Advent is a season observed in most Christian denominations as a time of waiting and preparation for both the celebration of Jesus’s birth at Christmas and the return of Christ at the Second Coming. It begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, often referred to as Advent Sunday. (Wikipedia)

I pray this December is a time of waiting, preparation, and celebration of Jesus’ coming for you and your household. Today my read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year portions were from the books of Job and Revelation. That’s the oldest book in the Bible, and the last book in the Bible. It seemed fitting for pondering the advent of Jesus Christ.

From the Book of Job:

“Would He contend with me by the greatness of His power?
No, surely He would pay attention to me.”

“But He knows the way I take;
When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”

“But He is unique and who can turn Him?
And what His soul desires, that He does.” (Job 23:6,10,13)

From the Book of Revelation:

“And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood….” (Apocalypse 1:5)

You might wonder why one might think Revelation is a good read for Advent. The first four words of the book in Greek are: “The revelation of Jesus Christ.” This could be taken as revelation from Jesus Christ or revelation about Jesus Christ. Both are true and appropriate, and that is the unified theme of the book. So what better way to celebrate and think about Advent than reading the Apocalypse or Revelation–even with its swirling timeline and mystical accounts of events in eternity past, present, and future. It celebrates the firstborn of the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth–Jesus Christ, our Lord.

In a parallel universe, or the same one, I sit by the fire watching my wife of forty-nine years putting the ornamants on our tree. They are almsot entirely crosses and crowns, with a simple golden crown adorning the top of the tree–a beautiful decision she made several years ago. At the same time, I am reading, His Cross and Ours by H.D. McCarty. He’s one of my main spiritual mentors, and the book just came out. He finished it at ninety-one years of age, this spring. I highly recommend it if you know H.D. or not–most of NWA does, as his mentoring fingerprints are on many in Arkansas and around the world.

Buy it for yourself or someone you love for Christmas! Here are some of his remarks from the preface:

“I have no fear, only a relaxed urgency to fully please our dear Savior while I can!” “My hope is that my story in this book–the culmination of a long life of public ministry, personal struggle, theological reflection, and increased “yieldedness” to our Lord Jesus–may inspire, instruct, and guide you on your own journey of cross discipleship. Joyfully stay in the battle, my brothers and sisters in Christ.” — H. D. McCarty

Christmas Peace to you and yours, Dwayne.