Throughout the holidays we have spent time understanding some of the Jewish Holidays that were incorporated during Old Testament times. These feasts and festivals were but a shadow of the reality that pointed to the coming of Christ. This holiday will be a bit different. Instead of finding it’s beginnings in the Old Testament, it originates during the time between the Old and New Testaments. The story itself can be found in 1 & 2 Maccabbees, which is a book that is in the Apocrypha of the Catholic Bible. If you are interested in learning more about it’s history, this site will give you more history.

The word Hanukkah means “dedication” and this holiday is in remembrance of the rededication of the Temple of God about 150 years before Christ was born. They Syrians had overrun Israel and forced the Jews to blaspheme the temple by sacrificing pigs in it and bowing down to the Syrian idols. One priest, Mattathias, along with his five sons (good number, huh!), refused and formed a band of rebels that fought three years of guerrilla warfare in the mountains and caves around Jerusalem. After three years, the Syrians were finally driven away and the temple was rebuilt and cleansed. In the restoration of the temple, the candlestick of the temple was found (which should always be lit), but only one days worth of purified oil was found. It takes eight days to make the oil that was required for the candlestick. The Jewish people believe a miracle took place as the days worth of oil lasted eight days - long enough to make more and keep the candlestick burning. This is why, during Hanukkah, a minorah with eight candles is a significant symbol of God’s presence among His people.

Jesus celebrated the Festival of Lights and it is just prior to the celebration that Jesus makes this claim. It is during this festival that He makes this claim.

What do you think Jesus’ purpose was in saying these things surrounding this festival? (I guess you have to read the links )

I love observing how God announces His purpose in pictures that He has painted years and years before the “reality” takes place.

Dan Gutwein is the father of Austin Gutwein, who founded Hoops of Hope. They are from the church I served at for fourteen years in Arizona. He sent this note that I wanted to pass along to you. We had six students participate in Hoops of Hope and, simply by shooting baskets for one cold afternoon, they have effectively changed the lives of six students in Africa. That’s pretty sweet!

Dean,

Dan

Here is a link to the video of the NBC Nightly News story. There is also a Blog which is rather funny to read, yet offers a strong challenge to us all. I’d encourage you to check these out.

I just recieved this email from Dan Gutwein, whose son, Austin is the one who started Hoops of Hope. We were able to meet with them when we went back to Arizona in November. It is so inspiring to me to see what can happen when one pre-teen boy has a vision for what God can do through him. I hope this will inspire all of us to pursue dreams that God plants in our hearts to make a difference in this world.

It’s been almost a week since the event so I hope your arms are feeling better J I wanted to send you a quick update and let you know what God did through you during this year’s event. So far (we still have one location doing Hoops of Hope), you’ve raised right at $45,000 for the Johnathan Sim Legacy School in Twachyanda, Zambia. This combined with the $60,000 already raised by Kelly Sim for the school means the SCHOOL WILL BE BUILT!! How awesome to think because you took a day and did a basketball marathon, over 440 kids will be able to go to school next year, many for the first time. In addition, 3 teacher houses will also be constructed. These kids will be able to get an education and most importantly will learn that God loves them. Just sit and think about that thought for a while J. You guys are awesome!
One thing for sure, you’ve made God smile. Please reply back when you get a chance and share your story with us.

p.s. The NBC Nightly News special on Hoops of Hope is scheduled to air Friday night, December 8th, on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams.

As a kid, asking for forgiveness was never easy. (It’s a good thing I don’t have that problem anymore - ha) Coming to my parents and admitting that I was wrong and that I wanted to make the relationship right was almost painful at times. Do we all have memories of this? Some more recent than others? It honestly hasn’t gotten a lot easier, but I find that the older I get the more often it takes place for me.

As my kids approach me to ask forgiveness or admit their wrong attitude, I could just send them away saying, “You are forgiven.” But that doesn’t feel right does it. Forgiveness is not words coming out of our mouth. Forgiveness is a change of the heart. An embrace. It is almost as if something physical is required in order to touch something spiritual like forgiveness.

This is the essence of the celebration of the Day of Atonement. A physical ritual takes place to illustrate and make tangible something that is happening on a spiritual level. Read Leviticus 16:1-34 and get the full picture of what took place on Yom Kippur (as it is known today). I’m sure that it seems very foreign to most of us, but each and every action has very meaningful symbolism behind it.

