Adam L. Feldman's Blog, page 7

Advent: The Journey Toward Joy

This is the third week of Advent, the “joy” week. Joy and happiness are so closely related that we often can’t distinguish one from the other. We smile out of joy and happiness. Sometimes we cry tears of joy and tears of happiness. We feel lighter, brighter, and stronger when we experience joy and when we experience happiness.

There is also a slight—ever so slight—difference between the two. For instance, happiness is really out of place at a funeral, but joy usually finds a seat at a saint’s...

The Journey Toward Joy

This is the third week of Advent, the “joy” week. Joy and happiness are so closely related that we often can’t distinguish one from the other. We smile out of joy and happiness. Sometimes we cry tears of joy and tears of happiness. We feel lighter, brighter, and stronger when we experience joy and when we experience happiness.

There is also a slight—ever so slight—difference between the two. For instance, happiness is really out of place at a funeral, but joy usually finds a seat at a saint’s...

Advent: The Path to Peace

Just a few minutes ago, Kim and I quartered an orange and set it to boil in a pot with cloves, a cinnamon stick, and some cranberries. After we let it boil for a few minutes, we turned the heat down and let the mix simmer for a few more minutes. Now, our house smells like Christmas!

Advent season is my favorite time of the year. It marks the beginning of the church calendar, and in many ways, it also provides a new start for me in my own journey with Jesus Christ.

I get really reflective this...

Advent: The Promise of Hope

The older I get and the longer I serve in pastoral ministry, the more I see the Advent season in sharp relief.

As a child, I don’t think I was even aware of a season called “Advent” beyond opening little paper doors on a calendar. I have many great memories of those early Advent days. The was always great anticipation for my brother and I as we slowly opened our way to December 25.

An awareness of Advent pretty much fell out of my life while I was in college, but it returned in those early po...

The Cost of Forgiveness

I was rear-ended on my way in to work this morning. You know the story. I was sitting at a light and then *boom* I was hit from behind. Thankfully, Kim and the kids were not in the car with me.

It was a pretty busy intersection, so I put my flashers on and pulled over. You know this part, too. I got out of the car and started making my way to the other car to have “the conversation.” The driver got out and said, “Oh, man, Adam. I’m sorry!” Of all the people who could have rear-ended me this m...

One Simple Question

Simple questions are not always met with simple answers.

Sometimes simple questions are so profoundly deep and searching that they stop us in our tracks. Simple questions leave no room for alternatives, evasion, or procrastination. Simple questions hit home and they hit hard. We may choose not to answer a simple question aloud, but it is certainly answered in our heart whether or not we voice it.

Consider these simple questions as examples…

“Are you sure?” “Why?” “Are you telling me everythi...

Interview with Songwriter and Pastor Art Wong

Several years ago I sat with Art Wong in a small, circular park in the historic district of Ellicott City. I asked him to consider leading music for our new church, Metanoia. Art is now one of Metanoia’s pastors and the chairman of our Elder body. He’s been leading music and leading musicians in our church for many years now.

Art and his wife Sarah recently welcomed their third child into this world. He is using some of his family leave time to work on a music project he’s wanted to do for at...

The Faithfulness of God

Call me old fashioned, but I love hymns. Now, I’m not talking about the new jazzed-up versions of hymns that are hipster-friendly and radio-ready to make it to the Top 40 charts of popular Christian music. Those are nice and all—they get my feet tapping and my smile widening—but they just aren’t the same. Do you know what I mean?

Hymns have a theological depth missing from so many feel-good, it’ll-be-all-right, Jesus-is-my-prom-date pop songs that fill the “safe and family friendly” Christian...

Surprising Encouragement

A couple of years ago I stumbled on this fantastic site called futureme.org. With FutureMe, you can write and send emails to yourself (or anyone for that matter) at any time in the future.

In my high school youth group days, I remember doing something similar to this but with postal mail. Once a year or so, our youth group leader had us write letters to ourselves for some time in the future. (We also did this at church camp, if I recall correctly.) The idea was that we would write to our futu...

5 Things You Can Do To Become a More Consistent Journaler

Keeping a journal is one of the best ways to inspire your spiritual journey, cultivate spiritual endurance, and renew spiritual affections.

A lot of Christians that I talk to know this to be true about journaling because they have been told it or they have experienced it themselves. However, journaling is also one of those disciplines that can seem daunting or difficult to keep up with—especially if you haven’t cracked open your journal in days.

In my book, Journaling: Catalyzing SpiritualGro...