It has taken me a few attempts to try to figure out how to say what i want to say here. i am not sure whether or not it will be understood and i am just trying to be sensitive (ok…not really), but i have had a time organizing my thoughts on this topic.

i mentioned in my last post that i would reveal what i think is one of the greatest fears in the church. that fear is not having an answer to a spiritual question. so many of the words parroted by the faithful are words passed on from seasoned christian to newbie christian and are never questioned.  here are a few…

the bible is inerrant and does not contain any contradictions.
christians are required to tithe.
God created the world in six days
there will be 7 years of tribulation and then Jesus comes back.
the rapture happens before the tribulation.
sanctification depends on you.
you must have daily times of devotions.
the bible says that God will give the believer everything he asks for and more if he/she gives to christian television.

Now what if the newbie christian finds out that…

the bible actually presents two creation stories.
there seems to be many contradictions.
God does not need our money to have a ministry run effectively
there are many christians that think that the Tim Lahaye end time construct is a bunch of crap.
as hard as the newbie tries he cannot overcome some sin in his life and continued sanctification seems impossible.
devotions are not a magic charm to give you a good day.
God does not seem impressed with our television ministry giving and the seed money we gave to benny hinn hasn’t brought healing or a fat bank account.

So then the newbie asks questions, many questions. They are then criticized for doubting or not having enough faith. they are ignored by the religiously “mature” and labeled liberals or worse heretics.

they leave the church and the church says  “thank God He has judged this reprobate.”

Once again the church would rather live in ignorance and superficiality rather than in openness and transparency allowing for doubt and questions, which truly help the believer to grow.

Questions and doubt are not the sin here…the spiritual pride that comes from the, “God said it, i believe, that’s enough for me!”, crowd is the sin that has turned many away from the One who is the Answer.

We need to repent!

I write about what I think is important.  Everything else to me makes it a slow news day –thus the title of this space. 

Sometimes I write about current events.  Other times I write about history.  One of these days, when I feel like taking the time, I will organize the topics to this blog so that it’s clear what my interest are.

There’s a piece of history being celebrated right now that’s very worthy of attention in this space. In fact, I consider it the most important event in the history of mankind.

This story is documented in the Bible in many places.  But one author, a doctor named Luke, decided it was time to write an “orderly account” to his friend off the things he had learned, seen, experienced and been told.  Luke was one of the first bloggers!

Unlike most of the pieces written today, Luke’s news was of the good variety.  He tells a story of a group of shepherds in first first century Palestine who actually encounter angels.  I know it sounds like something out of National Enquirer, but Luke is an historian, not a tabloid journalist.

The shepherds are told by one of the angels, ”Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

What is the meaning of this statement Luke records? Who is David? Who is Christ? And why in the world did these people need a Savior?

In a nutshell, David was the king of ancient Israel, their greatest. The Jews were waiting for a Messiah, a Savior who would free them. He was to be of David’s line.   This angel was announcing his birth.

The Christ’s name was Jesus.  The Jews had a limited understanding of the nature of their Christ.  Jesus was God, yet fully human, a descendant of David.  He deigned to come to us and experience all the goodness and suffering we encounter.  As God, He would go on to offer freedom, but not the type people were expecting and not just to the Jewish people.  Luke says that is purpose was to offer salvation  to all of us through the forgivness of sins.

We have a lot of freedom in America. Unfortunately we have used it to indulge ourselves, rebelling against God’s desire for us to be righteous, to be a reflection of His attributes.  Since God is righteous, He can’t stand by and not be just.  As God, Jesus will one day return to judge the earth.  As man, He will set up his rule over mankind -God’s kingdom on earth.

God isn’t just a judge.  His righteousness includes His mercy and His love. So Jesus the Christ did something to provide salvation from this judgement.  He grew up and himself took the judgement that we are due for our sins. As God He had the right. As man, he represented all of us.     

This offer of salvation, of freedom from judgement, still stands.  It’s the greatest story ever told.

Twas the day before Christmas and all through the house plenty was stirring. . .

. . .  especially in my heart.

“Are you ready for Christmas?”  I asked that of a dear friend at church Sunday morning before the children’s program and she giggled and said, “Well, yes I guess I am ’cause ready or not – here it comes!”  No truer words, right?

