The Gift

Posted on by December 6, 2014
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Psalm 127:3-5 — Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

Someone parks in the carpark where I work. There’s a bumper sticker on the car: “Jesus wouldn’t abort anyone”. Now this isn’t going to be an anti-abortion rant — but it triggered a thought. It’s about how attitudes to children have changed.
Myra talked the other day about how she couldn’t understand some of the horrific news stories we’ve heard recently about mothers killing their babies. She’s right. And I can’t understand the equally horrifying stories of abuse of children. I’m not going to sicken you with the details. If you must have them, go to your web search engine and look for “Florida child abuse story”. But really — don’t — it’s appalling.
Let’s change gears. Go to Facebook. Look at all the posts where people are showcasing their children. Now I know that (to quote our respected Sunday-school teacher) I’m going to tread on some toes here. But can somebody tell me how those cute photographs and videos are benefitting the kids? Or how about kiddie pageants and kiddie reality shows?
The bottom line on all of this is that children have become objects instead of people. The clearest indication is the rising trend for adults to use children as accessories. I know that the whole idea isn’t new — but the extent now is shocking, even among sweet Christians.
You see, to me children are God’s way of passing His gospel and story from one generation. Parenting is the art of bringing up children so they can best be partners in building the kingdom. Anything less is a betrayal. I love what Peter Lange said:

Through God’s blessing our labor prospers without harassing trial and without anxiety.—Parents have not given their children to themselves. God has presented them to them; are they also treated and educated accordingly?—We must gratefully and humbly ascribe to God every successful result, and nothing to our own strength, ability, or endurance, and employ all our strength, time, and gifts in reliance upon God’s assistance, and according to His will, so that we may not be ashamed.—To begin and end with God, takes from every day its burden.

Today, as it happens, is Saint Nicolas’ day (if I love saints, I certainly love this one who happens to be Nicolas of Myra). He is the saint who became Santa Claus. It would be so wonderful if we could honor his memory
by stopping the objectification of children and giving them back their personhood!

The Church United

Posted on by December 5, 2014
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1 Corinthians 12:12-14 —  Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

Last night was the dress rehearsal for our Christmas extravaganza — The Living Christmas Trees. Standing in the tress and looking out at the audience was amazing. The many volunteer helpers who are not actually part of our performance were the audience for the day. There must have been 500 people — car park managers, welcoming guides, ticket takers, guides, program people, ushers,  … many many front of house volunteers. Then some of the backstage staff — wardrobe, make-up and others … It’s impossible to list them all. Add to this the cast, dancers, 3 youth music groups,  an adult choir of more than 100, orchestra, directors, audio-visual technicians and more. Hundreds of people. Not for the first time I was prompted to think about the wonder of the church working together to a common purpose, and then to think how impossible it would be if one group or another decided not to cooperate.
Of course there’s nothing unique about what happens in our church. There are hundreds — if not thousands — of churches across the country where similar things happen. Groups of people, large and small, join together to find unique and wonderful ways of celebrating the birth of Jesus and reaching out to those who are not yet part of the church to spread the gospel at this most wonderful time of the year.
I don’t know of anything else like it. One focal point, one event, one catalyst — and thousand of people coming together to celebrate at the same time. 
The body is made up of so many parts. Each one of us with a unique combination of talents (and inadequacies!). And just occasionally we all come together and agree to set aside preferences and personalities and agree to do whatever is needed to celebrate and tell the story.
There is no great message to this devotion. I just felt moved to write about how wonderful this is to me. Sometimes God’s plan seem so unlikely to me. Can you imagine the three persons of the Trinity in communion deciding how best to make sure the message get communicated to all the world. “The Nativity is so wonderful — let’s take every part of it and use it as a symbol. Let’s make all those symbols beautiful to our children in the church so they celebrate and want to share the  celebration with all the world…”. It’s such an unlikely plan, and so perfect!
Dear Lord, thank you for the joy of Christmas.
 

True Religion

Posted on by December 4, 2014
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James 1:27 — Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

What counts as a “big” church nowadays? Myra and I are part of First Baptist Church Naples where between one and two thousand people attend each of three services every week. That feels really big to me … and it has some disadvantages. Sometimes it seems hard to really “know” people.
At other times, though, “bigness” can have real advantages. FBCN supports a lot of great ministries and at this time of year the giving engine can really crank up. As well as the year round support for a food pantry / thrift ministry and a benevolence fund, at this time of year we have opportunities to send gift boxes to children all over the world, gifts for children with a parent in prison, gifts for children in single parent families and Christmas meal for migrant workers. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?
I added up what Myra and I would be spending on this type of giving this year — including something we do for a local homeless shelter. I was somewhat depressed to see that it’s around one percent of our income. Now please don’t misunderstand … this is in addition to tithing and our year-round activities. Still, it struck me as pretty low.
Three things bother me more than the sheer “numbers”. The first is that sometimes I get grumpy about the number of giving opportunities that come our way. I was struck this morning by what John had to say about that:

