Christmas: It's Not Your Birthday

This is the title of an upcoming sermon at a local church called Church at the Center. I have not heard the sermon, but when I heard the title it started my gears clicking. I immediately wrote it down and said, “There is the title of my next blog.” It tied in with the recent theme of my 2 most recent blogs so I will continue on with a series that has addressed greed and hedonism and end it today with coming to Christ as the perfect way to start the new year.

The last couple of weeks I have written about many being unsatisfied with what we have and how we feel God owes us more because of our faith in Christ. We no longer are asking ourselves how can I be the hands and feet of Christ but instead what can God do for me. In this same vein, Christmas has lost its’ meaning.

Now is where everyone will jump in and remind me that Christ was not born in December and that Christmas has many pagan traditions and is therefore premised on a lie. I know all of this. I also know that the wedding ring does not stop people from cheating or intensify the feelings you have for someone and the declaration of independence was not signed until almost a month after July 4^th. They are representations and reminders of momentous occasions.  

Christmas is the same story. It is a reminder of the greatest gift we have been given, the birth of Christ. Christ was born so that we would have a mediator between us and God. He was born so that we might receive grace and a promise of salvation. If not for Christ, we are lost. Our sins are not taken away; we have no bridge to God and no promise of eternal life.

That makes Christ’s birth a pretty big deal. In fact, that means the birth of Christ is THE big deal. Some where in our celebrating of Christmas this meaning has become secondary to what can I get for me. The main concern is about getting and receiving material things.

Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy both giving and receiving gifts. It is a blessing to have the finances and loved ones to generously give and receive gifts on the day we celebrate the greatest gift of all being given to us. I just wanted to remind you that without Christ there is no Christmas. It is not about season’s greetings, but merry CHRIST-MASS! Christ truly is the reason we celebrate this season, whether it is the correct day or not.

In 1 Timothy 1:15 Paul says, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” That means that Jesus came to save all of us, for Romans 3:23 tells us that, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” So what do we have to do in order to be saved and reap the gift of Christ's sacrifice?

1.       You must have faith that Jesus died to forgive your sins. Ephesians 2:8 states, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”

2.       Ask God into your heart in the form of the Holy Spirit to guide you. Ephesians 2:13, “For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.”

3.       Confess your sins to God. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

This year, let it be the year that you decided to try a new way of living. To steal an expression from the 12 step groups: Give us 90 days of your life, and if at the end of that 90 days you are not fully satisfied, we will gladly refund your misery. This year as you are giving and receiving gifts, with every gift you buy and every gift you get, remember the greatest gift of all that you were given over 2000 years ago.

HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS, enjoy food, fellowship and gifts with loved ones and use the holidays as a time to commit or recommit your life to Christ and being a fount of Christian love and warmth for all to experience in the coming year!

Merry Christ-Mas

I am one of those who wishes everyone a merry Christmas. I tend to pronounce it Christ-Mas, not Chris-Mas. My goal is not to offend. I smile and say thank you if someone wishes me a Happy Chanukah, and I would do the same if someone wished me a happy Kwanzaa or asked me to have a great Winter Solstice. They have their beliefs and I have mine. Mine are just different. I feel that mine are of greater import due to the significance of who Jesus Christ was and what He stood for.

This is for all who want to tell me about the pagan origins of Christmas; save your breath. I know Christmas tradition is steeped in Paganism. That is not a news flash to anyone who is slightly educated. It was discovered when conquering people if they could keep some of their rituals they tended to be less likely to revolt. Constantine knew this. He took Pagan celebrations and gave them Christian identities and names.

I also hear that Jesus was not born on the 25th of December. That news is pretty stale, also. It is the date that is used to represent the day he was born. It is not the only commemoration of something that occurred in history celebrated on the wrong day. The United States declared independence on July 2nd of 1776 and the declaration of independence was signed on August 2nd of 1776. It is rumored that the last signature was not added until 1777, yet we celebrate July 4th, 1776 as Independence Day. As good a day as any.

I still feel some hesitation in celebrating Christmas, because of all of the Pagan customs it contains. Trust me, Saint Nick and presents to each other are about as far from the true meaning of Christ's birth as we can get. Then you add mistletoe and we get further and further away from Christianity. Therefore I use December 25th as a day to enjoy the company of loved ones as we celebrate the birth of Christ, not as His actual birthday. The birth of Jesus is such an amazing event for what Christ's birth, life, death and resurrection represent.

