NACC Reflections

What a GREAT convention!  Now that I’m about four days removed from the closing session, and I’ve had time to process, here are a few reflections on the North American Christian Convention that was held in Indianapolis last week.

For those who have been concerned about the future direction and leadership of the NACC, I think after last week we can all be assured that the NACC is right on track to accomplish its purpose of connecting Christians together for great preaching, worship, equipping, and fellowship.  I don’t know the actual stats, but the numbers appeared to be up this year, and the atmosphere was electric with a freshness I haven’t seen in the convention for years (and I’ve been attending since I was a kid almost 40 years ago).

The preaching was outstanding, the music was right on, and the special guests were tremendous–Tony Dungy, Francis Chan and even Rick Warren via DVD.  I’m not much of a musical guy, but I was greatly moved by “The Rock and the Rabbi” once I started to get into it.

I attended Don Wilson’s workshop and was struck with how many of our churches seem to be going through similar issues of intergenerational changes, economic struggles, and leadership transitions.  These are times when we all need to pull together, and the NACC provides us a great venue to do just that.

My only regret was that we didn’t have more people from our congregation attend, but next year I hope to change that.  Keeping the convention in the central part of the US helps, I believe, in building momentum, even though it’s probably a challenge for folks to attend from out west.  But with next year’s NACC president, Dudley Rutherford, being from CA, hopefully that will inspire those from the western states to join us.

Thank you, Ben Cachairas and your leadership team, for putting together such a tremendous convention calling all of us to move beyond our comfort zones, drop our nets, and follow Christ in the daily adventure of radical discipleship.  Thank you, NACC staff, for your hard work in organizing and implementing so many details that have to come together to make the NACC work.

My prayer is that our churches will go beyond this next year to greater evangelism, more discipleship, and healthier, biblical communities of faith living out the heart and character of Jesus Christ.  We have a lot to look forward to over the course of this next year that we can truly celebrate at the NACC in Cincinnati in 2011!

NACC: It’s Time to Go Beyond

Along with several others, I was asked to share my thoughts and reactions from the opening night of the NACC.  I know most event or concert reviews will have a little bit of the good and a little bit of the bad, and if they don’t,  they might be considered imbalanced and less than helpful.  With that said, let me just tell you on the front end, this review will be considered imbalanced, but I hope it will still be helpful.

The entire opening service last night could be summed up in one word: PASSION.  This was a “no-holds-barred” worship experience of a passion for Christ and a passion for His call to lead us beyond comfortable Christianity.  There was a sense of urgency in the music, a poetic (and dramatic) monologue, and a message from this year’s president, Ben Cachairas, that, if we truly listened to what he said, should have made us different people when we left the service.  I know it did me.

Ben’s message challenged me personally to make these four words my prayer: “Dear God, disturb me.”  I loved how Ben had his son read the Scripture from Mark 1 while he gave a running commentary on the text.  This was a creative way to read through the Scripture and engage the listener.

Ben emphasized that there is perhaps no more important time for us to go beyond in our discipleship, our relationship with Jesus, and our leadership than right now.  This is no time for business as usual.  And I believe that goes for the NACC as well.

This year’s convention is introducing some new elements that will challenge some, cause others to be critical, and, at the very least, cause many to think through important issues of race, women’s roles in the church, and how to connect with the next generation (evening sessions include the teens).  These are welcome changes from my perspective, and I hope they don’t go unnoticed by future planners and participants of the NACC.

Ben is a great example of the “new” generation of leaders among our Christian Churches/Church of Christ.  He holds a commitment to building bridges among the generations, giving honor where honor is due, showing respect and continuing to seek wisdom and godly counsel from those who have gone before us.  But Ben also possesses an unflinching commitment to following Jesus wherever He leads next.  The issue, as Ben pointed out in his message last night, is not with the church’s struggle to keep up with our culture but to keep up with Jesus.  Jesus is always on the move, and we need to be in a constant pursuit of going where He calls us to go.

