Live with Hope in the Heart

In a couple of days the madness will be over. The stores will be back to their normal hours. The Christmas lights – well most of them – will be coming down. Parties over. Wrapping paper in trash. Fudge eaten. The important thing for us is what we do after we have seen Jesus. After the angels left and heaven was silent, the shepherds went to see Jesus. After the angels visit, Mary said “let it be.” Joseph chose to marry Mary. Gideon led an ill-equipped army. Moses marched with the Jews through the desert. Fishermen dropped their nets and followed the Master. What have you done with the grace you have been given? When I was going to Candler I always saw this car with a bumper sticker that read, “Safe women don’t change the world.” A group of psychologists got together to study regret. They asked the question, “As people reflect on their lives what do they most regret?” The surprising answer is that most people regret the things they left undone more than the mistakes they’ve made. The shepherds had heard from heaven and they acted. They would never have to look back on their lives and say I wish I would have done something with the message that the angels had shared with us. Never would they have to say, “I wish I would’ve ….” How many times will we say that? On December 26th and the days following what are you going to do with your encounter with the Christmas miracle. Do something. Live the life that God has given. Empower others. No regrets! Howard Thurman has a poem entitled “The Work of Christmas.” He says, “When the song of the angels is stilled, When the star in the sky is gone, When the kings and princes are home, When the shepherds are back with their flock, The work of Christmas begins: To find the lost, To heal the broken, To feed the hungry, To release the prisoner, To rebuild the nations, To bring peace among the brothers, To make music in the heart.” Go ahead live life like the shepherds. Live with hope in the heart.

Incarnational Living

Faye Yu lives in Freetown, Sierra Leone, in the postwar horror of a punishing ten-year conflict. She has been sent by God to this region of the world in order to incarnate the good news of Christ among the children who were enslaved by this horrible war. Ten thousand children in this small country were forced into the war, some as young as five years old. If they refused to kill on behalf of the rebel army their limbs were cut off. They witnessed the killing of parents, forced to participate in the killings of family members, brainwashed, and drugged. Many of the girls were uses as sex toys for the older soldiers. In the wake of this childhood robbery, Faye is called to embody Jesus Christ. She has been sent to “flesh out” her belief in Jesus Christ. Her call as she sees it is to give children permission to be children again.
Faye understands a concept of the gospel that many of us have failed to capture. We cannot live out the gospel from a distance. We cannot be Christ from a distance. We cannot be unattached when it comes to fleshing out the good news. Jesus Christ didn’t stay in the heavens to save us. He entered our world. He became as us, a particular person, in a particular place, at a particular time. God calls us to the same. Incarnational living places Christ at the center of our life and our life at the center of what God is doing in the world. Living incarnationally gives perspective. It helps us see others, God and ourselves in new ways. To each one of us God has called us to incarnate the Gospel in a particular way at a particular time and a particular place. Each day incarnation is a choice. We are always tempted with finding easier ways out, compromising the message, or refusing to live out the gospel. Our journey with Jesus and movement closer to God is lived out when we make a conscious decision each day to live incarnate. It’s the little choices to live simply and give our lives for the sake of others that defines incarnational living.
John writes, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” (John 1:5). God enters the darkness. God refuses to remain in heaven and allow the world to be consumed by darkness. Instead, God climbs down into the darkest places of our lives to be with us. The message of Christmas is that darkness does not overcome. In Jesus, the light has come. We are not alone. The hope of Christmas is that God is present, God has given company. God has moved into the neighborhood.
This Christmas I challenge you to carry that light into someone’s dark world. Be the light in someone’s darkness. Make this Christmas the time for you to start living the life of Jesus, incarnational living.

Joy to the World!

Jesus told his friends that his aim was that they should be filled with joy, but not just any kind of joy: “I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.” According to Jesus, the problem with people is not that we are too happy for God, but that we are not happy enough. Lewis Smedes puts it this way: “To miss out on joy is to miss out on the reason for your existence.”
Jesus is the joy-bringer. We see that in the announcement on the first Christmas. We read it through the pages of Scripture. Wherever Jesus went he seemed to bring a renewed sense of joy. He gave joy to those who were fearful when he said, “Fear not, for I am with you.” He gave joy to those weighed down by guilt. He gave joy to those who were self-centered by redirecting their focus outward. Jesus is the joy-bringer.
At the end of the Gospel of Luke, we have a story of two disciples of Jesus coming from Emmaus. They were on their way home from Jerusalem after Jesus was crucified, and they were dragging along as if they’d lost their best friend. Suddenly Jesus appears and walks with them. They don’t recognize him. But he asks them, “Why are you so sad?” They reply, “You mean you were in Jerusalem and you have to ask? We thought Jesus was going to be the Savior of the world, and today he is dead.”
Jesus begins to remind them of all the scriptures that speak of the Messiah. He tells them how the Messiah must suffer and die. When the disciples reached their home, they beg Jesus to come in and have dinner with them. As the blessing is being asked over the meal, they suddenly realize who he is and he disappears from their eyes.
They were so thrilled that they can’t contain their excitement. It was dark and the roads dangerous, but that didn’t matter. They rush back to Jerusalem and tell their friends they had seen the risen Christ. They could not forget how they felt. “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he spoke,” they said. And the gospel says, “They returned to Jerusalem with great joy.”
The Jesus story starts with a joyful birth and it ends with a joyful resurrection. It is slammed packed full of joy. We can experience the joy of this message when we commit our lives to Jesus, the joy-bringer and start viewing life from this perspective.

