Let’s Have a Better Christmas This Year

This year, it is my wish that we all will have a better Christmas.

That doesn’t mean I’m going to share new recipe ideas or better decorating techniques, that’s what Pinterest is for. Nor does it mean I am going to list off all the things that are wrong about how we celebrate Christmas. I’m not going to become one of those self-appointed Christmas police that points out things like “You know, the wise men shouldn’t even be in the nativity. They likely didn’t show up until as much as two years later” or “Jesus wasn’t even born in December. Historically, census’ were taken in the summertime. We only celebrate in December to compete with the pagan Winter Solstice holiday.”

Instead I want to focus on how we can have a better Christmas, focusing on the things that matter most about our most celebrated holiday.

A Better Feast
In Luke 10 we see the story of Mary and Martha hosting Jesus and his crew. Martha was busying herself with being a good hostess. Undoubtedly, she was an “act of service” love language person. But Jesus was very clear that Mary had chosen the better activity and it would not be taken from her. How many of us are so busy with the trappings and preparations of making it a “good” Christmas that we miss out on the more important part, the relationships? Alternative: Order a premade, fully cooked holiday meal from Amazon (~$140) and spend all that time with your loved ones instead of in the kitchen.

A Better Party
In Matthew 9:9-13 we see Jesus hanging out with Matthew and his unsavory friends. Jesus wasn’t afraid to hang out with non-Christians but we have a tendency to isolate and insulate. We go to our life group Christmas party, or the women’s ornament exchange (both good things) but never really consider the other options. This year let’s not be afraid to associate with unbelievers, to interact with people who need Jesus this holiday season. Invite all your work friends to your Christmas party, go to theirs when invited, set some boundaries before hand so you can have fun and still not fall to sin.

A Better Gift
You won’t find the best gifts on Black Friday or Cyber Monday. They can’t be found on Amazon or at the mall. The best gifts are the ones that are given to us by God: grace, mercy, forgiveness, compassion, patience, peace, & love. Let’s give those gifts to each other this holiday season. Let’s give grace and mercy to that uncle that drives us crazy. Let’s give forgiveness and compassion to that person that hurt or angered us and restore that relationship. Let’s give patience and peace to our neighbor that always seems to inconvenience us around the holidays. Let’s give the gift of love this season. It is the one gift that is always welcome, will never be sent back to the store and is always valued and appreciated.

We have no record of anyone celebrating Christmas in the Bible. We don’t know what Jesus did on His birthday every year. The best we can do this Christmas is try to live our lives the way He did every day.

How the World stole Christmas

Christmas reruns abound no matter what media you use. An often overlooked theme in all these many "holiday" movies is the real meaning of Christmas. 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!"
                
There is more to Christmas than even Dr. Seuss relates in this movie. Christ is what Christmas is about. We are so busy that we ourselves often take Christ out of 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 Emmanuel, 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!!

Feeling Blessed

Feeling Blessed

I am reposting a Thanksgiving post from a few years ago because it is even more real today:

My generation are now the seniors in our family. We now are forced to respond to titles like; uncle, aunt, grandma, grandpa, and senior citizen (only tolerable when it saves us money on food), instead of the much more acceptable though dated terms, dude, bro, kid, babe, guy, or gal. At the same time we feel much more likely to use terms for others that we hated years ago; squirts (cute young kids), whippersnappers (smart-alack cute young kids), or antiques (referring to our keepsakes and yearbook friends).

We now measure our health, count our calories, and do our best to read our medicine bottles. Doctors are no longer a career path that we might choose; now we know several by their first name and wonder how those young kids got a degree. Many of us may know more about our physical therapists family than our brother's or sister's. Joints are no longer places we like to hang out but are body pivot points that are scheduled for new parts one by one. We have found aching muscles in locations that were totally ignored before (my feet hurt?). Our moms and dads used to have trouble getting us up, now we feel it is a great accomplishment to go to sleep (and stay asleep).

We have quit climbing the ladder (physically and metaphorically) and are hoping they don't change the retirement age to quickly. The question of how long we should keep working is exasperated by someones rude reminder that we might not have long to live. Our plans for the future have now become a "bucket list" of things to accomplish before we die.

