Happy New Year

Happy New Year!! This first day of the new year finds me sitting in my daughter's house with three of my youngest grandsons. What a great way to begin 2013. As I look back at an eventful 2012 I am grateful to God for all His blessings. His greatest blessings are the family that I have had the privilege to be around this week. May God bless you this new year.

“‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11, NASB95)

I have made many plans for my life through innumerable resolutions that barely saw the light of the new year. I have been amazed at the plans that God has made for me. My one great resolution for this coming year is to be close enough to God to know his plans for my life and thus have promise of good, protection from evil, and a future of hope and blessing. I pray that you will also realize every plan that God has for you this new year.

A New Year-A New You

I have not broken any of my new year resolutions yet, of course the new year has yet to start, so I am safe for another day. My problem does not seem to be the recognition of what needs to change in my daily habits, but the motivation to actually continue to change them. Perhaps my problem is not the ultimate goal but the zealous steps I determine to reach it. As an example, I want to lose weight so I set a ridiculous schedule for exercise and start some fad diet that promises miracles. Starving myself for a week while at the same time getting up at an hour even God is not awake (just kidding) and sweating to the oldies is never going to work. About one week in, I smash the alarm clock and move the treadmill to the garage where it belongs. I will not continue such an unworkable schedule, so a worthy goal goes by the wayside.

The E word (exercise) need not be a dirty word. Each trip up the stairs to get more snack food counts or better yet each day I walk to work or tour my neighborhood. Some sensible diet changes that do not promise to drop ten pounds a week but will result in incremental weight loss will also be much easier to do. I believe the goal is within reach.

A much more important goal is often times sabotaged by the same micromanaging and over zealousness. I want to grow spiritually this year and be closer to the Lord than I ever have. Towards this goal I have in the past set a rigorous early morning Bible reading and prayer time. I have often committed to reading great amounts of scripture each day and spending time with a unwieldy list of names (some I don't even know) to pray for. When I miss a day, as it is inevitable that I do, I listen to the great accuser of the brethren and agree that I am worthless as a "good" Christian and will never be able to be consistent so I might as well give up.

Again, I am missing the goal because of unreasonable details. If I want to get up at 5 or 6 am to have time to spend with the Lord I have to give up my habit of staying up till midnight to watch the news. It would be better for me to read a little less scripture and meditate on what it means than to start some Bible marathon and have no idea what I have just read. I can break up my prayer list and pray heartfelt prayers for people's detailed needs without going to sleep in the middle of it. And, when I miss a day, yes it happens no matter how hard I try, I do not have to give in to the guilt that immobilizes me for the next day. Instead, I just start where I left off and keep going.

Reaching the goal is the issue not how fast the process is. So many worthwhile endeavors are thwarted near the starting line because we do not feel we are fast enough out of the blocks. Paul says of his life in 2 Timothy, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have remained faithful, therefore the crown of righteousness is laid up for me." My prayer for you and I is that we will see the goal that God has for us and we will resolutely keep moving toward it. It will be worth it all someday when God says, "well done my good and faithful servant."

Christmas Grinch

Ignoring Christmas, are you kidding? How would that be possible? The stores started assembling their elaborate Christmas displays in mid-October well before Halloween. It is a tradition in my family to wait until the day after thanksgiving to get all the decorations down and the tree up. Some wise people have been purchasing gifts all year long in anticipation of Christmas morning. Then there are those Christmas parties and the anticipation of spending the holidays with family and friends. With all this activity it is impossible to ignore Christmas.
Maybe that is exactly the problem. We are so busy getting ready for Christmas and cleaning up after Christmas that the true significance of Christmas can be ignored or missed entirely. Perhaps we need to learn the lesson that Dr. Seuss writes about in the Christmas classic, "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas."

And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow,
Stood puzzling and puzzling: "How could it be so?
It came without ribbons! It came without tags!
"It came without packages, boxes or bags!"
And he puzzled three hours, `till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!
"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store.
"Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!"
                 
Christ is what Christmas is about. The more we ignore that the greater chance that we will miss Christmas. The more we recognize Christ and His gift of eternal life the more Christmas will mean to us. Though I love the tinsel and decorations, the family and friends gatherings, the opportunity to show my love to my loved ones by giving a small token gift, and the small traditions that make this such a blessed time of year, I fully realize that Christmas in it's true significance, can be experienced without any of those things. Christmas is about Immanuel, God with us. So really everyday ought to be Christmas in the believer's heart. May you have a great Christmas season, and may you have the joy of having Christ within you all the days of this new year!!

The Real Santa

Santa Claus has become the main symbol of Christmas and in many minds has become a larger figure than Jesus Himself.  It is amazing how the fantisy has replaced the reality. The origin of the mythical figure that has risen to great prominance in our Christmas traditions was a noble one. St. Nicholas was a real person born to a wealthy family in Lycia, Asia Minor (Turkey) between 270 and 280 AD. He lost his parents at an early age and grew up in a monastery becoming one of the youngest priests ever at the age of 17.

