Christmas

It seems that Fridays have become my posting days. I did not want to let this one go by then without adding to the blog. I was going to post one of my children's sermons but I guess I will do that tomorrow if the internet is working at work. Till then I want to just give my thoughts on Christmas.

Christmas has become such an interesting thing here in Christendom of the USA. There seem to be two sides to the coin. There is the economic side that the government and the culture perpetuates. This we see through all the sales and having to buy gifts for one another. Then there is the church who is celebrating the greatest gift ever that God gave us in Jesus Christ. One could argue that Easter is the greater gift, but we will not debate that. Someone some where must have noticed the easy marriage of these two ideas and stress on buying/gifts. 

It saddens me that we do fall into that. Last night Kessia and I were watching "Its a wonderful life". This movie shows what would have happened had one upstanding man not been born. I noticed at one point the George's kids talked about making presents. Why did we ever get away from that? The things we can do to listen and help make what others really need. Not just things they want. Done this way it might ignore the culture, but honor the gift that God gave us. To clarify I am not arguing to not give gifts, but to only do so to honor God. 

I have to be honest that I did not do that yet this year. My hope is to next year really think about what I am doing with each gift and ask the questions: "How does this honor God?", "How will this show God's love to others?" Maybe you will join me. 

Merry Christmas!

Children's Sermon: Interruption 12/21/08

Scripture: Luke 1:26-33

Materials needed: Figure of Mary and Joseph

   Welcome everyone on such a cold and difficult day. We are so glad that you are here! What have you done in your snow days? What fun things have you done?

            This snowstorm has really interrupted our lives. It has changed our plans of going to school, work, and seeing family and friends. Maybe the storm even changed your travel plans! It became an interruption in our life. Some may see that interruption as a bad thing or good. For you it might have been a good thing since you got to go sledding and an early Christmas break.

            This interruption reminds me of one of the stories we are looking at this Christmas season. Mary had lots of plans. She was planning on marrying Joseph. I am sure they had plans on how many kids they wanted, where they wanted to live.  While I am sure they had good plans, God had a different plan for them. God planned to have them be Jesus’ parents. 

            Dealing with interruptions can be very difficult some times. We might be afraid of change, or upset because we had other plans. Instead we can be like Mary and Joseph and embrace the chance to serve God in a new way. Lets pray together. 

Snow days

The entire area has been hit hard by snow. Redmond has around a foot of snow. While Seattle has gotten off far easier the city has basically shut down because of ice on the hills. I have spent the last two days in my home and playing outside in the snow. It has brought out a few things that I have been working through on the blog recently that I want to dig deeper into now. 

The first is how little things, or big depending on your view, can change our routines and get us uncomfortable. The big snow day Kessia and I got up and watched the snow fall down. We sat in silence and just enjoyed God's creation and the beauty of it. We enjoyed the simplicity and the way that the snow would dance in the air. The wind would knock the snow hard one direction and then the other. I could see different air currents in the snow patterns. It was fascinating and mesmerizing. 

Once up and found ourselves again watching as people tried to get up the hill right outside. They scrapped off their cars. Piled in and attempted the hill. You could hear the revving of the engines as people pushed harder hoping to take advantage of any traction. A few people seemed to be out helping by pushing cars up and doing what they can to help people get out. It is this theme that I saw repeated several times throughout the day. When our plans became dashed we no longer hinder ourselves to talk to neighbors, help out strangers, and support others in their lives. 

I took part in the pushing of cars later on when a resident of Radford became stuck on the hill. I had been building a Igloo, but that could wait when someone needed me. How often do we feel that on other days? Our downstairs neighbors were flying out that day and needed some assistance to make their trip possible. This opened up conversation and let us get to know them a little better. 

Why can't we do these things normally? What hinders us? We claim to be busy, or that it is none of our business. We seem to think that it will harm someone to ask if they need help or request help ourselves. I imagine how the day would have gone without the snow. Our downstairs neighbors would have stopped at a library when their printer wouldn't work. I would not have been able to help someone stuck in their car. 

These seem like simple things. Is this not what our possessions do to us? Is this not what our grand plans inhibit us from doing?  The verse that stuck out to me is how we are to go out a preach the good news and take nothing with us (Matthew 10: 5-10). What am I carrying that stops me from talking with people that I run into? 

I have to be honest. I can see in my minds eye many people that I encountered in the supermarket the other day that looked like they were struggling. What did I do? I got my food and got out so I could save time, and money. These unexpected opportunities, whether snow storm or unexpected encounter, can bring us face to face with Jesus. How will we respond? 

