The Benediction for 2010

On this the last day of 2010, as we reminisce the events of they year past and look to the possibilities of 2011 something seems to be missing. Oh, there are plenty of resolutions flying around and the work goes on seamlessly…but it feels as if something is lacking. I have racked my mind and perhaps I’ve found it. The benediction…you know the blessing at the end of the service that lets most folk know it’s time to leave. At least in the Christian tradition, the prayer or blessing that closes a service give some finality to the service. Would it not be appropriate to end our year(s) the same way? It really doesn’t matter, at least in my mind, whether it was a tragic or joyous year, prosperous or unfortunate year…this is the final blessing, signaling the completion of 2010. Now, having said that, there’s a lot of pressure to pick the right blessing…after all, just any old blessing will not do to end a year! So again I’ve racked my brain (btw I didn’t get much sleep last night with all this thinking!) and thought of a blessing, one of my favorites, that seems appropriate to both end an old year and start a new. It’s a traditional Gaelic blessing that you may have heard before…it’s my prayer for you as 2010 comes to an end.

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

New Day Resolutions

I heard a great commercial this morning…actually, it probably wasn’t a great commercial because I can’t recall the product/service…but it had a great line. It asked, “Why don’t we treat every new day with the optimism and enthusiasm that we treat the New Year?” That is a great question! Why don’t we? At least, why don’t we Christians do that? We should you know…our hope remains steadfast in our Lord and Savior every day…not just once a year. Why don’t we get up each morning expecting God to do something great in us? Don’t we expect to meet God each day? Don’t we believe He is capable of doing great things in and through us? Do we not know his will for us? I must confess I am starting to rethink the whole New Year’s resolution thing. Not the exercise and weight loss…but the being conformed to the likeness of Christ thing. Wouldn’t it be a great “New Day” resolution, to this day become more like Jesus in the way I treat others? To be more like Christ in my love of others. To forgive like Jesus forgave. Yeah, we should resolve to be more like Christ, and not just for the New Year, but for each New Day! Then, once we’ve made the resolution, we should ask the Holy Spirit to guide us and give us strength...wouldn't want it to turn out like last years exercise thing!

Christmas Truth

Well, I survived the Christmas season yet another year…I’m not talking about the ‘church stuff,’ though that can sometimes get me down. I am speaking of all the other 'stuff' that goes on in our world. For instance, I heard Cheech & Chong tell the story of Santa Clause on a local radio station for the first time (since then I have found another station to listen to). The sketch had to be 35 years old but I had not heard it until now. I heard those barking dogs, and of course that proverbial favorite, “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” (I wonder if it was from that nativity scene in Florida?). I am trying hard not to rant, but I must confess it is hard…hard because there is so much more to this day than the world will recognize. The sad part is there are children and likely others whose first introduction to one of the most holy days of the year was so perverted by our world that they may never come to know the truth it holds. I am reminded of Paul’s words, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” Ephesians 6:12. Truer words have never been spoken!

God At Work...Then & Now!

This is a posting from a recent blog I follow by the John Wesley Project (http://dentalmethodist.blogspot.com/):

I love this prayer from the Book of Common Prayer for Sundays, as it reminds us what the real purpose of Sunday worship is. The early Church was for the most part Sabbath keepers on Saturday, the last day of the week, and Resurrection celebrators on Sunday, the first day of the week. I think we should be too, as we lose SO much by conflating the two into one day. Here is the prayer.....

O God, you make us glad with the weekly remembrance of the glorious resurrection of your Son our Lord: Give us this day such blessing through our worship of you, that the week to come may be spent in your favor; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

I lift this up for three reasons…first, for the most part I think we have idealized the first century Church and forgotten the immense struggles they faced. On top of significant issues like circumcision, and eating food sacrificed to idols, when it became apparent that Christianity and Judaism could not co-exist as a single religion, the Christians had a great struggle with when to worship. Reinforces to me the fact it was a God thing the church ever made it off the ground in the first place.

Secondly, I too think we suffer with our mentality of worshipping only one day a week (and for some for only an hour on that one day)! When I read that I was immediately reminded of Grant Norsworthy’s proclamation that worship is a lifestyle, not a specific time of the week or type of music we sing.

Finally, I love the prayer. Instead of asking God to deliver us from our struggles, we should be praying that God will give us the strength and wisdom to get us thru the struggle. Seems to me the latter prayer aligns much more with God’s will than the former.

The Reason...

