Christmas, the climax of Advent

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And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. Luke 2:7

Christmas – “For unto us a child is born…” Can you imagine what Mary was thinking that night as she cradled her newborn baby?  It had been a whirlwind of events since she first heard the angel Gabriel say, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you…Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.” On that dark, still night, she was holding her baby but instead of sitting in a palace where kings were normally born, she was laying her baby in a feed trough where the animals ate.

You might think obedience would take you on paved roads leading to the palace door instead of walking on a dusty, bumpy path leading to a barn. Yet when God asks you to do something even if it doesn’t make sense, you simply trust Him. Faith is more often found sitting on a hay bale in a stable than in a comfortable palace chair.

The advent season is a time of waiting, watching, and desiring. Christmas is the powerful climax of Advent as the waiting is over and Jesus the Messiah is celebrated. “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever.” –Rev 11:15 (NIV)

“Advent is a season of waiting and desiring and of hope-filled longing as I invite Christ to come again into my life and into our beautiful but broken world. I pause now to listen once again to that voice from heaven saying: “I am making everything new!” –Reading from Lectio365

This was an inconceivable, incredible, amazing story of Christmas when the Creator of all the universe, who knew no beginning nor end would come into the world as a baby. On Christmas morning, Mary would sing softly to comfort his sweet cry until the day would come when he would cry out in anguish, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” On Christmas morning, Mary would gently rub the smooth, soft skin until that day came when his skin would grow strong and tough to hold the nails of sin, injustice, and rejection as he cried out “It is completed!”

In the least likely place, with the least likely couple and the least likely circumstances, a story is told of the Savior who is making everything new. Christmas is the life-changing story of a Savior who broke the chain of death to give us salvation.

Joseph and Mary’s ordinary, day-to-day life may not have changed but their world was never the same. “So when Joseph and Mary had performed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and become strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him.” –Luke 2:39-40

 

All who are weary

 All who are weak

All those who come with no words left to speak

Come let the Son wash the dust from your feet

Come into the light

All who are mourning

All who have pain.

All those who come who are burdened with shame

Come let the Son take the weight of your chains

Come into the light

Ours is the God of the lost and the broken

His is the home with doors flung wide open

Ours is the Savior who welcomes us in.

Come into the light (words from the song, Into the Light, Emmaus Rd Church, Surrey, UK)

 

I wish you a blessed and wonderful Christmas as you enjoy the hope and life that Jesus brings daily. Christmas, as a day on the calendar may be over, but not the life-changing coming of Jesus. The best is yet to come!

Come Lord Jesus, enter our broken world ravaged by sin, selfishness, and turning our backs on you. Forgive us. Restore us. Renew us. Only you can change the face of this brokenness to reflect the beauty of your creation again. Fall fresh on us this Christmas and each day after. Give us ears to hear you say, “I am making everything new!” Yes, come Lord Jesus come.

God is great!

Peace, Week Four of Advent

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For a child will be born to us, a Son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 (NASB)

As we enter the fourth week of Advent, I am sure the exchange between world-renowned philosophers and social influencers Charlie Brown and Lucy may resonate with some folks. Lucy says to Charlie Brown, “I hate everything. I hate everybody. I hate the whole wide world!” Charlie Brown in his most thoughtful response said, “but I thought you had inner peace.” Lucy replies, “I do have inner peace. But I still have outer obnoxiousness.”

Unlike Lucy, many people during Christmas will put on a mask of outer peace yet will harbor inner obnoxiousness. Unfortunately, this supposedly joyous time of celebration with family and friends will be filled with anxiety and stress for way too many people. According to the American Psychological Association, 44% of women and 31% of men report increased stress around the holidays.

Just as inner peace is challenging, so is global peace. Chris Hedges writes “Of the past 3,400 years, humans have been entirely at peace for 268 of them, or just 8 percent of recorded history.” I am not sure if the 268 years could be classified as peace since he defined war as an active conflict that claimed more than 1,000 lives. Since Cain picked up a rock against Abel, war and conflict have been a staple of human history.

Peace, whether inner or global, seems to be a fleeting hope. Yet Advent moves us to the hope we have in the fulfillment of Isaiah when the Messiah will come as Prince of Peace. This week, Advent calls us to focus on peace as we join with “the heavenly army of angels praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among people with whom He is pleased.” –Luke 2:13b-14 (NASB)

The English word peace that is used to translate the Hebrew word shalom is good but it lacks the depth and wholeness of shalom. Carolyn Arends writes of shalom “It’s a beautiful word that conveys wholeness, harmony, and health. Where we might settle for uneasy truces and Band-Aid fixes as proxies for peace, shalom represents something much more robust. Beyond the cessation of war, shalom is a transformation of the conditions that lead to war in the first place. When there is shalom, everything gets to function the way it was created to.”

