2012 - Are You Ready?

Are you ready for 2012?  It doesn't really matter, because it's coming whether we're ready or not.  What will 2012 bring?  I think it is safe to say, that for all of us, it will bring some highs and some lows.  How high and how low, we don't know.  The year 1987 was a year that brought me to both extremes.  In July, my mom died from leukemia and in October my second child Eric, was born.  There was a lot of "stuff" going on in 1987, but those two events were certainly the lowest and highest points.

As I write, we are in the midst of college football bowl games.  I am reminded of the BCS National Championship game that was played on January 7, 2010.  Texas was playing Alabama.  Colt McCoy was the quarterback for Texas and had a Heisman-like career there.  Now he was at the culmination of all he had worked for and played for since he was young.

However, a mere five plays into the game, the 'Bama defense took McCoy down, injuring his throwing arm and knocking him out of the game - the most important game of his life.  However, at the end of the game, Colt stood in front of the a national TV audience in a post game interview and told the nation, "God's in control of my life and, if nothing else, I'm standing on the Rock."  Wow.  Great perspective from a 22 year old who just missed the most important game of his life.  None of us can imagine playing in front of a live crowd like that let alone a national TV audience of millions.

Up in the stands, a disappointed father, Brad McCoy was dealing with an exploding cell phone full of texts and voicemails all offering praise for his son's witness.  Later that night, when father and son finally hooked up, Colt said he wasn't even prepared for the speech.  "It was all just a blur."  To say that he didn't prepare to give it, may be true.  To say he wasn't prepared to give it was not.  His years of walking with the lord, of growing in spiritual wisdom and understanding, and relying on Christ to guide and direct his life had been the preparation.

Brad McCoy said of his son; "Colt's a believer.  He reads his Bible every night, and he studies, so he was definitely prepared.  It was just the timing and the situation.  It was probably the most profound message that could have been delivered at the time.  He could have won the national championship and been MVP and he never would have had an impact on the millions of people who watched that take place after a loss."

Colt's comments were; "Through all of this, God has shown me that, if the worst thing that has happened to me is getting hurt in the national championship game, then, while that may be huge to me, in the grand scheme of things, it's minor.  God has shown me that football is not who I am; it's what I do.  And if all of these things wouldn't have happened, I wouldn't have such a full, complete trust in Him.  I'm proud to have learned to trust God in a deeper way."  (Italics mine.)

So, I refer back to the post on December 28th.  Make 2012 a year in which we're soaked in God's word so that we're prepared for both the ups and the downs.  Let our ups and downs teach us to "trust God in a deeper way."

Do You Make New Years Resolutions?

Now that my kids are older (I have 4 of them for you that don't know me), it seems I have a little more time for reflection.  I've never been much of a New Years Resolution kind of guy, but there are two resolution-type of ideas I am looking at for 2012.

The first is an idea from TJ Addington, Senior VP at the EFCA (our denomination).  His idea was to have One Thing in four key areas of life to focus on. They are:

What is the one change I would like to make in my personal life?
What is the one change I would like to make in my spiritual life?
What is the one change I would like to make in my professional life?
What is the one change I would like to make in my family life?

They are simple.  To the point.  Not complicated.  To read his whole blog on this idea, click here.

The second idea has to do with Bible reading.  Two or three years ago, Pastor Brett led a group of you through a reading of the whole Bible in 90 days.  I heard great things from that.  That challenged me to make a practice of doing the same thing on a regular basis.  Two years ago, I read from Genesis thru Revelation.  I don't recommend that since you can get bogged down in difficult and frustrating passages - and then that's your reading for the day.  This past year I used a plan that brought me through four separate sections simultaneously.  That was much better - at least for me.  It also illustrated how different passages coincide.  I always knew that, but it just highlighted it more.

The Gospel Coalition has listed a whole bunch of plans to choose from.  They even have one called, "The Bible Reading Plan for Shirkers and Slackers"!  See - something for everyone.  To check out the options, click here.

When reading, make sure you key on your heart and not your head.  That is always a challenge for me.  Yes, it's good to KNOW your Bible, but it's more important to be OBEDIENT to what we read than to just know it.

So that's it.  My resolutions  thoughts and plans for 2012.

Do you worship only the Babe in the Manger?

As a teenager I remember hearing a song from Back to the Bible which has stayed with me ever since. It is especially meaningful because so often at Christmas, once we get past the commercialism and decorations, the meals and the gifts, we place all our emphasis on the celebration of the birth of Christ. Sadly, many people only come to church once a year, often at Christmas, and all they hear is the story of the birth of the babe, whether in the pastor's message, the music, or the children's pageant.

But the song I learned back then points us to the far greater importance of the reason that the baby came. Though the song is no longer in print (unless you happen to have the Back to the Bible "Songs that you Love #6), the words speak as strongly today as when I was young. And I've been singing it for over a week again this year!

May you have a joyous Christmas Season remembering the reason that the Babe came to earth!