It frustrates me when I hear someone, especially a believer, say Jesus was born on Christmas Day. That is not correct. Christmas is the day we celebrate Christ’s birth…and there is a big difference! First of all, and everyone knows this, we do not know the specific day that Christ was born, instead the Church chose the date. In the Western world, the birthday of Jesus Christ has been celebrated on December 25th since at least AD 354, replacing an earlier celebration date of January 6th. Christians in the day had encountered many pagan festivals and traditions of the season and changed the date as a means of stamping the pagan festivals celebrated on December 25th out. Unfortunately, they did a poor job of eliminating the pagan festivals…and by trying, created a monster the world now calls Christmas. Secondly, and I think much more important, I hate to hear people say that Jesus was born on Christmas day as it sounds to me like Christmas was an established holiday when Jesus was born! I think the Church is failing to get the correct message out to today’s culture. It’s as if we are trying to incorporate Jesus into the world’s Christmas holiday rather than teaching that Jesus is the reason for this season and the giving we experience is modeled after God’s gift to us! Should we celebrate Christmas? Sure! Should we know why we celebrate? Absolutely…in fact the world should know!

You Go Stephen!

"If this (the USA) is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we've got to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are - or we've got to acknowledge he commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it." - Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report

Wow, what profound words on being a follower of Jesus Christ…and coming from Stephen Colbert! I do not say that to suggest Colbert is a heathen, but I’ve never really found him to be overtly religious on his show, The Colbert Report…funny but not religious. Perhaps we in the church…contrary to our own beliefs…perhaps we do not have the market cornered on spirituality…or maybe at times we just lack common sense. Do you really think when Jesus said to care for the poor he meant for us to throw a hand full of spare change in the Salvation Army’s red kettles…and then buy items for ourselves that we do not need and cannot afford? I know it’s the American way, but make no mistake about it…it is not Christ’s way. Jesus said the world would know us by our love…our love for one another. Which begs the question: Who have you loved today?

Christmas in Haiti

While doing some research on Haiti in preparation for my trip there in February, I came across this info on how they celebrate Christmas. Interesting (hey JW, just wanted to point out there are no reindeers in the nativity scene…lol!). Had I grown up there, my big feet would have paid off!

The Christmas tree has great importance in the celebration of Christmas in Haiti. The Haitians cut pine branches to serve as Christmas trees or they go to the market and get freshly cut trees brought from the mountains just a few days before Christmas. The trees are decorated with lights and bright ornaments. At the base of the Christmas tree they add a big nativity scene which occupies a large part of the living room. The nativity scene depicts the birth of baby Jesus in a cave manger, with Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, the three wise men, and sculptured stable animals. The realistic touch is given by the hay which is strewn around in the stable. An endearing tradition of Christmas in Haiti is that on Christmas Eve, the children place their cleaned up shoes filled with straw, on the porch or under the Christmas tree for Papa Noel (Santa Claus). Santa Claus removes the hay to fill up the shoes with presents. Christmas day is spent feasting, visiting friends and family and for small children playing with the new toys brought by Papa Noel. All houses in the neighborhood are decorated with lights. People also go to midnight mass. Singing of Christmas carols is common. Children of practically all ages drink anisette on Christmas Eve. Anisette is a mild alcoholic beverage prepared by soaking "anise" leaves in rum and sweetening it with sugar. After midnight mass people have the meals of the "reveillon".

A Social Network Christmas

This is too clever...from Worship House Media...how the Nativity might have unfolded had a social network existed at the time of Jesus' birth. Love it!

Technical Difficulties!

Agggggg! Jill’s cell phone finally died so we ordered her a new one…praise God it was free…but I’ve just spent about 90 minutes trying to activate it. Do I sound frustrated? Verizon gave me an Alltel number to call to activate…when I called it they said, “what?” So I go online to activate and sure enough that won’t work either. Then I call the number Verizon provided for customer service…no option to activate on the menu tree (in between the automated options I am praying for the Lord to take me home!). Finally in desperation I do the online chat. Guess what? She cannot help me, but was able to give me the correct number so I could get assistance to activate this fool thing…which by the way only took about 12 minutes to do manually…after already spending 70+ minutes trying to get to the right person! Praise God for technology when it works…I just pray that we (the Church) do not treat people like this when they are trying to ‘activate’ a relationship with God. Could this be why people leave or feel rejected by the Church? I will be honest, I am real close to tossing Verizon…would be real easy to stay home if I was treated this way by the Church! All I can say (with apologies to Charles Dickens) is “God help us…everyone!” Now that I've calmed down, I think I'll call my bride in the other room and see if the contraption works!

