Auld Lang Syne

January is named for Janus, the Greek god that had two faces so that he could look two directions at once. And that is what we do during this time of the year-- we look back on the year that was in remembrance and we look forward to the year that will be in anticipation. This is the time of year when you have two different kinds TV specials-- retrospectives that recall the highlights of the year that was and those shows that try to predict the trends of the year that will be. We look two directions at once.

But then, it is much easier to look back, isn't it. The future always looks less certain than the past. It is easier to look back on what was. That’s point of the song we traditionally sing at New Years, "Auld Lang Syne"—

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne (“times gone by”)

It is easy for us to look back at "times gone by.” We can all too clearly see the past with its mistakes and missed opportunities. And we can feel trapped by the failures and choices of “auld lang syne.”

The point of the gospel is that we serve a God that makes everything new. Our past mistakes can be overcome; our past sins can be forgiven. The times when we got off track as people or as a church can be covered over by the ocean of God's grace, and we can be led to full renewal. God makes everything new. That is the promise of this brand new 365 days with which God has blessed us today.

“Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” (Revelation 21:3-5)

Christman Gifts, Re-Gifts and Real Gifts

I saw a piece on one of the morning news shows last week on “the rules of re-gifting.” An expert (how does one become an expert in such things) shared some guidelines on what gifts you receive that you can and can’t pass on as gifts to others. There was a long list of rules, but I do remember two of them—“If it is too tacky for you to keep, it is too tacky for you to give away” and “You can re-gift an article of clothing if the color or style reminds you of the person to whom you are giving it.” I think those two rules go together well—“This is much too tacky for me, but it made me think of you.”

Lynn and I usually don’t give one another gifts. It is an inside family joke that Lynn has returned most of thew gifts I have given her. I can never get the style or the size right. (Did you know there is a difference between a .3 and 3 carat diamond? Go figure.) Lynn is much too practical to keep something she doesn’t really like or won’t really use… and I guess I’m too dense to figure out what she really likes or will really use! One year I gave her a toaster oven—which she liked and used. But for some reason, that didn’t go over well as a gift either. Who would have thought?

As for me, I’m easy. Ever sense I was a kid, I have had one rule of Christmas gifts. Christmas is for toys… period. Clothes are nice, but they are not Christmas. Christmas is about toys—computer games, sporting goods, home electronics, etc. But I really don’t want Lynn picking out my computer games, sporting goods or home electronics. So we have a working deal. We have fun giving the kids stuff, but we don’t buy gifts for each other. It works for us. at least it works for me.

For some reason, Luke 14 just popped into my head while I was thinking about all of this. We generally give Christmas gifts to people who give us gifts. According to the news show I referred to earlier, one of the big reasons we re-gift is because someone gave us something and we had given them anything… and we don’t want to go back out shopping. Well, listen to what Jesus tells people who are giving a banquet in Luke 14:12-14…

Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the
resurrection of the righteous.”

Maybe that principle needs to be part of our Christmas shopping as well. Maybe we should give more gifts to the “poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind” instead of people that can afford to buy their own stuff that they really don’t need. Sending a card that says, “A gift of $20 has been sent to DUCO (or some other charity) in your name” may make both giver and receiver feel more in the Christmas spirit that getting another pair of socks or something. Maybe that is something to think about for next year.

Christmas Past and Present

It was a very merry Christmas at the Tucker house. Lynn spent the week cooking, and I put a temporary hold on the low-carb diet. So I ate myself silly yesterday—turkey-n-dressing, prime rib, sweet potatoes, collards, macaroni-n-cheese... and several different desserts. We marked Tressa’s 25th birthday with a caramel-covered cake that everyone (except Tressa) loved. Tressa’s boyfriend Tobias is spending the week with us. Tobias played tight end on Harding’s football team, and he is the size of someone who played tight end. But I think I out-ate him!

