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)

The Lesson of the Quail

The Lesson of the Quail

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It’s the beginning of a new year. Just like every year that has preceded it, the year stretches out before us like a great big unblemished canvas. This time next year, we’ll all be experts about what 2022 held in store for us … but right now, we really don’t have a clue, even though we may think we do. All of us have made plans of some sort for 2022. Those plans include the moments we look forward to – an upcoming marriage, the upcoming birth of a new family member, a graduation, the start of a new job, a planned vacation, a retirement, or the like. The list goes on and on. The possibilities are endless.

We’re also very aware of the problems we carry forward with us from the prior year – issues that we are facing personally, nationally or globally. We have made our plans for 2022 with the appropriate contingencies for those known problems as best we can. We’ve made our plans. We’ve set our course. But the reality is we really don’t know what will unfold. It could be amazing! It could be exceedingly above anything we could ask or think. Or … it could be devastating….

Keep Gazing Upward

Keep Gazing Upward

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It’s hard to believe that another year is drawing to a close. And yes, what a year it has been! Some of the major wordsmiths are using singular words such as these to describe 2021: vaccine, insurrection, perseverance, variant, woke, “wokelash” – and the most recent addition – “omnicron.” (Feel free to search any of the words you may not be sure about.)

Most of the words, just like those in years past, tend to focus on the events we find swirling around us – in many ways, like a whirlpool – seeking to suck us in and draw us under. Given the fact that those are the subjects that are most often in the forefront of the news we hear and the conversations we have, it is no wonder that our gazes can easily be redirected from where they need to be….

An Advent Story - Anna

An Advent Story - Anna

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NOTE: This is the last of four short stories i am posting this Advent season about the incarnational birth of Jesus. They are fictional first-person accounts of the prophecies and events surrounding the advent of Jesus. Some of the characters and details contained therein are fictional, but you will find the truth they convey to be very REAL! My prayer is that through the stories you are reminded of the Good News of Advent this Christmas season.

The stories include:

Gabriel – the angel (December 1)

Zechariah – the priest (December 8)

Elizabeth – the cousin (December 15)

Anna – the prophetess (This week - December 22)

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I am Anna, considered by some to be a prophetess….

An Advent Story - Elizabeth

An Advent Story - Elizabeth

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

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NOTE: This is the third of four short stories i am posting this Advent season about the incarnational birth of Jesus. They are fictional first-person accounts of the prophecies and events surrounding the advent of Jesus. Some of the characters and details contained therein are fictional, but you will find the truth they convey to be very REAL! My prayer is that through the stories you are reminded of the Good News of Advent this Christmas season.

The stories include:

Gabriel – the angel (December 1)

Zechariah – the priest (December 8)

Elizabeth – the cousin (This week - December 15)

Anna – the prophetess (December 22)

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I am Elizabeth, the wife of Zechariah, and I am a blessed woman….

An Advent Story - Zechariah

An Advent Story - Zechariah

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

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NOTE: As has become my annual practice, starting last week and for the three subsequent weeks, i will be posting a total of four short stories surrounding the incarnational birth of Jesus. The stories are my Christmas gift to you. They are fictional first-person accounts of the prophecies and events surrounding the advent of Jesus. Some of the characters and details contained therein are fictional, but you will find the truth they convey to be very REAL! My prayer is that through the stories you are reminded of the Good News of Advent this Christmas season. To that end, let’s look at the account through the eyes of four different eyewitnesses:

Gabriel – the angel (December 1)

Zechariah – the priest (This week - December 8)

Elizabeth – the cousin (December 15)

Anna – the prophetess (December 22)

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I am Zechariah, a priest of the tribe of Levi from the line of Abijah and Aaron….

An Advent Story - Gabriel

An Advent Story - Gabriel

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

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NOTE: As has become my annual practice, beginning today and for the next three weeks, i will be posting a total of four short stories surrounding the incarnational birth of Jesus. The stories are my Christmas gift to you. They are fictional first-person accounts of the prophecies and events surrounding the advent of Jesus. Some of the characters and details contained therein are fictional, but you will find the truth they convey to be very REAL! My prayer is that through the stories you are reminded of the Good News of Advent this Christmas season. To that end, let’s look at the account through the eyes of four different eyewitnesses:

Gabriel – the angel (This week – December 1)

Zechariah – the priest (December 8)

Elizabeth – the cousin (December 15)

Anna – the prophetess (December 22)

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I am an angel created by Almighty God to be His messenger. My name is Gabriel….

A Journey With The Magi

A Journey With The Magi

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From the days of the Garden of Eden, our God has been at work to redeem a lost world back to Himself. His plan was already in motion. The plan was to send His Son to pay our debt. The plan was to then send out the followers of His Son to every corner of the globe to be witnesses of the Good News. He set in motion a mission to make a global impact that continues to this day. In doing so, He desires to work through men and women – MAGI – wise men and women who desire to be used by Him to Make A Global Impact. If we are to be those modern-day MAGI who journey on mission with the Master, we would do well to learn from our first century forerunners….

Jesus Is Missing!

Jesus Is Missing!

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Have you ever been so caught up in what was going on in your life that you failed to keep your eyes on Jesus? And when you did come around to looking for Him it seemed like He was missing? If so, there are some lessons to be learned from Mary and Joseph.

Other than the advent of Jesus as a baby, there is only one other event pertaining to His first thirty years on this earth that is recorded in Scripture. As we look at that event, let’s be mindful that Jesus came and journeyed on this earth so that we might know how to live (His life and ministry), we might be able to live (His crucifixion), and we might be empowered to live (His resurrection). The truth of what took place on this specific journey goes a long way toward teaching us how to live in our life journey. As such, we will look at this event through the eyes of Jesus’s traveling companions….

The Son Needed A Father

The Son Needed A Father

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Are you feeling like God has called you to do something that is way outside of your comfort zone? Do you find yourself in the midst of a situation that is far beyond your capability or understanding? Do you feel like God has just thrown you into the deep end of the pool? If so, you’re in good company. We see that occurring to men and women that God used throughout the Bible. Let’s look at one of them this week.

We read in the Gospel of Matthew that “After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream.”(1) The English translators did Joseph an injustice when they translated that particular passage, because ALL of the wise men were not gone. The magi may have departed, but one wise man remained – and his name was Joseph. Over the course of Jesus’s earthly ministry, a number of men had the privilege of journeying with Him, but only one man had the unique privilege of journeying with Him as His earthly father….

A Journey Home

A Journey Home

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Have you ever been rejected by the very people you thought would stand by you no matter what? If so, you’re in good company!

Nazareth was Jesus’s hometown. He lived the majority of His life in that small village. Like most small towns, everyone knew everyone – and everyone most definitely knew Jesus! They had watched Him grow up. They had seen Him always treat His parents with love and respect. They had seen Him as a caring big brother to His half-brothers and half-sisters. In recent years, since the death of Joseph, they had seen Him care for His mother, as the head of His family. As a capable carpenter, He had probably performed carpentry work for many of His neighbors. He was a good son, a good brother, and a good neighbor….

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