Nicholas was a bery generous man, known for his charity and wisdom, who gve away his inherited wealth to those in need. One of the most widely shared stories is how he helped a poor family with three daughters.  The family had no money and could not provide a dowry for the girls to be married. Therefore, the girls would be sold into slavery.  Nicholas learned about this. One night after the family was asleep; he rode by the house on his horse disguised in a hood cloak, and tossed a bag of gold through the window. He did this three consecutive nights to provide for each of the three daughters.

He died on December 6, 340 and was buried in Myra. In 1087 religious soldiers from Italy took the remains of St. Nicholas back to Bari, Italy where they built a church in honor of him - the Basilica of San Nicola. This greatly increased his popularity in Europe, with pilgrims from all over the world coming to to visit his shrine. Each of them took his legend back to their native countries where, as his fame spread it took on the characteristics of each country. One thing common to all however, the traditional image of the Bishop's mitre, long flowing robes, red cape, and white beard.

My daughter has a collection of ceramic pieces that help remind us the St. Nicholas was a believer in Jesus and he lived his life trying to follow His Lord and Savior.

 

The Christmas Child

Merry Christmas!! What a wonderful wish. That first Christmas would not have seemed merry to Joseph and Mary. The ridicule of friends for this out of wedlock baby (or at least before the marriage ceremony), the terrible timing of a census that required a mother in her final days before birth to travel 80 miles, a four day journey, then there was no room for them in any establishment or home except for a cave stable filled with animals. How could this Christmas be merry? What made the difference? It was the child!! This baby changed everything.

Faith Hill's new song A Baby Changes Everything puts it like this:
A Baby Changes Everything
Teenage girl, much too young
Unprepared for what's to come
A baby changes everything

Not a ring
On her hand
All her dreams and all her plans
A baby changes everything (x2)

The man she loves she's never touched
How will she Keep his trust
A baby changes everything (x2)

And she cries, oh she cries

She has to leave, go far away
Heaven knows she can't stay
A baby changes everything

She can feel it's coming soon
There's no place, there's no room
A baby changes everything (x2)

And she cries and she cries O she cries

Shepherds own they got their ...
Star shines down...

Choir of Angels say
Glory to the newborn king
A baby changes everything (x2) everything, everything, every day
Hallelujah x4

My whole life is turned around
I was lost and now I'm found
A baby changes everything (x2)

The baby changed everything. Yes angels appeared, shepherds rejoiced, an old man and woman confirmed, and eventually wise men worshiped, but these were not the biggest changes. Times would still be tough, but God Himself in the form of this infant son, came into the world to save the world. The world would never be the same.
God wants our life to be changed because of this Christmas Child. I pray that you will come to the manger, to the cross, to the empty tomb, and your life will be changed forever. It is the only way to truly have a Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Fellowship Family!!

Your Staff and Pastors want to wish you a wonderful Christmas. This is our holiday as Christians and I hope that you will celebrate it with all the joy of someone who has received the best Christmas gift they could possibly get. A gift purchased at a great price by someone who loved them more than they loved their own life. We celebrate the gift of Jesus who came as a baby to give his life a ransom for ours. Again Merry CHRISTmas!

 

Characters of Christmas

 

When you think of Christmas, what characters come to mind? Santa Claus, elves, Scrooge, Clarance the angel, Frosty the snowman, the infamous Grinch, or any multitude of people or animals that are trying to catch the elusive Christmas spirit. I love to watch the various movies made around the Christmas season but I am not confused about the real characters of Christmas. The first Christmas was all about the coming of the Messiah to the world as Immanuel, God with us.

The Christmas story begins with an angel visiting a young virgin named Mary with some unbelievable news. From that auspicious beginning many other interesting characters appear and each responds to this first Christmas in similar ways to our responses today. Joseph courageously takes a stand for faith and family, the inn keeper puts business above compassion, shepherds come to worship, wise men sacrifice time and treasure to come see this new King, and the current king kills innocent children, all as a response to this earth changing event. We will continue to look at many of these characters each Sunday through Christmas. Please join us for each service. 

On this blog I will introduce you to many characters, some you may have never meet or thought about when you think about Christmas.

 

Clay Jars

I have been enjoying throwing pottery again (not at people but on the potter's wheel). Pottery was one of my majors in college and I have been away from it for a long time. In the studio are many examples for us to better understand the many references to clay, pots, and the potter's house.  Recently God spoke to me through a reference in 2 Corinthians 4:7: "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the all surpaassing power is from God and not from us....for our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all."

At our best we are still fragile and unworthy to claim any glory on our own for any deed that has eternal significance. God's power is seen through us when we realize we are but jars of clay. When we are humble.

A piece of pottery must go through muliple firings of increasing heat before it becomes a useful vessel. The firings that we go through in this life make us more fit vessels for God's use. Ultimately our troubles build up for us a weight of glory in eternity.

I need to see trouble for what it is...light and momentary and see eternal reward for what it is..weighty and eternal. The suffering I have experienced does not begin to match what my Lord did for me. I pray that God will use every fire in your life to make you stronger and more fit for Him to use.