Pieces of Christmas #4: Jesus and Santa

Towards the end of Macy's Christmas Parade the television announcer said that the most important person of the Christmas season was about to arrive....SANTA CLAUS!

Yeah, there is definitely a social controversy over who is the most important person of Christmas.

Even if your holiday is more about gifts (both giving and receiving), family traditions and the guy in the red suit, you need to know that there is a God that loves you and provided a way for you and me (the sinful and undeserving wretches that we are) to have eternal life in heaven.

It may shock my Christian brothers to hear me say that I'm okay with you using the more commercial holiday of christmas (lower case "c" intentional) to celebrate your traditions with family and friends.  I'm not absolutely convinced that it's necessary for us to have a day designated to celebrate the birth of our Savior.  It is necessary to tell the Christmas story:  that the prophecies of a Savior were (and are) fulfilled in the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus. December 25th gives us an annual opportunity to do that.

So who is the most important person of your Christmas season?
Santa?
Or Jesus?



John

Pieces of Christmas #3

This year has been a year that has really caused me to examine just how poorly I have been sharing the Gospel of Salvation in Jesus.  I want to be better...not just locally, but in that "Go and make disciples of ALL NATIONS..." thing that Jesus was talking about.

I found (was directed to) this website for Advent Conspiracy. Maybe in the coming months...

Anyways, as a part of my Pieces of Christmas series, I thought I'd share this video of theirs:



John

Link to full screen video

Pieces of Christmas #2

I found this song last year and posted it just prior to Christmas.

I've always like Jackson Browne and can identify with this song. Sometimes I feel far removed from the religiousness of the Christian culture.  I've been called self-righteous. I been called anti-Christian.  I've been told that you can't have certain political views and be a Christian.

Perhaps a heathen and a pagan describes me better than I care to admit...but I am still on the side of Jesus.



John

Pieces of Christmas

It's hard to believe that Christmas is less than two weeks away.  Hannah will be finishing finals this week and should be home Thursday evening.  Aaron will also finish finals this week. Jenny finished hers last week.

Since there is always so much that seems to distract us from remembering the birth of our Savior, I thought that I would use these days leading up to Christmas 2010 by posting some simple reminders of why I celebrate on December 25th...and what I celebrate on December 25th.

Let me begin with a classic...simple, to the point, and from an era that was way less concerned about political correctness and much more concerned with allowing each to express their beliefs--even through a cartoon character.



Merry Christmas,
John

Christmas Curmudgeon

I'm beginning to wonder if I'm not some sort of Christmas Curmudgeon. I'm going to rely on input from some of my self proclaimed curmudgeon friends/readers...and you know who you are.

I'm not particularly grouchy or feeling all bah-humbug or anything. And I don't feel like I'm completely without the "Christmas" spirit--I'm just easily bothered by others that are being pretenders.

Let me explain...

I started to sense this "curmudgeonly" spirit last Sunday morning. I found humor and irony in our pastor's sermon--that wasn't meant to be humorous or ironic. He was actually giving some good advice on keeping focus during the Christmas season. But he started by reminding us that there are many pagan traditions that can keep us distracted from the celebration of the birth of Jesus.

The irony of this message on the day after the sanctuary was decorated with "Christmas" trees, wreaths, poinsettias and garland was apparently missed by most if not all of the congregation.
Of course, the central decoration is the Nativity scene that seems dwarfed by the large trees, wreaths and bows.

Something about the whole thing just seemed a little off to me.

This was followed by the Wednesday night youth group meeting.

I have to say that I really enjoy the worship time on Wednesday night. The young man that leads that time has a great heart for God and is very transparent in his worship. It pretty much rocks every week.

(I've deleted several paragraphs because ... well, because I can.)

Maybe it's true. Could it be that I'm joining the ranks of the curmudgeons?

I don't think that I'm ready for that.

John

Btw--I had a great Wednesday morning sharing with Sparta High School and Middle School Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Thanks for inviting me!

Christmas Writing/Reading

Each winter, the Ozarks Chapter of the American Christians Writers takes a break from our normal workshop/guest speaker format to host two very different kinds of meetings. Our December meeting is set aside to hear many of our members present a 5-7 minute Christmas or winter piece that they have written. January is our speed writing meeting. Several topics or starting sentences are given and then the members and guests are challenged to use the first half of the meeting to write from what they've been given. The second half of the meeting is set aside for those that choose to share their work.

If you are in the Springfield area on the morning of December 11, please consider visiting us. Here is the information you'll need--time, place and directions.

