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)

We Can't Bury It Deep Enough

We Can't Bury It Deep Enough

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Have you ever done something that you knew you weren’t supposed to do? But you rationalized it was okay because no one was ever going to know what you had done. And then you took great effort to cover up what you had done just to make sure no one would ever know. The answer to that question for all of us is “yes”. How do i know? Because we are all sinners … and we all have the proclivity to sin. Allow me to introduce a fellow sinner by the name of Achan.

On the morning the walls of Jericho collapsed, Joshua commanded the people of Israel, “Do not take any of the things set apart for destruction, or you yourselves will be completely destroyed, and you will bring trouble on the camp of Israel. Everything made from silver, gold, bronze, or iron is sacred to the LORD and must be brought into His treasury.” Joshua had repeated this instruction multiple times so that everyone would clearly know and remember what they were to do. And every one of the fighting men took that command to heart and obeyed … except one.

The treasures of Jericho were laid bare that day ….

An Honest Seeker

An Honest Seeker

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Since beginning my journey as an author a little over three years ago, i have had the opportunity to engage with a growing number of readers from around the world regarding the Good News of Jesus. In so doing, i have encountered an ever-increasing number who not only tell me they do not believe in Him; they also deny that Jesus is who He said He is. As a matter of fact, those opinions are often shared with me with a surprising amount of vitriol directed toward Him, toward what He taught, and toward those who follow Him.

It has caused me to have a greater understanding of the hatred that was unleashed against Jesus in the first century. Jesus was seen as a threat to many within the religious elite of the day. His teachings threatened not only their religious beliefs but also their power structure. Rather than choosing to honestly seek Jesus and receive His truth, many in the first century opted to harden their hearts and vilify Him….

Unholy Ambition

Unholy Ambition

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Unholy ambition is easy to spot in others. It can manifest itself in a lot of ways. The whole world is currently watching as one man’s unholy ambition has led him to direct his armed forces to invade the territory and lives of another sovereign nation. The resulting destruction is a reminder to all of us of just how evil our world can be, left to its own desires.

We continue to pray for the people and the leaders of Ukraine. We pray that the invasion would be stopped, and the selfish ambition of those who started this would be turned aside. We pray that the lives of all people on both sides of the conflict would be spared. We pray for godly wisdom to prevail and peace to return to the land.

But unholy ambition is not limited to what is currently underway in Europe. It comes in all sizes, shapes and behavior. Some may be much more subtle than what is currently playing out across the world stage, but it is selfish ambition, nonetheless….

A Divine Interruption

A Divine Interruption

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Some interruptions in our lives are simply unplanned delays. Like i wrote about last week, God can use His divine delays in our journey to bring us into alignment with His perfect timing. He slows us down in order to accomplish His perfect plan in the midst of our journey. But some interruptions are far more than a delay. They are moments, events and/or circumstances He uses in our lives to completely redirect us onto a course that looks very different from the one we’ve been on.

Most often, these interruptions can occur in the midst of a “normal” day. We’re doing what we normally do, going about our routine, perhaps on auto-pilot. When the day started out, we had a pretty good idea of how the day was going to look. We had our “to-do” list in hand, our schedule laid out, and our sights set, not only on the plans for this day but also the others that would follow. We were looking to the plans we had for that evening, or the coming weekend, or the upcoming vacation, or some other occasion. We weren’t planning on the change in direction, and we weren’t anticipating a change in our plans.

Then suddenly ….

A Divine Delay

A Divine Delay

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Most of us, if not all of us, have experienced a delay in a journey. Most certainly, we have all experienced a simple travel delay caused by circumstances outside of our control. But the type of delay i’m referring to is related to our life journey. We set out on a path that we believed God had set our feet upon only to encounter an unexpected delay that either went on – or is still going on – for what seems like an eternity. If you find yourself being delayed even now, i encourage you to take a reminder from this delay in the apostle Paul’s life journey.

What's The Big Deal?

What's The Big Deal?

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Sometimes we can be doing things the wrong way for so long that we no longer see anything wrong with what we are doing. In some ways, our errant practices become the norm – and sometimes, they even become our new traditions. That can be true in places of worship – as well as in our own lives.

Such was the case in first century Jerusalem. One thousand years earlier, God had given King David and later his son, King Solomon, very specific instructions for the construction of the first temple in Jerusalem. Those instructions did not include the stabling of birds and animals within the confines of the temple in order for them to be purchased by pilgrims coming to offer their sacrifices. Rather, the animals were available elsewhere in the city away from the temple….

We Are Family

We Are Family

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In 1979, four sisters from Philadelphia, who together formed an R&B vocal group, released what immediately became their breakthrough album, We Are Family, featuring their Grammy Award winning single under the same title. The Sledge sisters celebrated in song what it meant to be family. If you were around in that era, i would venture to say that the song immediately began to play in your head as soon as you read the title of this post! Even if your own family experience wasn’t as joyful as the lyrics in the song, you found yourself celebrating the idea of family when those notes began to play.

Our pictures of family may in fact look very different from one another in many ways, but in the way that i would say is the most important, i would hope it looks the same!

Whose Fame Do We Seek?

Whose Fame Do We Seek?

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i have a very personal question for all of us. When the day is done or when our lives come to an end, what do we want to be known for? Do we want to be known for the success we achieved, the awards we earned, or the victories we won? Or do we want to be known for the way we helped others or the civic service we selflessly carried out? Or do we want to be known for being a faithful and loving son or daughter, or husband or wife, or parent, or friend? Most, if not all, of those would be noble pursuits. But each of those in one way or another, actually points back to us. Please allow me to press the question a little further….

The Lessons of the Detour

The Lessons of the Detour

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The journey of our lives often resembles a car ride on an interstate highway. Sometimes we are able to fly along with very little interruption from traffic. But most often, we are surrounded by crowded lanes of traffic that slow our progress. The congestion too frequently leads to accidents and, on occasion, to unexpected detours.

We never planned to encounter the accidents or the detours, but the reality is that they are a part of traveling along the interstate. The same is true of our lives. This week let’s look at the detours we come upon along the way, and heed some of the lessons the Israelites learned through the detours they encountered during their journey.

Their forty-year journey was almost at its end….

Who Will Go For Us?

Who Will Go For Us?

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After blogging for several years, i am mindful that some titles draw people to read the post … and others can scare readers away. This is one of those titles that tends to scare people away. That’s because it is a question that makes us uncomfortable. So … thank you for reading this far!

You probably remember the setting. It comes from Isaiah chapter 6. Isaiah finds himself unexpectedly in the throne room of heaven when he hears the Lord ask, “Whom should I send as a messenger to My people? Who will go for Us?”(1)

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