Eugene Peterson wrote, “Shalom, “peace,” is one of the richest words in the Bible. You can no more define it by looking in the dictionary than you can define a person by his or her social security number. It gathers all aspects of wholeness that result from God’s will being completed in us. It is the work of God that, when complete, releases streams of living water in us and pulsates with eternal life. Every time Jesus healed, forgave, or called someone, we have a demonstration of shalom.” (A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society)

Jesus understood that if we looked to the world for peace, we would quickly drown in despair. History is filled with brokered peace agreements that only temporarily stopped conflict. Doctors try to give peace by prescribing medications that only mask the pain and hopelessness. People turn to alcohol and drugs seeking to find inner peace only to be pulled deeper into addiction and problems.

During this week’s Advent focus on peace, meditate on Jesus’ words as the true Prince of Peace. “Peace I leave with you; My (own) peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. (Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed, and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.) –John 14:27 (Amplified)

I like what Mark Buchanan, pastor and author said about the Advent season. “Advent was my least favorite season for preaching. Then it became my favorite. And here’s why “I abandoned creativity.” Buchanan writes that he came to understand the Christmas story is alive and real without trying to make it more than it is. He goes on to say, “It turns out, I don’t need to make the story, any of it, snazzier, sexier, funkier. I just need to recapture its aliveness and realness. I don’t need to make it more relevant or interesting. I just have to let it dwell richly within me, and to dwell richly in it, and then bear witness to what I had seen and heard and touched.”

This year has been chaotic in so many ways: political turmoil in Washington D.C, Russia invading Ukraine, hyperinflation, stock market volatility and the list goes on. We don’t have to make Christmas more than it is, it is already everything the world needs. Jesus is the Wonderful Counselor for those struggling with life issues. Jesus is the Mighty God who is fully aware of global conflicts and is fully in control. Jesus is the Eternal Father that is interceding for us daily. Jesus is the Prince of Peace who brings shalom to every aspect of our lives.

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all people. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” –Philippians 4:4-7 (NASB)

Shalom.  Jesus brought the word to life and He is the best gift that anyone can receive!

Merry Christmas, God is great!

Week Three of Advent – Joy – The Shepherd’s Candle

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When the angels left them and went back to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, that the Lord has made known to us. So they hurried off and located Mary and Joseph, and found the baby lying in a manger. When they saw him, they related what they had been told about this child, and all who heard it were astonished at what the shepherds said. But Mary treasured up all these words, pondering in her heart what they might mean. So the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen; everything was just as they had been told. –Luke 2:15-20 (NET)

We are getting closer to Christmas! Store owners have their count-down clocks going, only 13 more shopping days till Christmas (as of today). Hallmark Christmas movies are in full swing with their feel-good predictable outcome. Houses are decorated inside and out. We focus on joy as the third week of Advent begins.

Anticipation! Merriam-Webster defines it as “a prior action that takes into account or forestalls a later action, the act of looking forward, visualization of a future event or state.” As an 8-year-old boy, I knew I needed to act to “forestall” a potential problem. The problem: there was no present under the Christmas tree for me. Granted it was probably two or three weeks until Christmas, but in case my parents had forgotten, I took matters into my own hands. I had a little money saved up, so the first time we drove into town, I went directly (yes, an 8-year-old could go by himself) to the Five & Dime store in our little town and bought myself a Christmas present, a Tiddlywinks game. Mrs. Skaggs wrapped it up and I took it home and put it under the tree. Problem solved! Now I had a present under the Christmas tree!

In a couple of weeks, homes around the world will find children and adults excitedly unwrapping gifts. You will get to open the brightly wrapped presents that have been tempting you for weeks – the gifts that you secretly picked up, turned over and over, maybe giving a gentle shake trying to see if you could guess what’s in the box. Finally, the moment arrives for you to rip off the paper and open the box. Now just imagine though that one after another of the brightly covered packages contained nothing but empty boxes. Your excitement would quickly give way to despair, maybe a little anger, and definitely a lot of disappointment.

I just imagine this is how the people of Israel must have felt. They have been opening empty boxes for almost 400 years since Malachi’s final words to wait. “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before the great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.” Malachi 4:5-6 (NIV). Generation after generation would hold these verses close to their hearts waiting for the coming Messiah. Finally, the day arrives with the words, “I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.” –Luke 2:10b-11 (NIV) This angelic birth announcement ends the 400 years of empty boxes for all who have been waiting for the Messiah’s coming.

Mark’s Christmas story is brief and to the point, “The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.” Peter Adams writes, “Like the people in Malachi’s day, we are called to look back and look forward. We look back to the coming of Christ, and to his incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension; and we look forward to the coming of Christ in glory, when he will save his people, judge all people, and restore all things.”