After last night I get the sense that the NACC isn’t about “business as usual,” and that’s a good thing.  So many of the younger leaders in our movement have lost interest in this convention, and that’s unfortunate.  Yes, everything has a life-cycle, and, yes, there are a lot of conference options these days (Catalyst, SECC Leadership Conf., Exponential Conf., just to name a few), but the NACC still has a role to play for our churches–and not just for our pastors/ministers.  I wish I had more of our staff and elders here.  I wish we had more of our congregation here!

If I could have had even fifty people from our church here this week, I believe it would have revolutionized our thinking and future direction as a church.  It’s one thing for me as the minister to come to a convention, get all fired up, and go back to our church.  But I’ve “been there, done that” many times through the years.  As I go home and share with others the passion and learning I received, people respond with polite nods and smiles.  But if we experience it TOGETHER, then THEY become the voices we need in the church to get others excited, united, and revisioned for the future.

Next year, things will be different.  Lest we forget.

Church Reflections

In preparation for my sermon this weekend, I had some extra material that “didn’t make the cut.”  So rather than leaving it all on the editor’s floor (my own), I thought I would include them here.  Nothing earth shattering, but I hope you’ll ponder the following reflections on the church and our mission.

It was 1904 when William Borden graduated from a Chicago high school.  Young William was an heir to the Borden Dairy estate, and was already a millionaire.  To celebrate his graduation from high school, his parents gave him a trip that took him around the world.  As William traveled throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, he became painfully aware of the suffering of others.  Borden became so emotionally burdened that he wrote to his parents saying, “I’m going to give my life to prepare for the mission field.”  At this defining moment in this young man’s life, he wrote two words in the back of his Bible: “No reserves.” Borden lived up to those two words as he held nothing back.  While attending college at Yale, Borden became a leader in the Christian community.  During his first semester in college, Borden started a small prayer group that grew into a movement on campus, drawing 150 freshmen together for Bible study and prayer every week.  By the time Bill Borden was a senior, 1,000 of Yale’s then 1300 students were meeting in such groups on campus.  Borden strategically made certain that students heard the good news of Christ while on campus, and he set an example of servant-leadership by reaching out to impoverished people living in New Haven.  By graduation from college, the wealthy Borden committed himself to serving among the Muslim living in China.  Graduation from Yale was another defining moment in his life, and once again, he wrote two words in the back of his Bible.  Alongside the words “no reserves,” Borden wrote, “No retreats.” Borden lived that sentiment.  Refusing a number of lucrative job offers, he went to graduate school, and after graduating from seminary, Borden went to Egypt to learn Arabic, as he intended to work among the Muslim Kansu people of China.  While in Egypt, he contracted spinal meningitis.  Within a month, 25-year-old William Borden was dead.  Prior to dying, William Borden had written two more words in his Bible.  Alongside the words, “No reserves,” and “No retreats,” Borden wrote: “No regrets.”

A church without mission is like demanding allegiance and weekly attendance and tithing without giving you a cause to work toward.  It’s like holding endless Bible study groups or hearing countless sermons for he purpose of learning information that will rarely be utilized.  Weekly church services only are not enough.  It’s like sitting at the apostles’ feet and drinking in their teaching in Jerusalem in the first century.  It serves a useful purpose, but the ultimate purpose of the Jerusalem church was to go and make disciples of all nations.  There’s no question that the apostles’ teaching was essential, but not as an end in itself.  Their teaching was meant to mobilize ordinary believers to go into the world, baptizing new disciples and teaching them all that Christ commanded them.

When we capture this essence, we are a people in actual pursuit of a common vision of what could be.  We become a movement with the experience of togetherness when we actually engage in a grand sense of purpose–the purposes of God.

“Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried” (G. K. Chesterton).

Antoine de Saint-Exupery, French pilot and writer, wrote, “If you want to build a ship, don’t summon people to buy wood, prepare tools, distribute jobs and organize the work; teach people the yearning for the wide, boundless ocean” (Citadelle: The Wisdom of the Sands, 54).

When we become obsessed with the Jesus of the Gospels, we cannot but yearn for the high seas.

Our job, then, is not to make things happen, but to cooperate with God, who is already making them happen.

