Written by Bill Grandi on December 15th, 2023
Aspiring actors and actresses are everywhere. I went to high school with Jeff Goldblum. My senior picture is on the same page in our yearbook as his. I had no clue Jeff would leave our high school and head to New York for the stage and ultimately to a TV show named TenSpeed and Brownshoe, and then on to Jurassic Park, Independence Day, multiple other movies, and finally back to TV with Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
For every successful actor there are hundreds, maybe thousands who never make it. At best, they are two-bit players. Truthfully, some people are looked at that way. Many overlooked. Many seen as hacks. It happens all the time, in every profession. Sunday’s sermon will be dealing with two groups of people. One, is seen as little people. The others are seen as big people. Well…at least as the world looks at them that way. But in God’s eyes, there are no little people and there are no big people.
Shepherds and Wise men. The have’s and the have not’s. The clean and the unclean. The “welcome-to-my-world” versus those who are “not welcome anywhere.” The stories are familiar but I will be praying we all might learn something new this week. I look forward to seeing you in person at 9:00 and 10:45 or via live stream.
Posted in InTheShadow | 6 Responses »
Tags: Christmas, God, God's Character, Humility, Opinion, Reflection, Sermon Series, Story
Written by Bill Grandi on December 14th, 2023
All week long I’ve been looking at the women who are in Jesus’ genealogy. You can check them out here and here and here. But I’m going to shift gears this morning and talk about a man. Yes, I know you could say, “Pick a man. Any man” much like you would in a card trick. Jesus’ genealogy is no different in that respects from any other one from that time. {Side note: for Matthew to include women in Jesus’ genealogy was highly unusual. Women were considered non-entities in that day and age. Even in His lineage, Jesus breaks the mold}. Okay, off the rabbit trail and back on course. 🙂 The man is mentioned in Matthew 1:16 with a fuller story in verses 18-25.
Joseph. The earthly father of Jesus. The husband of Mary.
Jewish marriage was in 2 stages. The parents usually arranged the marriage to start with. The first stage was the kiddushin, or what we would call the engagement period. The second stage was the huppa. It was actually more like our engagement period, but the couple was considered married and had all the rights and privileges of marriage EXCEPT the sexual relationship. Joseph and Mary were in this stage.
That explains why Joseph sought to divorce Mary. In his eyes, the explanation Mary gave for being pregnant had to be incredulous. “Seriously? An angel told you what?” I honestly believe Joseph loved Mary and it was more than an arranged marriage at this point. His only go to was Mary had broken her virginity with someone. He just knew it wasn’t with him. Joseph was an honorable man. He didn’t want a scandal. He didn’t want to embarrass or demean Mary. Take her away. Divorce her quietly. Let her live her life without shame.
Until God intervened in a dream. Long story short (and you probably know it): Joseph did as he was told, i.e. stay with her and marry her and don’t have relations with her until after Jesus’ birth. Then be the father to Immanuel. That seems like a lot to us. But consider this: Joseph went through life with the reputation of being married to a promiscuous woman-which, of course, was not true. Mary went through life being considered an immoral woman. On one occasion the Pharisees said to Jesus, “Well, we weren’t born as a result of sexual immorality.” (John 8:41). Yeah, like let’s bring up someone’s past. “Mary, you had an illegitimate child. Joseph, you are the father of that child.” They lived with Nathaniel Hawthorne’s scarlet letter glowing brightly.
Joseph’s story seems to end sometime after Jesus’ turned 12 and was found in the Temple. It is surmised that he died after fathering other children with Mary. Joseph teaches us the importance of listening and saying “Yes” to God (just like Mary). Jesus had two good earthly teachers-a father who loved Him as his own, and a mother who loved Him until His death. May we all be like Joseph and be willing to change the course of our lives if led by God to do so.
Posted in InTheShadow | 8 Responses »
Tags: Choices, Christian Living, Christmas, God's Plan, Jesus, Love, Opinion, Reflection, Scripture look, Story, Surrender
Written by Bill Grandi on December 13th, 2023
The past two days of devotions here and here, I have written about 4 women who were in the lineage of Jesus.
