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

Pain and suffering

Lord, What About Him (or Her)?

Lord, What About Him (or Her)?

Several years ago i participated in a wilderness safety, survival and security training in the mountains of Idaho with about thirty other people. Though i didn’t know most of the folks going into the training, a shared experience like that creates a bond that sticks with you for the rest of your lives. Two of those folks – a husband and wife – and i were teamed together for several of the exercises. They – like the rest – will forever hold a special place in my heart. Over the years since then, i have seen God use this couple – Steve and Laura – in phenomenal ways in the advancement of the message of the Good News across the globe. He has ordered their steps and worked through them to have eternal impact for the Kingdom. In the midst of that activity, Steve was diagnosed with liver cancer. In recent months, he has been in and out of the hospital – more in than out. The physical battle is intense – and while we pray for healing, we pray for grace and strength, and restorative rest in the midst of the battle. i am mindful that one of their prayer requests is that God would grant Steve the time on this side of glory to finish the work that He has placed before him. (i would ask you to join with many throughout the world who are interceding on behalf of this dear couple and their family.)

 

In times like these, we tend to want to ask God, why them?

Hold On

Hold On

i don’t know about you, but i am a wimp when it comes to pain. When i go to the dentist, Novocaine is my best friend! i recently had surgery on my eyes and the surgeon asked me if i would like to stay awake, or if i would prefer to be put to sleep. He asked me the question in a way that clearly communicated his view that a manly man would stay awake. But i failed to be intimidated – i told him i would enjoy the good sleep! i mean, if i can sleep and avoid the pain and discomfort, why not? Given the choice to go through pain and suffering or not, why would i? Every part of my being screams that pain and suffering is to be avoided at all cost.

That’s not only true for physical pain, but also for emotional or relational pain….

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