The Day After Christmas

After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. [Luke 2:17 New Living Translation]

The day after Christmas used to be a letdown for me as a kid. All the anticipation of waiting to see if I was going to get what I had wanted ended after the paper was ripped off the packages on Christmas morning. Whether I got all I wanted or not seemed irrelevant once I began to play with and enjoy what I did get. Then the day ended with a family meal and most of them leaving before dark. Waking up the next day was not near as exciting as it had been the day before. Everyday tasks were back to normal just twenty four hours after the big day. Leftover turkey and stuff would be served for lunch or dinner and the excitement of the season had slipped away somewhere. Kind of depressing in a way I would say.

I wonder what the day after Christmas was like in Bethlehem. For the majority of the folk most of them never knew that Christ was in the world. There was a select group however that did; the shepherds. The Bible is clear on what these guys did the day after Christmas. The excitement of all they had experienced beginning with the visit from the angels and ending with the visit to the stable. The day before Christmas they were just plain old shepherds but the day after Christmas they were evangelists; spreading the Good News!

For many Christmas is depressing for different reasons. Some have no family and live alone. Some are in poor health; others are grieved because loved ones have passed on.  For many Christmas was just another day just as it was for many of the residents in Bethlehem. Taxes still had to be paid, the Romans were still in charge, and life was still difficult for many. However the shepherd’s lives would never be the same. They had met the Savior.

I hope that perhaps you had a chance to meet Him this Christmas. Maybe in a church service, maybe at a Christmas play or perhaps you thought about Him during a quiet time in your home. The one thing I can tell you for sure is that if you did meet Him, you will be changed just as the shepherds were. The Spirit of Christmas never leaves! Jesus is the Gift that keeps on giving!

What Should We Expect?

Isaiah 3:9   Amplified Bible (AMP)

 Their respecting of persons and showing of partiality witnesses against them; they proclaim their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! For they have brought evil [as a reward upon themselves].

Sick. Sick, sick, sick. That’s how I feel about what happened in Newtown, Connecticut last week. That is also how I feel about the fact of how blind this nation as whole really is in regards to evil. I just watched HLN interview a child psychologist and ask, “How do we talk to our children about this. What do we tell them?” It makes me sick as a pastor to sit and listen to explanations that have no reference to the evil that is so deeply rooted in this society. When will people come to the knowledge of the truth? Better yet, when will people finally believe it? Did you know that over the past three years in Chicago there were two hundred and sixty kids killed in their public schools? Not all at once of course but still tragic. That does not grip us as much as these all killed at one time but it is every bit as tragic! Hundreds of children die each year at the hands of murderers, many of them killed by their own parents. What should we expect? When a nation tries to regulate the murder of children by calling it prochoice why should we expect God to be merciful toward us? The question is not why does God allow things like this to happen, the real question we should be asking is what have we done in order to deserve it? I agree with President Obama, we need to change as he said in an interview yesterday.

Here is what we can learn from all this. There is a deep spiritual problem in this country as well as in the world. Society as a whole does not want to face the truth. The truth is we have turned our backs on God. We have refused to acknowledge Him. We ignore His attempts to reach us and make fun of those who try to tell us about Him. In all the research in trying to place the blame on why this happened there is one that you will not hear his name mentioned; Satan. We will blame it on the guy’s mental health, his childhood, his relationship with his mom, the guns he had access to, and on and on. You will not hear anything about his spirituality. What you will not hear the mainstream administration and media consider is the influence of Satan upon our nation. When a people turn from God they turn to Satan; whether they want to believe it or not. How many evil acts will it take to wake us up? When will we seek the real truth?

Here is what to tell your kids. Tell them about God. Tell them about the evil that is rampant in society. Tell them about Jesus. That is, if you know Him. We cannot regulate evil and we will never be able to legislate righteousness. Jesus is our only hope. When we place our trust and faith in Him we will have a better understanding of why He came.

Cut The Legs Off Your Bed.

Isaiah 9 (NIV, the New International Version)

² The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.