God could have sent ten thousand angels to restore His creation and destroy the sinfulness of the world. God had the right as Creator and this would have made political and strategic sense, yet He chose the strategy of love. God came into the world as a baby. Holding my newest granddaughter and looking at her vulnerability, tenderness, and dependence, I marvel at the power of a baby to bring such joy and hope.

God’s incarnation as a baby allows us to touch and hold the sacred and it was in the gentleness of Jesus’ cry that night that a hurting, hopeless, and rejected world could again have hope and life. In that tender cry, we hear the life-giving words “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” –John 3:16 (NIV)

Hebrews 4:14-16 is not a classic Christmas verse but it is worth reading and reflecting upon during this Advent season.  This passage allows us to wait and live with hope, encouragement, courage, and confidence.  “Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Christmas is the amazing story of a Savior; wrapped in ordinary clothes, born in humble circumstances, and marked with a destiny that will change lives forever. Jesus broke the silence of 400 years and is still breaking the silence of brokenness today! Paul David Tripp says it well, “No one knows you more deeply and fully than your Savior, so no one offers you help form fitted for your deepest needs like he does.”

Christmas is coming!

God is great!

Faith, Week Two of Advent

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This all happened so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled: “Look!” The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will name him Emmanuel,” which means “God with us. –Matthew 1:22-23 (NET)

Gaslighting!  This is Merriam-Webster’s 2022 annual word of the year. It is probably a very good choice considering 2022 was the mid-term elections in the United States and gaslighting has been rampant. According to the Newport Institute, “gaslighting is a form of manipulation where the manipulator attempts to make their victim believe what’s happening to them isn’t actually happening and their reality is untrue.” The term comes from the 1938 play “Angel Street.” Alfred Hitchcock then turned the play into the 1944 film “Gaslight.” The story goes that the husband attempts to convince his wife she is crazy so he can steal from her. According to the Newport Institute, “when he turns on the lights in the attic to look for his wife’s jewels, the gas light downstairs starts to dim. He tells his wife it’s all in her imagination, gaslighting her into believing the lights were not dimming.” (USA Today)

Examples of Gaslighting given by the Newport Institute include:

  • Lying about or denying something and refusing to admit the lie even when you show them proof
  • Insisting that an event or behavior you witnessed never happened
  • Spreading rumors and gossip about you, or telling you that other people are gossiping about you
  • Telling you that you’re overreacting when you call them out

Gaslighting may be Merriam-Webster’s word of the year but the concept is as old as time. The Servant gaslighted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” –Gen 3:4 (NIV)

As we enter week two of the advent season, what does gaslighting have to do with Advent?  Just like the husband in Hitchcock’s movie tries to convince his wife the lie is the truth, the same has been done with Satan throughout human history. He seeks to manipulate and convince the world that God’s truth and love are not true. Paul wrote “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:4 NIV)

Since the first deception, humans have been deceived into believing what wasn’t true. Advent is a time of waiting and reflecting on the promised coming of the Messiah. What makes waiting bearable is the fact we are waiting based on the rock-solid promises given by God.  Over the years much of our culture has been gaslighted into believing another story and only seeing the glitter and glamour of a holiday instead of the true meaning of Christmas. Advent is a time when we wait in faith for the coming Messiah simply because God is faithful to His word and has never broken a promise.

Luke records the incredible faith in Simeon’s story as he waited a lifetime for the coming Messiah. “Now there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon who was righteous and devout, looking for the restoration of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. So Simeon, directed by the Spirit, came into the temple courts, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what was customary according to the law, Simeon took him in his arms and blessed God.” (2:25-28 NET)

Simeon was able to wait because he knew God would be faithful in his promise to send a Savior. “For my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples: a light, for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” –Luke 2:30-32 (NET)

“Unfulfilled and fulfilled promise are related to each other, as are dawn and sunrise. Both promise and in fact the same promise. If anywhere at all, then it is precisely in the light of the coming of Christ that faith has become Advent faith, the expectation of future revelation. But faith knows for whom and for what it is waiting. It is fulfilled faith because it lays hold on the fulfilled promise.” – Karl Barth

December is probably the busiest month of the year. We struggle with questions about what to buy the children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and everyone else. We are trying to schedule all the parties, church events, and shopping until we realize we forgot Christmas. It is quite possible the Advent season can work much like a check engine light in our car, alerting us that something needs our attention.

Advent beautifully reminds us that God doesn’t have a word of the year, He has a Word for eternity.

“A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level,” the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all people will see it together.

                               For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” –Isaiah 40:3-5

God is great!

Hope, Week One of Advent

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“There was also a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old, having been married to her husband for seven years until his death. She had lived as a widow since then for eighty-four years. She never left the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. –Luke 2:36-37 (NET)

Angela Alvarez knows a few things about waiting in hope. At 95, Alvarez is finally fulfilling a lifelong dream that began in her native Cuba. Life events prevented her from following her dream of being a singer. She said in an interview, “When I was a child, I had two aunts that played the piano and taught me how to sing. Whenever there was a family gathering, I was the artist; they made dresses for me and I always liked to perform.”

