Tonight is Christmas Eve and it is the time we celebrate Christ's birth. Not to mention, it's the largest sales season for the retail market thanks to all of us for buying stuff. But let's talk about the real reason for the season, and consider some things we often overlook.
Now the Bible tells us that an angel appeared to Mary and told her that she would become conceive and give birth to a son, whom she was to name, "Jesus". Then, an angel appeared to Joseph, Mary's fiancee, to tell him that Mary had conceived and that they were to be married. Now let's be serious for a minute. Guys, can you imagine having your girlfriend tell you they were expecting and that the baby was going to be the Son of God? Better yet, can you imagine telling all of your family and friends that your girlfriend was pregnant, but you swear the two of you haven't been doing the, "The Wild Thang"? "Really, I swear, it's not my baby!" Kind of give new meaning to the phrase, "My baby's mamma"
During Mary and Joseph's time, the reality is that Joseph could have denied Mary, accused her of having sex with another man, and Mary would have been stoned to death. And Joseph, well he could have just found him another girl and moved on. But we all know that's not what happened. I think it's really easy for all of us to comfort ourselves and say that it was easier for them back then. I submit that it was much harder and that the people that God chose to use, were people of extreme faith in him. I also think they faced serious persecution and the threat of persecution. Let's face it, Mary knew she could've been stoned but trusted God to deliver her.
As you hang out with your family this year, let's consider the cost of why we celebrate and remember to honor God in a way that give him all of the credit!! Merry Christmas!!
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Monday, December 12, 2011
Encouragement?
"Edify stupid!! Edify!" When I was in college at North Greenville (at that time it was a College) University, I had a group of friends with whom we used to jokingly use the above statement. The word "Edify" means to uplift, enlighten, and inform. For those of you that know me, you can already sense the sarcasm in the phrase. However, our aim was at, "Church People" and how "Church People" were almost always the first people to kick a brother while he was down! For the record, there is a huge difference between "Church People" and "Christians" (or as my Pastor Dean Herman calls it, Radical Followers of Christ) which has been explained in previous blogs.
When Paul wrote the first letter to the Church of Thessalonica (1 Thessalonians), we see Paul's heart and passion for encouraging others. The Church of Thessalonica, was a very young Church and was experiencing sever persecution, confusion about Jesus' return, and many people returning to an evil way of life. To put it in today's terms, they were victim of politics, rumors, and peer pressure. The difference between now and then is that Paul chose to encourage and uplift, "Edify", his young brothers and sisters in Christ instead of brow beating them from the pulpit of another Church. In 1 Thessalonians 5:11, Paul writes, "So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you'll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you're already doing this; just keep doing it. (The Message Translation)"
Many times I find myself wanting to smack somebody in the back of the head and ask, "Do you know how to use your head from more than a helmet rest?!" But the reality is, if we truely want to reach our community for Christ, we must learn to love like Christ! And one of the ways Christ loved, was through encouragement. We must, no I must, learn to encourage others if I am to reach my community! My challenge to you is that you will make a special effort to encourage somebody today!
When Paul wrote the first letter to the Church of Thessalonica (1 Thessalonians), we see Paul's heart and passion for encouraging others. The Church of Thessalonica, was a very young Church and was experiencing sever persecution, confusion about Jesus' return, and many people returning to an evil way of life. To put it in today's terms, they were victim of politics, rumors, and peer pressure. The difference between now and then is that Paul chose to encourage and uplift, "Edify", his young brothers and sisters in Christ instead of brow beating them from the pulpit of another Church. In 1 Thessalonians 5:11, Paul writes, "So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you'll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you're already doing this; just keep doing it. (The Message Translation)"
Many times I find myself wanting to smack somebody in the back of the head and ask, "Do you know how to use your head from more than a helmet rest?!" But the reality is, if we truely want to reach our community for Christ, we must learn to love like Christ! And one of the ways Christ loved, was through encouragement. We must, no I must, learn to encourage others if I am to reach my community! My challenge to you is that you will make a special effort to encourage somebody today!
Sunday, December 4, 2011
"You're Going to Hell if...."