But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. (1 John 3:17-18)

That bit about “shutting up the bowels of compassion” — that’s getting grumpy when another giving opportunity comes along.
The second thing is that statistically, even while we might not be doing a lot, Myra and I seem to be among the givers. If you’re tithing (which I take to mean ten percent of gross income), giving a few percent over and above on a regular basis, and coming up with something extra at Christmas you are, sadly, in a minority. What’s worse, there’s no evidence that Christians do any better once you take tithing out of the giving picture. What I don’t believe is that the facts mean that Christians are cheap givers. I suspect they mean that many people are like me and don’t do the numbers very often!
The last thing bothering me is that giving can be the easy way out! That verse from James talks about “visiting the fatherless and widows”. “Visiting” suggests an action having real impact on their lives … I’m not sure a donation at Christmas really does it!
Reading this over, I see it might come over as a little negative! It’s not meant to be. I just intended to use our experience as a platform for an appeal for everyone to have a more generous, thoughtful and involved Christmas season — because reading those verses in 1 John this morning certainly made me think! Have a great and generous Christmas giving time!

Grace Under Pressure

Posted on by December 3, 2014
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2 Corinthians 12:7-9 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

I wrote about stress avoidance yesterday. (And yes, thank you, most of the work on our house seems to have worked out O.K.)
I have some bad news. You can’t avoid stress. Not all of it. And sometimes things are going to get really bad — for almost all of us.
Yes, I know, what Paul had to deal with was a lot worse than “stress”. But his response to the “thorn” in his flesh gives us a great model for how we should handle stress … and a great deal more.
First, Paul prayed. It wasn’t just routine prayer. It wasn’t quick-hit prayer — it was repeated seeking. In fact he several times asked Jesus to “come alongside”. He “besought” — it’s a word that shares its root with the one used about the Holy Spirit coming alongside. So that’s the first thing to do when stress mounts up. Pray. Earnestly and repeatedly pray that Jesus come alongside.
The second thing Paul did was to recognize the resources that he had. Jesus said, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” Paul listened. He heard. Jesus was telling him that he had already supplied him with all he needed. In fact no matter what he got into, Jesus’s grace would always be enough. The further he was driven into hard places, the stronger he would become. And he did! When we run into stress, we need to see what resources God has given us — and use them.
Thirdly, and lastly, Paul relaxed! I know that’s a pretty brief summarization of “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me”, but that’s what it amounts to. Paul embraced his weakness and claimed Christ’s strength to carry him through. When we get stressed it’s time to recognize the stress, admit we can’t handle it, and sit back and watch Jesus take over.
So there it is — easy as one, two, three … and you know that there are plenty of times I can’t pull it off!

Stressing Out?

Posted on by December 2, 2014
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John 14:1 — Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.

So there went Thanksgiving. Here comes Christmas. Is this the start of the maximum stress season for you?
This week Myra and I have accidentally backed ourselves into a nearly impossible corner. We have a plumbing issue being fixed, we are replacing our internet and TV provider and we have updates planned for our Home Security (it’s already pretty good, but we’re extending to add goodies like flood protection). Oh, and we’re also revising our financial planning and estate planning. All this in the week that we have dress rehearsals and the first performance for the Living Christmas Trees.
We didn’t plan all this. Accidents and provider inefficiencies have caused everything to come to a head all at once. But it’s stressful … and Christmas is coming. So here’s my question for the day: “Should Christians get stressed, and if they do, what should they do about it?”
I’m not sure that Christians “should” get stressed –but I know that they do! We all have relationships. We all have health issues. Many of us have jobs. Many of us can’t magically balance income and outgoings. What I do know is that some stress is reasonable — even healthy — and some isn’t. It’s important to know which is which, and to have a plan for dealing with it.
I know that if you’re stressed you’re already waiting for “the answer” so here it is. I don’t have one. But I do have a couple of starting points that I try to return to when I’m stressed. First:

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. (Proverbs 3:5-8)

Usually the first two of those verses are quoted. Don’t expect to be in control … The second two verses are important too. Letting God do the planning is good for your health because it reduces the stress!
Second:

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)

These extremely well known and loved verses can be summarized: “Don’t worry. Be happy”! Worry is a prime cause of stress — and it’s been well defined as “paying interest beforehand on a bill that may never come due”. Did you know that researchers at the University of Cincinnati found that eight-five percent of what we worry about never happens? The study even found that 79% of us handle the 15% that does happen in ways that surprise us with our ability to deal with the issue! So don’t worry.
So nothing clever here then! Let God handle the planning and trust Him for the consequences. You’ll still have stress, but less of it and you’ll be better able to manage.
Have a stress free Christmas season!

