Ah, November. With your noticeably shorter days and colder temperatures, you still manage to brighten our spirits with the warmth of pumpkin spice lattes and the start of another holiday season.

In the next eight weeks, we have two hallmark opportunities for Christ-followers to spend weeks rejoicing. First, we offer heartfelt gratitude to God for the abundance of his provision. And second, we commemorate the incarnation of our Savior.

We do what?

Translation: Soon we will celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas. Yes, words possess the ability to simultaneously communicate and confuse, a paradox that poses a common challenge for us adults. Especially Christians.

Listen closely as we speak about spiritual life, and you'll hear a language all its own. It requires years to learn, and that's a problem. Christianity has the greatest message in the world, but it won't have any impact when delivered with descriptions that sound like code to those outside the circle. This disconnect is even more obvious ...