Life in a Twitter World

A New Year is rushing upon us. What will it bring? Sanity, civility, and satiety in our lives or confusion, conflict and scarcity?

Will the New Year rush upon us, or will we rush upon the year? Will we find time for things of meaning? In 2016 a few things stood out to me. There are fewer book stores and they do not stock as many books. People are reading less and surfing more. In the National Gingerbread Competition the homes were noticeably less detailed, which means people who normally spend time on their hobbies did not put as much into the thing they love.

We allow our minds to twitter between topics skimming the surface and digging deeply in nothing.  We flit from topic to topic, activity to activity and thing to thing. People act on flashes of fake news tweeting threats and ramifications. The tenor of our civilization today is to tweet out mean statements, anger, ultimatums and not niceness. Our twitting has produced an uptight and defensive society.

There are more twits in our society than ever. Stop! Think! What is a twit? Merriam-Webster says, “a silly annoying person : fool.” Urban Dictionary says, “The kind of person that makes a retarded chimp look smart.” The Free Dictionary says, “A foolishly annoying person. A reproach, gibe, or taunt. To taunt, ridicule, or tease, especially for embarrassing mistakes or faults.” Oxford Dictionaries say the word in 1930 described a talebearer.

 Some have chosen to counteract taunting tweets with Bible tweets. Here are the top Bible Tweets. Here are Twitter recommended Bible Tweets. And this site gives Chapterized Tweets, now available in paperback.

But is this what God wants? Beyond the tweet “With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth,” (Ps 119:13) an oft quoted passage goes on to say, “I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways.” To meditate means: “think deeply or focus one's mind for a period of time, in silence.” The Bible tells us to slow down.

The Bible tells us to take time to “delight” in God’s decrees (Psalm 119:16) and to “rejoice” in following the “statutes” contained in scripture “as one rejoices in great riches.” (Psalm 119:14) The Psalmist asks, “How can a young man keep his way pure?” The Bible says by taking time to memorize God’s word and by taking time to recount all the laws that God gives us.

The book of Psalms opens by saying, “Blessed is the one … whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season.”

Will the New Year bring a rush for us or will it allow time to meditate on God’s law. Will this meditation bring tweets or the actions which bring real good to others? Let us make the most of the New Year and bring glory to the Great Name of God.

December Family Nights

Each week when my family was young (preschool, elementary school and even high school-aged), our family set one night a week aside as a family night. These ideas, with a calendar are included on my website under the Advent tab. Please feel free to use these ideas with your family.

Family nights on my website are set around the following weekly themes: 1) Prophecy; 2) The Journey of Joseph & Mary; 3) The Shepherds; 4) The Magi. Family nights include: a special meal, an opportunity to read a portion of the Christmas story, times of singing, and surprises.

During the week of November 28, I try to share with my family how God told us about the birth of Jesus even before He came. To reinforce this children can help bake bread. What starts as dry ingredients turns into a lump, which rises, and then with baking becomes the bread we eat. In a similar fashion, the Gospel began as an idea, as God shared parts of his plan through the Old Testament, where we can began to understand the idea. Then Jesus was born in Bethlehem. We read scripture from Luke 1:1-4 with a focus on the prophets.

We set up the tree this day; the evergreen is a promise of eternal life. We set out Nativity sets, which tell the story of Christmas. We will eat the bread as part of our dinner, and sing Christmas carols. We will also look at pictures of former Christmases, and talk about what we want to see happen this year.

During the week of December 5, I share with my family how God announced the birth of Jesus to Joseph and Mary. In response, the couple traveled to Bethlehem where Jesus was born (a “journal” of this trip can be found in the book Advent Journeys). We bake a Birthday Cake in order to tell the story of Christmas from Luke 2:1-7. We sing songs, and then eat dinner as a picnic by the Christmas tree. Joseph and Mary ate picnic lunches as they traveled. We sing songs during this celebration.

