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!

Are You a Fan or a Follower?

I was given a book recommendation by a good friend, and this got me back into reading books written by pastoral leaders.  Last Sunday, I opened up the book, Not A Fan, by Kyle Idleman.  Immediately, after reading the prologue and Chapter 1, I felt compelled to share it.  The author shares his revelations in a very real way, and he uses quotes from some of my favorite movies.  I think he is a fellow geek!

I pondered the primary question: Am I just a fan (defined as "enthusiastic admirer"), or am I a true follower of Jesus? The first part of the book helped define the relationship.  Each chapter in this part identified a behavior, and challenged it.  For example, are we following Jesus in just a part of life, but do we "put him away" in other parts, i.e. work? Do we really know Jesus, in the "yada" way, which could be defined as an intimate mingling of souls, or do we just know about Him?  He wants us to be His one and only.  He wants our complete insides, and not just the outside show we put on for others.  

Part 2 (Chapters 8-11) is a study of Jesus's words in Luke 9:23, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."  The author was careful to say John 3:16 is about believing, while Luke 9:23 focused on following.  There is no believing without following.

What is neat about Part 2 is the breakdown of the single verse.  The words "If anyone…" clarifies ANYONE.  Anyone means everyone is invited.  Ex-con?  Yes.  Current con?  Yes.  Alcoholic?  Yes.  Addict?  Yes?  Sexual past?  Yes.  Divorced?  Yes.  Anyone means EVERYONE is invited. The words "come after", meaning to passionately pursue.  The author compared passionate pursuit to the initial chase after a loved one.  He told cute stories of the things he did to win his wife's love.  He said Jesus wants us to passionately pursue him as we would a new romantic love.  "Deny himself" means I am saying, "I choose Jesus over my family.  I choose Jesus over money.  I choose Jesus over my career.  Even if it costs me everything."  There are no exceptions.  He spoke about the references the New Testament apostles used - "slave".  This is the picture of what we must do.  We must give up our whole self and becomes slaves to our master, Jesus.  He must own us. "Take up his cross," means Come and Die.  He discussed the cross and noted the symbols of humiliation, suffering, and death.  Taking up a cross means allowing ourselves to be subject to these things for the sake of Jesus.

Part 3 specifies that we must be willing to follow Him wherever, whenever, and whatever.  That means going to a specific place, maybe one you would not go if He was not leading you.  He means for you to follow TODAY, and not to wait for tomorrow.  He means for you to drop all your stuff, much like Elisha did in 1Kings 19 when the prophet Elijah him to be his successor.  Drop the stuff that prevents you from going "all in."  No reserves.  No retreats.  No regrets.

Very rarely can I say a book has convicted me like this one did.  I highly recommend it.

What Does it Mean to See?

Avatar is a movie that has been playing on cable television quite often lately.  It was originally released in December 2009.  I admit, I did not run right out to see it in the theaters, but waited much later until the Blu-Ray came out.  I was enthralled by the vivid imagery and the storyline.

The story is loosely based on our history of indigenous people of land being forced to leave by stronger or more "civilized" people making them go.  This time, it is a habitable planetoid populated with large blue people, housed over a valuable commodity being raided by futuristic greedy people from Earth (oddly American-like).

I found myself thinking more about the spiritual connection the indigenous people had with their god.  They could "see".  This is what was important to them.  If a body could not see, he was not considered part of their tribe.  What did that mean, exactly?

The scientists from Earth tried to seek ways to connect with the indigenous people.  They had created avatars that could interact with the natives using the consciousness of the humans that controlled the avatars.  The people did not trust these "sky people" saying they could not "see."  But one avatar, Jake Sully, was shown to the people that he may have the capacity to learn to see.  In the end, he was taught.  He could "see."  He could know their god, and he could love.

I believe we have the responsibility to teach the blind how to see.  Consider this verse in the Bible:  For when you see me, you are seeing the one who sent me.  I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark.  ~John 12:45-46 (NLT)

I have considered what God is telling us about darkness in another blogpost, Walking in Darkness.  If we don't let go of the world, we will never see the light of God.  In the movie, Jake Sully had to give up the values of the Earth he remembered to be able to "see."

God sees us.  This actually means He knows us to the bottom of our being, and even knowing that core, He loves us.  I would like to learn how to see others like He sees us.

If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing.  Satan, who is the god of this world, had blinded the minds of those who don't believe.  They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News.  They don't understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.  ~2Corinthians 4:3-4 NLT

Lessons from Football?