Sigal Ratner-Arias in an article about Mrs. Alvarez wrote that amid life’s hardships “music was always there for her, as it helped her cope with the ups and downs of life: from love and motherhood, to a near-two-year separation from her children after the Cuban Revolution triumph, when she was supposed to travel to the U.S. with them but was not allowed to board the plane; to her relentless efforts to reunite her family and the eventual loss of her beloved husband and, years later, of her only daughter—both to cancer.”

Yet her hope of being a singer didn’t die and thanks to her grandson’s effort in recording her music, Alvarez became the eldest nominee for a Latin Grammy. It was a dream that became a reality this month as she shared a win with Silvana Estrada as the best new artist. Alvarez, after years of performing only for family and friends, says “it’s never too late.”

Waiting is never easy, often testing our limits of endurance. Yet scripture records countless stories of those who waited and waited. Times of waiting became extraordinary stories of trust, patience, and discipline. Luke records the stories of Simeon and Anna, two examples of those waiting in hope for the fulfillment of God’s promise of a Messiah. Anna was best known among the temple faithful as a prophetess and daughter of Phanuel. However, she was probably better known in heaven as a person of faith and trust, a faithful prayer warrior and encourager. Her brief mention in scripture paints a powerful and beautiful story of love, hope, perseverance, and faith. Day after day, night after night, Anna could be found fasting and praying in worship. She lived out Micah 7:7, “But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.”

Sunday, November 27 marks the beginning of Advent, the first week’s focus is on hope. We can attest that hope can sometimes be fragile, yet hope allows us to keep moving forward. Scott Erickson writes “Advent is about Christ coming into the world through human vulnerability.” Lighting the prophecy candle on your advent wreath this week signifies the hope we have in the promise of the coming Messiah.

Erickson goes on to write that “We may have learned that the word advent means coming or arrival, but it’s interesting that it’s root word in Latin, adventus, also has some thought-provoking implications. It can connote the rise of a military power. It can mean incursion, ripening, and also appearance and invasion. So fascinating considering the meekness of the Savior who rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and was the sacrificed Lamb who took away the sins of the world!”

Jesus is the powerful King who delivers and brings security, the powerful king that brought hope, salvation, and redemption. The late British biblical scholar Peter Craigie says “And that is the essence of the Christmas message: God makes a gift to a besieged world through whom deliverance may come.”

Anna lived and breathed the hope that the long-awaited Messiah would come in her lifetime. However, she also trusted God’s promise of the coming Messiah even though she knew He might not come in her lifetime. Can you imagine her excitement and joy when Jesus was revealed as the One she has been waiting for all these years? “Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.”—Luke 2: 38 (NIV)

Anna’s ordinary day-to-day activities probably didn’t change all that much. She would still be found in the temple, fasting and praying. Her aging body still felt the pains and discomforts of the years. Yet she would never be the same when she stood and heard the priest read these words from the book of Isaiah: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.” (9:2,6-7 NIV)

You can’t help but picture a big smile coming over her face as she heard these words read in the temple. A smile of hope that only came because she saw Jesus. Jesus is the reason we can smile!

“God of hope, I look to you with an open heart and yearning spirit. During this Advent season, I will keep alert and awake, listening for your word and keeping to your precepts. My hope is in you.” –Matthew Kelly

God is great!

Yes America, there is a Thanksgiving Day

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Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. Psalm 118:29 (NIV)

 

Turkey dinner…Pumpkin Pie…Naps…More turkey…Football Games…Parades! These are words that foster memories and create anticipation of Thanksgiving. BTW: It is easy to forget but Thanksgiving is an official, though often overshadowed, holiday between Halloween and Christmas. This one holiday has transcended the generations and is woven into the very fabric of our national identity from that very first gathering of colonists and Wampanoag Indians. They shared a harvest celebration together and since then Thanksgiving has been a day to stop and give thanks.  We celebrate the abundance and blessings within our lives and pause for a moment to give God thanks.

“Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor—and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me “to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”

President George Washington proclaimed on October 3, 1789, a day of Thanksgiving. Historians debate whether this was the first proclamation or executive order issued by the new President George Washington. However, he recognized that this young nation needed to stop and express thankfulness.

Thanksgiving is truly a unique holiday that has only one purpose: to give thanks. There have been lots of changes in the United States since that first proclamation was issued but one thing hasn’t or shouldn’t change: the need to give thanks!

