SMITCHing

For Christmas 2011, my pastor spoke about the significance of the manger. It's mentioned three times in Luke's Gospel, and he made the point that this repetition is meant to focus us in that image. A place where the hungry are fed. He also pointed out that Bethlehem means "house of bread". So we have another intersection to the idea of feeding the hungry. Why did God choose these places: a small town called the House of Bread and a feed trough? Could it be that He understood our hunger? That all of the things which promise to satisfy us will ultimately leave us empty, except for one. Jesus. Who came to offer Himself unreservedly to us. The story of Jesus birth in Luke's account foreshadows John's record of Jesus own claim that he is the Bread of Life, and the only one who can satisfy our deepest hunger.

Richard Foster, in his excellent book on prayer , offers a refreshing look at an all too familiar topic. What struck me was the multi-faceted way in which he examined prayer. I had always thought of prayer as me talking to God about stuff. Simple? Yes. Stupid? Maybe, but my approach was certainly not exhaustive of the subject, as I learned from Foster. Since reading his book, I've stumbled on a new form of prayer that I've never seen before, at least not in a Christian context. Kinetic prayer. Never heard of it? Me neither until I made it up. After I Googled it, I realized the term may have existed prior to my "ah ha!", but I at least can add a little meaning to it. My wife practices kinetic prayer. In fact, I think she may have invented it. We attend a larger church with a big auditorium filled with about 1200-1300 folks at a given service. In the back of the room, dead center, is our tech booth: a small structure that houses sound, lighting and presentatio...