Can I be completely honest?  I’m not ready for Christmas.  Oh, the shopping’s all done and the packages have all been wrapped and found their place under the tree, but I still don’t feel ready.  But it’s coming anyway, isn’t it?  There’s no different timetable for those who are ready for it and those who aren’t.  It just is what it is.  Without forming a committee or consulting any of us about what we’d prefer, December 25 comes and it goes in its own 24-hours and we’d better be ready or it’ll come and go anyway and be gone for another year.

Life’s like that too sometimes.  Whether we’re ready or not, life has a way of coming in its own time and either surprising us with good news and peals of joy, or bad news and sighs of despair.  It doesn’t ask or seek our approval, it just is what it is.  Life – ya gotta love the way it keeps us on our toes, right?  If we had to plan and prepare for the rough times, if we got a say-so on when they’d occur, we’d never ever pencil them in – and we’d never grow either.  We’d never know what it was to share another’s pain because we’ve been through it too.  Never have the empathy to cry with a friend, or rejoice to the fullest when a deeply troubled time ends.  We’d never know that life can bend us but not destroy us if we have faith and hope in God – and that’s a big, BIG thing to know and to share with someone else who needs to hear it because life has dealt them the harshest blow.

So I’m happy that Christmas is almost here, ready or not.  I’m happy that the season doesn’t consult me but comes with its story of peace, comfort, and joy just when the world needs to hear it.  Just when I need to hear it.  If I received no other gift this Christmas, I have come to the knowledge of His love for this world.  For its people.  For me.  And that is the most precious, important, profound gift I could ever have wished for and been given.

I don’t know if we’ll have a fresh “white Christmas” or not, but having such a wonderful covering the weekend before leaves at least a few patches on the ground when Christmas Day arrives!  For a snow-lover like me, this is a special treat from the Lord. 

I guess snow changes the mood around here because it isn’t that common an occurrence.  Even if it were, for someone like me, having grown up in middle Georgia, then living in Florida for more than 20 years – all the while longing for real winters with real snow – it thrills me to watch the snow fall, and to see the blanket of white everywhere.

Sometimes I think God brings the snow just for me.  One year, my father had been hospitalized several times, including one for open-heart surgery, and I was spent emotionally and physically (was also homeschooling both boys at the time).  I wanted so much to go on vacation, but couldn’t because of the circumstances.  It was Christmas, and I asked the Lord for snow.  Though it wasn’t predicted, when I looked out the window on Christmas morning, there was a thin blanket of white on the ground – just not on paved surfaces.  As the tears of joy and thanksgiving flowed, I sensed the Lord saying, “Happy birthday, Kay.”  (Christmas also happens to be my birthday.)  My Daddy loves me so much that He brought a snowfall to change the scenery for me when I couldn’t leave town, yet made it such that I could still minister to my earthly father by driving across town without slipping and sliding.

Do I really believe He would do something like that for me?  Absolutely!  He knew what I needed (a change of scenery and the perspective that comes with it) and what I wanted (because I asked).  I’m His daughter, and He loves to lavish His love on me.  You are no different!  I look forward to hearing your special stories of how Daddy poured out His love on you.

Have a most wonderful Christmas, and be refreshed in His love and His presents (Presence)!  Visit my other blog, the December 21 post,  for a slightly different perspective on the snow.

Have you ever had to stand up for your faith?

Recently I’ve been questioned a lot by people curious about what I believe in.

Interestingly, the questions they ask always seem to be directed at trying to prove a flaw in the bible.

It is such a challenge to remain calm in the midst of accusations and wild assumptions about God’s Word. How tormented Jesus must have felt in his soul, teaching the unteachable, reaching out to the unreachable. Speaking to the deaf and demonstrating to the blind.

What an incredible pillar of strength!

What patience, grace and love it took for Christ to humble himself to the cross… It is inconceivable!

This Christmas may your family and friends see the real focus that Christians have on Christmas!  The Gift!  The Gift of life and salvation made possible through the birth of Christ, the life of Christ, the death of Christ and the resurrection of Christ.

This Christmas may you see His Birth, Life, Death and Resurrection all as the Gift for you!

Merry Christmas!

Serving Christ Together,

Pastor Greg

Christmas is probably one of my most reflective holidays.  I absolutely love this time of year.

