Love All

We all know Jesus performed great miracles during His time here on earth. He healed the sick, made the bind to see, and raised the dead. Because of His love for humanity, particularly the suffering and marginalized, He brought healing and restoration to the lives of many. He did these things for one reason. It was so people would experience Him for who He is, and as a result enter into relationship with Him.

Here's the beautiful thing about Jesus. Though being rich, He became poor, so that He could show love to the poor, the needy and the outcast (2 Corinthians 8:9). This Christmas and during the season of Advent, we have been given the challenge to Spend Less. Through the simple act of spending less we are able to show love, and enter into this week's theme ... Love All.

It's easy to fall victim to the line of thinking that says, I can't possibly have the same impact that Jesus did. May we not forget, it was Jesus who said in John 13:12, I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. Jesus has left this earth, and in doing so has given us the opportunity and responsibility, to now be His presence here. We are even told we will do even greater things!

The needs of people abound. The opportunities are limitless. May we be asking ourselves this week, how might Jesus use me to Love All? Don't let the great need overwhelm you, rather let it move you. You may not be able to change the whole world, but you can change the world of at least one person.

Here are a few activities our church will be engaging in this week. Might you join us?

• Sponsor a Compassion Child or give to World Vision through their gift catalog.
• Donate time or goods to a local charity.
• Pray for people in your home, community, and around the world.
• Put a gift for God under your tree. Put into practice what you have learned through the Advent Conspiracy.

Give More

Today we enter  week three of the Advent season, and the Advent Conspiracy.  This week's theme ... Give More.

Like you, I have been given many Christmas gifts over the years.  Some deeply thoughtful and greatly appreciated.  Others, well let's just say while appreciated, they likely ended up in the white elephant gift exchange the following Christmas.

As I think of why Christ came to be with us on that first Christmas, I think of time.  I think of presence.  Christ came to spend time with us, to love us, and through His presence lead us into a deep and meaningful relationship with Him.  In fact the depth of His desire drove Him to give the ultimate gift ... His life.  Out of gratitude for what He has done, I can think of no greater gift than to emulate His.

Time is the greatest gift we can give.  It is of much greater value than a Christmas sweater, an electronic gadget, or a subscription to the jelly of the month club.  Time is lasting.  Time changes lives.  This Christmas may we consider how we might give more through the giving of our lives.

Here are a few activities our church will be engaging in this week.  Might you join us?

• Set up coffee or a meal with a friend this week.  Call a long distance friend.
• Serve another family or individual (one that doesn't attend church).
• Write affirmation cards to friends, co-workers, or family members.
• Pray for our public servants and write them a note.

Next week ... Love All.

Living Nativity

Once again The Skit Guys or Skit Guy as it were in this video, hit it out of the park!  Very funny.  Very powerful.

Watch video and ask yourself ... could you??



For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16

Sure thankful we aren't "out of luck."

Spend Less

Today we begin week two of the Advent season, and the Advent Conspiracy.  This week's theme ... Spend Less.

At Christmas time, we like to spend.  The National Retail Federation reports that we spent 41.2 billion dollars over the Black Friday weekend.  That is an average of $372.57 per person!  As one who both hates spending and getting up early, I am equally blown away by their finding that nearly one-third (31.2%) of all shoppers on Black Friday were at the stores by 5 a.m.!

Each year since 1984 the PNC Wealth Management Company calculates the cost of the beloved carole, "The Twelve Days of Christmas."  One thing is certain:  It's getting quite costly to buy our true love all the items mentioned! Here's are this year's numbers.



This week's theme of Spend Less could not be more appropriate.  Just the simple act of buying one less gift this year has the potential of freeing us up to be more available to celebrate Christ during this advent season.  What if instead of buying that one gift, we used that money saved to present Jesus with a birthday gift this year?

Here are few activities our church will be engaging in this week.  Might you join us?

• Set a budget for your Christmas spending - don't forget about the next two themes (Give More & Love All).
• Pick one person you were planning to buy a present for and make one instead.
• Make some homemade Christmas cards with personal messages for friends.
• Invite friends or another family to share a meal with you.

Next week ... Give More.

World Vision Gift Catalog

I love that Christmas is a time for giving.  Giving is a wonderful expression of love and gratitude toward those that are most important to us.

Two years ago our family began a new Christmas tradition.  While we still give gifts to one another, we place more emphasis on giving gifts to Jesus.  It is after all...His birthday.

In Matthew 25:31-46 we read of Jesus honoring those that gave to the "least of these." Those that suffer and have been pushed to the margins of society.  He goes so far as to say that when we give to the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the imprisoned, the strangers, and the sick, we are actually giving to Him.  What better way to give to Jesus than to give to those that have real need!  I love that World Vision has provided a fun way for people to do that very thing.