WHAT!!!

I copied the following text from the WALB News 10 website (http://www.walb.com/):

LAKELAND, FL, December 8 (NBC) - There will be no more reindeer games for Rudy. Rudy the reindeer is safe and sound after escaping from a live nativity scene at a Lakeland, FL, church.

Police say they received a call early Tuesday morning about a deer running loose. Personnel at the Highland Park Church of the Nazarene were already on the case.

They chased after Rudy, a 3-year-old reindeer who is named after his famous red-nosed relative, Rudolph. They found him hiding under a nearby elf house.

Rudy's owner packed him up and took him home.

Now, is it just me or is something wrong with that story? Does anyone recall a reindeer in the Nativity scene? I know there was a donkey, and likely some sheep…at least there were shepherds. I’ve seen pictures of the manger scene in the stable with cattle…probably because of the “manger”…seems reasonable to me. I even envision the Magi riding camels…a thought probably induced more by Hallmark than Scripture…but a reindeer? I have a rather vivid imagination, but I cannot visualize a reindeer in the Nativity scene. I wonder if Santa was on the roof? And of all places…at a church! Want to know what's wrong with our world? Same thing that's wrong with the Church! It is no wonder our world is confused with our message and we've lost much of our credibility in today's society…sending that mixed message! I can only hope the real message at the Highland Park Church of the Nazarene was powerful enough to overcome the spectacle.

Come.

Jesus doesn’t primarily say to us, “You must do this” or “Don’t do that.” Instead He says “Come.” As in “Come follow me” (Matthew 4:19)…or “Come to me” (Matthew 11:28). Most of us would often rather go and do something for Jesus than simply come to Him. Perhaps it’s because in His request to “Come” we are not exactly sure where He is calling us, or if we really want to be there, or what He might say to us once we get there. We would often rather be doing something that’s on our own hearts…claiming God has laid it there. Still, if you want to live a surrendered life, and who doesn’t, when the Master says come, we must come. There are fundamentally two types of people in this world: the willing and the unwilling. If Jesus Christ is to be the Lord and Savior of our lives, then we must be willing to come…period. If we will do that, simply come to Him…into His presence…then He will direct us as what we need to do or where we need to go. But it starts with a simple act of obedience…we must come. I am reminded of something I read once, “Partial obedience is actually disobedience.” I pray God will find you both willing and obedient!

Grinch Alert

I found this in the UM Portal (http://umportal.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/12/grinch-alert.html), a newsletter of the UMC.

In the latest battle of Christmas culture wars, First Baptist Church of Dallas is calling out businesses that aren't acknowledging Christmas in their store displays or greetings.

The Rev. Robert Jeffress, the church's pastor, announced Tuesday the launch of www.GrinchAlert.com where people can post on a "naughty" list the names of businesses that refer only to “Happy Holidays” rather than “Merry Christmas.”

"Too many businesses have bowed down to political correctness," Dr. Jeffress told The Dallas Morning News. "I thought this would be a fun way to call out businesses that are refusing to celebrate Christmas."

The website has brought criticism from area religious leaders, including William Lawrence, dean of the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University.

"The appropriate thing for Christians to do at this time of year is to find new and more effective ways to extend the love and peace of the season to others, not to insist that such enterprises as commercial businesses put up Christmas trees," Dr. Lawrence said.

What do you think?

Ben Stein on Christmas

I ran across the following portion of a commentary, written and presented by Ben Stein on CBS Sunday Morning back in December 2005, about the observance of Christmas. I like his thinking.

My confession:

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees... I don't feel threatened… I don't feel discriminated against… That's what they are, Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu ... If people want a crèche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.

Hallelujah...at the Mall!

I may now have a new favorite version of the Hallelujah Chorus...not because of the singing, though it is very good, but because of what this video says to me. First, you surely noticed the "choir" looked like the rest of the shoppers...not dressed differently or segregated in a specific corner of the court...isn't that how we believers are supposed to be/act? Secondly, they proclaimed their message boldly, unashamedly, with conviction...isn't that what we believers are supposed to do? And finally, as they sang, people from the crowd joined them (I am sure), and no one from the choir protested…required them to attend an audition or 3 practices, they welcomed them…isn’t that what we believers should do? Oh well, enough…check out this video posted by a friend of mine. It would almost be worth going to the mall for!

