God’s Presence at Christmas is Found in the Little Things - Christmas 2009

Prophets spoke of the coming messiah
As a powerful ruler and king of kings;
But God came to earth by a way unexpected
To show us His presence in the little things.

Born to a poor family, a babe in a manger
Cried in the night that was so still and cold;
Ordinary yet special, held close by Mary
Who felt the Lord’s presence touching her soul.

We, like young Mary, can find at Christmas
That God is still found in the little things –
Those things that can bring us a smile…or a tear
As our spirits are touched by the joy Christmas brings.

The smiles of children as they sit enraptured
By a star and a stable and no room in the inn
Can remind us God’s presence may come to us quietly
Like the hushed way they listen to the story again.

Candlelight, firelight and lights on the trees
Give us warmth and comfort in their Christmas glow,
But they also share the light of God’s presence,
His Word, his Truth in Jesus made known.

The giving of gifts to people we cherish,
Chosen so carefully and wrapped like great treasures
Is like God’s gift of Jesus to the world he created,
His presence given, a gift beyond measure.

Too often we watch, like the prophets of old,
For something much larger than what God has in mind,
So we don’t catch his presence in the things all around us –
The small things, the little things of each Christmas time.

May you be surprised by the wondrous Christ-child,
By glory found in the true unexpected,
And may you be led into God’s wonderful presence
Where you, a little thing, are greatly accepted.

That road sign is such a symbol for life! How many times have you been at a place where you've had to make a decision and just couldn't figure out which way was the best to take? And it always seems that the more we think about the choices that are before us, the more confused we get. More often than not what we're looking for is a simple kind of sign - STOP or YIELD or ONE WAY or NO TURN ON RED (one of my favorites 'cause it seems to say, "Go take a nap!"). No chance though. It's as if God knows that we can only grow through the process of decision making so he puts us into situations where we have to choose. We always have choices though. Let me give you three: 1) turn around and go back the way you came and hope an easier path will present itself (good luck with that!); 2) sit and ponder those choices 'til your head hurts and then finally make a random choice (that's always exciting - not always smart but exciting); 3) consider the choices before you and then pray for God to show you the right one (since in Jesus He did provide for us the way, the truth and the life, right?). Which one of those options will you choose because I'm personally sticking with the third one. God has prepared us a way to follow, a Spirit to lead us, and plenty of road signs along the way, visible to those who believe. (Special thanks to Chris Grabowski for the photo.)

Sunday Reflection

What makes for a "good" Sunday? Is it looking out at the congregation and seeing very few empty seats? Is it seeing a lot of nodding heads and hearing a loud "Amen!" or two while your preaching? Maybe it's the feeling that God really is present and the Spirit really is moving in your church after all. Or it could be that all the individual pieces fit together and the worship flow was a thing to behold. Or...OR when you DON'T get any calls from the people who were in the pews asking, "Pastor what exactly did you mean by .......(fill in the blank)."
Personally, I think a good Sunday is when you sit down afterward and think, "Now that was fun!" Don't get me wrong. I'm not taking the seriousness of worship lightly. We meet in church to give praise to Almighty God and to receive his blessing and encouragement through his word and his people, and that's serious business. But it can also be a lot of fun. It's fun to catch those moments when we're all on the same page and the gospel of God just makes sense. It's fun to watch people have to wipe their eyes when somebody's testimony or special music hits them right in the heart. And it's fun to stand at the door and shake hands with people as they venture back out into the real world or pray with them before they leave.
Today my wife, Sandi, asked me if I like what I do. Without blinking I said, "Yes!" And that's the truth. What else could I be doing that's this serious and this fun at the same time? Like I've said before, when it stops being fun then I'll stop doing it. So far, I don't see me stopping any time soon.

My Heroes Wear Pink!