You may be facing unbelievable challenges and find it hard to be thankful. Maybe it would be helpful during the days leading up to this Thanksgiving Holiday to take some time to meditate upon thankfulness. Allow God to reveal those things in your life for which you can express thanksgiving. What can you be thankful for this year?  Allow your response to be a conversation starter around the table.

If 2022 has been a challenging year for thanksgiving, imagine writing your thoughts from a dark, dingy prison cell. Paul did as he wrote to the church in Colosse, “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ when we pray for you.” Paul, writing with a chain around his leg, was still able to give thanks for the Colossians.

Paul should have been worried and stressed out but he tells the church to “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful….” singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

I can’t help but imagine that if Paul were writing to the church in 2022, he would still write the same closing encouraging words.  “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” Instead of stressing over the unrelenting wave of negative news, spend time praying for others and yourself. Instead of being downcast, constantly look for things you are thankful for. Instead of focusing on what has been lost in 2022, find those things that you are thankful for, like family, health, and life itself.

Thanksgiving is a lot more than turkey, football, and parades. By all means enjoy the festivities, get ready for Black Friday and savor the amazing foods, yet during the chaos of the holiday, slow down long enough to reflect upon those things for which you are truly thankful for, no matter the circumstances. Billy Graham said of the thankful heart, “A spirit of thankfulness is one of the most distinctive marks of a Christian whose heart is attuned to the Lord.”

Dear God,

Thank you for your amazing power and work in our lives, thank you for your goodness and for your blessings over us. Thank you that you are able to bring hope through even the toughest times, strengthening us for your purposes…Forgive us for when we don’t thank you enough, for who you are, for all that you do, for all that you’ve given. Help us to set our eyes and our hearts on you afresh. Renew our spirits, fill us with your peace and joy. We love you and we need you, this day and every day…In Jesus’ Name, Amen. –Rachel Dawson

Thank you for being part of this weekly Prayer Safari. I so appreciate you subscribing and I trust you find nuggets occasionally that encourage you on your safari. I pray you will have a blessed and wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday.

Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD. Let us shout our praises to our Protector who delivers us. Let us enter his presence with thanksgiving. Let us shout out to him in celebration. –Psalm 95:1-2 (NET)

God is great!

Tomorrow is promised but the Location is not

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I have asked the LORD for one thing—this is what I desire! I want to live in the LORD’s house all the days of my life, so I can gaze at the splendor of the LORD and contemplate in his temple. Psalm 27:4 (NET)

There are moments of time that will be forever embedded into my memory. They include hearing Mr. Conover’s voice coming over the loudspeaker at school announcing that Pres Kennedy had been assassinated, being awakened out of deep sleep that our pastor and his family had been killed, sitting in my Nairobi office, hearing a massive explosion, finding out later that it was the United States Embassy bombing and standing in the kitchen of our Johannesburg home getting a call that my grandmother had died.

Jesus told a parable in Luke 12 about the landowner who enjoyed a bumper harvest from his land one year. The yield was so great he couldn’t find enough barns so he set about building larger and more elaborate storage facilities that could easily handle his storage problem. Then he sat back and said to himself, “You have plenty of goods stored up for many years; relax, eat, drink, celebrate!” He forgot one important step in his plans, he didn’t control his life. “But God said to him, ‘you fool! This very night your life will be demanded back from you, but who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

King Solomon understood a few things about planning yet reminds us in Proverbs, “do not boast about tomorrow; for you do not know what a day may bring forth.” (27:1)

James understood the intoxicating lure of pride and power so he could warn his readers, “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into this or that town and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” You do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like? For you are a puff of smoke that appears for a short time and then vanishes. You ought to say instead, “If the Lord is willing, then we will live and o this or that.” (4:13-15)

Paul understood future hope in face of uncertainty, writing “For our momentary, light suffering is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison because we are not looking at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen. For what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.” (2 Cor 4:17-18)

Jesus reminded his followers “do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own.” (Matt 6:34)

As followers of Jesus, we do have the certainty of tomorrow, what we don’t know is the location. Jesus knew his followers didn’t need to fret over the tomorrows of life because he would be preparing a much better home for them. “There are many dwelling places in my Father’s house. Otherwise, I would have told you, because I am going away to make ready a place for you.” (Luke 14:2)

Dietrich Bonhoeffer prayed just before he was hanged by the Nazis soldiers, “Oh, God, this is the end; but for me it is just the beginning.” Bonhoeffer’s tomorrow came but he found himself in a different location. “What we call the beginning is often the end and to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.” –T.S. Eliot

Augustine wrote, “We have not lost our dear ones who have departed from this life, but have merely sent them ahead of us, so we also shall depart and shall come to that life where they will be more than ever dear as they will be better known to us, and where we shall love them without fear of parting.”