The World Vision Gift Catalog is filled with incredible giving ideas.  Opportunities to give to the poorest of the poor in the name of a loved one that you would normally give a gift to.  It's an opportunity to let someone a world away know that they have not been forgotten.  An opportunity to be a blessing to those Jesus referred to as "the least."

As you consider the gifts you will give this Christmas, consider how you might also give to the One in which we celebrate.  It will change your whole outlook on how you celebrate Christmas!

Worship Fully

This week marks the beginning of the Advent season.  I am excited about the focus that this season brings.  A focus on the celebration of the birth of our Savior. A focus on how His birth changed the world 2009 years ago, and still does today.

For this season of advent, our church is again participating in the Advent Conspiracy.  Each week we are asking our community to do something that will lead them into the theme of the week.  This week ... Worship Fully.

Here are a a few activities we will be entering into.  Perhaps you might join us.

• Create a Christmas cd or playlist combining Christmas songs with worship songs.
• Begin thinking what gift you can give to Jesus this Christmas.
• Write a worship letter to God highlighting His character.
• Practice worshiping God through each hour of your day.  Take time for Him regularly.

 Next week ... Spend Less.

Thanksgiving Inventory

Thanksgiving is truly my favorite  holiday.  It is pure, simple, noncommercial, and focused on the very thing God calls us to be ... thankful.

May we all spend some good time this year taking inventory of all our blessings, even the chicken nuggets!



Happy Thanksgiving!

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.  1 Thessalonians 5:18

Advent Conspiracy

In recent years my family and I have viewed Christmas very differently. We have made the decision to make Christmas more about presence and less about presents.  This switch has resulted in a deeper appreciation for the presence of Christ in our lives, and a deeper understanding of how we can be the presence of Christ in the lives of others.

This year our church will again be participating in the Advent Conspiracy.  I look forward, as a community, to celebrating the birth of Christ and at the same time making a big difference in the lives of those that have great need.

With Christmas less than two months away, now is the time to begin considering how you will approach and celebrate this important time of year.  Begin a new tradition.  Make plans now to join the conspiracy.

Sacrifice

If there is one thing in this life that I attempt to avoid, it's pain and persecution. I don't know anyone that enjoys it.  Unlike many in this world, we as the American Church find ourselves fairly sheltered from it.  This concerns me.  I am often haunted by the words of 2 Timothy 3:12, "In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted."

Listen to John Piper's words and consider your life of sacrifice.



To live a radical life of sacrifice for Christ is both our highest calling as well as the highest honor we can ever achieve.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Matthew 5:10

HT to Adam.

Colors of Fall

I know it happens every year, yet each Fall I am blown away by the beautiful colors of the season.  Whom ever it was that planned Woodhaven, our neighborhood, they really knew what they were doing when they planted the trees!  And for the One that created the trees ... Wow, He really knew what He was doing!

Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so.  The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.  Genesis 1:11-12.   Good it is!

Like Jesus

I have been thinking a lot lately about what it really means, and what it really looks like, to be a follower of Jesus.  Is it going to church?  Is it having a quiet time every day?  Is it praying a certain amount of time each day?  Is it tithing to your church?  Is it living in America? What is it?

I hear a lot about how America is a Christian nation, or at least used to be.  I have to ask ... Really?  What makes us such?  Is it because our money says, "In God we trust?"  I tire of the forwards I receive in my inbox bemoaning the fact/rumor that our government wants to remove that phrase from our money.  Does it really matter?  Is it that important that our money contains that phrase, or are we merely paying lip service to God with it, because we really don't fully trust Him and live as Him?

1 John 2:16 gives us that answer.  "Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did."  May we as the Church not just admire Jesus from afar, or like Him for who He was, or pay lip service to Him, but may we truly walk as Jesus did.

Francis Chan said it well. Check this out ...



May we not just like Jesus but rather may we walk like Jesus.

Blessed Be Your Name

God is good. How easy it is to say when life is going our way.

So many times I have heard those words come from the mouths of people as they experience the good things in life. The blessings. The stuff prayed for. While the statement surely is true, I am often left to wonder, would God still be "good" when life falls apart?

Is God only good in the good times? How it must break God's heart to be called good when life is going our way, and then in the next moment shake our fists at Him when life turns on us.

I have had my share of ups and downs in this life. Times of great rejoicing and times of great anguish. I am thankful to God for His goodness through it all. I am blessed and inspired by the words of Job who could honestly say, "The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised."



May we say the same.