After removing all of the distractions and commercialization, Christmas serves as a reminder of God’s supernatural ability as the master planner and creator. It is the season in which I give concentrated thanks for His goodness. Although, it’s really easy to get caught up in the materialistic traditions, the real meaning of the holiday is found in John 3:16… it’s the greatest love story ever fulfilled.

As you spend time with friends and family over the next few days, please take time for meditative reflection of God’s everlasting and unconditional love that He has reserved especially for you.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and an abundantly blessed New Year!

Employ purposed living,

Aziza Bailey

Who wants a white Christmas?  NOT ME!!!  As the snow continues to fall the romantic notion of a white Christmas disipates and the harsh reality of logistical nightmares in sub-zero tempratures that confine us to the house takes hold we contemplate the need for such weather.  I think that in doing so what we actually do is question the judgement of God and hold him accountable to our own standards.  Each day I walk my dog through the woods along the lane at the back of the manse; in my time of doing this I’ve watched the trees and bankings on either side frame the seasons.  In the spring life emerges from the ground and buds burst out on the branches of the trees as the cycle begins again.  In the summer the foliage in thousands of shades of green presents itself in a canopy so dense that you barely get a glimmer of sunlight yet all around wild flowers litter the woodland floor.  Some of it so tiny and so striking you imagine it painted by a miniature Monet.  In the autumn the leaves fall to the ground ands seeds of all shapes and sizes are harvested by the multitude of life who habitate the woods.  Rotting leaves becomes nutrition for the soil and then winter sets in.  That’s where we are now; it’s a sort of nothing season, we describe spring, summer and autumn by what’s happening yet winter seems to be defined by lack of activity.  Combine this with the fact that it’s cold and miserable and we ask “What was God thinking of when He created Winter?” 

We need to remember the context of God and his loving Fatherhood.  He gave us a Sabbath to regenerate ourselves; this was born of his grace and compassion.  Winter is the sabbath of the land, it’s the lands time to rest and generate new strength for the new year.  This isn’t born from God’s love of the land but His love for us.  Out of His provision and genius we enjoy fresh food throughout our lives.  As I look out my study window into the falling snow I need to change the way I view it.  I’ll take a Sabbath to pray and reflect and to remember as God’s love regenerates the ground His love has also regenerated my life by the birth, life, ministry, death and ressurection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

When we discover that our hearts are broken and contrite, we come to the Lord with an earnest desire to repent of our sinfulness. It’s out of this repentant heart that we find redemption in Christ. We are redeemed because of his sacrificial love on our behalf expressed in his death on the cross and his resurrection to eternal life. Because of his everlasting redemption, we are reconciled – brought into right relationship with God through Jesus Christ – and that reconciliation allows us to call God our heavenly Father. As new creatures in Christ, we walk through this life in the power of the Spirit as regenerate people, learning, growing, and becoming what he intends for us.

 A healed heart becomes a renewed heart as we walk from repentance to redemption to reconciliation to regeneration. Our hearts are healed at the point of conversion, and they become healthy as we walk through life as Christian disciples.

Stephen A. Macchia

(from Becoming a Healthy Disciple)

This morning, I was enjoying the warmth of my fireplace, gazing at my beautiful Christmas tree and reflecting on that “first Christmas”.  “For unto us was (past) born that day a Savior which is (present) Christ the Lord”.  (Luke 2:11 KJV)

God came to earth as a baby to fulfill the long awaited promise of a Savior.  30+ years after His birth, Jesus willingly laid down His life for us.  While I have some great ornaments on my tree, He was the most precious “thing” to ever hang on a tree.  His tree wasn’t beautiful & glitzy like mine; but barren and hideous.  On that ugly tree of death, the tree or cross of Calvary, the Lamb of God died to take away my sin and your sin.  What love!!  “This is how we know what love is:  Jesus Christ laid down His life for us.”  (1John 3:16)

That gift of the “first Christmas”, Jesus, continues to be THE gift of every Christmas.  It is a gift that keeps on giving, if a person will believe and receive it, because the God of hope then fills us with all joy and peace in believing (Romans 15:13a)…

God knew what we needed more than anything else.  In one of the cards I received, Roy Lessin puts it this way:  “If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator.  If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist.  If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist.  If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer.  But our greated need was forgiveness, so God sent us a Savior.”  Thank you, God!

Take time to adore Him… seek Him… thank Him… and be refreshed as you ponder the true meaning of Christmas.  May you see and know anew how great His love is toward you.  Merry Christmas everyone!