All this sounds kinda grim until you get to the really good part. We did wake up this morning. We have another day to enjoy the many blessings we have and to appreciate the people in our lives. We have lived enough life to not take for granted our family and friends. Thank you for being one of those special people in my life. I pray that our relationship will be a long one and because of Jesus that we will one day be done with the problems associated with long life and be enjoying an eternity with each other in a perfect heaven. Make sure your bucket list includes a decision to accept God's invitation to an eternity with Him. I will see you there.

   “Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name. “He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. “With a long life I will satisfy him And let him see My salvation.” (Psalm 91:14–16, NASB95)

Pastor Albert

Really need to start getting out of my comfort zone, it is way too small!

·        Quote from facebook, Tanya Lynn Cross

My niece is a very insightful young woman and posted this comment a few months ago. It seems counterintuitive to want to get out of a comfort zone in any area of our lives but it is essential for our physical, emotional and spiritual well being to do so. Comfort is defined as a state of ease or lack of stress. This sounds like a nice state to live in but unfortunately ease and a lack of stress is not often healthy over the long haul. A rest stop on the journey of life to receive comfort is refreshing and nourishing but living in a rest stop can get very uncomfortable. Eustress (good stress) is necessary for growth in the whole person.

Physically if you do not put your body under the stress of daily work and exercise you will in the future loose the stamina and strength that you enjoy today. As we put on a few years and a few pounds the more we live in our comfort zone, never pushing our body or stopping all activity at the first little pain, the smaller our comfort zone becomes and the less and less we are able to do. Muscles that never experience stress will not develop strength and ultimately will atrophy.  While our bodies do experience the effects of aging we should never give into the temptation to never reach outside of our comfort zone physically.

Relationships are messy. We will have emotional stress because we have contact with other people. As Tom Hank’s character on “Castaway” could tell you, Mr. Wilson (the volley ball) was a necessary friend even though he did not say much. We need relationships with others and inevitably those relationships will involve emotional stress. This stress helps us develop social skills, accountability, encouragement, and empathy. All these are part of becoming a mature person. Though there are times we would like to live in a cave in Alaska away from any human contact, it would only be to our detriment and leave us cold and unfeeling.

The most important part of stepping out of our comfort zone occurs in our spiritual life. God wants us to be content in any circumstance but not so comfortable that we fail to grow in faith and trust Him for tomorrow. The definition of faith is to step out of our known sphere into an unknown future. Abraham “believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness.” He is the “father” of faith because he was willing to step out of his comfort zone, leave his home country, and trust in God’s promise of a people and a land.  Individually we need to make such a commitment to exercise faith in our daily experience. If we become comfortable with our level of knowledge we will not benefit from finding new insight in our daily reading of God’s Word, we will not be able to learn from others teaching or experiences, and we will fail to learn the lessons God has for those who “walk by faith and not by sight.” If we become comfortable with our level of stewardship we will cut off blessings that God has for those who sacrificially give. If we establish a comfort zone in our lack of witness we will fail to help enlarge the Kingdom and never know the satisfaction and joy of following the Lord’s command to make disciples.

According to physiologists, optimal performance in all areas of our lives is outside of our comfort zone. As a church we too need to live outside of our comfort zone to exercise true faith in God and His will for us. God has plans to reach our community for Christ and He has called His church to be the instrument in reaching His goals. He will build His church and His kingdom. We will have to leave our comfort zone behind. It is too small for His purposes.

Pray for your leaders as they step out of their comfort zone at this years Leadership Retreat and believe God for a great future for New Life.

Feeling Blessed

My generation are now the seniors in our family. We now are forced to respond to titles like; uncle, aunt, grandma, grandpa, and senior citizen (only tolerable when it saves us money on food), instead of the much more acceptable though dated terms, dude, bro, kid, babe, guy, or gal. At the same time we feel much more likely to use terms for others that we hated years ago; squirts (cute young kids), whippersnappers (smart-alack cute young kids), or antiques (referring to our keepsakes and yearbook friends).

