Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Serenity Prayer
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him Forever in the next. Amen. -Reinhold Niebuhr
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
A Six Word Life
The following is from Serious Times.
Vol. 4, No. 23
A Six Word Life
Could you sum up your life in six words?
After this year, some of you might say, “Sure. ‘It has been a living hell.’”
Actually, hundreds attempted the summation in the surprise best seller Not Quite What I Was Planning.
Get it? (the title is itself a six word example)
Some example of how the contributors – some famous, some not – attempt to succinctly sum up their lives:
“Liars, hysterectomy didn’t improve sex life!” (Joan Rivers)
“Well, I thought it was funny.” (Stephen Colbert)
“Maybe you had to be there.” (Roy Blount, Jr.)
“Revenge is living well, without you.” (Joyce Carol Oates)
Many of the submissions are poignant, such as “Followed yellow brick road. Disappointment ensued.” Or “Should have risked asking, he sighed.” Then there was the USA Today reporter who offered his own while reviewing the book: “Dad was Santa. Downhill from there.”
Fun game at a dinner party. Maybe even cheap therapy.
But how should a life be summarized?It’s the end of one year and the start of another. We naturally reflect and reposition; regret and re-commit; remember and then renew.
Perhaps it’s a good time to try and strap on a six-word goal.
I even have one we might all consider. It was the six-word summation of the life of David.
“…did God’s will during his lifetime” (Acts 13:36, NCV).
At least it beats “Never really finished anything, except cake.”
James Emery White
Vol. 4, No. 23
A Six Word Life
Could you sum up your life in six words?
After this year, some of you might say, “Sure. ‘It has been a living hell.’”
Actually, hundreds attempted the summation in the surprise best seller Not Quite What I Was Planning.
Get it? (the title is itself a six word example)
Some example of how the contributors – some famous, some not – attempt to succinctly sum up their lives:
“Liars, hysterectomy didn’t improve sex life!” (Joan Rivers)
“Well, I thought it was funny.” (Stephen Colbert)
“Maybe you had to be there.” (Roy Blount, Jr.)
“Revenge is living well, without you.” (Joyce Carol Oates)
Many of the submissions are poignant, such as “Followed yellow brick road. Disappointment ensued.” Or “Should have risked asking, he sighed.” Then there was the USA Today reporter who offered his own while reviewing the book: “Dad was Santa. Downhill from there.”
Fun game at a dinner party. Maybe even cheap therapy.
But how should a life be summarized?It’s the end of one year and the start of another. We naturally reflect and reposition; regret and re-commit; remember and then renew.
Perhaps it’s a good time to try and strap on a six-word goal.
I even have one we might all consider. It was the six-word summation of the life of David.
“…did God’s will during his lifetime” (Acts 13:36, NCV).
At least it beats “Never really finished anything, except cake.”
James Emery White
Monday, December 29, 2008
Leave Jesus Out For The Year
This year do not put Baby in the attic or in storage. find a little nativity scene and place it somewhere you will see it on a regular basis. May it remind you that Christmas is much more than a season. Christmas is all year long.
Merry "Post" Christmas and Happy "Soon To Be" New Year
This is what I have been saying to people since the day after Christmas. It's been fun. The responses vary. One lady said something like, "someones already been drinking." Funny. I do not "drink". She said it in jest, somewhat. I know it's little over the top and goofy, but so are the movies we like and stories we tell that make us laugh. So, "Merry 'Post' Christmas and Happy 'Soon To Be' New Year.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Rejoicing
21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived. 22 When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord"), 24 and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: "a pair of doves or two young pigeons." 25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: 29 "Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. 30 For my eyes have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared in the sight of all people, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel." 33 The child's father and mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too." 36 There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
Luke 2:21-38
Luke 2:21-38
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Luke 2:1-7
1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to his own town to register.4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Luke 2:1-7
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Good Stuff
This morning was good. Great to see men stepping up and helping people by taking umbrellas to them as they parked to enter the building. That's making a difference and spreading Christmas Cheer.People enjoyed the food and visiting that the Hospitality Team provided for all to enjoy. That's spreading Christmas Cheer.
Children sang at the 11:15 AM service and Christmas Cheer was experienced.
GOOD STUFF!!!
serioustimes.com
Vol. 4, No. 22
The Narcissistic Church
The names say it all.
YouTube. MySpace. And, of course, ipod, itunes, imac, and iPhone.
If there is a theme to our day, it’s that “it’s all about me.” The technical term is narcissism. In Greek mythology, Narcissus is the character who, upon passing his reflection in the water, becomes so enamored with himself that he devotes the rest of his life to his own reflection. From this we get our term “narcissism,” the preoccupation with self.
The value of "narcissism" is the classic "I, me, mine" mentality that places personal pleasure and fulfillment at the forefront of concerns. Historian Christopher Lasch went so far as to christen ours “the culture of narcissism,” calling it our new religion.
Now as Christians, this should be antithetical. We follow a savior who said, “I did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give my life as a ransom for many;” “Whoever wants to be first must become last;” “Whoever wants to be great among must become the slave of all;” and then bowed in submission to the Father Himself and said, “Not my will, but yours.”
