There are some Bible verses that can definitely strike you the wrong way. One of them is this: “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Ouch! It sounds like spiritual masochism. Part of our problem is we tend to read it the wrong way, as if Paul meant to say, “Give thanks in all circumstances, for these circumstances are the will of God for you.”

The Christmas letter I wrote for many years has gradually morphed into this end of year update. It’s a little less personal, but enables me to give a brief description of what we’ve been doing to so many of you who have prayed for us, supported us and in general taken an interest in our lives.

Christmas in church is not Christmas without singing Joy to the World at least once. Few carols are as popular, yet none is as misunderstood.

In fact, Joy to the World is not a Christmas carol at all.

No longer.

I don’t think there’s ever been a year where the power of the media became such a subject of public focus. Somehow, we have always assumed — naively, perhaps — that for the most part what we saw and read was a reasonable representation of reality.

No longer.

If any group of people can mine gold out of the sludge of 2020, it’s us. Why? The answer is simple: Christians are in the hope business.

I find it interesting that there’s all sorts of teaching about faith, but very little about hope.

I think it’s because faith deals in tangible things: faith in God, faith in Christ, faith that the Bible is true, faith that God will protect us or help us in a given situation, faith for specific things we feel God has promised us.