s Story)

This week - December 18th: We Three Kings (Balthazar’s Story)

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My name is Balthazar and I am a lifelong student of the science of the stars….

Advent – We Three Kings (Balthazar’s Story)
Ken Winter
Advent – Silent Night (Moshe’s Story)

If you would prefer to listen to this post as a podcast, CLICK HERE.

Introduction to this post:

This is the third of this year’s weekly Advent posts. Those of you who have followed the blog for more than a year know that it is my annual practice to post a weekly story for the season of Advent about the incarnational birth of Jesus. My hope is that the stories have become a part of your Advent tradition as you remember and celebrate the Good News of the advent of our Lord and Savior.

This year’s posts are as follows:

Week #1 - November 27th: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (Joseph’s Story)

Week #2 - December 4th: Away in a Manger (Achim’s Story)

This week – December 11th: Silent Night (Moshe’s Story)

December 18th: We Three Kings (Balthazar’s Story)

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I am a shepherd named Moshe.

Advent – Silent Night (Moshe’s Story)
Ken Winter
Advent – Away in a Manger (Achim’s Story)

If you would prefer to listen to this post as a podcast, CLICK HERE.

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Introduction to this post:

This is the second of this year’s weekly Advent posts. Those of you who have followed the blog for more than a year know that it is my annual practice to post a weekly story for the season of Advent about the incarnational birth of Jesus. My hope is that the stories have become a part of your Advent tradition as you remember and celebrate the Good News of the advent of our Lord and Savior.

This year’s posts are as follows:

Last week - November 27th: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (Joseph’s Story)

This week - December 4th: Away in a Manger (Achim’s Story)

December 11th: Silent Night (Moshe’s Story)

December 18th: We Three Kings (Balthazar’s Story)

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My name is Achim. My family and I live here in Bethlehem, the town of our ancestor David, the shepherd king….

Advent – Away in a Manger (Achim’s Story)
Ken Winter
Advent - O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (Joseph’s ...

If you would prefer to listen to this post as a podcast, CLICK HERE.

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A preface to this post:

Dear family, friends and faithful readers of this blog,

This week is my 321st weekly blog post—not a huge number for many, but for me it has been a sharing of my heart with you. Those of you who have followed the blog for more than a year know that it is my annual practice to post a weekly stories for the season of Advent about the incarnational birth of Jesus. My hope is that the stories have become a part of your Advent tradition as you remember and celebrate the Good News of the advent of our Lord and Savior.

This year, i am repeating four of the weekly Advent posts from 2019 for two reasons. First, i have made changes to the posts, and have a higher quality audio recording of the posts in the event you would like to listen to them on audio—feel free to click the link above to do so.

The second reason is that i will be bringing my season of posting to an end as of the end of December. As many of you know, i have been diagnosed with metastatic (stage 4) lung cancer and am now being placed on home hospice care. Thus, it has become more difficult for me to produce these post. I hope and pray you receive these as my gift and expression of love to you.

The remaining five posts are as follows:

November 27th: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (Joseph’s Story)

December 4th: Away in a Manger (Achim’s Story)

December 11th: Silent Night (Moshe’s Story)

December 18th: We Three Kings (Balthazar’s Story)

December 25th: A Christmas Celebration (My Story)

Advent - O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (Joseph’s Story)
Ken Winter
His Dwelling Place

If you would prefer to listen to this post as a podcast, CLICK HERE.

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What does it mean to live in the shelter of the Most High and to find rest in His shadow? This is how Psalm 91 begins—a psalm many attribute to Moses. i believe that attribution is fitting. Moses is the one who carried Jehovah God’s instructions to His people for constructing the Tabernacle in the wilderness. He witnessed the fabrication of each part and completed the last of the work.

The Tabernacle was completed exactly as the Lord specified and was erected on the first anniversary of Israel’s departure from Egypt. That day, the Lord’s glorious presence descended upon it, covering and filling it with His awesome glory. His presence, previously seen in the guiding pillar of cloud, now took residence within His dwelling place among the people. From that day on, as His Spirit led, the people moved forward; when His Spirit remained in the Tabernacle, the people encamped.

His Dwelling Place

Leadership

Let Us Arise and Build

Let Us Arise and Build

If you would prefer to listen to this post as a podcast, CLICK HERE.

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We live in a day that is sorely in need of great leaders within every corner of our world – those who do not lead for personal gain, fame or recognition, but rather, those who would lead to bring about the changes needed for the benefit of all. But sadly, instead of selflessness, we more often are led by those who are pursuing their own personal agenda. Instead of humility, we are subjected to hubris and narcissism. Instead of the courage to do what is right, we are ruled by those who would rather pursue a path that is more politically expedient.

Within our history as a nation we have benefited from the leadership of men and women of that caliber – leaders such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Clara Barton and Rosa Parks to name a few. On a global level one would have to include leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Winston Churchill, Mother Theresa and Nelson Mandela. As we look through Scripture, we see further examples of men and women that would need to be a part of that list, leaders such as Moses, Joshua, Esther and Paul. i do not intend for this to be a fully comprehensive list but rather a representative sample. And, of course, one would have to include at the very top of that list Jesus as the greatest leader of all time – the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

But there is another individual in Scripture whose name deserves to be included in that list….

Be Strong and Courageous

Be Strong and Courageous

If you would prefer to listen to this post as a podcast, CLICK HERE.

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In this “post”-pandemic era, the researchers tell us that there is a marked increase in the number of people who are discouraged, anxious and fearful about their lives, the times in which we live, and what lies ahead on the horizon. The increase appears to cut across all of society, including those who indicate they are followers of Jesus. This isn’t the first time that discouragement, anxiety and fear have been on the rise – and it would do us well to learn from those who have gone before us.

A transition in leadership was about to occur among the Israelites.(1) A respected leader was about to step down, and a new leader was about to take his place. The incoming leader had seen enough to know that he was stepping into a daunting task – prompting increased anxiety and fear over what could occur. There was a need for assurance and admonition – the need for a word aptly spoken. Perhaps we, too, need to hear those same words ourselves.

The Load Is Far Too Heavy

The Load Is Far Too Heavy

If you would prefer to listen to this post as a podcast, CLICK HERE.

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Have you ever found yourself being weighed down by a burden of leadership? It could have been as you led your family, your co-workers, a group from within your church, or a group of friends. Whatever the group was, God had ordered your steps to be in a position of leadership with the group.

At first, everything seemed to be going smoothly, but then the group encountered some type of difficulty. The “honeymoon” period ended abruptly and the people around you began to murmur and complain. You may be feeling weighed down in your role of leadership even today.

The Israelites often turned to murmuring throughout their journey in the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land….

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