During the week of December 12, I share with my family the story of the shepherds. During the week I try to take them to see a pasture with sheep in it. For supper on Shepherd week, I build a fire in the fireplace. We roast hot dogs, and can have s'mores. The shepherds cooked their meal over a real fire. We tell the story of the Shepherds from Luke 2:8-20. We string popcorn on the Christmas tree. We also prepare Christmas cards. As the angels announced the Birth of Jesus to the shepherds, we tell our friends of our love for Jesus.

During the week of December 19, I will tell the story of the Magi. Our special foods are sugar cookies and eggnog because the Magi lived such rich lives. We might eat steak, or a similar meal. Or we go out (if not planned for another night) to burger king, where we wear crowns, and talk about the Kings. We read the story from Matthew 2:1-12. We also look at the decorations on our tree.

Christmas is for sharing; please consider sharing the book Advent Journeys this year with others. A reading each day will enhance this season and make it more meaningful than other years. As you read, share your readings with others to encourage them. I have been amazed as people shared with me the blessing they found in reading this book. Several non-believers and skeptics were given this book, were captured by the first chapter and read the book, discovering for the first time the real meaning of the Christmas story. Pray about who you know who would benefit by reading Advent Journeys ... and then order copies (so you will have them to give to friends on Thanksgiving Day). The publisher’s website (CreateSpace owned by Amazon.com) is listed here: Order the book through CreateSpace. When you give Advent Journeys to others as a gift, you will reap the blessing of having them share from their perspectives the discoveries and joys they receive from the book.

NOT NOW! It’s too soon for Christmas!

Many books have a presence in the cyber world on Amazon.com. My books are in the company of those of 5,000,000 other authors! The problem with being an author in the United States is that people are reading less and less. I learned while in Israel that per capita more books are printed in Israel than any other country in the world. I need to get my book translated to Hebrew!

I have written books to be read. It takes work to write a book. Although at times the material for the book pops out, and goes on the page easily, it is not in presentable format. Sarah can tell you from proofing my books when I write the tenses I use get all messed up, so what was written needs improvement. The author of a book goes through the book seven or more times to make sure what was written is accurate, to correct spelling and punctuation errors, and to remedy other issues.

I write books because there are things I desire to share, and things that need to be shared. I want people to understand the world of Biblical times. I desire to open doors for people to understand the Jewishness of the New Testament. I want the world to see the reality and truthfulness of scripture. It takes hard work to write a book, and harder work to market a book.

Because Christmas is now only two months away, it is time to recommend my book Advent Journeys to those who are reading this blog. Advent Journeys is enjoyable to read, for yourself or as a gift for you to give. In the pages of this book Sarah and I have worked to bring out the real meaning of Christmas.

Each week during the Christmas season, Advent Journeys invites people to walk with men and women of the Christmas story. The first week, readers will join Zechariah in the Temple. The second week, the reader will walk alongside Joseph and Mary as they journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. On the third week, a shepherd shares what life is like in the fields. During the fourth week, the reader will journey with the Magi from Persia to Bethlehem. The fifth week contains Joseph’s journals from the day he leaves Bethlehem until the time he settles with his family back in Nazareth. The fifth week is shared to help people get ready for the New Year. The book includes a bonus Chanukah week, written through the experiences of a Maccabee. Each day’s presentation includes a short journal and three or four thought ideas and questions.

The books, especially (at this time of year) Advent Journeys, are great reads. Advent Journeys can actually bring someone (if read) a better Christmas.

Advent: A Family idea

Many years ago, when my children were very young, I read a book about Advent.  The author said during the Advent (Christmas) season people are more interested in spiritual things than any other time of the year.  The book gave many ideas for sharing Christmas with others.  In one chapter the book presented an idea that the best gift which could be given within families at Christmas was time.

The author said that Christmas is one of the busiest times of the year with activities, parties, shopping and travel.  Often we rob our children of the quality time they need and deserve in order to accomplish the tasks which seem so urgent.  The book suggested one way to reposition our family into their proper place of importance is to plan activites for the family and place them on the calendar as appointments.