Christ's Birth

So what is the significance of Christ's birth. For starters, it showed that God cares about us. He is not some absentee God who created us then left us alone. Instead, He loves us very much. He cared enough about us to send His only begotten son to Earth. He was born to live, suffer and die as a human. He knew the outcome, yet came to fulfill what was written in the Old Testament.

Christ's Life

Christ life was used to prosthelytize about the importance of doing the will of God and believing in Christ. We receive the message of salvation thanks to the life of Christ. Jesus says it best in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth and the life." Without Christ we do not receive the message of salvation. He let us know that we are not worthy of forgiveness, and that there is nothing we can do to earn it. 

Christ's Death

Jesus was born to die on a cross for our sins. His death was the sacrifice that took the weight of all of our sins, period. The crucifixion of Christ is how grace came into our life. Grace is unmerited favor. It is the death of a perfect man as a sacrifice to wash away the sins in our life. He atoned for our sins and gave us the ability to live for eternity in Heaven.

Christ's Resurrection 

Christ's resurrection is significant for several reasons. First, it shows that Christ is the Son of God. Only God has power over the grave. We also have reason to believe all that Christ said, since He was risen. In 1 Corinthians 15:17 Paul says that if Christ was not resurrected, our faith is in vain and we are still accountable for our sins. Since Christ was resurrected, we now have faith and know that our sins are forgiven.

In closing, the birth of Jesus is important. "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but will have everlasting life," John 3:16. That is a pretty good reason to celebrate!  Jesus birth did not happened on December 25th, but we remember it on that day. It is a day to remember Jesus, and to share our faith with the family and friends we are around during the holidays.

God Bless you, have a very Merry Christ-Mas!!!!

A Day at Silver Dollar City City

So I went to Silver Dollar City (SDC) with the family yesterday after DJ’s basketball trophy presentation. It was a beautiful day to go to SDC. It is December and still in the 60’s. Unfortunately, I was not
the only one who had the idea to go. The traffic there was insane and so were the lines. And I do mean insane!

What normally takes me 45 minutes to drive took 2 ½ hours. We did have some great family conversation on the way there, though. DJ practiced his songs for the upcoming Christmas concert at Praise Assembly. We sat in crazy lines of traffic, though. I have learned to just laugh and realize that there is nothing I can do about it but get mad or be glad. I have learned to be glad, mostly.

Others have not been so fortunate. I saw a truck from Louisiana with several bumper stickers on it that contained Bible verses and said Christ Saves flipping people off after rolling down his window. I also
saw people cutting others off, running red lights and driving on the shoulder. Traffic definitely brings out the worst in people.

Thankfully I was with family and enjoying myself. Then we got to SDC and it was just as crazy. I fully believe that is the busiest I have ever seen it. We headed straight to the Powder Keg, which is a roller
coaster that shoots you out and accelerates you from 0 - 53  in 2.8 seconds. My son got to sit in the very front for the first time. He loved it. I loved what I saw while we were standing in line.

There were two teenage girls standing in front of us and a young girl (4-6) and her dad behind us. The girl we will talk about was wearing a Christian tshirt and a sock monkey hat.. She and her friend were
talking and the little girl started talking to her dad about the sock monkey hat. Her dad told her to tell the girl she liked her hat. She took a couple of steps forward and nervously said, “I really like your
hat. I have a lot of sock monkey stuff at home.”

The teenager took off her hat, handed it to the little girl and told her she could keep it. “I have another one at home.” The dad offered money, which was refused. What a cool thing to see. It even impressed
my son. “Wow, dad. I can’t believe she just gave her that hat. She was really nice.” They boarded and the father commented to me how nice it was to see a teenager being that nice. “It is really rare anymore.”

We rode the roller coaster, ate, played in the kid’s area, watched the Frosty the Snowman show then stood in line awaiting the parade. As we were waiting I saw the guy in front of me was wearing a Celebrate Recovery backpack. I told him I liked his backpack and we proceeded to have a conversation. He was from Little Rock where he was in CR, had seven years in recovery, and professed to CR savin g his marriage and his life.