- Tamar- a deceiver
- Rahab- a Gentile and a prostitute
- Ruth- a Gentile and a Moabitess
- Bathsheba- an adulteress
The conclusion has been that the lineage of Jesus has some sketchy people in it. The 5th woman mentioned is none of those. She is a Jew. A virgin. And one unlikely individual to be spotlighted. I call her an outlier because she is so different. You know her as…
Mary, the mother of Jesus.
We have to be careful with her. Some put too much emphasis on her and revere her. Some say we have to go through her to get to God. Others, perhaps as a knee-jerk reaction against both of those ideas, write her off as unimportant.
Mary is special because she realized the dream of every Jewish girl: to be the mother of the Messiah. To me, Mary stands out head and shoulders above the rest of the other mentioned. Besides the obvious moral and ethnic differences, when presented with the truth that she was pregnant (“How can this be since I am a virgin?”), and after receiving Gabriel’s explanation of the process, she didn’t ask for an instruction manual; she didn’t ask for his credentials; she didn’t ask for his driver’s license and Social Security number; she didn’t ask, “Are you absolutely, 100% sure?”; she didn’t ask for proof that he wasn’t joshing her. No…she said the “magic” word, the same “magic” word God wants to hear from each of us when called: “YES.” Her exact words were “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” (Luke 1:38)
God wants to hear those same words from us. He heard them from Isaiah: “Here am I. Send me.” (Is. 6:8). He heard them from Samuel: “Speak, your servant is listening.” (I Sam. 3:10)
Will he hear them from me? From you?
{Note: All Scripture quotations from New Living Translation}
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I’d like to remind you to check out my review of Glynn Young’s 5 book series on the Dancing Priest on my other blog. You can find it here.
Posted in InTheShadow | 8 Responses »
Tags: Following God's Lead, God, God's Plan, Grace, Jesus, Lineage, Opinion, Reflection, Scripture look, Story
Written by Bill Grandi on December 12th, 2023
I’d like to remind you to check out my review of Glynn Young’s 5 series fiction books on Michael Kent-Hughes that begins with Dancing Priest and concludes with Dancing Prince. Along the way you will find a fantastic adventure unfold before you. You can see my review on my other site, Cycleguy’s Spin.
Now back to my regularly scheduled post: 🙂
My devotion yesterday touched on the lineage of Jesus, specifically through focusing on Tamar, the first woman mentioned in Matthew’s genealogy in chapter 1. This devotion will touch on the next three women mentioned. The second woman mentioned is Rahab. Rahab was a prostitute living in the city of Jericho who hid the two spies from the authorities when they came looking for them. When they were able to leave, Rahab only asked for one thing: when the people of Israel came to destroy Jericho, spare her life and her family’s. They agreed to do so but only if the scarlet cord was hanging from the window when they came. You can read the full story in Joshua 2 and 6.
The third woman mentioned is Ruth. Her story is told in the book by that name. Ruth’s mother-in-law, Naomi, lost her husband and then both of her sons. Her sons were married to two Moabite women, Ruth and Orpah. In her grief, Naomi decided to go back home and gave Orpah and Ruth the option of staying there or going with her. Ruth chose to go. She met and eventually married Boaz. They became the great-grandparents to David (Boaz/Ruth -> Obed -> Jesse -> David). Ruth was a Gentile and a Moabitess (one of the most hated people groups as far as the people of Israel were concerned).
The fourth woman is “the wife of Uriah.” We know her as Bathsheba. An adulteress. Her “lover,” David, also became a murderer when he had Uriah killed. (The story of David and Bathsheba is well known).
To recap:
- Tamar- a Gentile and a deceiver
- Rahab- a Gentile and a harlot
- Ruth- A Gentile and a Moabitess
- Bathsheba- an adulteress
Great family tree! Today’s culture would say, “That dude doesn’t stand a chance. He is a product of his environment.” Except for one truth: the God-factor. Only God could take something so messy, so gnarly, and make something so beautiful like He did. His marvelous GRACE is on full display in the genealogy of His Son, Jesus.
