The Body of Christ?

You know, ever since I was little and growing up as a preachers kid in various church's around the Northeast and Midwest, I have heard this term..."The Body of Christ." I'm not sure I ever truly understood what it meant or what it was supposed to look like. What I do know is that I have seen a pretty dysfunctional picture from the various places I have landed. Don't get me wrong, I love the church but man, it can be a little rough around the edges sometimes. For those of you who know me will agree that I can have a jaded/sarcastic point-of-view from time to time...God is helping me with this...but this past weekend helped restore my faith in the church as the body of christ. What do you know about that...it really does work! I saw people sacrificing their time and effort at one of the absolute busiest times of the year for people they most likely didn't know at all. I saw the leadership becoming last so others could be first...across the board children, teens, and adults. I saw people serving in areas where they are gifted...huh...what a great idea ;) I got to see many parts of the body of christ serving in unity and harmony...as one body. Everyday ordinary people loving and serving everyday ordinary people. Thank you Jesus for this gift to me, an accurate picture of your body at work. Help me to pass it on...

Teaching My Kids About Christmas?

My son, Kidron, is 4 1/2 years old and he is sooooo excited about Christmas he can hardly contain himself. He keeps asking, "Is Christmas tomorrow yet?" mainly because we keeping telling him how many days are left before Christmas gets here...he's not quite getting the meaning of "tomorrow" I think. We recently attended a Christmas party where there were a good 50 -60 people crammed into one home and half of them were little kids. We had a great time as Santa came and handed out one present a piece to each child that was there while the parents sat around and took pictures and just enjoyed being together. Now Kidron got a great gift (Thomas Train and tracks) that he thoroughly enjoys, but his first question after he opened his gift was "Where's my next gift?". These two scenarios brought me to this question...What am I teaching my boys (I have another son, Kasen, who is just over a year old) about Christmas? Not just my words, because Kidron has heard the story of baby Jesus many times, but what are my actions telling him? Are my words about how important the gift of Jesus is and that He, indeed, is the reason for the season matching up with the "running around like a chicken with my head cut off to get yet another present for my kids" craziness that overtakes us this time of year? Am I confusing my son when I talk about what he wants on his Christmas list, show him all of the Rudolph, Frosty, and Santa specials on TV, and explain all about what happens with Santa and Rudolph on Christmas Eve, and how he gets down the chimney and so on way more than I do about the life changing gift of Jesus Christ to the world...Am I out of balance...are you? I continue to think and pray about this...I want my sons to be givers who think of others before themselves, not just the type of person who wants to know where his next gift is...Lord, help me to model this more with my actions and not just my words in front of my boys this holiday season. Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday Jesus!

Dumb Sheep

I was reading in John, chapter ten, about Jesus talking to the pharisees about a common, everyday, ordinary subject that anybody in first century Palestine would know and understand...sheep. It was THE way of life most common to those in everyday life. Jesus is like that, you know, talking to us in language we can understand easily...yet it is so deep and so rich under the surface. Anyhow, I digress, back to the sheep...sheep are just incredibly dumb and helpless, it is no wonder Jesus compares us to them so much. Sheep need to be led to water, led to food, led to shelter, protected from predators, led away from danger...none of it could be done on their own. I am so like that...Jesus needs to lead me to food and water for my soul in scripture and prayer, he is constantly protecting me and guiding me through the Spirit, he shelters me from the storms of life, and he leads me constantly through prayer. Jesus IS my shepherd. I know his voice and I am working on responding ONLY to his voice. We tend to get confused at times because we respond to alot of "other" shepherds voices that are not and/or should not be our shepherd. Do you know THE shepherd, Jesus', voice so well you know it without a doubt? Or, are you confused by the myriad of other voices of predators and false shepherds seeking to lead you away and to your ultimate destruction? We can learn a lesson from sheep as well, they will respond ONLY to THEIR shepherds voice and nobody elses...did you know that? Lets be like our comparison partners, the sheep...stay close to Jesus, the one and only shepherd of our hearts and lives. Merry Christmas!

Prayer - Is it In you?

You know that passage of scripture where Paul is going on and on about doing what he doesn't want to do and not doing what he wants to do? I think that is kind-of how it is with me and prayer. I LOVE my times of prayer with God, but it seems like I don't give myself enough time, or I forget, or I allow something else more"urgent" to squeeze prayer time down or even out all together...aaahhh! Frustration! You ever been there? I went to the church last night for the 5pm prayer time Pastor Sam hosts each Sunday. It was an excellent hour of prayer...powerful, but there was only 5 of us there. I got to wondering...why? I'm not going to hazard a guess as to peoples motives for not coming out to pray, who knows, maybe people were praying at home...but it got me to realize the life-giving and life-threatening nature of prayer for our spiritual lives. Just like air for our bodies, so is prayer for our spiritual lives...you get a heavy dose and your soul thrives, lives and is vibrant...you don't get enough your soul starts this slow descent to dieing. I hope that's not too melodramatic, I just know that it is true for my life. So, in this busy holiday season...now, more than ever...pray. Your soul will thank you for it :)

Doing It Right vs Doing It With Excellence

Last night I got into a fairly lengthy discussion with my wife about this idea of "doing it right" vs "doing it with excellence". In my wife and I's context this tends to be a thorny subject at times. It could apply to just about anything...let me pick something random...like laundry for instance. My wife has a very specific way she would like the laundry to be done...to her it's "the right way". I have a different way I was taught growing up and to me it is "the right way" to laundry, but we both, I believe, are trying to accomplish the task with excellence. If we, as fellow believers in Jesus, could learn to strive to do all things with excellence while representing the name of Christ instead of demanding we are doing it "the right way" and so should you, maybe the world would sit up and take notice. Is there one "right way" to do laundry, maybe...is there one "right way" to be a christian...I don't know for sure, but what I do know is how Christ directs me in my prayer time and scripture reading and I know my hearts desire to follow Him with excellence. Are you following Christ with excellence or are you just trying to keep up with the latest "right way"? Keep seeking Him.

Why Is It SO Hard To Wait?

Last night I talked to the teens about anticipation and waiting in this advent season. Pastor Sam (our senior pastor at Shepherd Nazarene) talked about this topic this past Sunday and used a pretty cool passage in 1 Corinthians 1:7-9. The teens talked about various things that it is hard to wait for and the list varied from drivers licenses to Christmas break to having sex when they get married! The point that hit me hard is we all tend to look forward to Christmas, but why? What is our motivation? Is it getting together with family we haven't seen for awhile...is it getting a load of presents...is it the joy of watching our kids open presents...or is it anticipating, longing for the birth of the one who would save us all, Jesus the Christ? We also talked about not only longing for the day when Christ would come as a baby but also the day He comes again with the same type of anticipation and longing. Are we prepared for that day...am I prepared for that day? By God's grace I will be.

Keeping It Simple

You know, it seems like we, as Christians, tend to get the cart before the horse...alot. I have been in the process of praying and thinking and planning and praying and thinking and planning some more. God planted in my heart and mind a simple but powerful dream of a gathering of people that could share our life journey and spiritual journey together in the context of a family or community...a church of sorts but more in the 1st century vein. I have been soooo excited about this vision that I have pushed without properly taking the time to pray...not just on my own but corporately as a community, as a family. Well, we did that tonight. It was strong, it was intimate, it was powerful. God is leading, the core team is following, and we are doing this together. It's a good start...