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The voting for the DCCCBoA (Delony Christmas Card Contest Bonanza of Amazingness) is finally over!

It was a tough one this year. I felt like I was dealing with the BCS committee, but the judges (kids, ages 6-1) thought long and hard and picked a winner (which is highly disputed and controversial in our household). But leave it to the kids to be a sucker for cute animals (hint, hint for next year). 

So I give you the 2nd Annual DCCCBoA Winner!

Katherine Kitchens is the winner of this year’s best Christmas card! Well done! A Starbucks gift card will be in the mail soon for you to sip a warm cup of victory.

And for me personally, I give you my vote of the most amazing cowboy Christmas card. I’ve never gotten one quite like this and don’t think I ever will. 

Ray Bell, I am amazed and tip my hat to you…

For the rest of you, better luck next year.

My kids really enjoyed this one, thought you might too…

[HT:Layguy]

Christmas is next week. Things get hectic, so I figure you need a chill out… 

So I give you your…

Mid Week Mellow Mix

Enjoy!

In many sermons and blogs I’ve read lately, I’ve been noticing a trend in institutional Christianity. It seems like being a Christian is about taking on a huge weight. I hear pastors exclaim freedom in Christ, but they mean quite the opposite. The sheer gravity of the Bible seems crushing. Evidently, Christ saw the same thing. Here is a brief summary of Christ’s his beef with this weightiness imposed by the Pharisees (Matthew 23):

They pushed obeying the minutiae details of the law, but neglecting the important facets such as justice and mercy. They were shallow with clean outward appearances, but had corrupt insides. They made the Kingdom of Heaven exclusive and acted like they controlled the entrance. And they piled rules upon rules on the people, but didn’t lift a finger to help offer them any help (or hope).

Anyone feeling this? Or is it just me? I feel like the foundations of our faith are being used to smother and killing us under their own weight… when they were meant to free us. Christ meant for us to walk upon solid ground; to walk on His foundations, not be crushed under them.  Have we lost sight of Christ in all of this?

So how does this happen? One place it starts is in our worldview.

I recently heard someone say this, “Truth is good teaching and sound doctrine.” And later, they said that Christ was the truth. If you put this logic together you get:

Truth = Christ = Good Teaching and Sound Doctrine

Really? Is that the summary of Jesus? But if you take this definition of Christ you get a worldview very askew from what the Gospels intended. It is no longer about good news and more about rules and regulations. It’s not about the heart. It’s heavy and burdensome. It’s more about pursuit of knowledge than walking with Christ.  

Your worldview and the the way you approach Christ is paramount. It effects the very scope and flavor of your faith.

This scope and flavor of your faith determines how you read the Bible, follow Christ and process the world around you.

So how would you finish this equation?

Truth = Christ = __________?

Mine would be:

Truth = Christ = Hope, Love, Life, Relationship, Change, and Journey

What’s yours?

Here’s a great message from Bell on this topic:

Rob Bell – Lift A Finger

Last night around midnight, it started to snow. It was the first snow of the season. And just as I was about to go to bed, Samuel woke up. We went on the back porch to see the snow. Here’s a pic of his and my footprint. Sadly, (for the kids – not me) the snow was gone in the morning. So Samuel was the only one to witness it in all it’s glory. 

There’s also a possibility for more snow tonight. How’s the weather in your neck of the woods?