Has anyone ever given a gift to someone and your hope was that when they opened it, it would strike a cord in their heart and they would just feel loved by you?  Men, let me be your friend.  If you are hoping to strike that cord of love in your wife or girl friend, peanut brittle will not get it done.  No, that gift will stop all music that is playing her heart and she will, look at you with this blank stare and say, “Peanut brittle?  I don’t even like peanut brittle!”  I speak from experience I am sad to say.

And whoever said it is not about the gift, it is the thought that counts, is a liar.  Gifts given with expressions of love come in all kinds of different packages.  Some of you will receive a piece of jewelry and your husband is praying that it is true that every kiss begins with Kay.  There are children who will receive Hannah Montana dolls and that will be an expression of love from a parent.  Even though they all have different packages, they’re all gifts motivated by love.

So really all we are all trying to do is give and receive love with this gift exchanging idea.  The Beatles were right when they said, “All we need is love and love is all we need.”

That is exactly what God gave us on that first Christmas….a gift of love.  And that is what he has to offer to you today.

The point:  God’s gift to you and me is love

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 (NIV)

THE CITY

Counsel, counsel, love counsel

Leaven, leaven, no: love nations

Leaven, leaven, no: love nations

Leaven, no: grace and love

Stand and love and love

Father and bless and love

Love and love and grace

Upper heaven: love and love

Upper heaven, the city of God

Ache, ache for nations

Love them, love nations

Angels, grace and love

Angels, upper heaven, secrets and God

Cush, Cush, Cush, love them

Cush, Cush, Cush, love these nations

Holland, Holland, grace and love

Counsels of heaven now come to nations

Turn, love, bless nations

Carry love for nations

Angels, nations, mercies, yes

Knowledge, leaven, grace, blessing

Hand love to nations

Tears, love, grace, love

Upper heaven; grace, now

Dream God and love to nation

Write and love and bless and release

Angels blessing nations now

Seven; great nations, nations, nations

Seer, seer: God’s love sees now

Seven, seven; grace and love

Tears of God for nations

See, see God in nations

Cuss, cuss no; love nation

Tears, new love, blessing

Seer, seers, mystery, love

Angels, mercies, new love

Counsels, grace, counsels, mysteries

Kings, love, missions, nations

Shun this, love nations

Angels, mysteries, new love

A seer, a seal, a seer

Upper heaven; levels of mysteries

Stand, stand, love nations

A seer, a seer, a saving

The open heaven, the door of God

Leaven no; love mercies

Secret leaven: no, bless the nations

Second, second, seconds of grace

Commission: love the nations

Upper heaven, it’s time for mystery grace to come

Kings, blessings, mysteries, mysteries

Stand to know the way of God

Angels: news, news, news

Angels: here, there, now

The shower shows love and grace

God loves and knows nations

Given by Papa God, December 14, 2009

INNKEEPERS

by Sr. Juliemarie McDonald, SND

Each year in Advent waiting time

we are the innkeepers of our souls.

Our souls are caves – damp, dark, and dingy.

In the smelly stables of our souls,

we house our own mice and spiders and crawly things.

Yet, Jesus, as in days of old,

still chooses such unlikely caves

in which to become incarnate.

Into these damp, dark, and dingy places

He descends as light

to burn bright,

to radiate the night.

Enfleshed once more in our humanness

taking on our human limitations

of littleness, simplicity, and childlikeness,

He craves to be cradled and crooned to again

by human hands and voices.

Come, Lord Jesus.

Come into the dark caves of our souls.

Be born again in our limitedness.

Infinity embrace our finiteness

to reach out through us

to others whose caves are also

dark, and damp, and dingy.

Shine through us, O Lord,

into this dark world of ours.

Light up the spaces of our souls once more

That we may be… the stars that lead to new Bethlehems.

Post-Christmas blues hit us around January when the credit card bills start arriving from the post office.  A few of us experienced them early from the NSF notices from our bank.  Add these to the extra pounds our bathroom scale reveals to us and it painfully reminds us that we over did it again this year.

The problem with Christmas expenses is that they come with very good intentions and feelings.  We want to display our love through the things we buy.  Somehow, new socks and underwear doesn’t say “I love you” to our children as much as an iPod or cellular phone.  Can you get away with buying Tupperware or vacuum bags for your Sweetie instead of the Macy’s outfit or Zales jewelry she’s been ogling the last couple of months?  I don’t think so!

