Will Vaus

Today I want to look with you at a Christmas story seldom told. At Christmas time we always focus on the Babe in the manger, Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, the wise men. But what happened to Jesus after he was born in Bethlehem? Raymond Bakke wrote many years ago… Jesus was a Palestinian refugee. As a matter of fact, Jesus was an Asian-born baby who became an African refugee. The Christmas story is about an Asian-born baby who becomes an international migrant. Half of the babies born in the world are born in Asia, and Jesus was one of them. Half of the 18 million migrants in the world are Africans, and Jesus touched the African migrant experience. Twenty percent of the babies in developing nations died the first year from water-borne diseases; whole villages of babies died before Jesus had an opportunity to die for them on the cross. Jesus was born in a borrowed barn and buried in a borrowed grave and was homeless most of his life. The authentic Gospel has enormous power for the whole...

We tend to notice the big things that happen in our world and miss the small things. The news media focuses, for the most part, on world-shaping events: the election of a president, conflict in the Middle East, a natural disaster that kills hundreds of people in Southeast Asia. It is almost as if someone or something wants us to pay attention to the big stuff and ignore the small stuff.   Even in the church, there is a tendency to focus on the large and sensational while passing over the seemingly tiny and insignificant. When pastors meet together at conventions of various sorts their conversations often whirl around the three Bs: buildings, bucks, and bodies. It is hard, even for those who are supposed to be spiritual leaders, to talk about what is close, small, intimate, and personal. This perspective, unfortunately, gets passed from pulpit to pew. Thus, the average Christian is fed on the idea (through Christian media no less than the secular) that what really matters in life is...

Listen for God’s word to you from Matthew 1:18-25… This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.   Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet   did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce   her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel   of the Lord appeared to him in a dream   and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.   She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,   because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill   what the Lord had said through the prophet:   “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). When Joseph woke up...

A few years ago, a Christian friend of mine gave me a CD to listen to. The CD was given to him by a mutual non-Christian acquaintance of ours. My Christian friend was disturbed by the teaching he heard on this CD and wanted my thoughts on it which he could, in turn, share with our non-Christian friend. While I was on the road, I popped the CD into my player. It turned out to be the beginning of  A Course in Miracles , a popular New Age teaching. The teaching is laid out in dramatic fashion as a dialogue between different characters.   A Course in Miracles  purports to be a revelation of two “ascended masters” who were, two thousand years ago, two of Jesus’ disciples. They claim, among other things, to present the true teaching of Jesus which has supposedly been distorted by the Bible. My Christian friend asked me to write down my thoughts about the CD. But after listening to the whole thing, I could think of only one question: Why believe it? Why should we believe th...

Because of my father’s friendship with Billy Graham, I got to meet and spend time with Mr. Graham on several occasions. One of those times was at Anaheim Stadium where Mr. Graham spoke in to over 80,000 people one night in 1985. I was astonished to see the elaborate preparations that were made for his arrival. Mr. Graham had a police escort. There was an ambulance at the ready just in case an attempt was made on his life. The route that Mr. Graham took through the stadium was planned out, his every move accompanied by an entourage. Now, I invite you to transfer your mind back 2000 years. We are in the hot and dusty desert of Israel and the way is being prepared for another preacher, but not just any preacher, for this is the preacher who will be the Messiah, the King. How should the people get ready? There is not even a road. So, here comes a forerunner, shouting to the people in the desert: the king is coming! Make a road for him! Make it good and straight. This is the message that h...