Ken Winter
They Raised A Generation Who Did Not Know Him

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In these days of my life i find myself reflecting on the fact that God has blessed me with a godly heritage.

The question before us is, what are we modeling for the generation that we are raising up? Is our relationship with our LORD one that we desire for our children and grandchildren to mirror? Are we passionately pursuing our LORD with all of our heart, soul, and mind, and actively walking with Him in His mission? Or are we merely going through the motions?

They Raised A Generation Who Did Not Know Him
Ken Winter
I Look To the Mountains

It has been several weeks since i posted. Many of you know that i have been walking through health challenges. By God’s grace, and in His strength, i am now able to share with you that He has carried me through these most recent developments. He has used this time to remind me just how faithful He is, and just how dependent i am upon Him.

I Look To the Mountains
Ken Winter
Advent – We Three Kings (Balthazar’s Story)

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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)

Fully Devoted To Whom?

Fully Devoted To Whom?

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Imagine what that day was like. In Acts 2 we read that three thousand believed, repented and were baptized.(1) They comprised the very first church – “The First Church of Jerusalem”. And after that – the Lord added to their fellowship daily. Let’s take a few minutes and look back at that first church.

All the believers devoted themselves….(2) The word “devoted” means “given over to”, “ardently enthusiastic and loyal”, and “placing the needs of the object of your devotion over your own”. We often refer to sports fans as being devoted….

Peace Be With You

Peace Be With You

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Do you find yourself in the midst of a situation that looks bleak? Are you at a place facing the unknown where you have more questions than answers? Is your situation causing you to be anxious or fearful? If so, you have a lot in common with Jesus’s closest followers.

This was the first time that all of them, with the exception of Thomas (whose absence is a curiosity), were back together since the night of His arrest.(1) They had secretly gathered, and the door to the room was locked. It was risky for them to be together in one place. They were still fearful that they might all be arrested at any moment and punished … or worse. But they had secretly gathered because a few of their number were sharing the most extraordinary news. The room was abuzz!

Jesus Doesn’t Do Random

Jesus Doesn’t Do Random

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As the twelve disciples walked with Jesus, they followed Him from one experience to the next. Jesus taught them through each one, and His next teaching always built on the previous one. Some of those teachings occurred in the midst of some pretty harrowing experiences. For example, the disciples learned in the midst of a frightening storm that Jesus could still the winds and calm the waves simply by speaking a word. Matthew records in his Gospel that the disciples were amazed. Mark writes they were absolutely terrified. Luke, ever the one to include all the details, says they were amazed AND terrified. i think all three of them in this instance had the gift of understatement. The disciples were freaked out!

They also had already seen Jesus heal the sick on multiple occasions….

Keepers of the Light

Keepers of the Light

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My wife will tell you that when a song REALLY touches my heart, i have a tendency to play it over and over … and over again … until it is completely embedded in my soul. And i don’t tend to play it quietly! (Now you know another way you can be praying for my wife as she patiently walks through this journey of life with me!) Such is the case with the final track of Michael W. Smith’s most recent album, Worship Forever (Live). The song is entitled Sing Again. I have included the lyrics below, as well as a link, so you can read them and listen to the song. i hope you will take a few minutes to do so, if you are not familiar with it. It will speak to your soul!

During the past few weeks, we have seen a number of friends walking through the pain of battling cancer, Covid, and the like. We have seen the pain experienced by their families as they have walked right there with them. And we have seen the sorrow of some of those families as those battles have ended in the passing of a beloved husband, wife, parent or child. The song has really gotten me thinking about what it means to be a “keeper of the light” – not when everything is going great – but in the midst of sorrow and pain….

A Faith That Is Sure

A Faith That Is Sure

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Are you at a crossroad in your journey? Are you needing wisdom to know which road to take? Are you considering which of the roads in front of you is the best one for you? The probability is that all of your options look pretty good. Let’s face it – if one of your options looks like it will lead to complete disaster, you’re probably not wasting much time considering it. So your quandary is probably over which of the “good” options in front of you is the best. If that’s the case, you would do well to follow the example of a woman by the name of Rahab….

What Is God Waiting For?

What Is God Waiting For?

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Frequently in response to my weekly posts, i receive comments or questions about why God didn’t intervene in a specific tragedy. If He is sovereign, why didn’t He keep that tragedy from occurring? The comments, in most instances, are from people crying out for an answer with a sincere and broken heart. On occasion, it is pouring out from a heart that has become bitter and hardened by the tragedy. Some have even gone so far as to conclude that since God didn’t act in the way we think He should have that He must not exist.

i will confess that i too struggle with some of those very same “why” questions. Why does God permit pain and suffering to continue? Why hasn’t He returned to earth and ended the disastrous consequences of our sin? To quote Tevye from “Fiddler on the Roof”: “Wouldn’t now be a good time for the Messiah to come?” (And i would hasten to add the word “again” to the end of that question.)

The Unpredictable God

The Unpredictable God

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Did you ever expect God to do something in one way, but it ended up looking completely different? Did you ever ask Him to provide for a need in a way you thought was best, only to discover He provided in a totally unpredictable way? Did you ever think you were headed in one direction and then find out that God had opened a door in an entirely unexpected direction?

God has promised to always be faithful, but most often His faithfulness looks very different from what we thought it would.

A Hidden Journey

A Hidden Journey

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Jesus will often take us on a wilderness journey with Him in order to prepare us and equip us for the task that He is placing before us. There are things that He can only teach us when we are one-on-One with Him in the deserts, or the floods, or the difficulties of a wilderness journey. He alone determines how long the journey will last and where it will lead. Though He is using the time in the wilderness to prepare us for what He has in store after the wilderness, He also has work for us right there in the midst of the wilderness! And through the preparation and the work, He is teaching us truths we can only learn directly from Him.

Sometimes those wilderness journeys are a very private and personal affair. It’s us and the Lord – and very few others, if any, know about it. It’s a “hidden” journey – and i personally believe that it is in that type of journey that God does His deepest work in our lives. It is an intimate journey that God uses to remove the dross from our lives and refine us to be vessels that are prepared and useful to Him….

3 Things You Never Want To Hear Jesus Say

3 Things You Never Want To Hear Jesus Say

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Most often when we think of Jesus, we think of Him as our Loving Savior. He and the Father loved us so much that Jesus came to this earth to pay the penalty for our sin. Jesus, Himself, said, “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”(1) He was not only pronouncing His love for us; He was calling us His friends.

We also often think of Jesus as the Gentle Servant, who lived humbly and served selflessly. But we water down the Gospel when we fail to recognize Him as the Righteous Judge. Though we see Him most often in the Gospels as the Loving Savior, we see Him upon His return in the Book of Revelation as the Righteous Judge. And just as He, as our Savior, has extended His salvation to each and every one of us – each and every one of us will stand before Him as our Judge….

The Forgotten Disciples

The Forgotten Disciples

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If someone was to ask you to name the twelve disciples who followed Jesus, how far could you get on the list? Many of us could think of Simon Peter, the outspoken fisherman who denied Jesus. Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Jesus, would also probably come to mind in light of his treacherous act. We may think of Matthew and John, since they both wrote a Gospel account. (And, no, just in case you were wondering, the other two Gospel writers, Mark and Luke, were not two of the disciples.) The other two names that might come to mind may be Andrew, the one who introduced his brother, Simon Peter, to Jesus and James, the brother of John.

If you named those six, you get to advance to the head of the class, because you have named more than most of the rest of us. But there are six more men on the list, whose names are more difficult to recall. Since little was written about them, their names tend to fade into obscurity in our memories….

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