We're getting ready for 2016. How about joining us?

At Dallas Leadership Foundation, we're expecting great things in 2016. In other words, we want to do more. We want to serve: A shopper at the 2015 Treasures of Hope Christmas Store More Dallas families More men and women who were previously incarcerated or who are still imprisoned More neighborhood leaders by standing shoulder to shoulder with them to implement their dreams to transform their communities More youth who need mentors, support, and encouragement More families at the Treasures of Hope Christmas Store through our online toy shopping More of Dallas by increasing the number of our rock star volunteers and donors It's a huge prayer list, but we believe God is with us. Already we're planning for our Night to Fight event on February 18, 2016, at the Frontiers of Flight Museum. The sanctioned boxing event raises funds to benefit the Ring of Hope Boxing Club for urban youth. And of course, you're invited! (For more information about tickets and table sponsorships, contact Robert Triggs at rtriggs@dlftx.org.) Ring of Hope Boxing Club members As you can see, we want to do all we can to share the transforming love and grace of Jesus Christ with Dallas families. You can help us by prayerfully donating a generous year-end gift today to DLF at dlftx.org. What happens in 2016 will be epic!

Miracles happened at our Treasures of Hope Christmas Store

Dallas Leadership Foundation's Treasures of Hope Christmas Store has closed its doors. We're grateful for the volunteers and donors who helped us provide a special gathering for more than 800 families.  They were able to purchase an array of toys, household items, and clothing at discounted prices.

We're especially thankful for the families who visited the store last week. May the Lord make this Christmas week bright and full of miracles for each of them!

Did you miss the chance to give to Treasures of Hope? You can still be part of our efforts to transform Dallas by rallying leaders to generate a citywide impact. Donate today to support our initiatives that help youth, families, the formerly incarcerated, and entire neighborhoods. Just visit https://www.dlftx.org/donations.

Help us deliver miracles: Partner with DLF and buy gifts for Dallas families

Monday was opening day for Dallas Leadership Foundation's Treasures of Hope Christmas Store. Wow and wow. Please help us keep the momentum going as we deliver miracles for Dallas families by buying a gift at dlftx.org/events. The demand is so high we need more toys, clothing, and household items for more than 800 families we're expected to serve this week.

Every year we offer a unique experience of shopping, food, music, and Christmas devotions at Treasures of Hope. With your help, we can make this year the best so far. Treasures of Hope is open Tuesday and Wednesday.

Remember, you don't have to drive anywhere to donate a gift. Just visit our new online store by going to dlftx.org/events. After that, your gift is shipped to us!

It's a season of miracles. Help families through the Treasures of Hope online store

Every Christmas, Dallas Leadership Foundation works with hundreds of Dallas families who need help during the holidays. 

Our Treasures of Hope Christmas Store opens Dec. 14. Families shop for clothing, household items, and toys for their families at discounted prices. Dallas Leadership Foundation is able to do this because of generous supporters who want God to use them to bless others in miraculous ways. Every year our supporters donate an array of items families can buy.

If you want to get in on the gift-giving, visit the online store for Treasures of Hope. What we need the most as opening day approaches are toys. All you have to do is visit dlftx.org, choose the toys you want a special someone to have and purchase them.

See you at the store!

The miracle of hearing

Isn't it annoying when a car needs an alignment? We can't get the wobbly car to the shop fast enough because we don't want to jeopardize our safety or the safety of others. Being aligned with God is like that. The more we're aligned with Him, the deeper our relationship experience.

Source: Wikipedia - Nativity of Jesus, by Botticelli

Alignment sounds like obedience, doesn't it? Interestingly, in Hebrew, there isn't a specific word for obedience. The closest word that comes to it is shema, which is associated with hearing, heeding, and responding to what is heard. It isn't a form of blind obedience, either. (You can learn more about the word shema here, here and here.)

With that concept of hearing and doing in mind, the context of the Christmas story expands beautifully. Mary heard the word from Gabriel, and not only believed it, she got up and visited her cousin Elizabeth, who experienced a miracle birth in her old age. Joseph received a dream from God, believed it, and defied convention by boldly standing by his fiancee Mary, who had become pregnant before their marriage.

In all three cases, they heeded God, and they responded with faithful action. They obeyed. To say it another way, they aligned themselves fully with the intentions of God.

When God speaks to us, He doesn't just want us to mull over the words He has for us. He wants us to do.

Help Dallas Leadership Foundation help Dallas families during the Christmas season. Sign up to volunteer or browse our new online Treasures of Hope Christmas Store at dlftx.org/events and purchase a gift for someone special. Share this post on your social networks with the hashtag #WebelieveGodcan or #Miracles. 

The miracle of the Light

During birthday celebrations, we light candles to symbolize our years of birth. Sometimes, we stop lighting candles because the candles become so many! The point is, we traditionally associate birthdays with light. 

The Bible does same thing with Jesus' birthday. John wrote in John 1:9 that Jesus was "the true light." His birth light was exclusive in its power and majesty. He didn't need candles -- He was light Himself!

"Adoration of the Shepherds" by Gerard van Honthorst, 1622

In Hebrew, the word for light is "or. When God said "let there be light," in Genesis 1:3, the idea could be interpreted to mean that He commanded order in the midst of chaos, according to Ancient Hebrew.org. Was John thinking about light and order when he wrote about the arrival of Jesus? 

Light was also associated with the Word of God. In Psalm 119:105 the word is called a lamp. John used that same imagery to describe Jesus -- as the Word of God made flesh.
Was John trying to tell us that the Word (Jesus) commanded order (light) to come into a darkened world?

Paul picked up a similar theme when he wrote: For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:6, ESV). 