Next he introduced me to his CR pastor, who was there with him.  I shared a two minute synopsis of my story with them. We watched the parade, shook hands and acknowledged how nice it was to meet each
other and went about our merry way. It took us forever to get out, and my mind kept recalling the two people I had the pleasure of meeting over the course of the day.

As we were leaving my son saw the teenage girl again. He said, “Daddy, there is that big girl that was really nice and gave that little girl her hat. I want to do that when I get bigger.” Positive example was
downloaded into my son’s brain and I didn’t even have to set it. So thankful for some of the single serving people that come into our lives.

In closing, I had a fun day that was made even better by people representing what they wore. There was also another reminding me that if we profess it we better represent it, even if traffic sucks. How many people are drawn to Christ when we do good deeds and repelled when we are mean. Whether we see them or not, people are impacted by the things you do, be they good or bad!

From Shack to Temple Weight Loss Wednesday Thanksgiving left me Thankful

Thanksgiving is a traditional holiday about.....................EATING!! More so than any holiday, it is about getting together with family and eating. Christmas is about eating, but it is also about presents (It should be about Jesus but a lot of people have taken Jesus out of the equation unfortutunately). The 4th of July is about eating (mmmmmmmm, BBQ!!), but it is also about fireworks. Thanksgiving is about eating, and more eating while watching football then snacking on leftovers while talking and playing cards/board games with family. Eating, eating and more eating!! Not a good time for dieters.

I generally have gained about 5 pounds during the holiday, especially since I have began going to Arkansas to hang out with my wife's family there for multiple days. This year was no different in one of those respects. I went to Searcy with my family for Thanksgiving for several days. I ate, and I did not eat Paleo for a couple of days. It didn't kill me, because I controlled it.

What I did do was eat the things that I wanted to, just like I always do. But there were some major differences from the usual:

1. I took a smaller piece than I normally would have. Think an 1/8 of the pie and not 1/4 of it!
2. I chewed more and savored the food. I didn't just swallow and shovel, but chewed and enjoyed.
3. I ate more salads and vegetables than I ever have before and skimped on the starchy foods.
4. I talked in between bites, instead of just shoving massive spoonful after massive spoonful into my mouth.
5. I did not snack on the unhealthiest things there. I would snack on white turkey meat instead of chips and dip.
6. I drank mostly water and limited the tea and soda and when I drank tea it was unsweet.
7. I took time and went outside and played football with my son instead of being sedentary the entire time.

These tips allowed me to accomplish what I did over the last two weeks. I didn't gain 5 pounds. In fact, I lost 2.6 pounds. That is not a lot, but it is better than any Thanksgiving in my past. How did you fare this Thanksgiving?

I AM A DAD!!

There are some roles in this world that we are given that we do not take nearly as importantly as we should. I know that Dad is one of those roles. The statistics for boys and girls that grow up without their father or a strong father figure in their lives in plain scary. The statistics for children that have their dads in their lives is reassuring.

Yet with all of the research out there )showing girls without fathers in their lives are 10 times more likely to get raped and 12 times more likely to be addicted to drugs as well as boys being 12 times more likely to drop out of high school and 20 times more likely to go to prison) we still have children that have no active dad in their lives. This has got to change. It is not only morally right, it is also Biblically correct:

1. Malachi 4:6, "And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse." 
2. Ephesians 6:4, "And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord."
3. Proverbs 22:6, "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it."

As you can see from these scriptures, a father is vitally important in the lives of their children. I also think of my clients and the number of them who either did not have their father in their lives at all or had a dad who was in and out of prison. Those children have themselves grown up to be alcoholics and addicts after living through countless horrors: physical abuse as a child, being molested, raped, selling their bodies, going to prison and going from one violent relationship to the next all the while searching for that father figure they never had. 

In order for this to not happen, we need to become more active in the lives of our children. I want my son to hear about my past from me, not from the people around him. I want him to know my face because he sees it, not because he has been shown pictures. I want my son to learn right and wrong from me, not from somebody else. I want my son to learn how to treat a lady from me, not from his classmates. I want him to be educated on the dangers of drugs, alcohol and cigarettes at home by me and not during lunch behind one of the school buildings from his friends. 