New Birth

Sharon and I have loved two wonderful boys into the world. The birth of Jaden was more routine - if you can say any birthing process is routine - than with Cohen. If personality is a reflection of the birthing process then Cohen is going to lack any kind of patience. Birth is a passive act. The enwombed child contributes nothing to the delivery. It is the mother who is celebrated after the birthing process. No one gives the newly born infant high-fives and congratulation hugs. No, we give the baby a pacifier not a medal. Mom deserves the gold. She exerts the effort. She pushes, agonizes, and delivers.
After witnessing the birth of both of my sons, I have a new appreciation for girl-power. It is the mother who pays the price of birth. She doesn't enlist the child's assistance or solicit the child's advice. Why would she? The baby can't even breath without umbilical help, much less navigate a path into new life. When the mother's body says it's time the baby comes.
Jesus says neither can we navigate a path into a new life without the help of our Parent. Spiritual re birthing requires a capable parent, not an able infant. How much were you involved in the decision when you first came into the world? Were you consulted? Were you asked? Did your parents get your permission? Just like you were loved into existence by your parents. We are also loved into a new birth through our heavenly Father. Everyone knows John 3:16 (For God so loved the world . . . ). Most of the time we read this passage as though it is saying, "For God had such love for the world that he gave his only Son." But a more accurate way of understanding this passage is by interpreting it saying, "For this is the way God loved the world: he gave his only Son." The way we understand God's love is in the giving of Jesus Christ. How would your life be altered if you truly believed that God loves you with a sacrificial love? Fully grasping this might just bring a born again experience!

No Room In The Inn

Yesterday in staff meeting I was encouraging the staff not to allow Hallmark or Charles Dicken's to dictate for us what Christmas should look like. I was studying the passage in Luke 2: 1 - 7 and became curious about the phrase "No Room in the Inn." The word inn can be translated with two Greek words. The word in Luke 2:7 is "kataluma" and is used in Luke 22:11 as "upper room" or "guest room." The word translated "inn" is also the word "pandocheion" and is the word used in Luke 10:34 when the Good Samaritan puts up the wounded man in a hotel.
What does this mean? It helps us to understand what is going on behind the scenes in the Christmas story when we are told that there is "no room in the inn." The "inn" referred to in this passage is not like what we think of as a Motel 6 but more like there was no room in the guest room. Consider this: they are in Joseph's hometown surely he had a cousin that would have let him stay in his house. I believe the reason there is no room is because Mary and Joseph was rejected by the family. They chose not to make room for this mother who got pregnant out of wedlock. The birth of Jesus in a room where animals lived gives the impression of shame and rejection. So "no room in the inn" speaks more of rejection instead of a lack of accommodation.
The lesson: The whole Christmas message begins with parents who are poor, a mother in labor with no place to go, a newborn child with no crib for a bed, and now rejection. If this is how the Prince of Peace enters the world then there is no person too poor, too uneducated, or too insignificant.

Lion of Judah

The first movie my wife and I saw as a couple was "Legend's of The Fall." Besides "Tombstone" it happens to be my one of my favorite movies. The movie is set in the beautiful mountains of the frontier. A log home surrounded by forests. The plot revolves around three brothers and their father. The eldest brother is focused on wealth and power. He moves to the city, starts a business, and later gets into politics. The youngest brother dies in the world war. The middle brother, Tristan, played by Brad Pitt is restless and dangerous. He is the untamed lion of the family. His heart will not him be controlled. He is wild at heart. An old Native American in the movie says he has the spirit of the bear. He says the spirit of the bear cannot be tamed.
The Spirit of Jesus cannot be tamed. Howard Mocey says, "The spiritual life cannot be made suburban; it is always frontier and we who live in it must accept and ever rejoice that it remains untamed." The poodle us suburban, tame, and domesticated. The lion is frontier, untamed, and undomesticated. It is very difficult to put a lion on a leash. Yet this is what we have attempted to do with Jesus when we replace the missionary pioneering presence of the Spirit of God with the domesticated, safe lifestyle of doing church.
I am convinced that Jesus has a lot more to teach us if we are willing to go. We miss out on the blessings of God because we have settled. We have not gone all the way with Christ. We have stopped and placed ourselves in comfortable seats when Jesus is challenging us to press on with the message of hope, love, and peace. What is it going to take to reach the 1.6 billion people who have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ? It is going to take a pioneering presence. It is going to take a church that does not settle for comfort and safety. It is going to take people of faith who go out in boldness possessed by the Spirit of the Lion of Judah.

