Jonathan Shradar

"When people mock the God of the Bible, this is the God they are mocking: the one who aligns Himself with the last and the weakest; the one who promises to set things right in the end; the one who says the last will be first. "This is His team. His starting lineup consists of the poor and the outcast and the orphan and the alien and the widow. I may be none of those things, but if God identifies with them, I want to identify with them. "This is my team... He has a team... make no mistake; it's a promise: They're going to win." - Brant Hansen, Blessed Are the Misfits. Live knowing how the story ends. Laugh more. Be silly. Bring joy. In Christ, you win, because he won.

"But the greatest paradox of the sport has to do with the psychological makeup of the people who pull the oars. Great oarsmen and oarswomen are necessarily made of conflicting stuff - of oil and water, fire and earth. On the one hand, they must possess enormous self-confidence, strong egos, and titanic willpower. They must be almost immune to frustration. Nobody who does not believe deeply in himself or herself - in his or her ability to endure hardship and to prevail over adversity - is likely even to attempt something as audacious as competitive rowing at the highest levels. The sport offers so many opportunities for suffering and so few opportunities for glory that only the most tenaciously self-reliant and self-motivated are likely to succeed at it. And yet, at the same time - and this is key - no other sport demands and rewards the complete abandonment of the self the way that rowing does. Great crews may have men or women of exceptional talent or strength; they may have outs

Christmas infiltrates the mess of human brokenness and hurt in order to unravel it, to bring healing and wholeness. This is the peace Christ brings, this is the peace Christ is. As those that believe in Jesus, this is what we give our lives to, bringing the peace of Christ to every broken place. To every hurt. That there would be healing and wholeness. How will you bring Shalom? https://youtu.be/oLYORLZOaZE Another great "peace" of creative work from the Bible Project .