Posted in InTheShadow | 8 Responses »
Tags: Genealogy, God, God's Plan, Grace, Jesus, Lineage, Opinion, Reflection, Scripture look, Story
Written by Bill Grandi on December 11th, 2023
One of the most “passed over’ sections of Scripture is the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1. I mean, let’s face it: who in their right mind would say, “Oh boy! A genealogy. I get to read a bunch of ‘begats’ and “father of’s”? Sounds good if you want to put your child to sleep or even yourself. But to be excited to read it? Nope.
But Jesus’ genealogy is filled with interesting characters. My devotions this week will take a look at some of them- 4 women, one outlier, and one man. Let’s take the first in the list in this devotion:
TAMAR
The whole sordid story is told in Genesis 38. Tamar was married to Judah’s oldest son, Er. The Bible simply says “he was wicked in the sight of the Lord and died.” We aren’t told what it was, but it must have been bad. She then married his next brother, Onan, but he failed to consummate the marriage correctly and he too died. Hmmm. Two up. Two down. What is Judah to do with the next son, Shelah? I can tell you what he didn’t do! He promised him to Tamar when he came of age, but then reneged on that deal. Tamar waited; he failed to deliver. So she took matters into her own hands. She pitched a tent; dressed as a prostitute; seduced Judah; took his staff and ring for collateral; revealed her pregnancy and who the father was; and gave birth to twins, Perez and Zerah. All three are mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus.
Tamar was a deceiver, who dressed as a prostitute in order to seduce her father-in-law. Even in our seeming “everything goes” age that would raise a few eyebrows. It is hard to believe she is in Jesus’ lineage…but she is. Along with the others whom we will look at over the next few days, several lessons pop out at us. One I will cover more later: GRACE. But one that is highlighted in this genealogy is the imperfection of all of us and the ability of God to change it all and to use the weak. His ability to use broken people is on full display.
I’m a perfect example of that. Broken but usable.
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I will be reminding you over the next couple of days about my other blog, Cycleguy’s Spin. I have recently revived it with a totally different approach. Today I review Glynn Young’s series of books on Michael Kent-Hughes (a fictional character) whom he developed over a series of five books. I would love to hear your thoughts. Please visit me there at this post.
Posted in InTheShadow | 10 Responses »
Tags: Bible/Scripture, God, God's Plan, Grace, Love, Mercy, Ministry, Opinion, Reflection, Scripture look, Sin, Story
Written by Bill Grandi on December 8th, 2023
We are rapidly coming to the close of 2023, but before that happens the focus must be on Christ and what Christmas means. One of my favorite subjects to talk about is GRACE and the lineage of Jesus is GRACE IN SPADES. My sermon Sunday is from Matthew 1. You know…that boring lineage you, me, and thousands of others pass over. Let me rephrase that: USED TO PASS OVER until I studied it in depth and realized that it is filled with phenomenal people. All of them are important, obviously, but there are a few who stand out. Before I tell you who, I thought I would give you a fun fact: My original sermon title but5 Women and a Man. I received word that might not be a too appropriate of a title. So…being the humble man I am (AHEM) I changed it to the title you will see at the end of this post.
Now…back to the originally scheduled post. Five Women and a Man. Here they are:
Tamar- a Gentile who dressed as a prostitute to seduce her father-in-law Judah.
Rahab- a Gentile from Jericho who saved two spies but then was saved from Jericho’s destruction. She married Salmon and they had Boaz.
Ruth- a Moabitess (mortal enemies of the Israelites) who followed her widowed mother-in-law back to her hometown. Ruth met and married Boaz.
Bathsheba- described as the “wife of Uriah” in the lineage. Committed adultery with David (she may have not had a choice).
Mary- a teenager (probably) engaged to be married to Joseph, pregnant out of wedlock. It was sort of like the scarlet letter. But WOW! The mother of Jesus impregnated by the Holy Spirit.
Joseph- a godly man who was going to do the “right thing” by silently divorcing Mary to avoid scandal for her. But his heart is seen in his decision to stay with Mary and being the earthly father to Jesus.
That is the sermon. I’ve entitled it What a Heritage! I hope to see you Sunday at 9:00 or 10:45 in person or listen via live stream.