Ok.  The truth is out.  I am a Green Bay Packers fan.  I admit it.  This is not a popular team in my family, so I am the weird one.  They have had enormous fun poking at me since the team hasn't been playing well this season.  Actually, the NFC North isn't doing well this year.  It must be a bad year when the Vikings beat the Bears and tie the Packers, and the Lions are better than the rest of us.

The Packers started doing badly this year when their star quarterback, Aaron Rodgers was pulled out for injury.  Since he was pulled, they have not won a game without him.  This team really depends on the leadership of Rodgers.  Without him, they are lost and seemingly without direction.  Even under the leadership of their coach, they are lost.

This made me think about the churches of today, and how dependent we sometimes get on our leaders and pastors.  This is for a variety of reasons.  Some leaders are so charismatic that they naturally draw the attention of the church body.  When the body of the church forgets to check the words spoken by the leader with the Bible, they often begin to take the words of the leader as absolute truth.  What happens when the leader begins to make bad decisions or speak about things that do not line up with the Bible in this scenario?  This would lead to the destruction of the church.

A healthier church runs like a team that has many reliable players that can carry out the plays, with greater emphasis placed on the team's talent, rather than the talents of a single player.  Paul the Apostle was clear about this when he wrote his letter to the early Corinthian church.

"The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body.  So it is with the body of Christ.  Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free.  But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.  Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part.  If the foot says, "I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand," that does not make it any less a part of the body.  And if the ear says, "I am not part of the body because I am not an eye," how would you hear?  Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?  But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it.  How strange a body would be if it had only one part! Yes there are many parts, but only one body.  The eye can never say to the hand, "I don't need you." The head can't say to the feet, "I don't need you."  In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary.  All of you together are Christ's body, and each of you is a part of it."

1 Corinthians 12:12-22, 27 (NLT)

Paul goes on to describe the different gifts and talents God gives to each of us.  We are meant to share our gifts with each other and unify the body of Christ, while keeping Christ as the head.  Think about your talent and how you can contribute to your church.  

On Monday, the Bears will face the Cowboys.  Who will join me in hoping that Tony Romo is on his game and the Cowboys beat the Bears?  

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)

Expressing Gratitude

What does it mean to be thankful?  As we start the prep work for our annual day of Thanksgiving in the United States, we should stop for a minute and think about the things we are grateful for.  The Bible often points to David as the ultimate example for how to live a thankful heart.  Consider Psalm 100.

Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!

Worship the Lord with gladness.

Come before Him, singing with joy.

Acknowledge that the Lord is God!

He made us, and we are His.

We are His people, the sheep of His pasture.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving;

go into His courts with praise.

Give thanks to Him and praise His name.

For the Lord is good.

His unfailing love continues forever,

and His faithfulness continues to each generation. (NLT)

David had a pattern of thinking that helped him to think on the positive things, making the feeling of gratitude grow within his heart.  The psalms he wrote was an outward sign of this gratitude: the expression of thanksgiving.  

I recently heard a quote at a community thanksgiving event that struck me.  I found the quote in an article written by Thomas S. Monson.  "Often, we feel grateful and intend to express our thanks but forget to do so or just don't get around to it.  Someone has said that 'feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.'" 

Thank-you for the things you are doing.  Thank-you for the attention you give your families, your churches, your communities, and your Lord.  

Remember Who the Real Enemy Is

The movie Hunger Games: Catching Fire is a compelling one.  This is the second movie of a trilogy, based on a book series by Suzanne Collins.  It is a compelling book series, and I highly recommend reading all three books.

When I saw this movie, I was struck by a single line, "Remember who your real enemy is," spoken by Haymitch Abernathy.  He was referring to the Hunger Games - an arena type game where the 24 tributes selected by the Capitol rulers are forced to kill one another until there is only one left.  None of the tributes are allowed to have mercy for the others if they wish to remain the one alive.  This barbaric game is meant to distract and entertain the capitol city, while at the same time keeping the outlying districts afraid and remain in line.

With the conditions in the arena this way - kill or be killed, it is easy to forget who it was that forced them into the arena, the Capitol rulers.

As Christians, we often come across people that stand in our way, bully us, or even persecute us.  We become hyper focused on the evil ways of these people and think about how we can "fix" them.  If the people are doing these evil acts, they are under the influence of Satan.  Among other things, Satan uses people to stand in the way of Christian fulfilling the purpose that God set out for us.  If we allow ourselves to become distracted by this, we fail in sharing the Good News.  Christ died for us to save us from our sins, and He rose again defeating death.  There is a place for us in Heaven, if only we just believe and accept God's grace and mercy.

Stay united with your Christian brothers and sisters and always remember who your real enemy is.

"Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil.  He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.  Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith.  Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are."

~1 Peter 5:8 (NLT)