"You're going to hell if....." Now how many of us have heard that statement before? If you live in the South, no doubt you've heard that statement many times. "You're going to hell if you don't quit smoking", "You're going to hell if you don't quit drinking.", and "You're going to hell if you don't go to church on Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Wednesday night." rank among my favorites. If you've read my posts prior to this one, you've no doubt read my comments about the differences between "church people" and "Christians". My Pastor, Dean Herman, speaks of this difference on nearly every service. There is such a difference, the main stream media even had fun with "Church People" back in the 1990's with the Saturday Night Live sketch, "The Church Lady". What most Church People choose not to see, is that in God's eyes, sin is sin. Now don't freak out, because the same God that recognizes that sin is sin, is the same God that loved us enough to send his Son to die for us.
God isn't some all powerful Greek God-like being that is sitting on the high throne with a baseball bat waiting to whack us in the head every time we mess up. God does have a plan for each us that is designed to prosper us and not to harm us (Jeremiah 29:11). I know I do my share of messing up; makes me wonder if God looks on me and shakes his head from time to time as if to say, "Dang boy, you really thought that one through didn't you? But remember, sin is sin. Any sin in our lives separate us from communication with God since God cannot look on sin (which by the way is why he sent his son to die on the cross for OUR sins). There is no such thing as big or little sins. God DOES NOT have a grading scale for sin; it is what it is. The fact of the matter is, the only thing that will send us straight to Hell, is not accepting Christ as our Lord and Savior (This is what Church people call, "Being Saved"). Everything else are things that, in my words, hurt God's feelings. Romans 6:23 says, (I like the New Life Translation for this one) "You get what is coming to you when you sin. It is death! But God’s free gift is life that lasts forever. It is given to us by our Lord Jesus Christ." The God that has so richly blessed us with so many things, only wants to have a relationship with each of us. And when we sin, WAIT! Let me tell you what sin really is! Sin is things like lying, cheating, stealing, overeating, overworking, neglect, disrespect, being a dead beat dad or mom, gossip, lust, hate, bad attitudes, and many more! Did I mention GOSSIP? Anyway, when we sin, it's like slapping God in the face and saying, "Thanks God for letting your son be starved, tortured, and then murdered on public display, but I've got an image to keep..." I mean, how long would it take us to dump a friend or spouse if they treated us the way we treat God? Good thing he doesn't measure us with expectation the way we measure others.
If you've managed to read this far, I hope you find my blog useful.and encouraging. My challenge to myself and all of you, is to work on forgiveness and compassion for the coming year. My goal is to love everyone around me just as Christ has loved me! After all, how can we ask God to love and bless us, if we're not willing to do the same?
God isn't some all powerful Greek God-like being that is sitting on the high throne with a baseball bat waiting to whack us in the head every time we mess up. God does have a plan for each us that is designed to prosper us and not to harm us (Jeremiah 29:11). I know I do my share of messing up; makes me wonder if God looks on me and shakes his head from time to time as if to say, "Dang boy, you really thought that one through didn't you? But remember, sin is sin. Any sin in our lives separate us from communication with God since God cannot look on sin (which by the way is why he sent his son to die on the cross for OUR sins). There is no such thing as big or little sins. God DOES NOT have a grading scale for sin; it is what it is. The fact of the matter is, the only thing that will send us straight to Hell, is not accepting Christ as our Lord and Savior (This is what Church people call, "Being Saved"). Everything else are things that, in my words, hurt God's feelings. Romans 6:23 says, (I like the New Life Translation for this one) "You get what is coming to you when you sin. It is death! But God’s free gift is life that lasts forever. It is given to us by our Lord Jesus Christ." The God that has so richly blessed us with so many things, only wants to have a relationship with each of us. And when we sin, WAIT! Let me tell you what sin really is! Sin is things like lying, cheating, stealing, overeating, overworking, neglect, disrespect, being a dead beat dad or mom, gossip, lust, hate, bad attitudes, and many more! Did I mention GOSSIP? Anyway, when we sin, it's like slapping God in the face and saying, "Thanks God for letting your son be starved, tortured, and then murdered on public display, but I've got an image to keep..." I mean, how long would it take us to dump a friend or spouse if they treated us the way we treat God? Good thing he doesn't measure us with expectation the way we measure others.
If you've managed to read this far, I hope you find my blog useful.and encouraging. My challenge to myself and all of you, is to work on forgiveness and compassion for the coming year. My goal is to love everyone around me just as Christ has loved me! After all, how can we ask God to love and bless us, if we're not willing to do the same?
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