Redemption's Table

Every Christmas season brings its own wisdom, so the question we all need to ask is, “Christmas, what did you come to teach me this year?”

Welcome to Christmastide!  Christmas is far from over.  The celebration of Jesus’ birth extends beyond December 25th.  Today is only the fourth day of Christmas.  There are eight more days to come, plus Epiphany.  For many of us, the best Christmas gift has yet to be unwrapped.  

Today’s Table encourages us to pause and reflect on what just happened a few days ago – on what just happened 2000 years ago.  Last Wednesday and two millenniums back are not that far apart.  Christmas Day itself is a thin place where the reverberating echoes of angels can still be felt and heard.  Ask the Christmas question and listen quietly for God’s reply.

Special thanks today to Arbo, a country band from the cajun swampland, led by brothers Stevie and Johnny Rees.  They have graciously allowed us to share their 2023 song “A Child Is Born” for this special Christmas episode.  (Used by Permission).

https://www.arboband.com

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“The world will never starve for want of wonders; but only for want of wonder.” – G.K. Chesterton

We all need to be reminded.  We can’t manufacture our own wonder.  Sure, we can prime the pump to set our hearts in the right direction to receive.  But if we’re looking for Christmas to be one or two specific things this year – if we’re expecting something particular to happen in the next few days – and if it doesn’t happen, we’re going to be extremely disappointed, then we’ve set ourselves up.  There is a difference between expectancy and expectations.  

As we walk through the threshold from Advent to Christmas, today’s Table encourages us to relax, put down our expectations, and follow the bliss of what is about to unfold. We can’t plan surprise for yourself.  We will miss the bliss if we seek to control the bliss.  The surprise we need and where to find it will come only from the One whose birthday it is!  Follow the bliss!

Featuring “Bethlehem (2022 Version)” by Singer-Songwriter Ross King (Used by Permission).

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We’re halfway through Advent.  Today is December 12.  And someone out there feels the crush of the season.  The thought of “only 12 more shopping days left” bears down on you like an avalanche.  You’re rushing through December like Tom Cruise out to save the world one more time, caught up in an Impossible Mission.  

Pause.  Take a deep breath.  There’s still time to hit the Advent reset button.  There’s still time to redeem the days ahead.  There’s still time to enjoy the rest of the journey.  Such wonderful possibilities are woven into the very fabric of the story we now anticipate and celebrate.  And it is unfolding before you right this very moment.

Featuring “The Advent Song” by Future of Forestry (Used by Permission through Musicbed).

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It’s how I begin every day.  Thanksgiving is the single most spiritual practice that keeps me grounded daily in the goodness of God.

Four good friends accepted my invitation to gather at the Table this week to share their Thanksgiving for 2024.  You may notice a common theme.  All four have experienced some waves, some storms, and all four have seen Jesus at work in their lives and give Him thanks.

I am grateful for Jennifer Harris, Dr. P. Banneker Hatcherson, Rebecca Johnson, and Laura Williams for joining us at the Table today.

“Give thanks to the Lord for He is good.  His love endures forever.” – Psalm 136:1

Happy Thanksgiving!

Featuring “Thanksgiving Song” by JJ Heller (Used by Permission through Musicbed).

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Welcome to a different kind of Redemption’s Table.  Normally our episodes are for everybody, but today’s story is particularly addressed to American Christians.  It’s a sojourn to a forgotten place that begins with a forgotten harvest – and harvest and Thanksgiving usually go hand in hand.

The vision begins in a field of corn in a high mountain meadow.  A harvest has come and gone, and not a single ear has been picked.  Such neglect raises curiosity.  How can this be?  Suddenly, a man dressed as a Mexican peasant emerges from the parched stalks and a mysterious journey begins.  

Every American Christian needs to consider the questions raised by today’s imaginative parable that was first shared 25 years ago.  

Special thank you to my good friend Jeff Gore – a singer-songwriter who has been involved in cowboy ministry before there ever was such a thing as a cowboy church.  His songs “We Gather Together to Pray” and “Who’s Gonna Tell Them” are used by permission.   

https://www.youtube.com/@jeffgorecowboyandgospelmus4434

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Have you ever been to a place where past, present, and future come together before you?  Where you can reflect on the expanse of what has already swept by and ponder the volume of all that is yet to come?  Have you ever stood on the brink of a waterfall?  A waterfall is nature’s hourglass.