Since I know that several of the members read this blog (although I'm not sure why) I considered not posting my work until the morning of the meeting. But since this is as convenient a place as any to store my work, and since I haven't been writing much as of late anyway, I decided to go ahead and post it as it leaks out of my head, through my fingers and into the cyber-world of Out of My Hat. Chances are that I will probably make some minor changes to make it easier to hear (something to consider when working on a piece that is to be read outloud) as I work on the presentation. Or perhaps I'll think of something to add to it; or delete from it; or maybe I'll come up with something entirely different by the time 8 more days pass. (Not likely given my recent writing block)

So here's what I'm thinking...

Do You Ever Stop to Wonder...?

I was wondering if Jesus (the human) was ever awed by His creation.

When you're watching a newborn baby discover his hands and fingers, playing with them in front of his face, realizing that he can grasp things in his tiny fingers; do you ever stop to wonder if Baby Jesus marveled at how his fingers worked?

Did Jesus laugh as his mom played peek-a-boo? Did he wonder where she went when she hid behind a raised blanket? Was he surprised as he squealed with delight at her sudden reappearance?

Did he slap his tiny hands on the furniture and bounce on chubby baby legs when he first pulled himself to his feet as if to say, "Look, mom! I'm standing!"?

What was the Creator of the Universe thinking as he tried to toddle across the room only to fall after a few wobbly steps and land hard on his diaper padded bottom?

I wonder...

Was he afraid of the dark? Were there monsters under his bed? Did thunderstorms bother him? Did he pick up bugs, splash through mud puddles or taste rocks?

I remember how excited my baby boy was when he got his first taste of Ted Drewe's Frozen Custard. I wonder...

What was the boy Jesus thinking when the sweetness of honey first burst upon his taste buds?

I wonder...

Did Jesus get that sweaty little boy smell after playing hard all day? You know the one--not really stinky but definitely not pleasant.

I wonder...

When did Jesus realize that this is His creation; His handiwork? Was it one morning while He was watching the sun rise? Or as an afternoon storm cleared and He remembered that the rainbow in sky meant something special? Was it in the midst of one of those sudden storms on the Sea of Galilee or on a clear quiet night as a meteor shower streaked across the starry sky?

Maybe it was as He came up out of the Jordan River and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him and that voice--that voice boomed from heaven, "THIS IS MY BELOVED SON, WITH WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED."

I wonder...

I wonder...

Did Jesus ever think that maybe pain wasn't the best system for warning our bodies that something was messed up? ...That maybe flashing lights and sirens would have been easier to bear as He was being scourged with Roman whips?

I wonder...

Did Jesus wish that He would've created our bodies to be a little less frail, less dependent on the oxygen that He could no longer coax into His lungs as He hung on the cross...

...in my place?

...in your place?

Each year at Christmas time, I wonder...

Not about the "why?" The Bible is pretty clear about God's great love for us:

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

(Romans 5:8)

I wonder about the "how?"

How could He love me so much when I've done nothing to deserve His love?

How could He choose to leave the Throne of Heaven...for me?

How could He choose to set aside the characteristics of omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence...for me?

How could He choose to clothe Himself in the weakness of human flesh...for me?

How could the Creator choose to be hot or cold, hungry or thirsty? How could He walk all day and get tired...for me?

How could He take a beating...for me?

How could He die...for me?

And each year, I wonder...

I wonder...

In the coming year, how will I thank Him?

How will I serve Him?

How will I serve...

...you?

Merry Christmas,

John

Overkill?

Yeah, yeah... I know...it's been forever since I've posted. Frankly, I just haven't felt like sitting down and taking the time to organize thoughts into some sort of coherent order that could be followed by the average reader.

Sorry.

This morning I'm wondering if yesterday's message wasn't a bit of overkill.

It's not often that I get to preach at Hopedale. Maybe I've gotten used to being able to preach freely to people that I don't know so well. I think that preaching to people that you really care about is much more difficult...especially when the message is somewhat of a scolding.

That's not how I intended for it to sound, but I'm afraid that it might have come across that way.

I really do love my church family. But I think that we get way too comfortable with the way we are doing things. Hopedale was a "Pacesetter" church in Missouri Baptist life for the year 2009. That means that we were one of the leading churches in baptisms for churches of comparable size. I think we had somewhere in the neighborhood of 65 (maybe it was 68) baptisms for the year. Javalujah!

If you figure that we have an average of around 300 in attendance on Sunday morning and work with an annual budget of around $580,000, that means that it takes about five of us and just under $9000 to reach each soul for the kingdom...and for that we're given an award and can feel good about ourselves! Why doesn't this give me a warm fuzzy feeling? Why do I feel like we've become a more of a social club than an effective tool in the hands of Our Lord? (and if Deacons are like Board Members then I'm on the Board at our club)

I hope that you understand that I realize that I am a part of the problem...but I don't want to stay that way. Maybe I got it wrong and the message that I was hearing was just for me. There wasn't the usual excitement as I was preparing the message (actually, I felt pretty uncomfortable). There wasn't the usual rush as I was sharing it, either (again, that feeling of discomfort). One Facebook friend suggested that the "good sermon" comment is like the kiss of death...well, I didn't get a lot of those; a few, but not many. I still don't know if that's a good thing or not.

