This week, Rev. Alan Johnson, the director of the ULM Wesley Foundation and Foundry board member is sharing the message. Alan always brings a great conversation to Foundry (check out this one about a demon-possessed man).

Back in the 90's when I was in college and really beginning to step into my faith, Max Lucado was writing a lot of books. One of the first books I read during those times was God Came Near. I searched my shelves this week but couldn't put my hand on it. I was hoping to take a walk down memory lane and find some underlined stuff from the days when I had hair. I don't really remember a lot of that book, but the premise was built on the concept of Immanuel (God with us). Like Jesus coming to the earth and it being humanity's chance to rub shoulders with the divine. From Mary's angelic visit bearing the news of her coming son all the way to Mary's tragic visit at the cross of her baby boy, God is in the flesh, among us, super-close.

That's sort of what I feel Christmas movies do – they come close to the real thing. Clark Griswold, Buddy the Elf and even George Bailer all get really close to the truth that many of us are dying to discover. In about 90ish minutes we are stirred with emotion to catch the Christmas Spirit and we pledge to make this the most meaningful one yet. And sometimes that lasts through the 25th only to eventually fizzle out like a dying Yule log and get lost among the noise of resolutions and bowl games. When God came near, it wasn't just for a TV special or the hang 250 strands of twinkling lights for the last 4 weeks of every year. God came to stay, to stir us into action, and through us, to light up the world.

So we will do this by talking about just a few of the characters of the Christmas Story.