concordia nativity

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hezekiah's seal

Archaeologists in Israel have found a seal belonging to King Hezekiah from the 8th century BC. The inscription on the seal states - "Hezekiah, son of Ahaz, king of Judah".

"The find strengthens what we already know from the Bible about Hezekiah. It's the closest we can get to something that was actually used and held by King Hezekiah himself. This is the single greatest item I have ever found."  - Eilat Mazar, Director of Excavations, City of David site in Jerusalem

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nt greek papyrus fragment

(Geoffrey Davis - University of Texas /Austin)

A papyrus fragment from the Gospel of John from around the 3rd century was discovered on Ebay with an opening bid of only $99! Be still my heart! Fortunately it was found before it was sold and researchers were able to study it further. It is thought to be the only known Greek New Testament papyrus fragment that comes from a scroll and not a codex. Fascinating stuff ...

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charlton heston's library

the power of confidence

In the middle of the summer last year, at around the time of the All-Star break in July, the Kansas City Royals had a losing record and were 8 games behind the leading team in their division. It looked like they were out of it for sure - like it was just going to be another long losing season. From then on, they went on an absolute tear. They got into the playoffs, into the World Series, and one game away from winning it all. This year they picked up right where they left off, finished with the best record in the American League, and went on to win the World Series in dramatic fashion a few days ago. From July 22nd of 2014 to Nov. 1st of 2015, the Royals had a combined record of 164-94. They are the World Series Champions and the best team in baseball.

So what changed? It was the same team for the most part. What made the difference for them? In a word - Confidence. They began to trust in their abilities and believe that they really were good players on a good team. And wonder of wonders - that is exactly what they became.

It's amazing what a big difference a little thing like that can make. A little confidence and hope can go a long way. This goes for us as Christians and our lives as well. It's so easy for us to get down on ourselves all the time because of our continual failings, or due to the guilt and shame that we carry around with us.  But when we begin to see ourselves as God sees us in Christ, it can give us an entirely new and different perspective. As God's forgiven and adopted children, because of Jesus death and resurrection in our place, God now sees us as pure, holy, precious, chosen, and loved. He sees us as His own dear sons and daughters.

When we hear that good news, when we begin to believe it and trust in it, things begin to change for us. All of a sudden we're no longer so lonely or afraid. We instantly begin to feel a little stronger, a bit bolder, more confident and secure. And when we begin to realize that our relationship with God is taken care of, we are then freed up to look outside to those who are in need, to those we can love and serve in Jesus name.

When this happens - wonder of wonders - we begin to become like Jesus.

"I am confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ."   - Philippians 1:6

mind blowing site of the day

German astronomers have released the largest image ever of the Milky Way Galaxy. The image is 46 billion pixels, made up of 268 photos, from which 50,000 new astronomical objects were discovered. Mind ... blown.

Have a look ...

http://astro.vm.rub.de/

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happy 50th to the arch

"I sometimes think that in the west we have produced only two serious works of art: the Clovis point engineered with such obvious love by primitive man twelve thousand years ago, and that wonderful arch along the waterfront in St. Louis."  -  James Michener

h/t - travis scholl