What Advent Points Us Towards

"This is what Advent points us towards. A seasonal reminder of presence. An annual celebration of God’s personal intervention and presence with us. Advent teaches us that God is with us and that God is for us. Advent shows us God-in-action working for his glory and for our good.  Our reflection of this reality cannot leave us to merely feel good about God with us, it must propel us forward to display the God whose image we bear." -- Jeremy Writebo

Related Links

Advent: God with Us (5:03)

It's About the Cross (4:07)

Being Fully Present - A Christian Perspective

It is obvious that our technology today is having a negative impact on our ability to really connect with each other. Over a year ago I gave a speech at our Toastmaster's Club here in Brașov about this very subject titled Be Fully Present.

How should Christians view and deal with this problem? I came across an excellent blog post today that talked about this issue titled The Presence of Mind to Be Present by Jeremy Writebol. Here is what he had to say:

One practical way that love expresses itself is by our presence with others when we are actually with them. It seems to be the case more and more that whenever my wife and I go out on a date, we notice other couples in the room sitting at the same table staring intently into the World Wide Web on their cell phone. The glow of the smart-device covers their face and the concentration and devotion they exhibit towards whatever they are looking at is obvious. However, it looks rather odd to see two people at the same table staring into two devices and spending a significant amount of time not talking to one another. I often wonder if they are unable to talk and send one another text messages to communicate. It seems that this sort of ailment is occurring more and more these days. And  myself am not innocent.

You can read the rest here.