Do You Worship the Babe in the Manger

1. Do you worship the Babe in the manger,
But reject the Christ of the Cross?
Your redemption comes not by the manger,
But the death of Christ on the Cross.

2. If you worship the Babe in the manger,
But ignore the blood of God’s Son,
To you Christ is only a stranger,
Til you trust the work He has done.

3. Will you look past the Babe in the manger?
Will you look to Calvary?
O my friend can you not see the danger,
of a lost eternity?

Chorus: The Babe in the manger was God’s only Son,
Who came to the world to die.
The Babe in the manger could never have done
The work of His God on high.
The Babe left the manger and went to the Cross
To pay the wages of sin.
Your way of forgiveness is not by the Babe,
But the Christ who died for your sin.

– W. S. and Mildred Dillon

Christmas

You have to like a child's view of the Christmas Story.  Enjoy.

A Welcoming Church

The other day I was reading John 9. There you read the story about Jesus giving sight to a man who had been blind from birth. I proposed a question to the elder board that night; "What do you think the rest of that man's life was like?"

Think about it. He was blind since birth. People of that time figured that it was either a sin of his parents or himself that led to him being blind. Then, as an adult, he gets his sight. Now he can have a normal life! But the religious leaders bring him in and ask some rather pointed questions (he was healed on the Sabboth). They didn't really like his answers, so they bring his parents in.

His parents, fearful of being kicked out of the local church, defer to their son. "He's old enough. Ask him."

The religeous leaders intensified their questioning. Eventually, they "threw him out".

Seriously?! So much for a "normal life".

So, after mentioning this to the elders, we took a "field trip" to the sanctuary. We stood in the front and prayed for the upcoming Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services. As Pastor Brett prayed, he noted that on the platform a Christmas tree blocked the view of the cross. He prayed that nobody would be blocked or kept away from the Christ of the cross this weekend.

Please be in prayer for many this weekend - that they would feel welcomed to church and that they would see Christ, not the decorations.

SDG

The Reason For The Season

This is a phrase that Christians in the United States have used for years.  I think I heard it way back when I was a kid.  But do we really believe that?  It's another one of those phrases (like many Bible verses) that we have heard so many times that it doesn't impact us like it should.

Think about that phrase in conjunction with what what missionary Nate Saint wrote in his journal on December 18th:

 "As we have a high old time this Christmas, may we who know Christ hear the cry of the damned as they hurtle headlong into the Christ-less night without ever having a chance. May we be moved with compassion as our Lord was. May we shed tears of repentance for these we have failed to bring out of the darkness. Beyond the smiling scenes of Bethlehem, may we see the crushing agony of Golgotha. May God give us a new vision of His will concerning the lost and our responsibility." 

Twenty-one days later, Nate Saint died attempting to rescue some of those very people.  Convicting, isn't it?

On the elders agenda for 2012 is a look at our vision and what our focus as a church is to be. The lost will certainly be part of that discussion. We will also be praying a fairly specific prayer in regards to this as well.  More on that in the not too distant future.

What Do You Want For Christmas?

Coming home from work today, I heard someone comment about Philippians 4:13.  This is the verse that says; "I can do all things through Him who gives me strength."  The speaker reminded those listening that Paul was talking about doing without in this verse.  The verse before refers to Paul getting by with plenty, but also about being "brought low", "facing hunger...and need".

Often times this verse is used as motivation to do something - like an athletic endeavor or achieving something even though we failed to prepare for it.  That's not really the context.  Paul is talking about getting by without -- but getting by and getting through because of Christ.

Right now, at this time of year, we are bombarded with ads telling us about all the things we can't do without.  We are told we have to have this or that.  Really?  Seriously?  I wonder what Paul would say if he lived here in the United States with us right now.  What are we worshipping at Christmas time?  Just wondering.

Baseball, Christmas, Family

I just heard about the second part of this story this week.  Perhaps you heard about the first part this summer.  After the third out of an inning Texas Ranger All-Star and MVP Josh Hamilton flips the ball towards the fans in the stands.  In a very unfortunate incident, a father who is at the game with his young son, falls out of the stands and dies after reaching for the ball.

Now the second half of the story: during the World Series, the Rangers had the boy come to the mound and throw out the first pitch to Hamilton.  50,000+ fans in the stadium stood to their feet and applauded.   The next part was pretty cool.  Hamilton hugged the boy, then his mother. You could tell he was saying something to her that made it tough for her to control her emotions.

Hamilton said; "I just asked her if they were believers in Christ and she said they were. I said, `Well, we know where your husband is right now. Make sure that the little one knows who his daddy was and what he stood for."  

You can see how this all played out in this video link.

This story serves also serves as a reminder to us that there are many in our church family who will experience the Christmas holidays without a loved one because they passed away this year.  There are at least a dozen here at CrossPoint who are affected this way.  If you know who one of those people are, please remember to pray for them during the next few weeks.  Christmas is often a time when family gathers, so it can also be a very tough time emotionally.