Why is it that love – especially radical and passionate love – is always displayed in the gifts we give to the objects of our love?  The greater the love, the greater the sacrifice for the gift.  This explains the bragging rights that come along with wedding rings.  Guys, it better say, “I love you.”  A LOT!!  Extravagant gift giving is almost a universal communication of love and affection.

The apostle Paul tells us that God displayed his love toward us in this:  He gave his son, Jesus, for us.  Wow!  THAT is an extravagant gift.  The apostle is so overjoyed by such a thought that he shouts on the page, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!”

As you move into this New Year, how have you displayed your love for God this past year?  Does it look like vacuum bags or fine jewelry?  Would it be described as being closer to new underwear and socks or an iPod?  If the Creator of the universe went out of this world to display his love for you, how can you return the affection this New Year?  Would you consider something extravagant or radical?

Sun Flower, Walhalla, North Dakota ©Weatherstone/Ron Almberg, Jr. (2009)

Larry Powell in his book, Blow the Silver Trumpets, tells the story of a missionary who preached in a remote, poverty ridden area in West Africa.  He appealed for support of Christian work throughout the area and encouraged those present to give what they could toward the construction of a building, which would serve as a medical clinic and a place of worship.

Approximately two hours after the worship service, a young woman came to the missionary and presented him with $40 to be used for the building project.  The missionary was stunned.  Where on earth, he thought, did this poverty stricken woman come up with such a large sum of money in a region afflicted by such painfully forbidding economic circumstances?

Confounded, he posed this question as politely as he knew how.  He was informed that she had gone to a wealthy planter and sold herself into his service for the rest of her life. Let us be clear about what I have just told you! She had sold herself into the service of a landowner.  And why? This was her way of giving herself into the service of Jesus Christ.  Not partially, but totally.

That sounds like a radical price to pay doesn’t it? Pretty extravagant, huh?  Instead of asking yourself what you can get away with to show your love for your heavenly Father, why not ask, “How much can I sacrifice?”  Perhaps it is in your personal worship, your commitment to prayer, or your service to others in his name.  Maybe it will take the form of giving him control of the parts of your life that you have thus far withheld from his authority and control.  It could be giving up and giving over an addiction or troubling habit.

I’m not talking about just writing a larger check.  That is too easy for many of us.  I’m talking about giving your life away as a radical expression of your love and devotion to the One who saved you and called you.  I’m thinking of giving something that will return the same kind of love that bankrupted heaven and caused it to send its very best.  Radical love will not offer gifts and sacrifices that cost nothing and come with no forethought.  So, give your heavenly Father something costly this year – a real gem.  Yourself.

©Weatherstone/Ron Almberg, Jr. (2009)

Mick Turner

Many of us assert that we want to grow spiritually. We tell God and others that we desire to be more Christ-like and chances are, we believe what we are saying. Yet I have found that in more than a few cases, people are not as desirous of spiritual growth as they claim. The reason for this can be found in one word: change.

 The fact of the matter is, many of us want to change and to grow, so long as it does not involve any pain, sacrifice, or drastic changes in our lives. We want to become more Christ-like, so long as we are not inconvenienced in any way. In some amazing way, myself included, we are experts at mental gymnastics. We are somehow able to twist things in our minds in such a way that, in the final analysis, we convince ourselves that we can hold on to outworn, unproductive, and self-destructive beliefs and behaviors and still increasingly become like Christ.

 We are, in a very real sense, cognitive contortionists.

 Have you ever seen a real contortionist? When I lived in China I saw several performances by Chinese acrobats, who are among the world’s best at this amazing art. In most programs, at least one contortionist was featured and these folks could twist their bodies into positions that most of us couldn’t even imagine, must less achieve.

 What this artist/athletes do with their bodies, we believers sometimes do with our thoughts. Just as they can twist their bodies into shapes that would make a pretzel jealous, we Christians can manipulate our thoughts around in such a way that seems to make the implausible sound reasonable. And one of the ways this occurs most often is with our thoughts about spiritual growth and change. We say we want the prize but deep down, we are less than willing to do what it takes to obtain our goals. Great contortionists that we are, we then manipulate our thoughts in such a clever way that we come to believe that we really do want to make the necessary changes.