Making decisions about when to meet, what songs to sing, what to preach, and how to have small groups and leadership structures are all important.  But first, as Antoine de Saint-Exupery says, “To build a ship, you must first create a hunger for the sea.”  That hunger comes from our familiarity with Jesus.  His Spirit will force us out onto the rising tide, and it’s then, and only then, that we will need to develop the most appropriate structures for worship, small groups and leadership.

Merry Christmas!

I pray this Christmas you will discover the peace and joy of the One who entered our world to reconcile us to our Creator.  After our Saturday night service, which we concluded with singing “Joy to the World,” a man came out and shook my hand and asked, “How can someone have joy during Christmas when there’s cancer, a son estranged from his father, and a life that seems all alone?”

Christmas isn’t a time where everyone experiences joy.  Oftentimes the opposite is true.  As Christians, we don’t hold “joy” over other people’s heads as something we proudly gain while others continue to struggle.  But we do offer joy with humility, sincerity and grace.

It wasn’t to a group of middle-class, comfort-filled, warm-and-well-fed individuals who first received the angelic proclamation: “I bring you good news of great joy” (Luke 2:10).  It was to a group of lowly shepherds who lived in an oppressed society during turbulent days.

This good news is “for all the people”–happy, sad, rich, poor, those going through good times and those going through rough times.  Wherever you may be this Christmas season, I pray you receive joy–that which goes beyond circumstance and “happenstance” which only leads to happiness.  I pray you receive a joy that is inexpressible and full of glory (1 Peter 1:8).  How can we receive this?  By believing in Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, for in doing so, we are receiving “the end result of [our] faith, the salvation of [our] souls” (1 Peter 1:9).

Merry Christmas!

When You Feel Like Giving up, Giving in, or Getting out

I probably shouldn’t be writing this on a Monday.  But deadlines are deadlines, and ministry, as you know, isn’t all about how we feel…even (and perhaps especially) when we feel like giving up, giving in, or getting out.

I didn’t always feel this way, and I don’t always feel this way now.  But it is Monday; and I, like so many other preachers, look back on Sunday with those “would’a, could’a, should’a” thoughts that drag us downward.  Maybe I’m sounding a bit overdramatic, but I don’t think so.  Ministers don’t always like to talk about their feelings of wanting to give up and sell used cars, because they’re supposed to be strong and have all the answers.  But we’re not always strong, and we oftentimes don’t have all the answers.

It encourages me to read how prophets like Elijah and Jeremiah struggled with “down times.”  It helps me know that even faithful servants of God throughout the ages had times of wanting to give up, give in, or get out.  And so, for all of us whose armor is a little rusty and whose twinkle has left our eyes, I hope my therapeutic ramblings will bring some semblance of hope to you.

Do Your Duty

Now that I’m done whining, I want to share a story of an experience I had in my first year of ministry more than twenty years ago.  My grandparents came to hear me preach one Sunday, and I looked forward to their visit with great anticipation.  I admired my granddad who mentored me and modeled bold leadership and a tender heart.  After the worship service, we had a potluck dinner during which the phone rang down in the basement.  Now, the phone never rang at that church.  In fact, I didn’t even know we had a phone.  But ring it did, which then led to a frantic response from the woman who answered it: “Mrs. Smith, your husband just died, and they need you to come to the hospital right away!”

Mrs. Smith looked right at me and said, “Follow me!”  I’ve never seen an 87 year-old woman move so fast.  This was my first experience with death, and, quite honestly, I didn’t know what to do.

I looked at my granddad who pastored for over fifty years, and he could see the fear in my eyes.  I didn’t know what to say, what to do, and I felt like I might even cry (which is hard to admit).  My granddad, who was usually gentle and affirming, grabbed me by the shoulders, looked me square in the eye, and said, “Rick, go do your duty!”  It was the next best thing from a slap in the face, and it got me moving.

I’ve never forgotten that.  Every time I face a monumental challenge (and we’ve had a lot of them lately), I can just picture my granddad rattling my cage and getting me back on track.  So if you feel like giving up, giving in or getting out, REMEMBER YOUR CALL!  Remember that God has set you apart for this task, and it’s not always going to be fun.  So, go do your duty!