Tressa’s friend Courtney and her children Jaxon (age 3) and Gracie (age 1) are here, so we had little ones in the house on Christmas morning for the first time in years. That was fun! Jaxon tore through our stack of Dollar Tree presents like a tornado, only stopping to announce “this just what I wanted!” We ended the day watching Jaxon and Gracie's Daddy and the Philadelphia Eagles demolish the Dallas Cowboys and clinch a playoff spot. Actually the highlight was when they showed Jaxon (twice) during the game in a piece where they interviewed several of the player’s kids. Oh, and did I mention that Dallas lost? Badly!

Our Christmas tradition was once set in stone. Along with my sister’s family, we would move in with Mom and Dad for the week. We would leave on Christmas eve to go to Colonial Heights to be with Lynn’s family for a big Christmas Eve dinner at Lynn’s grandmother’s house. Then we went to Lynn’s parent’s home to open presents with them. We made the lonely late-night drive back to Mom and Dad’s so we could have Christmas morning with them. The four girls would go crazy over gifts and Dad would video everything… including Christmas dinner. That was our Christmas for years. Rewind and repeat.

But life changes. Granny went to be with Jesus, and the Ange Christmas Eve family dinner eventually stopped. Mom and Dad moved back to Arkansas, and we don’t camp out there anymore. The four cousins grew up—two got married, one has children of her own… and we added a 5th cousin along the way (go figure). Life changes, and it is hard for either family to all get together now. Old family traditions have to be changed or set aside altogether, and Christmas is very different. This year we didn’t see either set of parents (we did spend 3-4 hours on the phone). Life changes. Sometimes it gets better. Sometimes it gets worse. Sometimes it just gets different.

It is easy to look back with nostalgia on “the good old days” (we have it all on video tape!). And it’s good to look back and enjoy the memories. It’s good as long as you don’t allow the memories of the past (edited to remove the not-so-good parts) to get in the way of living in the present. Memories are good as long as you don’t hold them up as yardsticks against which to measure the present. I do miss those good old days of Christmas past. But I enjoyed yesterday too. Life changes, but a life anchored in God always stays secure.

Merry Christmas

I ran across a list of the “The Top Ten Reasons We Should Keep Christmas.” With all the hustle and bustle of this season of the year, maybe we do need needed to be reminded why Christmas is a good idea. If it were not for Christmas--

• The candied fruit market would completely collapse!
• Our boring, uneventful lives would have no stress at all!
• Eggnog would just be a slimy, high cholesterol beverage.
• Santa would be a strange fat man with poor fashion sense!
• Three words— “No Christmas bonus!”
• You'd have to spend your own money buying stuff that doesn’t fit.
• We would never wonder if reindeer really know how to fly.
• Your cat would never know the joy of coughing up tinsel!
• Number one reason—without Christmas, there could be no Easter!

That last one wasn’t meant to be funny... unlike the rest of them that just weren’t funny on their own! Without the birth of Jesus, there could be no cross and no resurrection. Without the Christmas story, then Christianity has no message of eternal life. Unless Jesus really was born into this world as God in the flesh, then there is no story of redemption.

Christmas was originally a pagan holiday that Christians appropriated and connected to the birth of Christ. Sometimes that is cited as a reason not to observe the holidays at all, or at least not to connect them to Jesus. Actually, I think that was an ingenious move-- keep new converts from reconnecting with their pagan past by connecting their main holiday with Jesus' birth! Hey, I still remember the time when churches would have a Senior Banquet on prom night to keep their kids from going to the prom! Brilliant!

The way we choose to observe or not observe the Christmas holidays is entirely optional as long as our desire is to glorify God (Rom 14:5). What is not optional is the story. If this season reconnects you with the special and central nature of that story of Jesus' birth, then that is a good thing indeed. Merry Christmas.

Father, thank you for sending your Son into our world. Thank you Jesus for humbling Yourself so dramatically that You became a little baby, wrapped in flesh, wrapped in rags. Thank you Holy Spirit for recording this powerful story of selfless love for us, and help us to love this way in return.