Posted in InTheShadow | 2 Responses »
Tags: Doctrine, Jesus, Opinion, Reflection, Scripture look, Sermon Series, Story
Written by Bill Grandi on December 7th, 2023
One of my favorite short stories of all that generally is read, seen, or heard during the Christmas season (besides the real story of the birth of Jesus), is the one written by O’Henry called The Gift of the Magi. It would be hard for me to find or believe there being someone who has not read or heard of this story, but just in case…
I understand that O’Henry’s personal life was in turmoil at the time of writing this story, which makes this story even more incredible. He tells the story of a young couple (Jim & Della) who are deeply in love but dirt poor. It is Christmas time and they each wanted to get the other a gift. To summarize: when it comes time for them to give each other their gift, Jim gives Della combs for her beautiful, long hair, and Della gives Jim a beautiful gold chain for his pocket watch. The beauty of the story is that Della cut her hair and sold it to buy the chain: Jim sold his watch to buy the combs. The ending of the story says, “Of all who give and receive gifts, these two were the most wise.”
The story has one overarching lesson (among many): sacrifice for another is the greatest gift of all. Speaking from a 2023 viewpoint, can you imagine the love they had for each other to 1) take a most prized possession (hair and watch) and sell it for 2) the ultimate gift of sacrifice to one you love? After Della hands Jim the chain which she is so proud of buying, he tells her about selling his watch to by her combs and then tells here, “We should put our gifts away and have our meal.” O’Henry’s point can’t be missed: is there any greater gift than sacrificing for another?
Need I make the point? Jesus. Cross. Sacrifice. Giving up His life for those whom He loved and loves.
We are wise (magi) if we follow His example.
Posted in InTheShadow | 6 Responses »
Tags: Christmas, Gifts, God, Jesus, Love, Opinion, Reflection, Sacrifice, Story
Written by Bill Grandi on December 6th, 2023
When I was a young ‘un growing up, I will admit (now) that I looked forward to Christmas. I’d like to be spiritual and say that it was because of the focus on the birth of Christ, or I truly believed it was more blessed to give than to receive, but would not be telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I had no idea how cash-strapped my parents were; I just know it was a magical time of the year.
Part of that magic (before I knew better) was SC. No…not Scott Calvin. Santa Claus. The big guy. Part of Christmas Eve in the young Grandi household was watching an animated version of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas (15 minutes) followed by a 15 minute retelling of the birth of Jesus. Later it was the Peanuts cartoon with Linus’ famous rendition of the Luke 2. I know…I’m really telling my age. 🙂
Anyway, SC was part of the magic. Stories abound in my head of scenes from my childhood of the ghost of Christmas past. SC is intriguing though. Little did I know, as a child, of the history and legacy of his coming to be. The person we know as Saint Nicholas (Saint Nick) was born around AD 270 to a wealthy Grecian family. Tragically, his parents died when he was a boy, and he lived with an uncle to loved him and taught him to follow God. When he was a young man, legend says that he heard of 3 sisters who didn’t have a dowry for marriage and would soon be destitute. Wanting to follow Jesus’ teaching of helping those in need, he took his inheritance and gave each sister a bag of gold coins. Over the years he gave the rest of his money away feeding the poor and caring for others. Down through time he has been honored for his generosity and held up as a standard for giving.
Sadly, many today want to rail against the commercialization of Christmas (with some merit I might add) and SC, the symbol of that commercialization. Rather than rail, let’s refocus on what he represents-giving, and in a sense, the spirit found in Matthew 25:24-40. (Please take a moment to look it up).
It is much better to give than to receive, especially when it is for and to someone less fortunate.
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Again, please let me remind you to check out my other blog (link to the right of this post) and subscribe for totally different content than this daily devotion. Thanks.
Posted in InTheShadow | 10 Responses »
Tags: Christian Living, Christmas, Compassion, Empathy, Generosity, Humility, Jesus, Kindness, Lifestyle, Mercy, Opinion, Reflection
Written by Bill Grandi on December 5th, 2023
There are some amazing moments in the Bible. There are some AHA moments. There are some puzzling moments (like, why did he/she do that?). There are some funny moments. There are some “raise your eyebrow” moments. And there are some euchatastrophe moments.
Eucha what?