Keep Your Eyes on the Goal

I started running awhile back, and I’m still waiting for the “runner’s high” they keep telling me about.  If it doesn’t happen soon, I’m going to ask for a refund.  One thing I’ve noticed, however, is that if I have a reason to run, it sure makes it a whole lot easier.  A couple of our staff talked me into running a half-marathon with them about six months from now.  My goal is simply to finish it.  I’m not worried about setting any world records; I just want to cross the finish line.  Since I now have a goal, I’m highly motivated to get up early three days a week and run.  When I don’t have a goal, it’s a whole lot easier to hit the snooze, roll over, and convince myself that I’ll run tomorrow (which doesn’t take a lot of convincing).

I find this to be true in ministry as well.  I can’t serve on yesterday’s strength.  I need to stay fresh, keep my eyes on the goal, and always have something I’m shooting for that gets me going.  When I think of guys like Ben Merold, Wayne Smith, and Bob Russell, I’m inspired to keep my eyes on the goal and to keep “running the race.”

I know you’re familiar with Paul’s words, but it’s good to read them again: “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14).

Dave Stone, senior minister at that little church in Louisville, commented at a leadership conference a couple of months ago how difficult it has been to step into his new role after serving as Bob Russell’s preaching associate for so many years.  He said it even got to the point where he put a jar of marbles on his desk, and every day he would take out one marble.  He made a commitment that he wouldn’t quit until he “lost all his marbles.”  He’s still there.

My wife reminded me the other day that when you sit in the shade of a tree and look up, all you can see is the tree, and it looks far larger than the sun.  It all depends on your perspective.  The truth is that the problem is never bigger than God.  I don’t know about you, but I can have ten people tell me I did a good job and one person who thinks I should have started selling used cars ten years ago.  What do I tend to focus on?  The one who thinks I’m in the wrong profession.  This is when I need to refocus and keep my eyes on the goal.

Quit Trying to Go It Alone

I love the story of the Israelites fighting the Amalekites in Exodus 17.  As long as Moses held up his arms, the Israelites were winning.  But every time he lowered his arms the Amalekites began to surge ahead.  Finally, Aaron and Hur held up Moses’ arms and Joshua and the Israelites were victorious.

Sometimes I feel like I’ve got to hold up my own arms as though everything depended on me.  That’s heresy.  I’m not the Savior of the world—why, I’m not even the Savior of our church!  I have a role to play, and God has called me to serve, but He never called me to serve in isolation.  I need help, and I have to quit trying to go it alone.

God brings many gifts to His Church, and all of them are needed.  If someone can type better, sing better, even preach better than me, I need to get out of the way and let them glorify Christ and help build up the body of Christ.  If I’m trying to go solo, I will burn out which will lead me to giving up, giving in and getting out.

I have three different accountability partners I meet with every week.  The hardest thing for me when I meet with these men is to shift from being the teacher to being a student.  We need mutual accountability, and thus sometimes we need to let others speak into our lives just as we’re accustomed to doing in their lives.

Well, I think I’m done.  I hope this therapeutic exercise has encouraged you.  You’re not alone.  Whether you’re encountering your first roadblock in ministry, or you’ve had so many detours you’re not even sure how to get back on the main drive, I hope you will not give up, give in, or get out.  We are soldiers of the faith, athletes in the race, and farmers in the field.  The battles, races, and harvests never ask permission to get started.  They just go.  And so must we.  Be faithful to the end.  Fight the good fight.  Never give up!  And you will receive “the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing” (2 Tim. 4:8).

The Test

It’s been a … long … time since I’ve posted any new blogs.  To be quite honest with you, I have a hard enough time trying to reply to emails, write sermons, develop mid-week lessons, write articles, and actually respond to “snail mail,” let alone try to write blog entries.  I’m not a “facebooker” yet, nor do I twitter.  Eventually I’ll come into the 21st century, but for now, this blog is about as high tech as I’m going to get.

The reason I’m jumping in with another entry has nothing to do with where we are as a church, what’s going on in ministry, or the highlights of some new venture.  It’s far deeper than that.  It’s about a personal test.  Here’s the test.  Sometimes in my life, and I would imagine this is true for you as well, I like to stay on the mountain top with God.  Sweet fellowship, exciting worship, heartwarming moments, connecting with God.