God chose an ordinary young woman to deliver the Light of the world and chose an ordinary man to protect both of them. What was it like for Mary and Joseph to gaze upon the face of baby Jesus and remember all that had been prophesied about Him? When the shepherds saw that baby-twinkle in His eyes did they gasp with awe? 

During this Hanukkah week, it's great to remember that Jesus is the light of the world. (Read about Hanukkah, also called the Feast of Dedication or the Festival of Lights, here.) It's also critical to remember that at Hanukkah Jesus declared that "I and the Father are one." In other words, it seemed that Jesus connected the celebration of light with the Father and the Son.

When we accept Jesus into our hearts, we become mini-lights ourselves. We carry God's light with us. He expects us to share His light in every loving way we can. 

"For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light" (Eph. 5:8. ESV).

Help Dallas Leadership Foundation serve as a conduit for God’s miraculous light to Dallas families during the Christmas season. Sign up to volunteer or browse our new online Treasures of Hope Christmas Store at dlftx.org/events and purchase a gift for someone special. Share this post on your social networks with the hashtag #WebelieveGodcan or #Miracles. 

Can a dream contain a Christmas miracle?

Source: Wikipedia: Mengs 18th century

Sometimes we need discernment. Events we're looking at from day to day don't make sense, and we don't know whether to turn left or right, race forward or shift backward. 

Joseph probably felt that way. He was a devout man and a descendant of King David. He was betrothed to Mary, and they were promised to each other through a contractual marriage agreement under Jewish law. Then things fell apart. He learned that Mary was pregnant. 

Imagine the disappointment, the anger, embarrassment, and the sheer surprise Joseph may have felt. He didn't want to humiliate Mary, but it appeared that she had broken their agreement. Surely Joseph wondered why had she rejected him.

God understood Joseph's confusion. He knew that this man needed insight. To help him, the Lord gave Joseph a dream. In the dream, God used an angel to explain inexplicable actions that had been initiated by heaven:

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:  

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they they shall call his name Immanuel” 

(which means, God with us).  When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus (Matt. 18-25, ESV).

God lovingly intervened in Joseph's life. He illumined the path He was carving out for Joseph and Mary. They were to be the parents of the Son of God! And Joseph got it. After he woke up, he obeyed the angel's instructions. Joseph faced a challenging situation, but a word from God empowered him to face it.

One of the lessons we can draw from Joseph's role in the Christmas story is that we mustn't ignore our dreams. We need to study them, pray over them, and journal them. Within our dreams could lie miraculous messages God has customized for each of us.

One footnote: on the Jewish calendar, this is the month of Kislev. During Kislev, the Torah readings (the first five books of the Bible) in Jewish synagogues include passages featuring  nine dreams cited in the Torah. 

Help Dallas Leadership Foundation serve as a conduit for God’s miracles to Dallas families during the Christmas season. Sign up to volunteer or browse our new online Treasures of Hope Christmas Store at dlftx.org/events and purchase a gift for someone special. Share this post on your social networks with the hashtag #WebelieveGodcan or #Miracles.

Four words give context to a miraculous promise

Annunciation by El Greco

Four words can say a lot.

When Luke begins the story about Mary, a young virgin visited by the angel Gabriel, Luke starts off with four words. The four words give context to the miraculous promise God gave to the young woman. The four words indicate timing, purpose, and awesome beginnings.

What were the four words? In the sixth month.

Luke begins his narrative about Mary by signaling time (Luke 1:26). Scholars believe it indicates the sixth month of the pregnancy of Elizabeth, Mary's older cousin and the wife of Zacharias. When Elizabeth's sixth month actually occurred is debated, but the answer lies in tracking when Zacharias served in the temple. (Read a great discussion about this on Hebrew4Christians.)

Some scholars think Elizabeth and Zacharias's son John the Baptist was conceived during the Jewish month of Sivan (May/June) and was born on Passover, Nissan 15 (March/April). If this is the approximate time, Jesus was conceived roughly around November/December, during the month of Kislev. Interestingly, Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, falls during Kislev/Tevet. The first Hanukkah was the 25th of Kislev in 164 B.C. By the way, this year Hanukkah starts at sundown this Sunday, Dec. 6 and ends Dec. 14.

Even more interesting to note is that Kislev is considered a time of darkness in Jewish tradition. Isaiah prophesied that the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light (Isaiah 9:2). Jesus called Himself the Light of the world, and that "he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life" (John 8:12).

In other words, the time in which Gabriel came to Mary signaled a context for the miraculous birth of Jesus. Our Lord is purposeful, even when announcing His promises. He's a promise-keeping God. He wants the entire world to experience a covenant relationship with Him without the barrier of sin. 

So God chose the most intimate way to reach men and women and the most intimate and effective way to keep His covenant eternally. He kept His word to the patriarch Abraham (Gen. 22:17 and Galatians 3:29) and came as a Jewish man and offered an everlasting relationship to Jews and the entire world!

For God expressed His love for the world in this way: He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him will not face everlasting destruction, but will have everlasting life (John 3:16, The Voice)

During this Christmas season of loving and giving, may we remember God's divine context. Understanding divine context can build our faith in God's promises and help us trust Him. His timing isn't just perfect. It's multidimensional in its everlasting purpose.

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. (Gal.4:4-7, ESV)

Help Dallas Leadership Foundation serve as a conduit for God’s miracles to Dallas families during the Christmas season. Sign up to volunteer or browse our new online Treasures of Hope Christmas Store at dlftx.org/events and purchase a gift for someone special. Share this post on your social networks with the hashtag #WebelieveGodcan or #Miracles.