Posts from December 2025

Christmas Characters: Angels By Bryan Crotts When you read the Bible cover to cover, certain verses stand out and grab your attention. I have several throughout my Bible that I’ve marked. These passages seem to have a brighter bulb than the ones around them. One of these bright lights is in 1 Peter 1, where Jesus’ disciple spends the opening of his letter to scattered Christians writing about the blessings of being found in the rescuing arms of God. He…

Christmas Characters: Mary & Joseph By Bryan Crotts We had several manger scenes in our childhood home. An olive wood set from a trip to Bethlehem was a favorite. Another, from the annual crafts fair in Greensboro, was made of scrap wood and painted to represent the nativity. Different ones of us in the family would rearrange the characters to suit what we thought the configuration should be. I’m guessing none of us pulled out the Psalms, Prophets, and Gospels…

Christmas Characters: Zechariah & Elizabeth By Bryan Crotts I wonder what Zechariah and Elizabeth’s neighbors thought of them? Was their house tidy? Did she plant seasonal flowers in the front porch pots? Did Zechariah get the trash out to the street on time? Did they get up their leaves before they blew into their neighbor’s yard? These things we don’t know, however, Luke (chapters 1-2) tells us in his Gospel about their spiritual habits. Zechariah and Elizabeth were people of…

Characters of Christmas: Prophets By Bryan Crotts I wonder if you can tell the whole story of the Bible in a few sentences? Impossible! After all, the Protestant Bible contains sixty-six books, 1,189 chapters, 31,202 verses and contains many types of literature (history, poetry, law, etc.) and would be a massive piece of literature to summarize succinctly. It can be done! French theologian John Calvin said that Scriptures gives us knowledge of God and knowledge of self. Others have said…