The Redemption of a Grinch

I wrote this a couple years ago, and found myself needing the message again.  I have felt like Ebenezer Scrooge lately, or even like this Mr. Grinch.  I have allowed external negativity to become my internal state.  If I'm not careful, I may find my heart shrinking as I put my focus on the wrong things, and forget to think about the good things.  I need to put my actions into loving others.

Enjoy this one again.  Merry Christmas!

Every year, I find enjoyment in the classic Christmas movies.   One of my favorite movies is "The Grinch That Stole Christmas."  The vile grinch is described so well in the song.

Longing for a Wonderful Life

This is a central theme for our current adult class on Wednesday nights! Last week, we learned about hope.  This week, we will learn about peace. 

Who doesn't love the classic movie, It's a Wonderful Life? This movie is one we will watch every year as a tremendous reminder for us to appreciate the lives we have.  If you have not seen this, you should make a point to sit down and get lost in the story.

A Surprise Christmas Celebration

Christmas was not going to be a big deal for us this year, but then due to a change of venues, we found ourselves hosting the big family gathering this year.  Whoops! We needed to clean the house, put up a tree, wrap presents, make food, and find really cool ways to entertain my nieces from California.

And… I love it all.  Nothing like preparing for family that puts me in the Christmas Spirit.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

A Miracle of Faith (on 34th Street)

I love the old traditional Christmas movies.  This one is no exception.  Miracle on 34th Street is story about a single mother and her daughter, and the efforts of two men who try to offer a world of imagination and faith to each of them.  Susan's mother has raised her to only accept absolute truth, and never to learn fairy tales or believe in the things unseen.  This is stemmed from the way she herself views the world after her own life experiences.

Susan was growing up to a world without faith.  She was distrustful of the things she could not see or verify for herself.  Let's consider the definition of faith.  "Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see." ~Hebrews 11:1 (NLT).  Faith cannot exist without hope.  It was the desire for good things that was ultimately missing in Susan's and her mother's thoughts.  Each was afraid to hope, afraid to desire the good things, thus not even being able to imagine the unseen or have confidence in that hope.  

Have you ever lost hope?  Just imagine what you felt like as a little child, unspoiled by the world on the eve before Christmas morning.  You were filled with hope for things desired, full of anticipation for the things to appear below the Christmas tree.  You had faith in Santa Claus.  

I would like to challenge all of us adults to renew that childlike hope for God's promises.  When our hope grows, then our faith becomes renewed.  It is by faith… well, read the rest of chapter 11 of Hebrews to see what the people of old could accomplish through faith.

"O Lord, You alone are my hope.  I've trusted You, O Lord, from childhood." ~Psalms 71:5 (NLT)

Isn't There Anyone Who Knows What Christmas is all About?!?

Who remembers the anticipation of our favorite Christmas movie to be played on network TV?  How eagerly we waited to watch Lucy trick Charlie Brown or to watch Snoopy glide so effortlessly across the ice?

As I've gotten older, I find myself getting caught up in the commercialism of Christmas, just like Charlie Brown's friends did in 1965.  However, it is getting more and more difficult to find the message of Christmas purely stated in the mainstream media these days.  I thought we could all enjoy listening to Linus give the Christmas message once again.

Let's take our example from Linus and make sure we share the message of Christmas with others this season.  

"But this will be your opportunity to tell them (your persecutors) about Me (Christ Jesus)." Luke 21:13 NLT