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Mark D. Roberts

When we left Ebenezer Scrooge in my last post of this series, he had come to the end of the visits by the Spirits of Christmas past, present, and future. In response to these visits, he promised to be a changed man: “I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all…

Renew My Life! Psalm 119:33-40 I long to obey your commandments!      Renew my life with your goodness. Psalm 119:40 Today is the first Sunday of the new year. Thus, before we return to our normal walk through the Psalms (we’re up to Psalm 21), I thought I might focus today’s reflection on the theme…

This morning my family and I made our annual trek to the Rose Parade in Pasadena, California. We don’t actually watch the parade, however. Rather, we come early in the morning and view the floats close up. Then we watch the parade in the comfort of my sister’s Pasadena family room. (Photo: Jesus on the…

The final Spirit to visit Ebenezer Scrooge is the “Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come” or simply the “Ghost of the Future.” This silent Spirit, shrouded in black, takes the mythic form of death. Not surprisingly, the visions it reveals to Scrooge also focus upon death and its meaning. The largest portion of Stave 4,…

In yesterday’s post, I began considering what in Stave III contributes to the transformation of Ebenezer Scrooge’s heart. I summarized the events of Stave 3, focusing especially on Scrooge’s response to children in need: Tiny Tim of the Cratchit family and the two wretched children who hide under the robe of the Ghost of Christmas…

When we last left Ebenezer Scrooge, he had just finished being visited by the first of three Christmas Spirits, the Ghost of Christmas Past. He fell into bed, exhausted. At the beginning of Stave III, Scrooge awakes, ready for the visit of the next of the three Spirits. This visitor is the Ghost of Christmas…

In my last post, I began to examine A Christmas Carol to discover why Ebenezer Scrooge changed so dramatically. I showed that we see the tiniest hint of his transformation in his interaction with the ghost of Jacob Marley, whose graciousness to Scrooge elicited a morsel of gratitude from the old miser. Yet Marley’s impact…

As A Christmas Carol begins, Ebenezer Scrooge is one of the most unlikable characters in all of literature. Here, once again, is the full version of Charles Dickens’s classic description: Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge. a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint,…

Peace on Earth! Luke 2:8-14 “Glory to God in highest heaven,      and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” Luke 2:14 Merry Christmas! Yes, I know it’s the day after Christmas. But many Christians think of Christmas, not as a day, but as a season. Yes, in fact it is a…

Click on thumbnail to left to enjoy today’s Advent Calendar Scripture passage and photo. To view the rest of my Online Advent Calendar (so far), click here.
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