“Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.”

“Where is the newborn king? We witnessed an amazing sign in the stars, the birth of a new light, and we have traveled a long way to offer him props.”

I’m breaking from my traditional devotional column this afternoon to bring you a brief but important commercial message. I’ve signed up to teach a class at The Institute for Discipleship through their excellent online interface at BeADisciple.com.

I’m excited about this opportunity for a number of reasons, but primarily because it gives me the chance to talk with readers (both new and established) in an interactive forum. These classes are designed not only to give readers direct access to authors and experts, but to facilitate a deeper dive into cutting edge material that is potentially transformational.

About the class:

The two-week class is titled, “The Prequel to Advent: Step One on the Road to a Meaningful Christmas” (people, including you, can sign up by clicking on the link). It’s offered early – November 13-27 – so that participants will have both time and opportunity to digest the material before the frenetic post-Thanksgiving mad rush to Christmas, thus giving each one of us a jump start on avoiding the excess of holiday craziness.

We’ll talk about this more in this space in December, but Advent (those four weeks leading up to Christmas Day) is a vitally important season if we want to do the following:

1. Make it through December with our faith intact,
2. Actually be ready to meet the King when Jesus arrives on Christmas Eve,
3. Walk meaningfully through the season of preparation,
4. Enjoy the Holiday Season without missing the entire point,
5. For once realize our dreams that, “This year will be the best Christmas ever!”

This is my invitation for you to join me for this class, to read In My Heart I Carry A Star, to invite a friend to join you in this most beautiful of journeys, to explore the Be-A-Disciple website, or to simply make sure your trajectory to Christmas this year is true.

Peace, blessings, and promise – Derek