Character

It's a wonderful thing to have a good reputation. Your reputation is what people think of you. It's who you are when others are watching. A reputation takes a lifetime to build, but it can be lost in a moment. One stupid act might wreck and destroy a reputation. However, reputation is not the most important. In the book of Revelation, chapter 3, Jesus speaks to the church in Sardis. The church is seen as having a great reputation. Outwardly they are respected. Them seem to be doing the right things. And yet, Jesus says, "I know your works, you have a name of being alive, but you are dead." The church had a good reputation but was lacking in character. Not everyone in Sardis had this problem. There were some in the church who understood that if you take care of your character your reputation will take care of itself. Jesus says, "Yet you have still a few persons in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes; they will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy."
Reputation is what you are supposed to be; character is what you really are. If we are consumed with building a good reputation but neglect our character then we are simply playing games. John Wooden, legendary basketball coach for UCLA says, "Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what other people think you are." God could careless about our reputation. But God is deeply concerned about our character. It has been said, "Reputation is what people will say about you at your funeral. Character is what the angels say about you before the throne of God.

We Are Going On A Bear Hunt

For the past three months the choice bedtime book in my house has been We’re Going On a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury. The classic book describes a family going through the elements of nature in search of a bear. We have turned the story into a fun game as we explore God’s beauty in search of an imaginary bear. We’ve been chased by the bear a few times. But our family likes to chase the bear.
Have you ever had one of those moments where you do something crazy and ask yourself in retrospect: what was I thinking? As a family sometimes hunting our imaginary bear I tell myself this is crazy. Normal people don’t chase bears, we run away from them with all the strength we have. But looking in the rearview mirror, I have come to realize that the biggest risks were the greatest opportunities. The greatest opportunities were the largest bears. I’m not a risk taker, but I have realized that taking no risks is the greatest risk of all.
Sometimes God-given opportunities are disguised as blood-thirsty bears. And how we react when we encounter those bears will determine our destiny. We can cower in fear and run away from our greatest challenges. Or we can chase our God ordained purpose and seize it for all its worth.
In the church we talk about sins of commission and omission. Sins of commission are those made up of the list of don’ts. However, there is also the sin of omission. This is those things that we should have and could have done. Just because you don’t do anything wrong doesn’t mean that you actually have done anything right. Goodness is not the absent of badness. Some Christians simply focus on running away, staying away, and putting away. We need that at times. But sometimes we are called to go on a bear hunt. In the church we have become too passive. Most of what we see in the church is a spirituality that is reactive instead of proactive. Following Jesus is dangerous! It will always cost you something. Yet if we are going to discover our God-given purpose, live our God-given life, and use our God-given gifts we must be willing to chase the bears. Our greatest regrets in life will be missed opportunities. “I’m going on a bear hunt, I’m going to catch a big one!”

A Christmas More Meaningful

This is an article I wrote for The Paper (Braselton) last year.

Have you ever seen the construction of a Wal-Mart Supercenter? What a sight! A mammoth structure that houses everything from a grocery store to a place to get new tires. You can purchase your blue jeans along with your office supplies. You can buy a lamp shade and get a loaf of bread. And we flock there because it’s one-stop shopping, famous low prices, and a quick get in and get out affair. Don’t forget about the official smiley face mascot that greets you on every sign. It just makes you feel all warm and fuzzy as you spend your money.
This Christmas I have struggled. I had a friend give my wife and I some toy catalogs to look through because we were struggling with what to get our children for Christmas. So one evening we sat our oldest son down on the couch and said we are going to look through some toy catalogs. He jumped up in between us on the couch and for the next hour we combed through a wonderland of consumption. The next night we said we were going to read the Christmas story from the Bible and you would have thought that we said we were going to force him to drink soured milk – at least from the look on his face. To his credit he has changed and now has been retelling the Christmas story to us. We made a decision this year that we were not going to let Toys R Us tell us what our children need for Christmas.
Imagine yourself a shepherd. You have finished registering with the census. You are back caring for your sheep. Being away from the lights of the city you are able to catch a glimpse of the stars. You sit staring into the heavens with thoughts of family in mind. You imagine that back home your wife is snuggling your children into bed. As she lays down to sleep she whispers a prayer for “peace on earth.” In the stillness of the night you worry about your family. “What kind of world will your children find themselves in?” What kind of life will they live?” Who will they grow up to be?” “Have you raised them right?” Have you taught them the importance of life?” “Have you given them enough?” “Do they trust in God?” “Do they long for Shalom?” At that moment the silence is broken and your heart is beating out of your chest. The voice assures you “do not be afraid, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” What do you do with such a message? Do you get up at 4 a.m. to rush to Kohl’s because they are having an after Thanksgiving sale? Do you borrow credit off of your sheep and spend all that on gifts to bring to your children? And spend the rest of the year working overtime to pay off the debt that is owed! Or do you go on a search for the Christmas child. You don’t look in malls or advertisements. You don’t search for the Christ child on the internet or in magazines. Instead you go to the simplest of places. You find him wrapped in cloth not from Gap or Abercrombie and Fitch but handmade cloth. You find him in a manger and not in a decorated mansion. The beauty of the Christmas story is found in its simplicity. We are attracted by its simplicity. I believe one of the reasons we come back to it every year is because we long for that type of wonder and beauty. Remember the line from How the Grinch Stole Christmas: “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!”