December 11

Today is a special day for me- my Mother’s birthday. Dad taught me to have courage, and to give respect and love to others, and to have honor. Mom showed me a life hidden in Christ, and taught me to love God passionately and to do the common everyday things I need to do each day. Gone for 8 and 10 years, I still miss them every week, if not every day. Love your friends and family, care for those God puts in your path, and rejoice that you have been given this day with them!

The B-I-B-L-E- Is that the book for me?

Our adults were working on studying the Bible in Sunday School (part of our Celebration of Discipline series).
How much of your time each week is spent studying the Bible?
Pastors, sermon preparation doesn’t count.
I’m talking about studying to know Christ, studying to show yourself approved, as scripture says.
So do me a favor- send back your answers.
I’ll compile them anonymously and let you know what I hear.
Also, feel free to check out my blog at http://joe2355.blogspot.com/

Are you ready for Christmas?

I am asked that at least every other day this month. This morning, while Jaysha cleaned my teeth, I found my answer.
Yes, I am ready for Christmas. No, I haven’t done all my shopping. No, I won’t be out looking for gifts at the last minute. Yes, I will have a Merry Christmas!
Can you say that? I think there are four parts to being ready for Christmas:
1. Say yes to Jesus- without the Savior, there is no Christmas. And let’s face it, you’ve been doing great running your life, right?
2. Say no to Madison Avenue. You DO NOT need to buy things people don’t need to say you gave them a gift.
3. Say Yes to relationships. Your family wants you, not stuff, unless you’ve totally corrupted them. And you can fix that still! You do not need to spend money on your children for them to know love. You do not need to send or give things to avoid guilt or make up for a lack of relationship- just fix the relationship! Why don’t you give time this year- time, activities, doing things for people. Stuff is SO OVERRATED!
4. Say yes to celebration and thanksgiving (there’s a reason it comes before the party season!). See or hear the Messiah. Go to a Christmas play. Sing Carols at a nursing home. Call your family. Celebrate the life given by Christ, not the sack of presents falsely promised by the world!
4a. Why don’t you take part of what you’re not spending on stupid gifts and give food, shelter, clothing or water to the needy? See me for details- you could change the world while letting God cure you of materialism!
Are you ready for Christmas?

There It Was

It just stared at me. I used it, I went by and over it, I ignored it. But I had made a choice, so I had to face it- my floor.
I have made two decisions in these days with people important to me. I am giving up chocolate- which, more than any other food, has controlled me, as I support friends who are breaking habits with God’s help. The second is to exercise and lose weight, as I support my son in growing strong in Christ.
But both of these decisions are made not just in public, but in private. No one but God and I actually know if I exercise or avoid all chocolate. So I have to, daily, commit to making those choices part of who I am and what I do. So I face the floor, and my exercise, each day.
And every day I choose right instead of easy strengthens me, and every day I choose ease or comfort instead of strength weakens me. I am a disciple, and the choice I made makes the choices I make each day which make me the man God wants me to be. No one but we and God know if we are living the life all the time. But the choice we made makes the decisions we make and those decisions make the person we will be.
May God bless you with light, strength and power to let the choice you made in Christ make you through the Christ-like choice you make today.

Nicole

A friend was born today. She came to our church with her sister, and they ended up bringing her entire family. She was having trouble- she had trouble the whole time she was with us. But she was trying to do what was right.
Jordan was our first out-of-wedlock birth while I was pastor. He’s just about Stephen’s age. We just loved them. We became part of their lives, and they of ours.
Over time, Nicole continued to make rough choices- we tried to keep in touch, but, like others, she drifted out.
Then one night I got a call from her sister. She was missing. That Sunday they found her body. He was never convicted. Their family, fragmented before that, was torn in hard ways over that. None of them are in our church today- I pray that they are in the faith.
So today I pray for those who have been in and out of my life. And I pray that I will say and do the right things to prevent her end from becoming theirs. I pray that Christ’s light in my life will not only illuminate, but change.
Are you being light where you are? Is your life enough like Christ that others will not just be drawn in, but be changed? Are you making disciples, or simply showing up?

Fireproof

After a month, I finally went to see the movie with my wife Saturday.
Good stuff! It was too close to life soemtimes! We have had discussions,a nd will have more.
I also bought The Love Dare book. We'll look at and use it as a church in February.

How to make a difference- and will we ever?

A few weeks ago, a friend told me about the cost of the AIG bailout. According to the math he was given, if we took the amount of money used to bail out AIG and gave it to all those in this country 18 and over, each person would get $278,000. I think that would be a better use of the money personally.

This morning, Matt & Carol on WMIT (106.9 in most of NC) suggested that candidates (or one candidate) give up the rest of their advertising budget to actually help individuals in need. I KNOW that would change my mind about their desire to really change things.

I really believe that less government would be better for more people.

But as a believer, the question comes down to me.

Will I actually change the money I spend, and the things I do, to make a difference? Or will I follow the bad example of our government and throw more money, time and energy at less useful things?
What if we rediscovered the joy of Jesus, of Francis, the delight of a child (and our very creative God) and tried to do things that just made Kingdom sense with our time, energy and talent? What if we tried to change the world, as agents of God's love, every day?
Now that's a cause I believe in- and it will change the world much mroe than whoever takes office in January!