Come … Again

Posted on by December 1, 2014
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Revelation 11:12 — And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.

I might have written about this before … but Myra and I went to the Memorial service of a great man today, and it brought to mind another aspect of Christ and “Come”. You see, the man we said goodbye today was a humble giant.
I’m pretty sure that when he reaches heaven and takes a seat at the Master’s table he’ll head for the bottom and Jesus will say “Friend, come higher up”. And he’ll accept the invitation.
One of the recurring themes of the Christian life is that Jesus issues invitation … that we need to accept.
The first invitation is the invitation to salvation:

In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) (John 7:37-39)

I call this an invitation. Make no mistake, however. If this invitation is refused the consequences are terrible. It might be better to regard this one as a command!
The next invitation is an invitation that follows naturally — but is so often ignored:

And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. (Matthew 4:18-19)

“Come and be a disciple”, Jesus says. It’s an invitation every Christian needs to accept!
Then there’s one of my favorite invitations — “come and let me help you out”:

Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30)

Even disciples get tired! In fact, without great wisdom and good leadership, burnout is a big threat … But Jesus will pick up the load if we let Him!
Then there’s the greatest of invitations … the invitation to be in community with Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Father:

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. (John 15:4 KJVA) … that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. (John 17:21)

Then comes the final invitation … “Come up here”. All those saved disciples, burdens laid down, entered into community with the Lord. All feasting with the Lord.

Come

Posted on by November 30, 2014
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John 1:6-10 — There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

Advent — it comes from the Latin “adventus” for “arrival.” The English language has changed a lot since I was young — but the religious sense of the word advent can be traced more than a thousand years. It’s an active word! Some of my favorite carols get it right …

— “Oh come, oh come Emmanuel.”
— “Come, thou long expected Jesus,born to set thy people free; from our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest in thee.”

Jesus acted to save and redeem us. And this is good time of year to start remembering it. Sometimes, though, we can mistake it, and see Jesus as passive. We see the little baby Jesus, born in a manger, on the run from the wicked king … a potential victim. How does that connect to the Savior, the one who swept through the temple driving out the moneychangers? How does it connect to the Rabbi who attracted (and fed) crowds of thousands?
The thing is, Jesus came. God came. There was a pretty decent announcement — a star, a heavenly choir, shepherds, kings … and yet … The world knew Him not.
It happens every year. The announcement happens … and yet … the world knows Him not. But you know, He still comes.
I wrote the other day about Christianity being a faith lived in the continuous present. And so it is. The birth of Christ is not just something that happened two thousand years ago. It’s happening in the continuous presence. At any given moment Jesus is coming into somebody’s life. But still, the world knows Him not.
How should we react to this? There is only one response … another carol “Oh come all ye faithful”. “Come”. A different Latin word actually — “Adeste”. It might well be translated “Be present”, or even “Hurry up and be present!”
Advent is a time when we need to think about hurrying up to be present. Jesus came. He is coming. He will come. We need to be ready.

Like A Little Child

Posted on by November 29, 2014
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Matthew 18:1-6 — At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, and said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

Tomorrow is the first Sunday in Advent, and in my quiet time this morning this passage caught my eye. It’s one I think about from time to time, and I keep seeing more.
I think I have written before that there are three characteristics of a little child which are amongst the qualifications for entering the kingdom of heaven. The child is unthinkingly dependent on its parents. There is no thought of any other provider. The child is unthinkingly trusting of its parents. There is no expectation of anything but good. The child is unthinkingly humble. There is no thought of “my place”.
The disciples bickering about place, and their question about who would be greatest in the kingdom of heaven made it clear that they were not ready for their entry, and Jesus’s rebuke was sharp.
How then should the the disciples, and we, prepare? How do we become like little children? The answer is in Jesus’s words. “Unless ye be converted.” The word given as “converted” might be translated as “turned back”. The idea is that we need to be stripped of everything that we have acquired in our journey to adulthood. If we have knowledge, wisdom, experience … and especially if we have status, or mistrust or expectations … we need to let go of them. All those things will be obstacles to our entry into the kingdom.
So what’s the connection to Advent? Advent is when we prepare our hearts to remember the birth of Jesus. His is the perfect example of “humbling himself as a little child”. Jesus laid aside his position, and became humble, trusting and dependent. Following His example is part of our identification with Him. We are to be conformed to His image — “He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.” (1 John 2:6)

Thanksgiving — Six

Posted on by November 28, 2014
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Thanksgiving — Six

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 — Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil.