I love days like this that break up everyones plans. Many see it as disaster. I see it as a beautifully simple. As a snowflake dancing in the wind. Lord guide me. Blow away my plans and guide me to rest in your peace where you need me, each and every day. 

Today I make my first steps to REALLY following Jesus

There has been a thought racing through my mind over the last couple of weeks. How do I live out the gospel? I can teach about Jesus, but am I really doing what Jesus instructed? 

I was starting to feel this as I did some classic youth minister things of upgrade a room and implement a few new program things. I am trying to create a new culture in this church and ministry but what is the goal of that ministry? This started to bubble up in my and was only made worse by starting the book "Irresistible Revolution".  This book put words to what I was feeling and frankly messed me up. 

The book points out how we have this culture of what Christianity is, especially in the States. There is singing songs, going to church, flannel graphs, Sunday School, ect. These things are all nice, but is that really what Jesus wanted? The more I contemplated this the more I settled into the answer of no. Jesus wants us to study what he has to say, know it, but if we do not practice it then what good is our faith. By practice I do not mean sitting in church and being "active" that way. I mean going out and shaking up the world! 

It is great that we have pastors and churches to connect with, but what do we do with that? Instead of filling up our lives with serving others and taking care of the poor and "least of these" we sign our youth up for soccer, band, and buy video games and DVDs to entertain them. We entertain, subdue and focus on good behavior. Our church does not need good behavior but rebels and radicals like the one on the cross. We need to not sit back and allow our lives to be filled up so we are "too busy to help". I fully believe that the hardest place to ACTUALLY follow Jesus is in the United States. Not because of government, but because of the church itself and the culture that we have all bought into. 

I have resolved that I want to become a radical. I no longer want a faith that is easy, but one that puts me in tension with everything. I never want to be comfortable, but uneasy and struggling. 

This is not something that I am going to let slide by. Jesus sent out his disciples into the world and told them to take nothing with them. Why? I believe he did this because He wanted his followers to interact with the world and we do not do that when we cling to the things we know and possessions we have. Example- If I can pay for myself why would I talk to people and try and find food, shelter, and clothing. When we have nothing we are braver to trust in God and reach out to others. 

I wish I could go live in India and work at the home for the dying and the destitute. I wish I could work with Lepers and take nothing. This how ever will never be my way. I have always had a horrible immune system that has lead to me contracting Tuberculosis when I went on a mission to Mexico. In that light, Kessia and I have talked and decided some ways we are going to try and break the spell of the culture on us right here to inspire others to live differently. We will add and adapt when we become comfortable with these things.  

We are going to do no light summers. This means no light switch will ever be flipped on in our house from June to September. We waste so much electricity by staying in doors with the blinds drawn. This will also allow us to get up earlier and go to bed earlier. The heat will also go off completely.

I will not buy another video game for myself. I love video games, but I have wasted so much money on them. These games pull me away from people in the world and keep me from spreading the gospel. They keep me alone, isolated, and often angry. 

This is where we will start. We have thought of getting rid of TV, movies, and video games. We talked about giving up electricity. Making all of our clothes. Growing all of our own food. Giving up single occupant transportation. Giving up the grocery store during Lent to limit and simplify. We have also thought about where we can help and volunteer for the least of these. Some of these things we are not ready for, but want to consider. Maybe we will make it there. 

Here is where I start becoming the radical I believe Jesus wanted me to be. It is a small thing now. Hopefully we can grow and as we break the spell new more radical ideas will take the place. 

Today is the day Jesus, I am taking my first steps to living out what it is that you have asked of me. Break down my barriers. Form my mind. I will no longer try to lead you Lord, but instead truly break down and become your obedient servant. 

Atheist sign at Olympia

For those who have not heard there is a battle raging on about a sign down at Olympia that essentially says there is no religion. Fox News has shown this and outraged many in the nation. No doubt they are using this to show once again how society is having an onslaught against Christmas and our Savior. 

I was going to avoid this topic on the blog, but I read an article from Seattle Times and noticed some of the comments that were being thrown about. There is a battle going on of people trying to say that religion has no right to display on government property or people need to not "rule others lives" with their beliefs. To me this seems to be very short sighted. I first want to say that there is some truth to religious people often doing that. Although what I find interesting is this argument that "others should not control my life". Take a peek at one of those thoughts: "There isnt anything wrong with you believing in a god. Its when you try to rule my life with your god and religious teachings that were going to have a serious conflict. God is not in my life and I feel fulfilled. I feel a common good." To me this is just ironic because of a situation that happened a church just the other day.