We now measure our health, count our calories, and do our best to read our medicine bottles. Doctors are no longer a career path that we might choose; now we know several by their first name and wonder how those young kids got a degree. Many of us may know more about our physical therapists family than our brother's or sister's. Joints are no longer places we like to hang out but are body pivot points that are scheduled for new parts one by one. We have found aching muscles in locations that were totally ignored before (my feet hurt?). Our moms and dads used to have trouble getting us up, now we feel it is a great accomplishment to go to sleep (and stay asleep).

We have quit climbing the ladder (physically and metaphorically) and are hoping they don't change the retirement age to quickly. The question of how long we should keep working is exasperated by someones rude reminder that we might not have long to live. Our plans for the future have now become a "bucket list" of things to accomplish before we die.

All this sounds kinda grim until you get to the really good part. We did wake up this morning. We have another day to enjoy the many blessings we have and to appreciate the people in our lives. We have lived enough life to not take for granted our family and friends. Thank you for being one of those special people in my life. I pray that our relationship will be a long one and because of Jesus that we will one day be done with the problems associated with long life and be enjoying an eternity with each other in a perfect heaven. Make sure your bucket list includes a decision to accept God's invitation to an eternity with Him. I will see you there.

   “Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name. “He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. “With a long life I will satisfy him And let him see My salvation.” (Psalm 91:14–16, NASB95)  

Relaunch 4

This post is the 4th in a series of posts that seek to Relaunch Fellowship with new fuel and fire to reach this community for Christ. Please refer to the previous 3 posts for context.

Fellowship has the potential for exponential growth but will be limited by barriers that can be identified and overcome. Leaders must identify the barriers that keep Fellowship from reaching its potential and to formulate plans to overcome those barriers. The leaders of the church will be given tools and training that will enable them to communicate with their mentees and propagate the demolition of barriers that inhibit growth.

Since the church is explicitly commanded to “make disciples,” the leadership of the church must be committed to this task. “The most effective pastors are missionaries at heart. These pastors have an unceasing restlessness about them that can never be fulfilled until this spiritual engagement is finished. This quest has been continuing for thousands of years as leaders have developed future leaders to take on the cause of constantly invading the enemy stronghold to reclaim those for whom our Leader died.”[1] These leaders must be developed with proper preparation and training.

In the context of the great commission it is interesting to note in a prefatory way that the disciples in verse 16 are not the original twelve (οἱ δώδεκα), but the faithful believing eleven (οἱ ἕνδεκα).[2] Before Jesus gets to vision he makes sure He is speaking to the “right people.”[3] The “right people” on this bus were the ones who He had invested His life in and they had responded to His investment by a commitment to His commands. This vision of the church’s purpose and mission will not be fully realized by anyone who is not fully committed to it. Leadership is key to the future growth of the church. Jesus spent an entire night praying before making the final selection of His twelve disciples. This only came after a period of living with them night and day and knowing their character as well as their actions. This project does not address the selection of leaders but assumes that these leaders have been selected with the understanding, “Enlisting asks people, “Would you like to go there with me?”[4]

“We must recognize that Jesus himself walked for years with a small band of followers, and they still looked like the B-team when he left this earth.”[5] It is to imperfect, indecisive, hesitant, and uncertain disciples that Jesus entrusted the spreading of the Gospel to all the world then as now. Are we not all like the father who told Jesus, “I do believe; help my unbelief.”[6] Even today, as I work with leaders I must recognize that everyone is a work in progress, hopefully, including myself. I take heart in the fact that “What marks Christianity as distinct is that it is truly a people movement: every believer (and not just some presumed religious elite) is an agent of the kingdom and is called to bring God’s influence into all the realms of human existence.”[7] The mission of God to reach the world is for every believer and not the sole responsibility of the paid staff. 

We do not have it all together as a job requirement but on the job training will help us to see great results both personally and corporately. You are vital to Fellowship accomplishing our purpose of "helping people find new life in Christ." As we discover God's plans to relaunch His church into a wonderful future, will you go there with me?

---

[1] Hugh Halter and Matt Smay, AND, the Gathered and Scattered Church (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Zondervan, 2010),  97.
[2] Mark 9:24

[3] Allen Hirsch and Lance Ford, Right Here Right Now, Everyday Mission for Everyday People (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 2011), 36.