I am not going to lie to you. I am writing this with tears in my eyes and a huge lump in my throat because I just looked again at the pictures my wife Sandi posted on Facebook that show her involvement on the 2 day / 39.3 mile Avon Walk Against Breast Cancer this last weekend. Sandi and over 2,000 people (yes, there were men walkers, also) dressed in pink joined together to become a huge witness to the need for breast cancer awareness in our nation. Did you know (because I didn't) that every 3 minutes a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer? The money raised goes toward cancer research and medical development. I'm not sure of the money these walkers raised, but I know each of them brought in at least $1800. That adds up to at least $3,600,000! Say it with me - WOW! Here's the part that gets me - As my wife walked, she wore a necklace with about 12 hearts on it, each bearing a name of someone we know who has either died from or miraculously survived one type of cancer or another. She was walking for those people who fought a disease we have yet to find a cure for, including both of her parents whom we have lost. She also walked to say, "Let's find a cure!" Sandi shared some remarkable stories she heard during the walk such as the one from walkers who walked for a friend who had been hit by 3 different cancers, and the lady who was walking even while she was waiting for results from her chemotherapy, and the man who made it his mission to walk every walk every Avon Walk in the United States! My new heroes wear pink, and they have forever touched my hearts. Now excuse me while I go wipe my eyes and blow my nose.

Oh the Atrocities of Life!

Some things just need to be left alone. Bacon - good. Chocolate - good. Chocolate covered bacon? Not a good idea. Of course, I also have a problem with deep-fried snickers, frog legs, and a hybrid bicycle-scooter. All these are things I saw at the LA County Fair, which is exactly what makes me want to go again! I simply marvel at the ingenuity of people. That's what makes it so funny that we are made in the image of God. I'm glad He has a sense of humor!

24 Ounces of Sin

Okay, I got busted. I went through McDonald's and got myself a large Coke, the classic stuff, the HARD stuff, the stuff my doctor and every website about IDB and IDS says I shouldn't have. I know I shouldn't have it, but man, I love the stuff, and besides, it was hot that day and I'd been out in the front yard playing Abe Lincoln and splitting logs (that's a subject for another post believe me), so I stopped for a Coke. I left the empty container in my car, in plain view, thinking little to nothing about it...then my wonderful wife, Sandi, saw it. That's when I got busted. She reminded me that I'm not supposed to be drinking it and I know I'm not supposed to be drinking it. Yeah, I tried to justify it. "Honey, I was hot and I was splitting logs and I..." but she resisted. "You can justify it any way you want," she said, "but do you know what that is right there?" Pointing to the cup she said, "That's sin!" Whoa now, I thought. Sin. That's sin. It brought me up short because she was right. That cup of icy cold cola refreshment was sin to me because it was harmful to me, I knew it was, and I even tried to sneak it like some back alley drug addict. Ironically as I was in the drive-thru line to get my 24 ounces of sin, Sandi called me, and here's the bad part - I almost told the guy handed me the Coke to be quiet so she wouldn't know where I was or what I was doing. Now that's sin. The Apostle Paul has some words for me, in fact for all of us. He wrote in Colossians 3:2 and 5, "Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things...Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature..." Boy! I suddenly got real thirsty.

At the gym the other day I saw a man wearing a t-shirt with the name and logo of a church on it. I didn't know this guy from Adam (or any other Biblical character), but for some reason the question came into my head, "Does Christ own your heart or do you just own the t-shirt?" Like I said, I have no idea who that man was or what his convictions were, so I'm thinking this is something the Spirit of God is speaking to me about, so here goes. Let me ask you - How many t-shirts do you have that advertise places or people you don't even know or have no relationship with, like those shirts that someone bought for you from someplace they've been too, or shirts with the manufacturers' names on them. No relationship, just a t-shirt. Here's what I'm wondering - do we wear our Christianity like a t-shirt without a relationship? That is, have we chosen to let the world know we are Christians by declaration only and not by a changed life that only happens when we've surrendered ourselves to the will of Christ? Without that inner decision to give yourself over to the establishing and maintaining of a relationship with Jesus, no little Jesus-covering is going to make you a true follower or heir to the kingdom. Wow! I just realized how much "Christian-ese" I've put into this post. I guess another way to say it is (to borrow a friend's adage) "Drinking Tang doesn't make you an astronaut." Neither does wearing a church logo make you a Christian. Only giving your heart to God through the grace and mercy of Christ on the cross will make that happen. I prayerfully hope that you will surrender and will "put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians 4:24). Hey, that might look good on a t-shirt!

