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!

The Beverly Hillbillies and My Faith

I am sure that this is a confusing title for a blog. After all, what could the Beverly Hillbillies possibly have to do with my faith? Did the show lead me to God, or did it help me get saved? No, it did not, nor did I learn anything about my faith from watching the show. That said, there are similarities between me and other Christians in the church and the Clampett family and the socialites in Beverly Hills.

The Beverly Hillbillies was a “fish out of water” show. It was about a dirt poor family from the sticks that became rich instantly. They moved to Beverly Hills where they were around other rich people. Because of where they were from and how they acted various things happened. They were sometimes looked down upon They  frequently did not understand the conversations that occurred around them. They were frequently misunderstood by those they lived around. They did not understand a lot of the things they observed, and when people would try to become their friends there was often issues that occurred.

At least in the show, this was always met with laughter and applause. In real life, this is not the case. Instead of laughter and applause there are often bridges burned and greater divides created that separate and hurt one side or the other. Are you still wondering what this has to do with my faith?

I was Agnostic for most of my life.  It started in the 5^th grade, when I decided that God could not be true because of all of the abuse that I was subjected to and the hypocrisy I saw from those who professed to be Christians (mostly my parents). How could a God that cared about me allow this to happen? It continued through my life as I struggled with various addictions and mental health issues while going in and out of jail and prison. It ended when I turned my life over to God at 37.

When it comes to living my life Christ-like, I was definitely the polar opposite. I was a soldier for Satan for probably 2 decades of my life, as I dealt drugs and played a part in the manufacturing of methamphetamine. I had a different lifestyle, used different language and sought after goals that were completely different from Christians. But, after struggling for over 20 years with addictions/anger/depression/PTSD, I gave my life to God and everything instantly changed.

Like the Clampetts, I went from being poor to rich overnight. In my case it was not financially, it was spiritually. I then started going to church, and a lot of the things that came out of my mouth were not understood or alienated some people from me. I would talk about my addiction and prison, because that is what my life previously had consisted of. I think of the dirt that the Clampetts sometimes had on their boots that caused others to turn their noses up in disdain, except my dirt was on my soul.

The Clampetts had Mr Drysdale, who had lived a much different life and had different interests always there to tell them what they need. He was all about the money, which was important to him and he felt should be important to Jed. Today we have the “seeker-friendly” church reaching out to the lost, trying to give me what l already knew. I came to the church for something different, not something comfortable. Change happens not from the ordinary and known but the extraordinary and unknown!

I call it as I see it. I found that there are many who don’t, and much like Jethro I get confused when I see sin called something else. I see sin as black and white. I seldom see shades of gray. Do not get me wrong, I still sin. That said, I try to work on my shortcomings and I still see what I did as sin. Here are a couple of examples that I see often:

1.       How can you look down on someone who is watching pornography or using drugs/alcohol when you have a gluttony issue? Addiction is addiction, no matter how you slice it. Just because yours may be more socially acceptable does not mean that God sees them any differently.

2.       Here all I really have is the name of a book, “50 Shades of Grey.” Have you read it? I had a friend tell me that she had read the book. When I asked her if she was okay with her husband watching pornography she told me that was sick. She was offended when I told her there was no difference between watching it and reading it.

3.       Greed, the “name it claim it” creed and the “prosperity gospel” seem very close to the same thing, although people keep telling me they are different. Some people have a lot of money. There is nothing wrong with that. Other people shaft friends, spend little time with family or ignore the Holy Spirit’s voice because they are busy chasing wants not needs. That is greed, and that is wrong.

Because of these examples as well as many more, I am the fish out of water much like the Clampetts. I try to understand what I am seeing, but I interpret people’s actions instead of just listening to their words and get confused. I am used to taking things at face value, which is what I did in the world I used to live in. Back then it was life and death, so you had to learn how to read people and the best way to do that was by their actions.

Now that I am in a battle for my eternal soul, it seems to even more important that I prepare myself to be successful and here are the 5 Pillars I have found to do that:

1.       God/Jesus/Holy Spirit - This is where I found my hope, faith and strength. Without hope and faith, change is impossible. If I don’t have hope that it can change and the faith to pursue change, I am stuck right where I was. Recovery programs refer to a Higher Power, but “there is no High like the Most High!” (This was stolen from Mike Rogers new church in Springfield, MO)

2.       Bible – I say the book of James in particular, which is a great guide to help you live a better life. In recovery they talk about the 12 steps, in life I say there is no better game plan for living your life than the Bible!

3.       Mentor - Find someone who is living the life you would like to live, and ask them to help guide you there. In recovery programs, t hey call this a sponsor. Someone who is living t heir lives sober that has worked through the 12 steps to guide you through the 12 steps. In my walk, I would find someone that is walking the Christian walk I want to walk that can, with the help of the Bible, guide me to an improved walk.

4.       Accountability Partners – These are people with similar goals to yours that can encourage and support you while you encourage and support them. The best way to see if they have similar goals is by fruit inspecting, or gauging them by their words and their works.

5.       Church/Small Groups – This is the place where you gather with a group of people who have similar goals and gain hope/faith/strength. In recovery they talk about 12 step meetings, in life I talk about small groups which are set up with a specific topic!