The church I work at has a preschool coop that rents out space and has many children that come and got to school there. I recently found out that our church can not put up any pictures of Jesus or anything in our own church, because the school is there. This is the churches OWN building! This idea that atheists/nonbelievers are the victim of big bad religion coming to not let them have their peace is silly. To me both groups are locked in battle to have their beliefs held more prominently. Religion is held out of schools, government buildings, and public spaces. Teachers are reprimanded or fired for sharing their faith or wearing crosses. It is just plain silly to think that this does not go both ways. Both Religions and Atheists are trying to rule each other's lives. 

This argument of not wanting others to decide things on their life is just plain ridiculous. Who decided it was not ok for us to murder someone? Who decided it was not ok to steal things? We see many atrocities on the news all the time where someone has done something "wrong". They believe it was ok or justified, so why don't we leave it at that if we do not want others to rule our lives. The market collapse and banks exploiting people for their own profit was another example of people doing right by themselves. By having a government we give up a large part of our "freedom" for security. The truth I have found that true freedom only comes when resting in God. I will save that discussion for another time though. 

The other thing to mention is how much I disagree with FoxNews about people trying to get rid of Christmas. I honestly fear more that they embrace Christmas, because of who they is. Most the battle seems to be over media and retailers (saying Merry Christmas). These two entities only embrace the time of the year because they can make a buck on it. They do not care about the reason why we celebrate Christmas. What these stories and outlets care about is that the culture has adapted the gift that God gave us into a reason to share gifts with one another. The industry capitalized on this by selling things we do not need. Last I checked materialism is not high on Jesus' list of things to help draw us closer to God. Foxnews does not really care about this. What they care about is "making" the news as much as reporting it. The more people they find a way to outrage then the more money they can pull in from advertisements. 

I guess what I am really trying to get at here is to pull back the vail on our eyes about what is going on here. This is not to offer solutions (I don't want to be here till easter typing), but to think about what it is that we are seeing, reading, and arguing. 

Unapologetically-Merry Christmas!

Examining Isaiah

Today I looked at some passages from Isaiah in preparation for an upcoming lesson. We are doing a lesson on what are some of the promises are that Jesus comes to fulfill. I think this is the perfect time to look at this so that we get a sense in Advent of what we are waiting for. It helps us put this time of the year into context of what we are really celebrating when Jesus is born. So as apart of this lesson I worked to help summarize Isaiah in a short entry. 

I must be honest, I have never read Isaiah all the way through. The book is very complicated and written in such a manor that requires understanding the context to be able to make any sense of what Isaiah is telling us. I usually do not like over simplifications, but I found this very helpful for myself to be able to grasp what is going on in the book. 

What I ended up finding out was amazing for me. Isaiah was preaching/prophesying at a time that Isreal/Sumeria (northern kingdom) and Judah were at a high point. But it was this height that seemed to bring the seeds of their destruction or "sin". The source I read mentioned immorality, political corruption, and idolatry. For the first time I could relate to Isaiah. I feel like this is where we are with the Country right now.  Only I do not fault culture, but the church. The church (certain leaders) seem to get in bed with politicians to gain power and tackle specific issues. Our church has seemed to embrace the worship of materialism (idolatry) and we can see that around Christmas more than any other time. This is not an attack on the culture today, but a realization that I could understand and relate to Isaiah. 

Another power rose in the area, Assyria, and started threatening the Israelites. The northern Kingdom was afraid and the people debated possible responses. Some thought getting allies and help was the best. The others thought to rely and pray to God. It was during much of the fear that Isaiah tells about a coming Savior. This, to me, helps me think about the hope to come. It also can help us put the book of revelation in context. It is not necessarily there to scare us, but to reassure us that there is a plan and that God will deliver us like before.  

As I continued to find, the northern kingdom falls to Assyria, but Jerusalem is able to stand against the force. The with standing the onslaught was attributed to the leader (king) praying in ernest and God coming through. How good is God when we are faithful!!!

In the end, I have something another youth minister mentioned to me as we were looking at using this passage. She said: "Why don't we ask the kids about why they need a savior today."

Reflecting on this question I know I need a Savior. There are so many things that I can mess up, fail to do, sin, or even miss represent Christ. I wonder some times if I am just teaching the Bible or ACTUALLY living it. At the Catholic church there was a group confession at the beginning of many masses that went along these lines: Forgive me for my sins, what I have done and what I have failed to do. There was never a week were I did not resonate with this.

Even with all these questions and short comings I know God still loves me, cherishes me, and desires to be in relationship. It is because of the grace that Jesus brings me through his death that allows me to become reconciled to God. 

I do not know what to do with this but that is ok. The faith life is about a journey not an ending point. I certainly am finding that the more I dig into the Bible that it will really mess you up! ...and that is a beautiful thing!