This is the last of this thanksgiving series, and I wanted to ask, “How are you feeling today?” Are you over Thanksgiving? On to Christmas, decorations in the yard? Are you even feeling a little grumpy after fighting Black Friday shoppers trying to get a great price on a much-needed item?
Myra and I are still basking in a glow of gratitude. We went grocery shopping today and got a free gift when we checked out. When the system didn’t have the price for our mushrooms, the Supervisor let us have them free of charge instead of making us wait until they found it. And that was just the first of the things we’re going to be grateful for in our new thanksgiving year. And then after that we had a productive day (even a little “Black Friday” shopping to replace a failed blender!) and a sweet date night (the Kirk Cameron movie “Saving Christmas” and a local restaurant we’d never been to before). We have a lot to be grateful for!
Pardon me for getting a little grammatical now. But here goes … Christianity is a faith that should be lived mostly in the “continuous present”. That’s a tense that is used in English for events that are happening now at this very moment, and for things happening now that are part of a long-running process. You might think I’m being a bit technical — but let me give you some examples.
I am being saved. Right now. It’s a continuous process that started before, is happening now, and is going on into the future.
I am praying now, this instant. I am to pray without ceasing — it is a continuous process that started a long time ago, is happening now, and should continue into the future.
So it ought to be with thanksgiving. Thanksgiving should start at the awe-inspiring life-changing moment when a Christian surrenders to Christ. It should continue at every moment from now into the eternal future.
Some of you, I know, are going through rough times right now — sickness, job loss, family problems … — so please forgive me if this seems a little insensitive. All I can do is offer some thoughts from scripture and hope they help:

But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. (1 Peter 5:10)

rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; (Romans 12:12)

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

It’s not always easy living a life of continuous thanksgiving. It hangs upon faith … The humble acceptance of God’s goodness, even when we don’t quite recognize it. Have a thankful year!

Thanksgiving — Five

Posted on by November 27, 2014
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Psalm 103:1-2 — Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

Well. Here we are then. Thanksgiving. It’s a time to take stock of all the reasons we have to be grateful. “Forget not all His benefits.” Yes, but really who can remember them all? I thought I’d start listing some of the things that give me reason to give thanks. I promise I have reason to be grateful for every one of the things I have listed. Many of them are only examples of broader classes, and many stand for hundreds of things. Who, for instance, could count the books…?
I stopped after about one hundred, reminded of Matt Redman’s song “Ten Thousand Reasons”!
You can read my list — it might tell you some things about me — or jump past it. But how about starting your own?

Air Conditioning, Apples, Babies, Bacon, Bananas, Beaches, Bears, Bible, Books, Brotherhood, Car, Cameras, Carols, Central heating, Choir, Churches, Clothes, Colleagues, Computers, Courtesy, Democracy, Dogs, Dolphins, Doughnuts, Ducks, Eagles, Education, Elephants, Emergency Services, Employment, Evangelists, Eye Doctors, Faith, Family, Flowers, Flying, Forgiveness, Freedom, Friends, Giraffes, Healthcare, Hearing, Hospitals, Ice Cream, Imagination, Inspiration, Jesus, Jokes, Joy, Justice, Kindness, Laughter, Libraries, Love, Marriage, Memories, Missions, Music, My lovely Myra, Night skies, Opera, Open minds, Orchestras, Owls, Painting, Pasta, Pastors, Potatoes, Preaching, Rabbits, Rain, Resurrection, Salvation, Sculpture, Seminaries, Singers, Singing, Sleep, Story tellers, Sunrise, Sunset, Squirrels, Teachers, Tears, Telephones, Tigers, Trees, Trumpets, Universities, Voices, Violins, Water, Websites, Whales, Wind …

There are so many reasons for Thanksgiving. Of course the most important all center around Jesus and his sacrifice — our salvation and redemption. But sometimes I think we can over-spiritualize. God “gives us all things richly to enjoy”. Many of my reasons for thanksgiving are not spiritual at all — just things that give me simple pleasure.
I am thankful for so many things that flow from relationships — from the love of my sweet and beautiful Myra to the pleasures of working with skilled and good natured colleagues.
I am thankful, too, for many things to do with possessions. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that there’s something wrong with enjoying those gifts either … Hold them lightly, but enjoy them.
I am thankful for the wonders of creation. Not necessarily majestic mountains or mighty rivers. We live in a little development where rabbits and squirrels play, and ducks swim. Sunrises and sunsets are startlingly beautiful. The varieties of rainfall make beautiful music.
I hope you have as many reasons for thanksgiving as I do. Bless the Lord, O my friends, and forget not all my benefits!