If you've been following this blog, and I'd be surprised if anyone is yet, you may be wondering where I've been during the last week or so. Well, simply put I've been out playing with God, and He has a great playground! I too often forget how great of a playground He's created until I go on our annual camping trip. If I'm not sitting in front of my computer then I'm sitting behind my steering wheel and God's creation is either outside some place or whizzing by at 65 mph (OK, 70). There are days that the closest I come to nature is making the curve up the on-ramp to get on the 605 Freeway or mowing my lawn. But we have a true God of Wonders who created a whole world for us to play in, and so that's what I was doing last week. I played in his ocean, hiked among his brush and rocks, sat on His beaches underneath His beautiful blue skies. His dolphins jumped for my pleasure and His birds sang me awake every morning. God played with me! And I thoroughly and completely enjoyed it!

O Lord, how manifold are Your works!
In wisdom have you made them all!

Those words are from Psalm 104, and I encourage you to read all of it...twice, then go outside...and play with God.

Suffering is No Fun

I preached a message on suffering last Sunday and found that I am much more passionate about the topic than I first thought. My initial reaction to the text (1 Peter 3 and 4) and it's presentation of suffering "in accordance to God's will" was, "OK, I'm over my head here. I've lived a blessed life, by most standards, so what can I say about suffering?" Henri Nouwen, in his book The Wounded Healer, stated, "The great illusion of leadership is to think that man can be led out of the desert by someone who has never been there." That's where I believed I was, trying to lead people from the desert of suffering when I had not suffered (been there) much myself. However that changed as I started to unravel the mystery of suffering. Oh, I have a long ways to go before I fully understand it; probably never will in fact, but I can honestly say that I get it a little more than I did. In our suffering we are driven to the cross, as Joni Eareclson-Tada puts it, where we find a suffering savior that we can relate to and find our hope in because at the cross we can hear Jesus say, "Come unto me and I will give your rest." I also believe that in our suffering we are also driven to the empty tomb where we discover that suffering does have a happy ending. If we will allow ourselves to come to the cross and the tomb even as we suffer we shall be changed. As Peter said (1 Peter 3:14), "...even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed." That blessing may be seeing others who are suffering given hope by seeing our willingness to allow our suffering to change us into an instrument of God's grace. Let me close this with a quote from John Piper, "I've never heard anyone say the really deep lessons of life have come in times of ease and comfort. But, I have heard many saints say every significant advance I've ever made in grasping the depth of God's love and growing deep with Him, have come through suffering." Carry on, brothers and sisters, even while you know that suffering is no fun, for you are being changed into something glorious.

Why Playfulness and Purpose

Crack open your Bible to the first chapter of its first book, Genesis, and you'll read what's probably a familiar account of God creating the earth. There's a great little phrase that comes after almost every step of the creation - "And God saw that it was good." Was God just proud of himself? I don't think so. I could be way off base here, but I have a feeling that God was really thinking, "This is fun!" I mean fun is good, right? I'm sure God was having fun as he created the sun and stars and the moon, as he raised up mountains and laid down valleys, and as he divided the heavens from the earth. Think of all the fun he had making the animals - snakes of every kind, birds of every color and size, insects that fly, crawl, sting, pollinate and spin webs, and mammals that climb trees and swim in the ocean and dig holes underground. Then there are people, and you know he had fun with us! My point is this - God had a purpose in creation. He desired to create a place for humans to live so that he could have fellowship and relationship with them. He did this for us and he did it with a sense of playfulness. But we have become so serious in our everyday lives that we have not only lost sight of our sense of playfulness, we have very much lost our sense of purpose as well. Therefore, in these few lines in this medium so strange to me, I hope to somehow help us restore our God-given sense of playfulness and purpose. I hope to get us to lighten up some and look at things and say, "It is good!"