 The fact is, change is difficult for most of us. New behaviors, new ways of looking at life, and new ways of relating to others are all uncomfortable, especially until we get used to them. As a result, we often resist taking that big first step toward making positive changes, simply because our status quo is at least familiar.

 In many ways, this is like a dilemma I once faced involving something as seemingly unrelated to spiritual themes as an old softball glove.

 From the time I was five years old I have been an avid baseball fan. I played the sport throughout my school years and, once I became an adult, played competitive softball for many years.

 I normally played middle infield, either second base or shortstop. For many years I used the same softball glove. In fact, I used it so long that the strings kept breaking, all the padding was gone out of the pocket and the leather was cracked in several strategic places. Nevertheless I refused to buy a new glove, in spite of the frequent protestations of my teammates.

 The reason was simple. I was comfortable with this old glove. It molded to my hand perfectly over the years and it felt reassuring to put in on before I took the field. All too often, however, I would catch a hard line drive right in the pocket and my hand would sting, then remain numb for several minutes. Still, I wanted no part of a new glove.

 A new glove, as anyone who has played the sport knows, is a real pain for awhile. It feels funny, awkward and stiff. It is easy to make errors with a new glove, at least until it is broken in properly. No, my old glove was find thank you very much.

One day our third baseman wasn’t able to make the game and I played the so-called “hot corner.” Things went okay for the first two innings. Then, in the third inning the batter hit a hard liner right at me. I responded quickly and raised my glove, only to have the ball break right through the ancient webbing an hit me square in the forehead, knocking me out cold

Two days later I bought a new glove.

 My experience with my old softball glove is not unlike my experience with the behaviors that flow from my old self. No matter how much I try to take off the old and put on the new, the old keeps rearing its head and biting me. I suspect that I am not alone in this predicament.

Many of my old behaviors, like my old softball glove, may hurt me time and time again. But, they are comfortable in the sense that they are familiar and predictable. My old self resists change and it is here that we are vulnerable to our habitual responses to life, however unhealthy and painful they may be.

 It is like the old adage, “Better the devil you know, than the devil you don’t know.”

 God, however, does not operate by our rules. He has his own set of principles and by any measure, they are much better than ours. Yes, his way of growth involves frequent change but in the end, those very changes are the agents of our transformation. And, if you really think about it, spiritual growth implies change. To grow is to change.

When the Master walked the earth, he consistently put this principle of growth through change before those who would dare to be his disciple or follower. He consistently challenged people to leave behind old, outworn behaviors and paths of life and embrace the new, the radical, and the unknown.

 Jesus was a mold-breaker and to follow Jesus required a person to break his or her most cherished molds.

 It is no different for us today.

 Jesus walked by Simon and Andrew and called out to them. He did not say, “Stay right where you are, do what you have always done, and I will come back and make you better fishermen.”

 No, he called these two mariner brothers to take up the mantle of a great challenge – a challenge that eventually changed the entire world.

 “Follow me,” said the Master. “And I will make you fishers of men.”

 To the rich young ruler, Jesus issued another challenge. He did not say, “Go and make even more money and set an example as a great businessman.” No, the rich young man received one of Christ’s sacrificial callings:

 “Go and sell all that you have and give it to the poor. Come and follow me.”

 Such a demand was far beyond the young man’s willingness or capability. Yet please, don’t miss what Jesus asked of the young man. In one word, again – he demanded change.

 For the poor woman lying in the dirt, about to be stoned to death for her sin, Christ again called for change. After shaming the Pharisees with their arms full of stones, the Master’s last words to the woman were words requiring change:

 “Go and sin no more.”

 In exploring the pages of scripture, few characters were required to make more drastic changes that Saul, later to be known as Paul the Apostle. Raised in the bosom of the Hebrew faith, Saul was a Hebrew and then some. On a mission to wipe out the fledgling Christian community in Damascus, Saul encountered the great mold-breaker. Temporarily blinded, Saul’s life was turned completely upside down. It would have been completely expected had Jesus sent Saul into Damascus and, after restoring his sight, instructing Saul to stop persecuting the Christians. That would have been a significant change for Saul but, in light of the events on that road to Damascus, Saul most likely would have obeyed.

 Jesus, the mold-breaker, had something more shattering in mind.