Realtors understand fully that it is all about “location, location, location” when selling property. A house in the middle of Manhattan will bring a king’s ransom compared to a much larger house in my hometown of Rush Springs, Oklahoma. Location is everything.  Judah Smith writes that “Jesus encourages us to think and live and pray about this earth from the perspective of “as it is in heaven.” Like Jesus, our lives should be dramatically impacted by the reality of eternity and heaven, because that is our ultimate home. This earthly existence is but for a moment. Heaven is eternal. We are to live our lives preoccupied by eternity.”

We have an amazing hope in knowing we always have a tomorrow. Yes, it can be a little disconcerting at times not knowing when we will experience this change of address. It is unbelievably hard on our family and friends when we move to our new location. However, what an overwhelming assurance to know our final destination has been prepared by Jesus himself. David ended the beautiful and comforting Psalm 23 by boldly saying, “I will live in the LORD’s house for the rest of my life.”

In his book, Heaven, Randy Alcorn writes, “We shouldn’t glorify or romanticize death—Jesus didn’t. He wept over it…. Death is painful, and it’s an enemy. But for those who know Jesus, death is the final pain and the last enemy…For the Christian, death is not the end of adventure but a doorway from a world where dreams and adventures shrink, to a world where dreams and adventures forever expand.”

Tomorrow is promised but the location is not. Tomorrow may be “This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Ps 118:24) Enjoy the day in all its fullness, living and seeking to do God’s will “on earth, as it is in heaven.”

Tomorrow is promised but the location is not. Tomorrow may be “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth…. I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End” (Rev 21)

“Can you hear the sighing in the wind? Can you feel the heavy silence in the mountains? Can you sense the restless longing in the sea? Can you see it in the woeful eyes of an animal? Something’s coming…Something better. –Joni Eareckson Tada

Lord, thank you for our tomorrows wherever the location. You are the giver of life, both on earth and in heaven. “Our new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God.”

God is great!

 

Planting Seeds of Faith

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This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come. —Mark 4:26-29

America’s best-known seed thrower is John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed. Traveling through the then-frontier area of the United States in the early 1800s, he planted apple seeds. Folklore pictured him as a wandering nomad tossing seeds here and there, but he planted seeds with intentionality. “Chapman’s preference for seeds over grafting for creating not only varieties like the delicious and golden delicious, but also the “hardy American apple.” Since apples that are grafted are the same as the parent tree, they don’t change. But by forgoing grafting, Jonny created the conditions for apple trees to adapt and thrive in their new world home.” –Michael Pollan

Robert Schuller shared that “Anyone can count the seeds in an apple, but only God can count the number of apples in a seed.”  Learning to live life without the final answer is an incredible adventure. You can count the seeds but you can’t count the apples coming out of the seeds.

Joshua and Wyn Haldeman decided to count apple seeds leaving Canada for South Africa in 1950. Haldeman set up a chiropractor practice in South Africa but Dr. Haldeman’s real passion was to discover the Lost City of the Kalahari Desert. Every year, the Haldemans would pack up supplies and with their family of five children head off into the desert in search of the lost city. Though Joshua and Wyn never found the Lost City of the Kalahari, the apple seeds of adventure were planted in their children and passed on to their grandchildren, including Maye Haldeman Musk’s son, Elon. His name is famously associated with companies such as Tesla, SpaceX, and now Twitter.

Planting seeds, whether for growing crops, starting new business ventures, or seeking to discover lost cities requires faith. You do everything you can as you prepare to plant the seeds; dig the hole, fertilize the soil, and pull weeds. Yet it is not until the day you see a sprout break into daylight that you know you were successful.

Jesus understood the importance of seed-planting faith. In the book of Mark, He shares how seeds of faith planted in different ways have different outcomes. Some of the seeds thrown will be robbed by Satan before they even take root. Others grow well at first but the heat of persecution and trouble destroys the new growth. Some of the seeds grow well but the weeds and thorns of everyday life leave the fruit worthless. The seed that is sown “on good soil, hear the word, accept it and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.” (Mark 4:13-20)

We enjoy the fruit of apple trees because of the effort it took to plant the seed, nurture the plant, and finally pick the crop.  Just as apple seeds grow into fruit-bearing trees through tender care, Jesus assures us that our faith seeds will grow into fruit-bearing lives as we let him shape and prune our lives. In Hebrews we are told, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (11:1)

Planting seeds of faith will never be easy or certain. Oswald Chambers said, “Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time.”  “For we live by faith, not by sight.” (2 Cor 5:7)

Abraham planted seeds of faith by leaving his home for an unknown land. Those seeds would grow into him being “the father of many nations.” (Gen 17:4)

Joshua planted seeds of faith by declaring “as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:15)

David planted seeds of faith early in life when facing his giant by declaring, “I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” (I Sam 17:45)

What seeds of faith do you need to plant? Jesus said of the kingdom of God that “it is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.” –Mark 4:31 “I think faith is the small mustard seed of opportunities every day. For example, ‘Am I going to love this person? Am I going to share my faith with this person? Am I going to pray that little prayer?’ It really is a daily thing where you seize those little mustard seed opportunities and then see what God does.”—Mark Batterson

We will experience the joy and hope that only Jesus can bring through planting seeds of faith. “He calls us then to make an act of faith every time we would naturally be pulled down into the pit of joylessness, for there is an end set to the sin and sorrow and confusion of the world as well as to our own private trials. We only see today. He whom we worship sees tomorrow.” –Amy Carmichael

Lord, I choose to plant seeds of faith this day. I may be able to count seeds but I know only you can count the fruit from those seeds. Find me faithful now and forever.