Oswald Chambers, in his classic, My Utmost for His Highest, reminded me this morning that although those times are exulting, they are not where God wants us to remain.  He puts it this way: “The test of the spiritual life is the power to descend; if we have power to rise only, something is wrong.  It is a great thing to be on the mount with God, but a man only gets there in order that afterwards he may get down among the devil-possessed and lift them up.”

Which is exactly what Jesus did in Mark 2.  He had His “mountain-top experience” along with Peter, James and John, but they didn’t stay on the mountain.  They descended right into the midst of ministry demands, a large crowd, and people arguing (Mark 9:14).

Isn’t it like that in life and ministry?  You go on vacation or have a spiritual retreat only to come back to crowds and people arguing.  But herein lies the test.  Is my spiritual life all about me or becoming like Jesus?  Spiritual selfishness seeks satisfaction in the ongoing moments of being enraptured in the presence of God.  And those times of exaltation are exceptional!  They have their place in our spiritual journey, but they are not where God wants us to remain.  He wants us to go back to lift others up to the place where we have trod.  If we make our spirituality all about us, we’re doomed.  Number one, we won’t stay on the mountain top for long, because God won’t let us.  He’ll never let us keep the focus on ourselves.  And number two, He will discipline us all the more to shape us and mold us into the image of His Son.

The moments on the mountain are exceptional, and we give thanks for when God allows us to pull back the curtain of heaven and have a glimpse of His glory and what is to come in all of eternity.  But that vision should compel us to go back to the highways and hedges, back to the crowds, and, yes, even the arguing to bring others along with us.  They, too, need to see the glimpse of the divine to inspire them in ridding their lives of everything that holds them back from making that mountain climb and, in due time, passing their own test.

Vantage Points

We all look at life differently.  We all have different perspectives about raising kids, what it means to be “successful,” and how to live a good life.  We even have different vantage points about what it means to be followers of God.  So did people in Jesus’ day.  In the most powerful sermon ever preached or recorded, Jesus gave His vantage point on what it means to live life to the full and be connected with God.  It’s His vantage point that we want to discover and make our own.  Join us in this study on the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) as we discover Jesus’ vantage point and learn how to make it our own.

Feb. 14/15:  I Want a Blessed Life…Really?  Matthew 5:1-12

Feb. 21/22:  I Can’t Influence Others…Really?  Matthew 5:13-16

Feb. 28/Mar. 1:  I Am a “Good Person”…Really? (pt. 1)  Matthew 5:17-48

Mar. 7/8:  I Am a “Good Person”…Really? (pt. 2)  Matthew 6:1-18

Mar. 14/15:  I Need More “Stuff”…Really?  Matthew 6:19-34

Mar. 21/22:  I Am Better Than Others…Really?  Matthew 7:1-12

Mar. 28/29:  I Have It All Figured Out…Really?  Matthew 7:13-29

Made…to Love God

MTV has a reality TV show called “Made” which is about how average, ordinary people can be “made” into the person they dream to be.  An ugly duckling transforms into a beautiful prom queen.  An overweight couch potato becomes a model.  A sci-fi nerd morphs into a hardcore rapper.  MTV summarizes the show by saying, “Why stand on the sidelines watching others live your dream?  Are you too shy or think you’re not `cool’ enough to get in on the action?  Or do you simply lack self-confidence and motivation?  Well, maybe it’s time to stand up and get MADE!  That’s right, MADE is about making dreams come true.  We’re here to prove that with dedication, hard work and a little help from MTV, kids just like you can accomplish anything they set their minds to.”

Well, it sure is a good thing that MTV came along!  I remember when MTV came out when I was in high school, and it was just videos of pop stars singing their songs.  Now they have morphed into the developmental role of helping kids become what MTV portrays as successful.  My only question is, When these kids are “made” into rappers or prom queens or models, will they truly find what they’re looking for?  It reminds me of a U2 song that says, “I have climbed the highest mountain, I have run through the fields…I have crawled, I have scaled these city walls…But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.”  If we asked all the prom queens in the country and all the rap artists and all the models if they’re happy with their lives and what they’ve “made” of themselves, would they say they are?  Or, like many of us, would they simply wish they could be “made” into someone else?