Yet a spiritual narcissism has invaded our thinking where the individual needs and desires of the Believer become the center of attention.
Have you ever heard the way we talk?
“I want to go where I'm fed" or "I need to be ministered to” rolls off our tongues without even blushing. We walk out of a worship service and say, "I didn't get anything out of it" as if worship was about what we received rather than what we gave to God.
And it’s killing the church, blinding our vision, paralyzing our mission, and muting our voice.
But is it simply a reflection of a narcissistic culture? Or could it be something we secretly feed ourselves?
Consider the first two questions any organization must ask itself (courtesy of Peter Drucker): What is our mission? and Who is our customer? The second of these involves crass language, I know, for any church. But let’s consider them a moment. First, what is our mission? I would argue that it is to seek and to save the lost (how could we have a mission other than the one Christ had and then entrusted to us as the church?). Yes, the Great Commission involves discipleship, but I tire of those who pit evangelism against discipleship, as if doing one prevents concentrating on the other. It’s a both/and, not an either/or. But more to the point of the mission, if you never reach anyone for Christ, who, exactly, will you be discipling? Evangelism must be in the vanguard.
From this comes the second question: Who, then, is our primary customer? It is inescapable: if our mission is to seek and to save and then disciple the lost, then our “customer” is the one who is lost. Here is the breakdown: most churches have, as their primary focus, reaching and then serving the already convinced. From this, services rendered to the believer become paramount, and other churches become the “competition.”
Which means that we are not victims of a culture of narcissism; we are purveyors of it.
There are those who would say that the place where spiritual narcissism runs amok is in contemporary approaches to outreach that seek to cater to the unchurched – as if these churches are abandoning orthodoxy in any way possible in order to gain warm bodies. Most, of course, are doing nothing of the sort. In truth, the real narcissism is among the churches catering to the believer, making their needs paramount to such a degree that the lost are, well, staying so. Because nowhere does true spiritual narcissism face more opposition than in a church which is choosing to die to itself in order to reach out and serve those around them.
Then it’s not about whether you are fed, but whether or not you have learned to feed yourself and, best of all, feed others.
Then it’s not about whether you are ministered to, but whether you are, yourself, a minister to others.
Then it’s not about whether you got anything out of the service, but whether you gave God anything of service.
And that is a church that has died to itself enough to….live.
James Emery White
Sources
Christopher Lasch, The Culture of Narcissism.
The Narcissistic Church
The names say it all.
YouTube. MySpace. And, of course, ipod, itunes, imac, and iPhone.
If there is a theme to our day, it’s that “it’s all about me.” The technical term is narcissism. In Greek mythology, Narcissus is the character who, upon passing his reflection in the water, becomes so enamored with himself that he devotes the rest of his life to his own reflection. From this we get our term “narcissism,” the preoccupation with self.
The value of "narcissism" is the classic "I, me, mine" mentality that places personal pleasure and fulfillment at the forefront of concerns. Historian Christopher Lasch went so far as to christen ours “the culture of narcissism,” calling it our new religion.
Now as Christians, this should be antithetical. We follow a savior who said, “I did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give my life as a ransom for many;” “Whoever wants to be first must become last;” “Whoever wants to be great among must become the slave of all;” and then bowed in submission to the Father Himself and said, “Not my will, but yours.”
Yet a spiritual narcissism has invaded our thinking where the individual needs and desires of the Believer become the center of attention.
Have you ever heard the way we talk?
“I want to go where I'm fed" or "I need to be ministered to” rolls off our tongues without even blushing. We walk out of a worship service and say, "I didn't get anything out of it" as if worship was about what we received rather than what we gave to God.
And it’s killing the church, blinding our vision, paralyzing our mission, and muting our voice.
But is it simply a reflection of a narcissistic culture? Or could it be something we secretly feed ourselves?
Consider the first two questions any organization must ask itself (courtesy of Peter Drucker): What is our mission? and Who is our customer? The second of these involves crass language, I know, for any church. But let’s consider them a moment. First, what is our mission? I would argue that it is to seek and to save the lost (how could we have a mission other than the one Christ had and then entrusted to us as the church?). Yes, the Great Commission involves discipleship, but I tire of those who pit evangelism against discipleship, as if doing one prevents concentrating on the other. It’s a both/and, not an either/or. But more to the point of the mission, if you never reach anyone for Christ, who, exactly, will you be discipling? Evangelism must be in the vanguard.
From this comes the second question: Who, then, is our primary customer? It is inescapable: if our mission is to seek and to save and then disciple the lost, then our “customer” is the one who is lost. Here is the breakdown: most churches have, as their primary focus, reaching and then serving the already convinced. From this, services rendered to the believer become paramount, and other churches become the “competition.”
Which means that we are not victims of a culture of narcissism; we are purveyors of it.
