Stephen De La Vega

At Christmas time we celebrate the birth of Jesus.  It’s not only a declaration of, “It’s a boy!”  It’s the coming of a Savior – the one the Jews waited for some 2,000 years. Some of them maybe even forgot He was coming. And when He did come, they didn’t realize it because they expected a King, not a baby. But this was no ordinary baby. He was the Son of God! ↭↭↭ (This post can be read aloud to a group. It is a gospel presentation and a celebration of the birth of our Savior. If you want to share this with a group, you have my permission to read it. That’s why I wrote it. Or, feel free to make it more interactive. Ask questions. Solicit thoughts to get listeners engaged. And pray that they will understand, appreciate, and accept the Savior and His gospel.) ↭↭↭ Most of us have lived long enough to realize we’re not perfect. Sometimes we fail people. Sometimes we wrong them. And deep down inside, we know we don’t measure up to what we consider to be God’s standa

I'm happy to announce I was nominated again for this Sunshine Blogger Award , this time by 2 different fellow bloggers whom I appreciate greatly.  They are terrific writers, both dedicated to bringing the truth of God's Word into the real lives of people like us. They have done much for the sake of Christ, the gospel, and God's kingdom and I only scratch the surface of who they are here. Please v isit their sites to learn more about them and to read their fantastic blog posts. They are: Jessica Brodie  of  Shining the Light Wife, mother, and lion-walker. Yes, check out  that last fact  on her site. Here is  Jessica's post about her  Sunshine Blogger Award . Yvonne Morgan of Turning Mountains into Molehills Wife, mother, and grandmother, with one son who lives with Jesus. Here is Yvonne's post about her Sunshine Blogger Award . The  Sunshine Blogger Award  is a peer recognition for bloggers across all genres who inspire "positivity and joy.&q

This is the framing of the lower floors of a planned 24-story office tower that will open its doors next year. It will boast dramatic 360° views of San Francisco, the Oakland Hills, UC Berkeley, and the surrounding areas. Shorenstein Properties ‘dubs’ it 601 City Center , and I highlight ‘dubs’ because it's just a block away from the Golden State Warriors headquarters. Shorenstein broke ground in Q2 of this year and they expect to build for another couple of quarters. That’s about a year of construction. Occasionally, you might find a person or two staring at the work, but, for the most part, people just walk by this everyday activity. Business as usual. We are more amazed when buildings are demolished. We have a peculiar fascination with the quick destruction of something grand. What takes months, maybe years, to build, can be destroyed in only days, or even hours. Society pays more attention to the quick fall of the mighty than it does the day-to-day, continued effo