From a New Testament perspective, hope is quite different from optimism or wishing. While I was growing up in war-torn Beirut, Lebanon, we had a family friend who dropped in regularly at our home. On nearly every visit, he would share his political...

In my homeland of Peru, Christmas comes with the beginning of summertime. And for me it is a time for family. When I was a child, Christmas always meant a family reunion—getting together to share the love, peace, and hope...

The dilemma was not a lack of room at the inn.  Joseph and Mary were looking for a place to stay because the guestroom of a two-room home with attached stable was already occupied. At least, that's what Kenneth Bailey, scholar and author of Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, says of Jesus's birth.  According to...

As a mother of two, I have certainly experienced the feelings of joy and anticipation that come with the expectation of giving birth. I can only imagine what Mary must have felt upon learning that she had been chosen...

My mother is Cherokee and Irish and was born in Indian Territory in Oklahoma; my dad’s parents both came from Sweden and settled in the Swedish-American town of Kingsburg, California. While my sister and I were growing up, both ancestries were stressed in our family...

Fuller’s Food Distribution Program was a valuable resource for my wife and me after we moved from Michigan to California, with no income and no idea how we would support ourselves. After starting my master’s degree at Fuller I began working with the Food Distribution Program...

Like many kids, I always had a hard time sleeping during the night before Christmas morning. I would wake up at three or four o’clock, eager to go down to the living room to see the array of gifts under the tree. But I was under strict parental orders to stay...

“Tidings of great joy for all peoples.” The angels’ declaration to the shepherds captures the heart of what Christmas is about. The Bethlehem baby’s birth brought joy to a hurting and wounded world. That is not to say that the birth of Jesus spread...

So often, as believers, there is the tendency to live out a compartmentalized faith, where our knowledge of God runs parallel to our everyday reality, with very few moments of intersection throughout our journey. We know it is God who created the universe, put the stars...

Three months ago at our Fuller Youth Institute (FYI) Los Angeles Youth Ministry Network, my friend and partner, Chap Clark, shared some insights about Galatians 5 that I’ve been meditating on for the last three months. In the midst of the holidays, there are...

Growing up in Uganda, where interconnectedness is the buzzword for life, I learned the importance of the “other.” As a young boy, I witnessed people abandoning themselves to what lay beyond them, to the extent that they forgot about themselves as separate...

There are extraordinary reasons for me to celebrate this Christmas.  But alongside these, there are also ordinary reasons for celebration.  This year, I saw a loved one restored to health after many months in critical condition, and received the wonderful news...

Advent has always been an important season for me.  This is because the Christmas spirit, at its best, is about peace on earth and goodwill to all humankind (Luke 2:14). It is about remembering Jesus’s birth, which often serves as a motivator for people to take part in peacemaking activities...

For reminding me about the true meaning of Christmas, I need to thank a white-polyester-clad street preacher named Reverend Billy, who set out on a cross-country mission to save Christmas from the “Shopocalypse.” Rev. Billy was featured in a documentary...

I’ll never forget the Christmas I spent on a tiny island in the South China Sea.  I was all of 19 years old, and my decision to spend a year teaching English to fourth graders on the other side of the planet probably marked the most unnecessarily demanding fulfillment of...