But there is a catch! In order to teach him, I must be present in his life. That means that I must take time from my busy schedule and make him the center of my attention sometimes. It means that some years he may get vacations that he wants and I will not get the one that I want. It means that I may miss a game here and there on television. I have to spend quality time with him or all is for naught. But this should not be a problem, and this weekend my son reminded me why it is not a chore to be around him. 

This Christmas my son amazed me, as he often does. He saw the drum set he got for Christmas and squealed. He then proceeded to play for the next half hour. All I had to do was look at him and give him a thumbs up and the smile on his face set my heart on fire. How could anyone look at one of their children and not want to be in their lives. 

His smile made me realize that it is not only him that learns from me, but I have learned from him as well. He has taught me how to fully love unconditionally, a lesson that my father had taught me but I had somehow forgotten. Through prison, physical abuse, depression and addiction I had hardened my heart. I would let no one in. 

My son reminded me why I had to let people in. If I do not open myself up, then all that I have been through is for nothing. The devil has won. He has tortured me and tormented me and I will keep that to myself and not use it to help others who are hurting now. Thanks to him I remember that I need to love others even when they fail me. You see, for the first year of my sons life I failed him, and yet I am still his world. 

I love that little guy! Every day I thank God for the gift of my son to remind me what unconditional love looks like. Thanks to my son, I get to live a live worth living. Thanks to my son, I am a dad!!

Stop or Go

I went to  a couple of different churches for services on Easter Sunday. I went to the church that I attend, which is New Life Church. I then went to a church in Branson that is my father-in-laws church, which is called Woodland Hills Family Church. I really enjoyed both services that I attended.

I always love the lessons at my church. We are blessed with Pastor Dan Call, who gives some of the most informative and passionate lessons I have ever heard. During worship and the service I can feel the Holy Spirit working on me. If that is happening to me, I know that it is happening to others. In future blogs I can guarantee that I will expound on the virtues of my Pastor, my home church, my brothers and sisters there as well as the worship team. We are truly blessed at New Life.

The true reason that I am blogging about an Easter service 3 weeks later is that Pastor Ted Cunningham at Woodland Hills had a great sermon. There were a couple of visuals that he handed out that were quite memorable. He handed us a piece of red candy and a piece of green candy as we came into the church.
There was a purpose that is pretty easy to understand. "The red piece stands for stop and the green piece stands for go," he told us. "Ask yourself if you and your family, does your life reflect a resurrected Jesus. I want you to ask yourself, am I a stop Christian or am I a go Christian."

That is some pretty heavy stuff to discuss during an Easter service. There are many that come on Easter that do not usually come, and based on his service there are many will not come back. He said that there are many driving the roads who would leave church that day who think that they are Christians, and they are not. If he were asked to pick a color, that color would be red. He then said that he was not judging, he was fruit inspecting (I found that to be a pretty funny way to look at it).

The best part of his sermon was his acknowledging the truth. He said that he knew that he might offend some of the people there, but was okay with that. "I have not seen some of you since Christmas, and I will not see you again until Christmas. How do you explain to your kids why you only go to church twice a year." He did not talk about heaven or hell, instead he asked everyone to think about what motivates them.

What he talked about was a way to try and get the people who were there that day to think. Christ loved you enough to die, and He did not die a peaceful death. He died one of the most horrific deaths that is possible, and He did not have to. He chose to! That is huge, and the question is.......Do we live our lives in a way that says thank you to Jesus for his sacrifice (a go Christian), or do we slap Jesus in the face with the actions that we make (a stop Christian).

Tithing, showing up at church several times a week and even volunteering make a good church member, but do not make you a go Christian. We are to make disciples of others. We do this by proclaiming the good news that Jesus extolled. We do this by talking to that family member who does not know Christ, even if it makes them mad.

Jesus stated that He would divide families. If you love your family more than you do Jesus, He says that you are not worthy of Him, and that if you do not take up your cross and follow Him is not worthy of Him in Matthew 10:34-38. This is pretty hard to do, if you ask me. Choose Christ over our families if it comes down to it. I am sure it was also hard to walk the Via Dolorosa on the way to Golgotha, but Christ did. To quote a song, Jesus paid it all, yet we seem to be content to ride on his coattails instead of picking up our cross.

So ask yourself this question, are you a stop or a go Christian? Tomorrow we will look at what it means to take up Jesus cross and become a go Christian!!