I'm having lunch with a friend today. I think that he'll give me an honest assessment of how he felt about it and maybe some insight as to how others may have received it. It's been such a long time since I've preached at Hopedale. If it's a long time until I preach again I won't know if it's just the normal long time of if enough people complained about the last time I preached. I think I'd like it better if they would just come and tell me if they think I was out of line.

Maybe they will.

John

What Would Happen If...

I found about about this political candidate from a relative on Facebook (thanks Sharon). Apparently Mr. Phil Woolas is losing his seat because his campaign ads were deceptive and attacked the honor and character of his opponent.

What would our Congress look like today if false ads were banned from political campaigns with the consequence being disqualification and not being able to run again in the next election? One thing is certain--candidates wouldn't need to raise so much money to put out the number of lying ads that are out there.

Of course, here in the USA there would also have to be something done about the Citizens United Supreme Court decision that allows large corporations to lie anonymously on a candidates behalf.

Wouldn't it be nice if the people that we elected to office were honorable people that had some personal integrity? Wouldn't it be nice if they couldn't be bought or bullied into making decisions? Wouldn't it be nice if they could actually talk to one another and work out differences without resorting to temper tantrums, lying, name calling and behaviors more likely to be found in a junior high student council (my apologies to the junior high council members)?

We do have laws that keep people from lying...slander, libel. Why don't they apply to campaign ads?

All-in-all, I have to say that I'm glad it's over for this election cycle. We ought to have a few months of the normal sex filled beer commercials and normal false stories and inflammatory reporting from Fox News. The return to the normal everyday lying and hype that we've grown accustomed to will be a relief!

John

Voting: Your Christian Duty?

I heard that today on a Christian radio network. They said it was your Christian duty to vote.

Really? I thought it was your Christian duty to tell people about Jesus. How is it that so many of our Christian "leaders" have become political pawns instead of voices for Jesus? How is it that they give dollars and air time to candidates for office and push for political reform while allowing their neighborhoods and communities to go to hell because they would rather judge them by their politics than share the love of God with them?

Maybe it's easier to tell somebody how they should vote instead of sharing the "Good News" of salvation. We've become pretty quick to ignore their spiritual conditions and oh so very slow to tell them of our religious beliefs. Is talking politics really so much less offensive than talking religion?

No matter the outcome of the mid-term elections, let's all do our Christian duty tomorrow: Tell somebody about Jesus!

Can I get an "Amen"?

John

Juan Williams, NPR, Federal Funding

Just wondering...I've read several articles and heard differing media viewpoints about NPR's firing of Juan Williams for comments he made while on a Fox News program last week. I listen to NPR on a pretty regular basis and find that their journalistic approach to reporting is pretty "middle of the road". (That means that the left finds it too conservative and the right finds it too liberal.)

One of the funniest things (funny in a weird way, not a ha-ha way) that has come about from the firing of Williams is the sudden desire to punish NPR by cutting federal funding. This move, of course, comes by conservatives in the House. I wonder...if Williams had been fired for comments that he made on Rachel Maddow's show, would House liberals be crying to slash funding to NPR?

If Congress is looking for places to cut expenditures (and they should be), then let's cut expenditures because Congress doesn't need to be in the broadcast business...not because we don't like the decisions that are being made at NPR (like firing one of our buddies). Catering to the desires of Congressmen for federal dollars is the kind of corruption that has brought us to the disastrous debt and favor currying that dominates our political landscape today.

Is Congress sending the message, "If you want our federal funding then you'll hire the reporters that we want you to hire and report the news the way we want you to report it?" or are they really trying to cut spending?

As much as I like NPR, I'd be all for cutting federal funding along with a host of other budget items that could be cut to reduce the budget. But let's face it--calling for the cuts as a punitive measure just goes to show that Congressmen are acting like bullies that abuse their power to get their own way.

For the record, I think that NPR's firing of Williams for his comments was an overreaction. Obviously, it seems there was more to the firing than his most recent comments and he would have had to make a choice sooner or later--Fox News or NPR. Like so many other employers, NPR apparently couldn't just go to him and say that you no longer fit what we are looking for in a reporter/employee. Simple honesty in relationships doesn't seem to have much of a place in the employer/employee venue these days.

So what do you think...or do you even care?

John