Two thousand twenty five. What a year it has been! Full of drama and danger for so many people, just as both the beginning and the end of the life of our Savior, Jesus of Nazareth.
Today is Christmas Day. I write this column at the close of the day, having spent one full day–24 hours– in our new home in Travelers Rest (TR), South Carolina. Save the address if you wish: 400 Shibe Court, TR, SC 29690. Our entire Christman Eve was spent moving the big stuff, culminating several weeks of the small stuff and lots of painting.
The first thing that went up was this Christmas tree, the day after we closed on the house. See photo above. In the background, the cross given to me by the Second Baptist Church of Lubbock, Texas, for leading their annual adult Bible conference many years ago. In the corner, the English croquet mallet given to me by my wife Jan on one of our trips to London, also many years ago.
Of all the places, we have lived (Lexington, Owensboro, Louisville in Kentucky, and Pittsburgh, Jerusalem, and St. Simons Island) this is the one place I never dreamed of living. But we like it, even though the weather was in in the high 70s on Christmas Day. Something wrong with that!
Our move prevented us from attending Christmas Eve services for the first time, perhaps, in our 53+ years of marriage. We watched and listened, though, to the services of the congregation I pastored until one year ago this week, Providence, In Hendersonville. We were blessed.
This coming Sunday marks one year since the end of that three-and-a-half-year pastoral tenure, and the following week, the first Sunday in January of this year, the launch of my Sunday morning broadcast. I designed it as a ministry to people who have quit going to church; there are 40 million people in that demographic, scholars tell us, and they have something to say and also something they need.
Sunday in the House is what I call it, an allusion to my media platform The Meetinghouse. Since 1998, I have used this cyber site for radio shows, studio video broadcasts, weekly newsletters, and a website (themeetinghouse.net). Sunday in the House is now my weekly engagement with Life, Politics, and Jesus, and for the latter, I feature each week a Red Letter Lesson. These Bible talks derive from the words of Jesus as recorded in one of the four gospel accounts of his life. We are currently concluding a series of the questions Jesus asked, with “Why do you bother this woman?” scheduled for this coming Sunday, December 27.
Plus, I have free reign to give a Christ-centered response to the administration of Mr. Trump, something not allowed in the vast majority of pulpits in the United States. This has been a dangerous time in American life, full of corruption, cruelty, and destruction. My mantra has been “Less Trump, More Jesus!” Expect more of the same in the new year, from both him and me.
This weekly broadcast has been a rich and rewarding experience for me. It is hard for me to get out of the public worship mindset with its focus on prayers, hymns, and sermons and strip things down to the bare minimum: life, politics, and Jesus. People still call what I do a sermon, though, and hardly a week goes by that somebody doesn’t refer to it that way.
I thank those who have listened or watched through either my YouTube channel (YouTube.com/@dwightamoody) or on my Facebook page. I thank my friend and collaborator Benjamin Payne and his Peridot Video Productions. And I thank those who have contributed this year, 60 of you, including 38 who have given to The Meetinghouse for the first time this year. All total we have received $32,464. that is just shy of our goal of $40,000 and even shy of what we have spent, $37,000. You can still give this year, either online through the SUPPORT page of the website, or by mailing a check to The Meetinghouse Inc, 2413 Yuma Court, Lexington KY 40503.
Who knows what the new year will hold. Not the return of Jesus and not the conversion of the world. But a lot more danger for many people and welcomed safety for others. In the midst of all this, we seek to follow Jesus, welcome strangers, act with compassion and courage, and remain steadfast in every trial.
I give thanks, this Christmas season, for good friends who check on me, for others who forgive me for any cross word or bad behavior, and for all those who share my enthusiasm for life. I ask you to pray for me, give me wise counsel, and walk with me fearlessly in the way of Jesus. I pray for you a wonderous new year, full of possibilities and praise. May God in all mercy guide us in our way.
Two thousand twenty five. What a year it has been! Full of drama and danger for so many people, just as both the beginning and the end of the life of our Savior, Jesus of Nazareth.
Today is Christmas Day. I write this column at the close of the day, having spent one full day–24 hours– in our new home in Travelers Rest (TR), South Carolina. Save the address if you wish: 400 Shibe Court, TR, SC 29690. Our entire Christman Eve was spent moving the big stuff, culminating several weeks of the small stuff and lots of painting.
The first thing that went up was this Christmas tree, the day after we closed on the house. See photo above. In the background, the cross given to me by the Second Baptist Church of Lubbock, Texas, for leading their annual adult Bible conference many years ago. In the corner, the English croquet mallet given to me by my wife Jan on one of our trips to London, also many years ago.
Of all the places, we have lived (Lexington, Owensboro, Louisville in Kentucky, and Pittsburgh, Jerusalem, and St. Simons Island) this is the one place I never dreamed of living. But we like it, even though the weather was in in the high 70s on Christmas Day. Something wrong with that!
Our move prevented us from attending Christmas Eve services for the first time, perhaps, in our 53+ years of marriage. We watched and listened, though, to the services of the congregation I pastored until one year ago this week, Providence, In Hendersonville. We were blessed.
This coming Sunday marks one year since the end of that three-and-a-half-year pastoral tenure, and the following week, the first Sunday in January of this year, the launch of my Sunday morning broadcast. I designed it as a ministry to people who have quit going to church; there are 40 million people in that demographic, scholars tell us, and they have something to say and also something they need.
Sunday in the House is what I call it, an allusion to my media platform The Meetinghouse. Since 1998, I have used this cyber site for radio shows, studio video broadcasts, weekly newsletters, and a website (themeetinghouse.net). Sunday in the House is now my weekly engagement with Life, Politics, and Jesus, and for the latter, I feature each week a Red Letter Lesson. These Bible talks derive from the words of Jesus as recorded in one of the four gospel accounts of his life. We are currently concluding a series of the questions Jesus asked, with “Why do you bother this woman?” scheduled for this coming Sunday, December 27.
Plus, I have free reign to give a Christ-centered response to the administration of Mr. Trump, something not allowed in the vast majority of pulpits in the United States. This has been a dangerous time in American life, full of corruption, cruelty, and destruction. My mantra has been “Less Trump, More Jesus!” Expect more of the same in the new year, from both him and me.
This weekly broadcast has been a rich and rewarding experience for me. It is hard for me to get out of the public worship mindset with its focus on prayers, hymns, and sermons and strip things down to the bare minimum: life, politics, and Jesus. People still call what I do a sermon, though, and hardly a week goes by that somebody doesn’t refer to it that way.
I thank those who have listened or watched through either my YouTube channel (YouTube.com/@dwightamoody) or on my Facebook page. I thank my friend and collaborator Benjamin Payne and his Peridot Video Productions. And I thank those who have contributed this year, 60 of you, including 38 who have given to The Meetinghouse for the first time this year. All total we have received $32,464. that is just shy of our goal of $40,000 and even shy of what we have spent, $37,000. You can still give this year, either online through the SUPPORT page of the website, or by mailing a check to The Meetinghouse Inc, 2413 Yuma Court, Lexington KY 40503.
Who knows what the new year will hold. Not the return of Jesus and not the conversion of the world. But a lot more danger for many people and welcomed safety for others. In the midst of all this, we seek to follow Jesus, welcome strangers, act with compassion and courage, and remain steadfast in every trial.
I give thanks, this Christmas season, for good friends who check on me, for others who forgive me for any cross word or bad behavior, and for all those who share my enthusiasm for life. I ask you to pray for me, give me wise counsel, and walk with me fearlessly in the way of Jesus. I pray for you a wonderous new year, full of possibilities and praise. May God in all mercy guide us in our way.
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