December Synchroblog – Jesus Came: Did You Get What You Expected?

Christmas Day has come and gone, even the after Christmas sales are far more exciting for some than the birth of Christ.  But did any of us really get what we expected?  This long anticipated season, celebrating the birth of Christ our Savior  often comes with unexpected consequences.  The gifts never quite meet everyone’s expectations and leave behind mountains of wrapping paper and ribbon that will add yet more indestructible rubbish to the landfills. And Jesus doesn’t always give us what we expect either. We welcome him as a cute little baby but if we continue to journey with him, we soon realize that he wants to turn our world upside down. A child born in a stable is much easier to cope with than a revolutionary leader. This month’s synchroblog is centered around the unexpected consequences of our journey with Jesus. Where has it led us that we never anticipated? In what ways has it really turned our world upside down?

Coming down from Christmas always leaves us in a little bit of a fugue state.  Let us know your thoughts and perspectives on this with links to your blog in the comments below.  Please get them in by 7 pm (EST) on Tuesday, December 27, 2011.

As always, the breadth and depth of perspective here will be one more gift for all of us to open.

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Link List – June 2011 Synchroblog – Faith, Feasts and Foreshadowing

Here is the link list so far for June’s synchroblog.  I will continue to add links as they come in.   Please copy and paste these to the end of your posts so others can easily navigate from one post to another.  Thanks for participating!!

Peace,Hope,Equity,Wisdom,Wonder,Light and Love,

Liz

Kerri at Earth’s Crammed With Heaven… – Transformation

Sarita Brown at Gypsy Queen Journals – Pentecost: A Poem

Jeremy Myers at Till He Comes – The Incarnation of the Temple, Torah, and Land

Tammy Carter at Blessing the Beloved – Random Biblical Calendar Thoughts, Unity & Love

K. W. Leslie at More Christ – Pentecost

Liz Dyer at Grace Rules – We Cannot Capture The Wind 

Emma Nadine at Life by List – An Outpouring of the Spirit

Marta Layton at Marta’s Mathoms – Shadow of Things to Come?

Abbie Waters at No Longer “Not Your Grandfather’s CPA” – Spiritual Gifts

Bill Sahlman at Creative Reflections – A “Wild Goose” Festival at Pentecost

John O’Keefe at john c. o’keefe – What’s With This

Kathy Escobar at kathy escobar – more than the leftovers

June 2011 Synchroblog – Faith, Feasts and Foreshadowing

Faith, Feasts and Foreshadowing –  June 8 (second Wednesday)

¹⁶ Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. ¹⁷ These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.  Colossians 2:16-17

The Jewish festival of Shavuot (or Pentecost) is a celebration of the giving of Torah on Mt. Sinai and it always falls 50 days after the second night of Passover (Pesach).  This year that will be June 7 and 8 depending on where you live and how you celebrate.

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The Christian feast of Pentecost celebrates the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles in the book of Acts, ushering in the beginning of the church. 50 Days after Jesus’ resurrection (and 10 days after Jesus’ Ascension), the apostles were gathered together. On the day of Pentecost (Shavuot), a flame rested upon the shoulders of the apostles and they began to speak in tongues (languages), by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Pentecost falls on June 12 this year.

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For the June synchroblog we invite you to reflect on the foreshadowing that the Jewish celebration of Shavuot brings to the Christian feast of Pentecost.  How does the Torah foreshadow the Holy Spirit?  What can we learn from our forefathers that will enrich our faith?  What are the parallels?  What are the differences?  These are some (but definitely not all) of the questions that might be explored in this synchroblog.  Please join the celebration in June.

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Please plan to submit your name, name of blog, title of post and link in the comment section of the June announcement here on this blog by 6 p.m. EST 6/7/2011 if you would like to be included in this synchroblog. The list of participants will be compiled and posted on 6/8/2011.