A fellow goes to see a psychiatrist because he has trouble sleeping. He tells the doctor that monsters hide under his bed and when he turns out the light they come out and terrorize him. The doc suggests a night light and the man says that is why he cannot sleep; he keeps a light on. The doc tells him it will take several sessions but he will help him. The man tells a friend about it and the friend calls his pastor. The pastor sets up a meeting with the man. After a few weeks the psychiatrist office calls to see why the guy has not come back. He tells the doc he talked to a pastor and he resolved the issue. “What did he tell you?” The doc asked. “Let me guess; he said to pray and trust God and He would protect you; right?” Said the doc. The man replied; “No. He just said to cut the legs off the bed.”

If there is one thing we have managed to do over the centuries it has been to complicate the Gospel. God uses the analogy of light and darkness to illustrate to us the difference between our lives without Him in it, and our lives with Him in it. There is nothing simpler than the difference between light and darkness. At the start of creation we are told the earth was without form and darkness was over the surface of the deep (Genesis 1:2 NIV). We can say the same thing about the world before Christ came into it. We can say the same thing about our lives; those of us who have allowed Christ to come in.

There are millions today walking around in darkness; their understanding is darkened. You may be one of them. Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him (Ephesians 4:18 New Living Translation).

This Christmas season allow the Light to shine into your heart. Quit trying to make sense of it all on your own. Stop trying to fix all the issues yourself. It is not that complicated. Surrender it all to Jesus then allow Him to help you. “Cut the legs off your bed.”

Christmas Is Not Coming: It Came!

So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. (Luke 2:6 NKJV)

The cartoon titled How the Grinch Stole Christmas should be renamed to How the Grinch failed to Steal Christmas. The Grinch did not want Christmas to come to the people of Whoville. He was a secluded creature that caused him to be miserable and in order to produce some gladness in his heart he decided it could be accomplished by stealing the joy of others. Hmmm, sounds like another miserable fellow I have heard of; the devil. He too would have liked to keep Christmas from coming. Neither the Grinch nor the devil could stop it however.

We know the Grinch is a storybook character but the devil is real. The Grinch was converted by a mountain top experience; the devil will never be converted. The devil is at work in the lives of people at this very moment, maybe even yours, trying to stop the joy of Christmas from coming into their hearts. Keeping our attention with shopping and busyness to distract our focus from what Christmas really is. If the devil could have stopped God from coming to the earth in person he would have. He tried to talk Joseph into putting Mary away privately; that would have gotten her stoned for adultery. Mary summed up Christmas in her statement, “His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation” (Luke 1:50 NKJV).

The old Grinch never stopped Christmas from coming, it came. The old devil never stopped it from coming either; Jesus came! The devil will try to steal your joy just as the Grinch tried to steal the Whos’ joy. The Grinch found out that the joy of Christmas does not exist in things but in the heart. You can have that joy in your heart today regardless of your circumstances. Accept the Gift to you from God; Jesus. Allow the Christ of Christmas to come into your heart and your life. Then you will be singing, Fah who for-aze! Dah who dor-aze! Welcome Christmas! Christmas Day!

Thank You Lord For The Church Down The Road.

1 Thessalonians 1

New Living Translation (NLT)

² We always thank God for all of you and pray for you constantly. ³ As we pray to our God and Father about you, we think of your faithful work, your loving deeds, and the enduring hope you have because of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁴ We know, dear brothers and sisters, that God loves you and has chosen you to be his own people.

Our corn [i.e. wheat] did prove well, and God be praised, we had a good increase of Indian corn, and our barley indifferent good, but our peas not worth the gathering, for we feared they were too late sown. They came up very well, and blossomed, but the sun parched them in the blossom. Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors. They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week. At which time, amongst other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed on our governor, and upon the captain and others. And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you partakers of our plenty. (Edward Winslow's account, which he wrote in a letter dated December 12, 1621).

History teaches that this was the first thanksgiving celebration. There are no records indicating it was ever celebrated again until George Washington set a couple of one time thanksgiving days. It would not be until 1863 that Abraham Lincoln would designate the last Thursday of November as a national holiday of thanksgiving. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 (approved by Congress in 1941), changed it from Abraham Lincoln's designation as the last Thursday in November (which could occasionally end up being the fifth Thursday and hence too close to Christmas for businesses), to the fourth Thursday.