[4] Paul D. Borden, Direct Hit, Aiming Real Leaders at the Mission Field (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2006),  38

[5] D. A. Hagner, Matthew 14-28, Word Biblical Commentary, ed.  Ralph P. Martin, Vol 33B (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 2002),  883.

[6] Jim Collins, Good to Great (New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2001), 41.

[7] John Kramp, On Track Leadership (Nashville: Broadman and Holman Publishers, 2006), 3.

Relaunch 3

Church Growth is not Trading Members

The Bible makes clear God’s concern for people lost to the gospel, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”^[1] God’s desire is that all people should have a personal relationship with Him. Today’s church has equated the transfer of members from church to church with the fulfillment of this command to grow through the sharing of the gospel. This erroneous notion of growth has resulted in numerous volumes of church growth books that miss the point of the great commission.

The church must be in the business of seeing people find new life. We are an emergency center for sick and dying lost souls not a retirement home for cranky discontent Christians. “For the most part, the institutional church has spawned a large subculture where most of its ministries are designed to provide service and fulfillment to those who are already related to the Church’s founder.”[2] We must be more interested in expanding Christ’s Kingdom than we are in enlarging our personal castle, less concerned with competing with the church down the street  for the loyalty of baby saints and more concerned with competing with Satan for the souls of men. It is my contention that pastors and leaders today are partly responsible for the hopping and shopping clearly mistaken for legitimate church growth. When someone visits from another church in town we are excited at the possibility of having a trained, contributing, and sometimes even working addition to our little realm so we spend a great deal of time trying to woo suspect Christians and much less time trying to impact our communities. Many problems we will face later can be traced to these unhappy Christians.

This emphasis on growing a church by transferring members leads to an attractional  based ministry instead of the more biblical missional ministry. Though church growth is a priority, growing one church at the expense of others does not fulfill the commission of our Lord.

The prevailing approach to evangelism and Christian mission is for churches to develop programs, services, and events for the purpose of attracting unbelievers. There is nothing wrong with wanting to be attractive, and we certainly wouldn’t want our churches to be unattractive. The problem is that we rely on the gathered services to do the mission and evangelism—as well as the discipleship, education, and worship.[3]

This leads to come and see mentality instead of a great commission go and tell. If it is true that “God has been at work weaving together Spirit-led thought, dreams, and kingdom innovations in a city, in a neighborhood, and in the life of every person you’ll meet” then we must be in the community to encounter them. [4] To remain cloistered in our churches complaining about the decline of morals and mores in the society around us is the opposite of what Jesus commanded in all of His commissions to the church.

At Fellowship we must be radical enough to say that our target group is not the Christian who has become unhappy with their present church and has joined the throngs of people who are shopping and hopping from one church to another, but is instead,  two main groups of people:  (1) Those who do not have a personal relationship with Jesus, seeking new life in Christ; (2) Those who have had a relationship in the past and have allowed it to grow cold, seeking renewed life with Christ. Personally, I must not just talk about sharing the gospel but find ways to focus on this command being my life purpose and the ultimate goal of my calling as a Christian. “It is impossible to legitimately follow the biblical Jesus and not end up being molded by the mission of God and a growing reflection of Jesus’ character. When our hearts and minds are truly seized by the Lord, we cannot but help see people, the world, even the church, differently.”^[5]

Jesus said “Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest. “^[6] There is not a shortage of souls to harvest but a profound shortage of harvesters. “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”^[7] The development of leaders to the point that they are themselves developing leaders is a vital part of fulfilling the command of Christ to make disciples and train those disciples. We will address what this means at Fellowship in our next article.

---

^[1] 2 Pet. 3:9

            [2] Borden, 38.

            [3] Allen Hirsch and Lance Ford, Right Here Right Now, Everyday Mission for Everyday People (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 2011), 216.

            [4] Hugh Halter and Matt Smay, AND, the Gathered and Scattered Church (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Zondervan, 2010), 55.

            [5] Hirsch and Ford, 103.

^[6] John 4:35

^[7] Luke 10:2