Thoughts to ponder:
Why is forgiveness such a difficult thing for us to seek when it feels so good when we recieve it?
How much of that lies in our fear of unforgiveness that most of us have experienced as well?
When approaching a parent, a hug communicates more than words. When approaching God how can I feel forgiven when no embrace is felt?

I’ll look forward to journeying into this further together on the blog.

I recieved this email from a friend of mine who works with Jared O. in Kenya. He wanted to let us know about the status of the water being piped to their orphanage as Pathways raised the full amount of money they needed for that project. I thought I would pass his email along to you so that you know what is happening and can continue to pray for them as they reach out to these kids who have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS and the whole community in which they live.

Thanks again for the help with water in Kenya. Let me tell you what is happening. Things take forever in Africa. The government gave them a lot of hassles, and so much of the digging is taking place by hand. I’m not sure why other than it is Africa. Anyhow, they have been working like crazy on the project. It is not quite finished but a lot of progress has been made. Then we ended up with a distracting disaster. They got water and a lot of it. Kisumu flooded. The good news is that our building was spared. The bad news is it is now flooded with people. The government asked that it would be one of the places to house displaced people. Food is low in that area, and we are trying to feed a bunch of people. The good news is that it has partnered us with the government to help and so many people who had never been to church are now living in a church building. I think as they are being fed, they are opening up to the love of Jesus. When things finally dry out, they will continue to work on bringing the water that you paid for. I didn’t want you to think nothing was happening. Constant work has been taking place but at a much slower pace than we are used to. Thanks again for helping the least of these.

The holidays are here — whether you are ready or not! (If you think you are ready, a day of shopping will probably make you rethink that.) The arrival of the holidays can bring a mixture of reactions. Some find joy and some find sorrow. Many of us might find a little of both.

As we are in the midst of our own holiday season, we are going to spend the next several weeks looking at the holidays of the Jewish people. All of these were celebrated in Jesus’ time, and most of them were first instituted by God in the Old Testament. This week, we’ll be talking about the Feast of Trumpets, which is described in Numbers 29:1-6. But for our discussion this week, let’s focus on holidays in general:

Though we won’t look at all of them, God directed his people to celebrate seven different holidays. Why do you think God was so intentional about instituting them?
Why is it that the holidays can become a season of both joy and sorrow?
How have holidays been a meaningful part of your own spiritual experience?

We had our first ever student ministry retreat this weekend with 14 students and 8 adults! What you can’t see through the windows behind them is a beautiful view of Puget Sound. It was a great first time out, and on the way home, they were all asking when they could do it again.

Thanks to our student ministry leaders for making this retreat happen, and to the students for making it so much fun!

As we’ve moved through Paul’s letter to the church in Colossae, we’ve seen him go from talking in big lofty terms about the nature of Jesus to some practical ideas about what it looks like to follow Jesus. As we continue this week, he’s going to bring it home — literally.

It was common for moral teachers in Paul’s day to provide a code of how people should treat others in their own household. In Colossians 3:18-4:1, Paul offers his own code of what it looks like to live in the way of Jesus with those who you are in close proximity with. Take some time to read and reflect on those verses as we walk in them together this week.

Pick one or two of the questions below to share your thoughts on so that we can learn from the views of each other:

• Some of what Paul says in here doesn’t seem too progressive to us today, but it was in his time. What can we learn from a passage that might seem to be outdated in our modern times?
• Some of our most difficult relationships can be found in those we see almost daily — whether family, roommates, or co-workers. What is it about regular relationships like this that can make them difficult?
• Why does it seem like its sometimes harder to follow Jesus in the way we treat those who we know best?
• How do Paul’s instructions offer dignity to each of the parties involved in them?

What you wear tells you a lot about the person underneath the clothing. It reveals what is or is not important to you. It gives a picture of your values - not complete, but a picture nonetheless. In Colossians 3:1-17, Paul paints a picture for us of the outward actions of our life as being like the clothing that we wear. In every culture, there are items of clothing that are appropriate or not appropriate at different times and in the life of the follower of Jesus there are actions that are inappropriate and others that should be “worn” often.

I’d like to encourage you to read this Scripture in The Message translation as I think it helps give further understanding to this picture that Paul is attempting to paint.

Questions I ask as I read this:

How do the outer garments affect or reflect the heart of the wearer?

Is it possible that the heart changes before the clothes are changed?

Will we be a community that allows those with unchanged heart and unchanged clothing to be a part of us?