 Saul became Paul, and after a period of training and pruning, became the greatest Apostle the Christian faith has every known, not to mention its greatest evangelist. On top of that, he authored much of the New Testament under the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

 Paul’s transformation was radical to say the least. This great figure of the Christian faith changed and that change opened him up to great suffering – shipwrecks, snake bites, people trying to kill him, trials, incarceration many times over, and eventually death. Christ demanded Paul’s status quo be disrupted in a major way and it was. And Paul’s obedience to Christ’s calling on his life is a testament of true devotion and complete discipleship.

 So for me, my friend, and for you, the call on our lives is no different. The circumstances of God’s call on my life may involve one type of change and the call on your life may require another. One thing we can be sure of, however, is that both your calling and mine will involve one common element – change.

 Next time you feel God calling you to some area of service or sacrifice, think of these great biblical characters – people like Abraham, David, Peter, Andrew, the other disciples, the woman caught in adultery, and especially Paul. Change and suffering are an integral part of the spiritual journey for those of us with the audacity to call ourselves Christians. Change involves suffering but in many ways my friends, that suffering is redemptive.

 Life is always better when we embrace Christ’s change.

 © L.D. Turner 2009/ All Rights Reserved

so yes, it has been a while since i visited to update…and a lot has transpired in that time. a lot!  i am not sure where to go here. there are a couple of things that i want to talk about but they are both rattling around in my head at the same time. let me start with my pet peeve of the season the move on to the great fear of the church.

American Family Association and Focus on the Family among other Christian organizations in America  have a campaign. that campaign is not to rescue men, women and children from being forced into slavery, it is not a campaign to help the over one billion illiterate people  living on the planet to learn to read and write. It is not even a campaign to raise money to help build wells for the millions upon millions that do not have safe drinking water. It is a campaign that is much more noble than that…a campaign that will change the hearts of millions of American pagans! What is this noble and pristine cause for which millions of dollars is raised?

To make sure that  from your neighborhood  shop owner to the great mall temples to the god consumerism, sales associates and advertisers wish each and every consumer a Merry Christmas!

Yes, you have read correctly, this is the great mission of the Christian, this and every December. The reason is that “Jesus is the reason for the season”. So Jesus is the reason people who can barely get by spend billions of dollars, charge it and go into greater debt? Jesus is the reason we decorate our houses with evergreen trees, wreaths, holly, yule logs, garland and a multitude of other symbols that have their origins in pagan religions? Jesus is the reason we celebrate His birth near or on the great pagan holiday of winter solstice?  

Did anyone one ask Jesus what He thinks?

So if an employee says Merry Christmas to you after you purchase that shirt sown together by an 11-year-old boy living in abject poverty and forced to work 18 hours a day so that he can take home the equivalent of 20 cents a day, that is ok?  Ask Jesus if He is happy about that?

Ask Jesus if He is happy about the  Gap advertisement that says Merry Christmas, while every day 25,000 children die around the world, mostly from things that can be prevented. in just the “12 days of christmas” 300, 000 children will die.

Ask Jesus if He is pleased with what we as christians think is the most important thing we can do for Him this Holi….or sorry, I mean Christmas season. But you may have to wait until He is done weeping. Weeping over what Christians have done to trivalize Him and the true gospel message.

well this went on for longer than i anticipated. i will be back tomorrow and discuss what the great fear of the church is and how you can be someone who helps spread that fear.

“… I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.” 2 John 5-6

I wrote yesterday about going out and showing love to someone who may be difficult to love. That is still my wish today. So many times we set caveats on our love… if you love me first, if you are beautiful, if you are popular… EASY to love, not complicated.  This is not God’s love in its entirety.

Surely we should love everyone, including those who have hurt us, or who bother us… who smell funny, or talk too loud, or have said things in the past that have caused us grief or embarrassment. These are to be loved as well.

Break out of the mold and allow God’s love to flow through you. You don’t always have to hug or kiss to show love. It can start with a smile, or a hello, a phone call or even a quick text… I <3 u… and then require nothing in return, because it is a gift.

This week is a perfect opportunity to practice sharing the love of Christ while everyone is in a festive and happy mood, or even if they are not. I challenge you to be creative, and post your comments so that others might get some good ideas on how to express true love .

Remember to read the Word and pray every day.

Merry Christmas!