This is the struggle of the American dream. We want to “make” something of our lives, and we all have a picture in our minds of what that looks like, and it’s usually whatever we’re not. And if we ever do “arrive” at our destination, we discover that the destination isn’t what we thought it was. We find out that, “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.”  

So let me just ask you–Why were you made?  What are you looking for?  And whatever “it” is, then why is it that once you have “it,” you find out that “it” isn’t what you thought it would be, and you begin to search for another “it”–whether it’s a different spouse, or more money, or new job?  We work hard to “make something of ourselves,” but sometimes we forget to think about what that “something” is.  Henry David Thoreau once wrote, “It is not enough to be industrious; so are the ants.  What are you industrious about?”

Same thing in our spiritual lives. Why go to church? Why do church? Why do we work hard to have weekend worship services? Why do we recruit and train small group leaders? Why should we work hard at spiritual disciplines of prayer, worship, Bible study, and so forth? Now hear me in this–all of these things I just mentioned are MEANS to an end; they are not the END. We were not made to have worship services, small groups, and ministry teams. We were not made even to pray or study our Bibles.  We talk a lot about what we’re supposed to do, but we don’t often pause to think about WHY we do what we do. WHY WERE WE MADE? Well, as a leadership, we have wrestled with this, questioned this, asked the hard questions of why we do what we do. And what we came up with is our new mission statement that defines not only why we exist as a church, but, we believe, why we exist as individuals. We were made to…Love God, love others, serve the world.

Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love the Lord God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.  And the second greatest commandment is to love our neighbor as ourselves.  These two sum up the whole law.  Love God.  Love others.  Our love of God and others is then what motivates us to serve the world.  Everything else we do in life is subservient to these three areas.  If we make it our life ambition to make money, to be popular, to be successful–whatever that ambition may be–it will never satisfy the soul.  Why? Because we weren’t made for those things.  Why were we made?  To love God, and from His love we can love others and serve the world.  

Christmas Dysfunction

About a month ago, USA Today ran a cover story in their “Life” section called “Christmas, wrapped in dysfunction.”  A tag line they used was “Family dysfunction is the gift that keeps on giving at the movies.”  Then they went on and ranked some of the classic Christmas movies by a family dysfunction level with 10 being the worst.  They rated “Miracle on 34th Street” as a 6 out of 10, because it portrays a humorless divorcee who tells her precocious daughter that there is no Santa Claus.  “A Christmas Story” (one of my personal favorites) is rated as a 7 out of 10 based on the story line that “the eldest son wants to play with guns.  The youngest barely speaks.  The mother thinks a mouth full of soap is the solution to all discipline problems.  And Dad is hopelessly unhandy, swears like a sailor and is way too fond of a lamp that looks like a…leg.”

What intrigued me as I read those descriptions of the dysfunction levels of these make-believe families is that they aren’t make believe!  That’s why so many people can identify with them!  In fact, if you were to describe your family and what you’ll be doing for Christmas, I imagine it could be even more interesting than a humorless divorcee and a father who likes a lamp leg!  

Have you ever wondered what Joseph and Mary’s families may have been like?

The Bible has little to say about their families, but it’s the silence that has always intrigued me.  Besides the genealogical descriptions of Jesus in Matthew 1 and Luke 3 there’s no mention of Mary’s or Joseph’s parents.  There’s no explanation as to why there’s an apparent absence of family support at the birth of Jesus.  I mean, Mary gives birth in a stable.  No mother is around.  No other family members show up that we know of.  Only some  shepherds visit and sometime later some wise men pop in from the East.  The only time we see any family support is when Mary visits her relative Elizabeth in Luke 1.  But the word that’s used for their relationship is pretty vague and simply means “kinswoman.”  Jesus and John the Baptist (Elizabeth’s son) are considered cousins, but there’s nothing conclusive as far as whether they’re first, second or distant cousins.  And why does Mary visit her relative Elizabeth in the first place?  She finds out she’s pregnant and Luke 1:39 says she gets ready and hurries to a town in the hill country of Judea where she stays with Elizabeth and Elizabeth’s husband Zechariah for three months (Lk. 1:56).