God is great!

 

 

Jesus Amazed

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When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him”: Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed… When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well. Luke 7:1-10

Mourners stood in line for more than 24 hours stretching up to 10 miles to pay their respects as Queen Elizabeth II lay in state in Westminster Hall in the Palace of Westminster. Commoners and aristocrats all stood together in a line. Manchester United F.C. legend David Beckham was no exception. He could have played his “fame card” but he chose to walk with everyone else. “We all want to be here together, we all want to experience something where we celebrate the amazing life of our Queen. We all go through this pain to be here today.”

The closest I have come standing for hours waiting on “royalty” was when we lived in Johannesburg and our family drove out to Alberton with literally thousands of others to wait. Yet, the time was worth it for Matthew and Katelyn as their excitement became ecstatic when they heard the sound of the helicopter and upon landing, outstepped the world-famous Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael. True royalty to a mob of children!

Luke captures a fantastic story of a Roman Centurion who could have met Jesus yet refused because he was not worthy to have Jesus in his home.  He was a man of power, prestige, and influence simply because of his rank and position. Since he had a top-notch intelligence service at his command, he knew what was taking place in his region and one of the major developments was a man named Jesus. Out of curiosity and political security, Jesus was on his radar of interest but more importantly, he had a major crisis in his household.  A beloved servant he valued highly was sick, maybe dying.  Maybe this Jesus could help.

The centurion decided Jesus was the only solution and sent a group of Jewish leaders to ask him to come. The religious leaders, who were sent to ask Jesus for help, focused on the influence of the sender, not the servant’s need.  Instead of mercy for the sick servant, they pleaded for Jesus to come because this man was a major donor to their synagogue and therefore in their eyes, deserved special attention.

I can’t help but wonder if Jesus used these Jewish leaders as an example later on when He was a guest in a prominent religious leader’s house. Jesus observed how the “guests picked the places of honor at the table” so they could be seen by the crowd. These leaders knew how important it was, politically and socially to be seen with those who have real power. Jesus looked and said, no you are doing it wrong.  “When you are invited, take the lowest place” because someone more important might show up and you get relegated to the back row. “For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 14:7-14)

Unlike the religious leaders, this seasoned army officer understood what true authority and humility looked like. Rethinking his original request, he sent a second message but this time he entrusted it to friends who would better confer the message. These friends understood his heart for his servant’s well-being. The other group wanted Jesus to come because of what they could get. This group brought a message of the heart.

This Gentile, part of the hated Roman government, despised by the religious elite had the opportunity to meet Jesus yet in humility said, “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you.”  A Roman Centurion was never in a position of begging for help. What would others think of him? That he was weak? He should have commanded Jesus to be brought to him. “The only way to care for the disadvantaged is to disadvantage yourself, which is guaranteed to turn out to your advantage.”—Ann Voskamp

This centurion understood he was not worthy to have the only one who could heal his servant come into his house.  “Hearts are broken in ten thousand ways, for this is a heart-breaking world; and Christ is good at healing all manner of heart-breaks.” –Charles Spurgeon

Yet this unworthy centurion knew the chain of authority and the One coming to his house had the authority and power to answer his “prayer.” Though I am unworthy, I need your help, “say the word, and my servant will be healed.” Jesus probably wanted to shout: Yes, someone finally gets it! It is not about influence, position, or power. It is not about how much wealth a person may have at his disposal. It is not about where you are from or what you can do.  It is about who you turn to!

“I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.”

This centurion may not have fully understood who Jesus was at the time but he knew enough. He joined an elite group of folks who didn’t fully understand, but they knew enough. A destitute widow grieving the death of her son heard the words, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” (Luke 7:14) A broken and rejected woman heard the words, “Your sins are forgiven.” (Luke 7:48) A beaten down and physically worn-out woman heard the words,” Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.” (Luke 8:48) A condemned man with no hope heard the words, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43)

LORD, though I was unworthy to have you in my house, you made me worthy because of your love for me on the cross. No longer unworthy but now a joint heir with you. No longer living in the past tense but the present tense of forgiven with the future tense of eternity. “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

God is great!

