Dear Friends, Thanksgiving is over, which means it is officially the Christmas season. So decorations are going up, Christmas music is playing, and the countdown to the day we celebrate the birth of our Savior has begun. In the midst of all the activity that usually accompanies this time of year, one of my favorite passages to meditate on is Isaiah 9:6. If you’re not familiar with that verse, it says: “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on His shoulders. And He will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” The reason I love to ponder this verse during the Christmas season is because it not only foretells th

Dear Friends, “Surrender” is one of my least favorite words. But for the sake of full disclosure, let me follow that statement up by saying that the reason I dislike it so much is because it’s something I really struggle to do. Now, in some areas of life, having difficulty surrendering is a good thing. For example, if we’re trying be more healthy in our eating, it’s a good thing if we don’t surrender to our desire to eat a whole plate of chocolate chip cookies. That’s just one example of when it can be good to not surrender. But there’s one area of life where we need to make sure we’ve got this whole “surrender thing” down - and that’s in our relationship with God. Jesus makes this clea