Host Robert Barge has stood on the brink of Lower Falls of the Yellowstone twice in his lifetime.  Once around 1972; again in 2024.  Approximately 53 years and 8 trillion, 357 billion, 40 million gallons of water has plummeted 308 feet over the top of Yellowstone’s tallest waterfall in between those two visits.  And time and water have volumes to speak to anyone with ears to hear and hearts to respond.

Join us for a whimsical Table that encourages everyone to take note of the hourglass moments of life so that we may be prepared to receive the rich and creative lessons they hold.

Featuring “Fly” by Drew Holcomb & the Neighbors (Used by Permission through Musicbed).

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You are a human GoPro and your soul is recording every nanosecond of your life!  To some degree, you’re taking it all in.  Your internal audio and video recorders are receiving data at an incredible shutter speed.  And even though your memory capacity is enormous, you can’t recall it all, but it is amazing how much your soul does remember.

Welcome to a fun Table episode.  Let your mind imagine some of the photographs your soul has taken.  Discover how to live your life like an Easter Egg Hunt.  And let gratitude help you catch more of the treasure of “the good and perfect gift variety” pouring down upon each of us every day from our Father of heavenly lights!

Your soul is taking photos even with the lens cap on, but the wider you open your aperture, the more the light gets in.

Special thanks today to Drew Holcomb & the Neighbors who inspired today’s Table in a big way with their song “Soul’s a Camera” (Used by Permission through Musicbed).

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I first met Peter Scott when I walked into his place of business in Montgomery Alabama almost 10 years ago. His office wall was filled with photographs he had taken from Yellowstone National Park.  We struck up a conversation and became fast friends.  

Pete worked in Yellowstone back during his college days.  He has since visited our first National Park multiple times and spent decades studying this incredibly diverse place.  Now, Ranger Pete is quick to tell you he’s not an actual Park Ranger, but he does have intimate, first-hand knowledge of Yellowstone and he loves sharing the wonder he has found in this very special place where our creator God has some spectacular artwork on display.

Pete and I both spent time in Yellowstone this fall on separate trips.  And it’s an honor to bring him to this wild conversation recorded live at El Taco Shop Restaurant in Montgomery.  Pete had the Pollo Loco and I had the best Sincronizada I’ve ever tasted. 

Featuring “Let’s Go Outside – Campfire Version” by The National Parks (Used by Permission through Musicbed).

http://www.rangerpete.org

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There’s a phenomenon that takes place within us when we spend three days in the great outdoors.  It’s called “the 3-day effect.”  Three days in nature can reset our brains.  And after those three days, our ability to problem solve goes up, our inductive reasoning goes up, and we become more creative.  When we step out of life as we know it and into life as we were meant to live it, it changes us.  And whenever I vacation in the wilderness, I always know when “the 3-day effect” kicks in.  It’s that noticeable.  

Last month I spent eight days in Yellowstone National Park.  “The 3-Day Effect” prompted me to write the following entry in my journal:

            “Dying is a hard process.

            Staying dead is a hard process.

            And when the third day comes, you don’t will yourself back to life.

            Only the resurrection can do that.”

Featuring “Waiting For Lightning” by The National Parks (Used by Permission through Musicbed).

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“Everybody I know says they need just one thing

 And what they really mean is they need just one thing more.” – Rich Mullins.

Everyone has a life song.  Or if you’re like me, you have dozens of life songs.  But through the years, one seems to keep rising to the top.  Rich Mullins’ My One Thing is that song for me.  It’s a song about Jesus – my one thing.

Who or what is your one thing?  The one thing that sets the table for all the other things in your life.  That’s today’s big question on this special fall Table that is all about my favorite person who has ever lived.  If Jesus is not yet your favorite person, I encourage you to give a listen to discover why He might should be.

Today’s episode is dedicated to the First Baptist Church of Warner Robins Youth Group – 1986-1992.  

Featuring “Son of God” by Chris Renzema (Used by Permission through Musicbed).

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