I took the author’s suggestion, and created a calendar.  The first appointment I placed on the calendar was to eat either breakfast or dinner with my children every day. (Depending on school and church schedules this could vary … and was not easy to do.  But because I looked ahead and put this priority as an appointment, it did happen most days).  During our meal together we would read two short scriptures which were part of the Christmas story (I have a suggested calendar posted at http://www.koshercopy.com/ - look for the tab on the top bar which says “2015 Advent”).  I also placed on the calendar at least one activity per day which connected with the Christmas story.

Sometimes (when I was busy) the activity would be something our children could do with very little guidance (color wrapping paper; design and color cards for grandparents).  Other times the activities were more involved.  We went on field trips, acted out parts of the story, and every week we took one evening for a family night.

Family nights involved a dinner together.  Sometimes we tied these to the story, such as, during the week we highlighted the angel’s visit to the shepherds we built a fire in our fireplace and roasted hot dogs.  (I am sure the shepherds built a fire on cool nights - and because they had a fire, they must have roasted hot dogs and s’mores).  We also sang songs, told stories, and created skits in which we acted.  (My daughters like the skit where one of them was Joseph, the other was Mary, my wife was the Innkeeper, and I was the donkey.  Yes, Mary got to ride the donkey with Joseph leading).

All of these activities created memories.  And these memories proved to be much more powerful than the gifts we gave on Christmas day.  The end result: Christmas is about Jesus.

I have placed on our website the pamphlet with activities.  These activities are linked with our new book Advent Journeys.  The Journey diaries of Zechariah, Joseph, the Shepherd, the Magi and the Maccabee can be understood by most children in third grade and above.  The scripture (Calendar) along with the journal and activities shared with family members can lead to a most memorable Christmas.  Plan ahead and give it a try … starting the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

Advent Traditions

   The Advent traditions of my family began almost thirty years ago in a young adult Sunday School class at University Baptist Church in Wichita, KS.  Our study for December included four lessons: Zechariah, Joseph, Shepherds and Magi.  In preparation for these lessons I picked up a book from our church library, the title of which I have long forgotten.  The book said the Christmas season is a great time to teach on spiritual things because people were more attune because it was the time of Jesus' birth.
   Members of the class I was teaching had young children, three of them born the same month as my oldest daughter, Chelsea.  The lessons I prepared that year included not only the scripture but also ideas for teaching our children the Bible stories on a preschool level.  I made a notebook for each member of the class (color coded by week).  The ideas presented in the notebook I continued to use and improve each year.
   As my daughters aged from preschool to young child to older elementary and then on into middle school I continued to develop the idea of Advent scripture and stories.  I added activities according to their age.  I picked up the idea of sharing finger plays from the Hutchinson, KS library.  Those were included in a new Advent schedule.
   I began to develop other activities in the schedule as my daughters reached five years of age and beyond.  These included a weekly family time with dinner, songs, a skit and the story.  One of the favorite stories was the trip of Joseph and Mary to find a room in Bethlehem.  One of the girls was Joseph, the other Mary.  I was the donkey (many people told me that was a good role for me) and Denise was the innkeeper.
   When the children entered elementary school in Apex, NC, I added more activities.  We prepared Christmas cards on the week the angels told the Shepherds of Jesus' birth.  We drew wrapping paper in the week we told of the gifts brought by the Magi.  We made care packages for our neighbors to minister to them.  We also saw a sheep farm (or sheep at the zoo), and Christmas programs.  Christmas grew to be a season we loved.
   When my daughters entered Middle School, I stopped reading the story as much, because I wanted them to be more self disciplined.  I put a story with their lunch each day, along with thought questions, activities we would do when they came home, and also with a game: word search, crossword, maze, or similar, which they could solve as they ate lunch.  We still have a notebook of these pages.
   The devotions came full circle as Sarah helped me write Advent Journeys, a Christmas devotional.  We had fun, and talked about some of the activities of the past.  I put out a pamphlet for others to enjoy for many years.  I will be putting the same ideas on our website in the very near future (this week I hope) so others can enjoy celebrating Advent with their families.
   To celebrate a fun Advent will bring families closer to the true meaning of the Christmas season.  I have found these activities to be the perfect antidote for consumerism so prevalent at this time of year.  Keep an eye out for the list ... and if you have other ideas, please share them.