It is interesting to note that at the first celebration the people that came together to praise God for His favor would eventually over the course of history become enemies. Now let me make an observation here in Christendom. It seems to me that at the out start Christians prayed for other Christians. Churches were not in competition to see who had the best programs, the best music, the best preachers, the most members. They all pulled for one another. When was the last time you thanked God for the church down the road or across town? “Are you kidding me? They took some of our members away from us.” Hopefully none of you reading this ever said or thought that. Chances are you know someone who has. When we begin to think of all the things we will thank God for this week let’s not forget our other brothers and sisters as Paul reminds us, they too are Gods people.

Think Its Hopeless? Think Again.

Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping—believing that he would become the father of many nations. (New Living Translation)

The English Dictionary defines hope as wishing for something with the expectation that it will be fulfilled and to have trust and confidence. This brings me to wondering what the difference is between hope, faith, and wishing. Without attempting to prove either of them by a theological argument or explanation this statement about Abraham clears it up for me. I read it in several different translations and paraphrases of the Bible but for me the NLT summed it up best. Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping. Not only did he hope, he believed. The Bible teaches that this belief he had was accounted to him as righteousness. In other words, Abraham was able to hope against hope by way of his belief in what God told him. Abraham knew it was physically impossible for a man his age to father children. There was no logical answer to his question “how” in his mind. That did not stop him from believing God though. This teaches us the difference between wishing, hoping, and having faith.

Wishing things would be better or work out is the attempt of the human mind to bring comfort in a particular situation. We can wish we were rich, younger, older, healthy, pretty, thin, handsome, taller, shorter, smart, or loved but in reality we may not be. Hoping things will get better comes with a higher level of expectation in that we convince ourselves it is possible for it to happen. Abraham did not wish it would come to pass and although he hoped it would, he was not convinced it could happen. Then he did something that changed his whole perspective; he believed what God told him. I can picture him now going down to Lowes and buying paint to fix up the nursery in his home! Got grandkids on the way? The clerk would ask. “No, we are going to have a kid,” he would answer. The clerk takes one look at him and thinks, yeah, right.

You may be in a situation today in which you think it is hopeless. If you will follow Abraham’s example and put your faith in God by believing what He has said in His word you too will learn the difference between hope, faith and wishing. Jesus knew what He was talking about when He said, “All things are possible with God.” Take hold of that truth and make it your motto.

Go Vote: Trust the Lord.

Offer right sacrifices and trust the Lord (Psalm 4:5 New International Version).

Tomorrow we will go to the voting booths and the polling places and cast our vote for the guy we feel can lead our nation down the right path. Prosperity and safety seem to top the list of our wants and then we consider our needs. I thank God that He placed me in this great nation. We are so blessed to be able to have elections without the fear of military retaliation if we do not follow a certain leader; as it is in some nations. God has truly blessed this country.

Are you a Republican or a Democrat some have asked me? I answer that I am a Christian. I am a servant of an eternal kingdom ruled by the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Peter reports that I am a citizen of a Holy Nation, a chosen priesthood, God’s special possession (1 Peter 2:9 NIV). As a resident of the United States I am obligated to perform my civic duties and obey the laws of the land. I will vote tomorrow for the guy that aligns with what I believe is the best for our nation; just as you will. Although we may not vote for the same man we both exercise our God given right to cast our lot.

King David summed it up best in regards to situations and circumstances in which we have no actual control. My candidate may not win the election and yours may not either. Once the President has been elected the country will get down to business once again. As the Bible says here, offer the right sacrifices and trust the Lord. Regardless of who wins the election it will not have an impact on Gods plans. He causes things to happen as He would have them to because He is in total control. I offer to Him my life as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1). I render unto God that which belongs to God; my soul. I will continue to serve Him after the election just as I do today. I trust Him. I trust Him with my soul and I trust Him with my life. Jesus said that I should not be troubled in my heart or be afraid of what may happen because when all is said and done He will take care of me.

As an American you need to go vote. Men died in revolt to give us the right to choose a leader. Men and women have sacrificed their lives in conflicts to retain that right. Men and women stand guard today throughout the world to protect that right. Let not their deaths and their sacrifices be in vain; go vote. Jesus sacrificed His body and died that you may have eternal life therefore do not allow His sacrifice and  death to be in vain either; accept Him as your Savior.