Would America be better off without the church?

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But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me. Micah 7:7

Hurricane Ian has rightly dominated the news the last several days. My heart goes out to the people in the path of this destructive and chaotic event. It will not be easy for those who lost family members and for the challenges of rebuilding a life. In this tragic event, as well as the countless others that have occurred in the last year, we often voice our prayer support as well as our financial and physical support. Many will help out of civic duty, but for Christians, it is or should be, out of a Christ-centered heart and obedience to help the poor, the widows, the orphans, the hurting, and the lost. As Jesus simply said, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matt 22:39)

It is never easy answering an unbelieving world’s question about why bad things happen. We may give the right theological answer but few are looking for such an answer when their world has fallen apart. What they are looking for will be the warm blanket given on a cold night without electricity, a hot meal to satisfy their hunger pains, and a word of encouragement that it will be ok. So, does a Christian have the inside track on helping? Not really when either skeptics or saints can provide the material things.

This brings me to my question for you. Would America or any nation be better off without the church? Voices such as Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, and A. C. Grayling would say the world would be better off without religion. Emory University’s Frans de Waal said, “I’m struggling with whether we need religion…Personally I think we can be moral without religion because we probably had morality long before the current religions came along…so I am optimistic that religion is not strictly needed. But I cannot be a hundred percent sure because we’ve never really tried—there is no human society where religion is totally absent so we really have never tried this experiment.”

We need to be able to tell the world that no, it will not be better off. “Faithful Christ followers must work with urgency for moral and spiritual awakening not only for the sake of unrepentant sinners facing judgment but for our sake as well.” –Jim Denison

Part of the answer will be in the economic impact. In a study conducted by The Religious Freedom and Business Foundation, religion contributes about $1.2 trillion of socioeconomic value annually to the U.S. economy. This would be equivalent to being the world’s 15th-largest national economy. Brian Grim in response to the study said, “Do we need to know (religion’s socio-economic value) in order to appreciate the value of faith? Of course not, but in an age where fewer people are raised in religious congregations, we need to show a more balanced perspective on faith than might come through in daily headlines.”

Part of the answer will be in the moral impact. Micah gives a vivid description of a nation that rejects God. Though written generations ago, it is not a pretty picture. The moral vacuum would be chaotic without the strong foundation of God’s church. “What misery is mine! The godly have been swept from the land; not one upright man remains. All men lie in wait to shed blood; each hunts his brother with a net. Both hands are skilled in doing evil; the ruler demands gifts, the judge accepts bribes, the powerful dictate what they desire—they all conspire together. The best of them is like a brier, the most upright worse than a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen has come, the day God visits you. Now is the time of their confusion. Do not trust a neighbor; put no confidence in a friend. Even with her who lies in your embrace be careful of your words. For a son dishonors his father, a daughter rises up against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—a man’s enemies are the members of his own household.” (Micah 7:1-6) These verses out of Micah sound familiar in our modern age. Just think how many laws and regulations in the United States it already takes to replace the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes.

Part of the answer will be in the prayer impact. After any natural or man-made disaster, the first words offered are to pray for those impacted. So, who will pray? 1 Peter 3:12 says, “For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the LORD is against those who do evil.” Followers of Jesus offer the needed prayers “because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence.” (Eph 3:12). John captures a powerful and beautiful picture when he writes in Revelation, “the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.” (Rev 5:8)

The most important part of the answer will be found in our message about Jesus. Numerous studies show that the Millennials and Gen Z generations have the highest level of loneliness and isolation. Other studies reflect that these same generations have the most significant percentage of moving away from the church. Coincidence? I don’t think so. “But how can people call for help if they don’t know who to trust? And how can they know who to trust if they haven’t heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them? And how is anyone going to tell them, unless someone is sent to do it?” (Romans 10:14-15 The Message) Our singular message of hope in Jesus becomes the fragrance of life for those who receive it.

The church has had its fair share of jerks, malcontents, and false teachers and unfortunately will have until the end. However, it has had a greater choir of those like Mother Teresa serving in the slums of the world, Billy Graham articulating the simple invitation to follow Jesus, William Wilberforce fighting the surge of slavery, Martin Luther pushing back against false church doctrine, Martin Luther King, Jr. protesting the injustice of racism, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer standing against the complacency of the church.  Joining this great army through the ages are the unnamed, out of the spotlight, overlooked saints who taught mischievous little boys and girls in VBS, went to the mission field, served in small churches, fed the hungry, ministered to the sick, interceded on behalf of the lost and simply lived a Christ-centered life.

Would America or any nation be better off without the church? The answer will always be no when we “Put away… all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” –Ephesians 4:31-5:2

Lord, let us be the fragrant of Christ that attracts a hurting, frustrated, messed up world to offer the hope we have found in Christ.

God is great!