Your Gift to God

So here we are, right in the midst of the Christmas season. This is the week your decorating and shopping needs to be completed, there are school and church programs and work parties to attend, and wrestle with those last minute changes. But in all the commotion, have you made time for the One whose birth we celebrate? It gets tough this time of year. We are stressed to the limit…schedules are overloaded…and everyone wants to celebrate, but hardly anyone is celebrating the birth of our Savior. Oh, they might say they are, but let’s look at the fruit. How do you celebrate your child’s birth? You make the day special for them…grant their wishes for their favorite meal or birthday cake…give them special attention with a song and presents…you will even invite family and friends to celebrate the occasion. That’s a birthday celebration, and I am sorry, but rushing from one place to the next, wondering if you forgot someone’s gift, wishing it was over is not how we should celebrate anyone’s birth, let alone the Savior’s. Might I suggest that you give a special gift this year to the Savior…and give it early…today would be a great time to start. Give the gift of your time to God. By that I mean, spend a little more time at your prayer time, listening time, devotion time…just a little more time in the presence of God each day. I do not ordinarily speak for the Almighty, but I am sure He would say, “That’s just what I’ve always wanted!”

In ALL Things Give Praise

There is a song you may have heard of…Praise You in This Storm…performed by Casting Crowns. It is one of those songs that people cling to when they find themselves in the storms of life. With tears in my eyes I have found comfort in it, but we ought not just listen to it when we are being battered…we ought to listen to it daily to remind us of the importance of praise. I think William Arthur Ward was saying much the same thing to a previous generation…"The pulse of prayer is praise.”

As you watch, or listen, here are Mark Hall’s words to the first stanza and chorus...powerful:
I was sure by now, God, that You would have reached down and wiped our tears away, stepped in and saved the day. But once again, I say amen and it's still raining as the thunder rolls I barely hear You whisper through the rain, "I'm with you"and as Your mercy falls I raise my hands and praise the God who gives and takes away.
And I'll praise you in this storm and I will lift my hands for You are who You are no matter where I am and every tear I've cried You hold in your hand You never left my side and though my heart is torn I will praise You in this storm.

Powerful & Effective!

Last night we finished our study on the book of James. One passage, James 5:13-16, gives us a picture of how God intends the church to operate…but unfortunately we often do not. We are told to pray when we suffer and sing songs of praise when we aren’t suffering. We are told to solicit the prayers of the saints, asking them to anoint us when we are in need. We are told to confess and pray and healing will occur when we do. Then James delivers a line that should give us confidence…“the prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.” If that is so…and I am sure that it is…then why is the Church so often powerless and ineffective? Why aren’t people healed? Why aren’t we praying with every breath? I am one of those who see the stories of believers in the Bible as examples of what believers should be doing today…why else would God want them to be shared? To let us know what God used to do? I don’t think so…I think they are there so we will know how God wants to work through us still today. I believe God still wants to heal people. I believe God still wants to hear our songs of praise. I believe God still wants to forgive sins. I believe God is still able to do all of these things (and more)…but we are the hindering God’s efforts. We don’t intimately communicate with God or listen for (to) a word from Him. I am afraid that many believers have traded the opportunity to meet with God face to face for a time to read about what God has done elsewhere. Don’t misunderstand me; devotionals are good reading, I find them encouraging and uplifting. However, we can never allow them to replace the experience of being in dialogue with the Almighty.

Want a Blessing?

What makes you feel good…really good deep down inside? Is it studying the Bible? Perhaps it’s chocolate? Maybe time alone with God? For me, it’s helping someone in need…to make a difference in someone’s life. Don’t get me wrong, nothing compares to being in God’s presence, but for that feeling of contentment deep inside, it’s knowing I helped someone…regardless of age, circumstance, or need…just being able to serve someone with Christ’s love gives me the most satisfying feeling I have yet to experience. Serving others is Biblically sound, just read Matthew 20:26-28, or Matthew 25:40. I share this because we at Beulah have an opportunity to serve someone in need. George Heckler injured his shoulder and will be having surgery soon. This happened before he was able to cut firewood for the winter…so, this Saturday we will gather at his home at 7am and cut up two large trees that have been felled just to the north of his house. Consider this your invitation. If you’re not doing anything bring your chain saws, wood splitters, & mauls, and join us as we serve a brother in Christ who is in need. You will be blessed…by the fellowship, by God, and by that feeling of contentment deep in your soul!