The lack of explanation and the silence are overwhelming.  When we start adding some things up, it appears–understandably so–that Mary’s and Joseph’s families probably didn’t buy into this whole “getting-pregnant-by-God-thing.”  

All of this sounds pretty dysfunctional, doesn’t it?  An unexplainable pregnancy, the pregnant girl running off to a relative’s house out in the country.  Nothing is mentioned about her wedding except that Joseph took her as his wife (Mt. 1:24).  Joseph and Mary are in an out-of-the-way stable where the baby is born, with no other family around (that we know of).  And who are the first guests to see the Baby?  Strangers.

Herein lies the beauty of the Gospel message: God chose to take on human flesh in the midst of dysfunction.  God understands the problems of our families, and He enters our lives to redeem them.  Jesus doesn’t wait until we get our act (or our family’s act) together and then come to us.  ”While we were yet sinners, Jesus died for us” (Romans 5:8).  

What a beautiful truth to hold onto this Christmas season, especially when you’re visiting family.  You love them, but you’re also glad Christmas only comes once a year (and they probably are, too)! 

Whatever the dysfunction of your family this Christmas, don’t give up on them.  After all, God didn’t give up on you.  God can redeem any dysfunction including our own dysfunction of sin.  So you may experience some Christmas dysfunction this year.  Most things don’t work out the way we want them to.  But that’s o.k., because Jesus can enter our life, our family, and our dysfunction and redeem them.  ”The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us” (John 1:14).  Merry Christmas, even if it is dysfunctional!

Stressmas #2

This Christmas will find many of us stressed, anxious and worried about our finances.  A journalist from Washington says we are “hurtling toward what could be the hardest hard times since the Great Depression.”  Over the past couple of weeks I kept a list of some headlines in the news concerning our economic condition.  One of them says, Another half-million jobs vanish; unemployment rate reaches 6.7%.  Another one says, Tribune Co. files for bankruptcy protection.  Another one–Sony to trim 8000 jobs and reduce inventory.  One story opens with this–“The crumbling housing market is at the heart of the financial crisis that tipped the United States into recession and dragged down the global economy.”

It seems like our whole world is on overload with financial stress, and this Christmas season doesn’t seem to be bringing any relief.  Shoppers around the country say they are planning to spend an average of $431 for gifts this holiday season, down from $859 last year according to the American Research Group. The overall average planned spending is down almost 50% from 2007 which is the lowest level of planned spending since 1991.  

So…how about you?  Is your Christmas turning into “stressmas”?  Are you glued to the financial news?  Do you check the stock market and prices frequently?  Are you having difficulty sleeping?  Are you on edge, tense or nervous?  If so, according to “The MarketPsych Guide,” you need to learn to manage financial stress.  Here’s the wisdom they offer.  And let me preface this by saying that some of these may be helpful…but I for one believe there’s got to be more than this!  So here we go.  Technique #1: Practice relaxation breathing techniques, meditation, or yoga.  Technique #2: Use aromatherapy scents and herbal teas.  Technique #3: Take warm baths and play soft music.  Technique #4: Avoid drinking alcohol more than two drinks per day, and don’t consume illegal drugs.  Technique #5: Hire a coach so you can get started with and stick to a healthy, stress-free lifestyle.

Now, I’m all for warm baths, soft music, and trying to breathe a little calmer, but surely there’s more to it than that.  My question is: DOES FOLLOWING JESUS HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH HOW WE HANDLE STRESS?  Do we live compartmentalized lives, where we do our “church thing” in one compartment, and then we live “real life” (such as handling financial stress) in another compartment?

I’m intrigued by the “secret” the Apostle Paul shared in Philippians 4:10-13.  He says he has learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, “whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”  Sounds pretty applicable to a lot of us this Christmas season.  So what is the “secret” he learned?  He tells us in verse 13–”I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.”  God took on human flesh and became a Baby who is the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and PRINCE OF PEACE.  All of life is to be centered around the very One who created us and who sustains us.  But we have a choice in the matter.  We can center our lives around Him and LEARN to be content, or we can go our own way and try other “techniques” to erase the stress in our lives.  I, for one, choose the way of Christ, the way of the cross, and the way of peace.  I hope you’ll join me.