There are those who would say that the place where spiritual narcissism runs amok is in contemporary approaches to outreach that seek to cater to the unchurched – as if these churches are abandoning orthodoxy in any way possible in order to gain warm bodies. Most, of course, are doing nothing of the sort. In truth, the real narcissism is among the churches catering to the believer, making their needs paramount to such a degree that the lost are, well, staying so. Because nowhere does true spiritual narcissism face more opposition than in a church which is choosing to die to itself in order to reach out and serve those around them.
Then it’s not about whether you are fed, but whether or not you have learned to feed yourself and, best of all, feed others.
Then it’s not about whether you are ministered to, but whether you are, yourself, a minister to others.
Then it’s not about whether you got anything out of the service, but whether you gave God anything of service.
And that is a church that has died to itself enough to….live.
James Emery White
Sources
Christopher Lasch, The Culture of Narcissism.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Good Stuff From Randy Forbes
A few weeks ago, a staff member shared with me a story she had read about a Marine serving our country in the Persian Gulf War years ago. It was the Marine’s first Christmas away from his wife and small daughter, and every day leading up to the holiday grew lonelier and lonelier. The thought of spending Christmas eating turkey in the mess hall of a Navy ship with his buddies just wasn’t the same as being in the comfort of his own home filled with the aroma of his wife’s cooking and being with his family. Just days before Christmas, letters to “Any Solider” were delivered throughout the ship. He usually didn’t take the “Any Soldier” letters, since he was lucky enough to receive regular correspondence from his wife and daughter. However, this time he felt compelled to – in the lonely days before Christmas, it was worth receiving all of the words of encouragement he could get. He opened the letter and began to read the words, obviously scribbled from the hand of a young child. Towards the end of the note he read:
My daddy is a Marine serving over there too. If you see him, tell him hi and that I love him and I miss him. The Marine sat down stunned and quiet as he looked down at the bottom of the note – his own daughter had sent the letter.
For many today, the stress of our current economic situation makes it difficult to think of the Christmas season as joyous. Many individuals are confronting job loss, or facing the realization that their business must downsize because of decreasing revenue. Many individuals and families are being forced to cut back and there are many who are doing much less this year for Christmas. For military families, the sheer difficulty of separation is often felt the hardest during the holidays.
But stories like the Marine receiving an “Any Soldier” note are reminders of the giving and hopeful nature of the season, and that sometimes the smallest acts of encouragement or kindness can provide hope to someone who needs it the most. This Christmas season, I hope you will take time to reflect on the ways you and your family can show gratitude and encouragement to those who are in need – to remember those who are serving our country, to serve those who are sick, and to show gratitude for the freedoms we enjoy as a nation.
My daddy is a Marine serving over there too. If you see him, tell him hi and that I love him and I miss him. The Marine sat down stunned and quiet as he looked down at the bottom of the note – his own daughter had sent the letter.
For many today, the stress of our current economic situation makes it difficult to think of the Christmas season as joyous. Many individuals are confronting job loss, or facing the realization that their business must downsize because of decreasing revenue. Many individuals and families are being forced to cut back and there are many who are doing much less this year for Christmas. For military families, the sheer difficulty of separation is often felt the hardest during the holidays.
But stories like the Marine receiving an “Any Soldier” note are reminders of the giving and hopeful nature of the season, and that sometimes the smallest acts of encouragement or kindness can provide hope to someone who needs it the most. This Christmas season, I hope you will take time to reflect on the ways you and your family can show gratitude and encouragement to those who are in need – to remember those who are serving our country, to serve those who are sick, and to show gratitude for the freedoms we enjoy as a nation.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Luke 2:8-20 The Message
8-12 There were sheepherders camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God's angel stood among them and God's glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, "Don't be afraid. I'm here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David's town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you're to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger." 13-14 At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God's praises: Glory to God in the heavenly heights, Peace to all men and women on earth who please him. 15-18 As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the sheepherders talked it over. "Let's get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us." They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. Seeing was believing. They told everyone they met what the angels had said about this child. All who heard the sheepherders were impressed. 19-20 Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself. The sheepherders returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they'd been told!
What Child Is This
What Child is this who, laid to restOn Mary’s lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,
While shepherds watch are keeping?
This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing;
Haste, haste, to bring Him laud,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.
Why lies He in such mean estate,
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christians, fear, for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading.
Nails, spear shall pierce Him through,
The cross be borne for me, for you.
Hail, hail the Word made flesh,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.
So bring Him incense, gold and myrrh,
Come peasant, king to own Him;
The King of kings salvation brings,
Let loving hearts enthrone Him.
Raise, raise a song on high,
The virgin sings her lullaby.
Joy, joy for Christ is born,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,
While shepherds watch are keeping?
This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing;
Haste, haste, to bring Him laud,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.
Why lies He in such mean estate,
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christians, fear, for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading.
Nails, spear shall pierce Him through,
The cross be borne for me, for you.
Hail, hail the Word made flesh,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.
So bring Him incense, gold and myrrh,
Come peasant, king to own Him;
The King of kings salvation brings,
Let loving hearts enthrone Him.
Raise, raise a song on high,
The virgin sings her lullaby.
Joy, joy for Christ is born,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.
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