Euchatastrophe. That is a word coined by J.R.R. Tolkien. It is a combination of words combining the Greek word “eu,” which means “good” (as in good taste or good feeling) with the word catastrophe. Tolkien defines a eucatastrophe as “the sudden happy turn in a story which pierces you with a joy that brings tears.” (Source: Limping with God by Chad Bird). It is like you are reading a story or watching a movie and you are so taken by the plot or twist that you find your eyes leaking! 🙂 For example, I recently finished reading the 5 book series by Glynn Young on Michael Kent, the Dancing Priest, and found moments I had to stop and blow my nose. {An aside: review coming}. And dare I say I had to walk out of the room to wipe the dirt out of my eyes while watching a Hallmark Christmas movie with Jo? (Yeah…I know. Turn in my Man Card right now!). I’m sure you have had eucatastrophe moments also.
How about Jacob when he hears Joseph is alive? How about the Resurrection? How about the elation of one healed by Jesus? How about the two on the road to Emmaus? How about Joseph and Mary? Long trip. (Very) pregnant wife. No vacancy. An animal shelter. Sheep and oxen. Alone. A new baby’s wail livens up the shelter environment and the sleepy town. Pure elation for Joseph and Mary. A EUCATASTROPHE!
That simple moment in time became the hinge upon which the story of humanity and our world turns. That eucatastrophe has truly become a world-changing event.
That’s enough to bring tears of joy to anyone’s eyes.
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For years I had another blog called Cycleguy’s Spin. It was my go-to blog since February 20, 2008. I have used it sparingly over this past year, largely because I was posting daily devotions here. But I have decided to repurpose it and bring it back to life. My plan is to post reviews of books and music; do some commentary; post some thoughts; have guest posts, etc. Yesterday, I posted a review of Memorable Loss by Karen Martin. May I ask you to check out that post and to subscribe to receive an email when I post there? There is no charge, of course. And may I also ask you to spread the word about Cycleguy’s Spin and this one, Living in the Shadow? Thanks.
Posted in InTheShadow | 10 Responses »
Tags: Amazement, Bible/Scripture, God's Word, Miscellaneous, Opinion, Reflection, Story, Wonder
Written by Bill Grandi on December 4th, 2023
As you may know, we buried my sister-in-law last Thursday. (Thanks for your prayers. We traveled over 700+ miles in less than 4 days). For the past 4 years she has been a resident of Parkvue Care Center in Sandusky, OH. (Jo & I give them 100%-and if possible higher for the job they have done in taking care of Vicki). Her battle with diabetes gave us no option but to get her into a place that could take care of her. We offered to bring her to Indiana with us but she refused (“This is my home and my friends”), so we accommodated her wishes. For the first two years, she thrived. She participated; her naturally shy personality became outgoing; she made friends; she laughed; did wheelchair exercises; went on treks with the residents; and adjusted well to three meals and regular meds.
But another disease was lurking and eventually pounced. Diabetes led to dialysis, but the one that pounced was dementia, which eventually because full-bore Alzheimer’s. The last couple of times we were there she did not know me or Jo at all. She held out knowing Jo a bit longer until she was too enveloped in the cloud of lost memory.
It is heart-breaking to see people you know and love get lost in a world neither they, nor you, understand. Once sharp minds cannot even remember how to put shoes on or how to button a blouse, or worse, their own name. Communication is a lost art as they become swallowed up in a cloud of fog. One of our last memories of our last visit was her refusal to get out of her wheelchair to stand in order to be transported. “NO!” was her answer. My last memory was going back into her room before we left, “waking her” from her peaceful sleep, and saying, “Vicki, I want you to know that Jo and I love you and I’m glad you were sister-in-law.” I saw a slight smile hit her lips followed by some incoherent words. I’m clueless on what she said but I do believe she heard me.
She is now with Jesus, reunited with her mother and father (whom she really missed) and others from the church she attended who preceded her. Death for the follower of Jesus is never the end. It’s just the beginning of a whole new life that goes on forever.
And her memory is perfect.
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I review a book called Memorable Loss by Karen Martin on my other site- Cycleguy’s Spin. Please head over their for a review on a very good book on Alzheimer’s.
Posted in InTheShadow | 10 Responses »
Tags: Alzheimer's, Dementia, Grace, Mercy, Opinion, Reflection, Story