Wonderings About Wanderings

Exodus 15 begins with a song of victory over God's deliverance of Israel from Egypt, but the song soon turns bitter in the desert. The victorious Israelites on the bank of the Rea Sea become a mob of grumbling and complaining malcontents in the desert:

• They complained about bitter water (15:22-24).
• They complained because there is a lack of food (16:2,3).
• And they complained that there is a lack of water (17:1-3).

Israel was tasting freedom for the first time, but God led them into a desert of difficulty. In their grumbling, they asked Moses, "Why have you led us here to die?" (Ex. 27:3). Why did God lead them into the desert? Well, they were headed to Sinai to receive the Law. And they were not yet ready for war, so their route in the desert skirted their enemies (Exo. 13:17,18). But there was another reason-- it was in the desert that Israel could learn to rely on God. Later prophets will refer back to this time as the formative years for Israel (Jer. 2:1-3, Hos. 2:14-15). The desert taught Israel to trust in God (Deut. 8:2-3).

It is always wrong to grumble and complain. Grumbling seeks to transfer our unhappiness to someone else, and thus sows discord. So grumbling and complaining is labeled as "wicked" (see Num. 14:27). But while grumbling is bad, we need to face the difficulties of the desert. It is in the wilderness that we face hardships and grow through them... if we can resist the temptation to grumble! James tells us to count our troubles as joy because they strengthen our faith (James 1:2ff). In fact, there are lessons we can't learn anywhere else other than in the wilderness. Brain McLaren suggests that, sometimes, this is the whole point of being in a church. We are here as fellow wanderers in the wilderness learning to trust in God. He says--

The church as we know it, so far from 'ideal,' does in fact turn out to provide the ideal environment in which these virtues can be cultivated. How could I learn patience or forbearance without Brother Sam, who talks too much and demands just a little more attention than I am ever ready to give? How could I develop kindness if the Reynolds family didn't bring their autistic child to our small group – where little Mikey's autism elicits from me a kindness I never experienced before? How could I develop self-giving if I didn't follow through on my commitment to attend that meeting last night, even though I had a long hard day and was so tempted to make an excuse and stay home to 'save' myself rather than give myself? How could I develop forgiveness if I had not been misjudged and gossiped about by the faction in our church led by Mary Ellen Graves? How could I learn courage unless I had to confront Mary Ellen for her divisive attitude – with all due gentleness and humility? Where else would I be stretched in my compassion and generosity if I weren't part of this community of flawed, needy, broken people – who, I must realize, include me in their list of flawed, needy, broken fellows?"

The Christmas Spirit

“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere you go…” At least, that’s what the old Bing Crosby song tells us. And it is-- but the look of Christmas today is a lot different than it was when ol’ Bing crooned “Take a look in the five and ten glistening once again with candy canes and silver lanes aglow.” What would he have sung if he would been stuck in the lines at Wal-Mart or Target? If you haven’t done your Christmas shopping yet (and I haven’t), I doubt there are enough “Silver Bells” or "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" around to get you in the Christmas Spirit.

I ran across the following list on ehow.com of suggestions to help get you in the Christmas spirit. They write, “Christmas is supposed to be a time of peace, love and goodwill to all. But with all the stress and commotion of the season, many of us end up feeling more like Mr. Scrooge than Santa Claus.” OK, now those writers have been in the lines at Wal-Mart and Target! Many of these suggests would have been more helpful a month or two ago, but it is never too early to get in the spirit for next year.

• Shop early. Nothing takes away the Christmas spirit like fighting for parking and struggling through crowds.
  
• Wish people that you meet in stores and other casual environments a happy holiday. Say it with a smile.
  
• Drop spare coins in the Salvation Army collection buckets.
  
• Do something nice for someone. Offer to baby-sit so a friend can do her Christmas shopping, take cookies to your neighbors, or shovel an elderly neighbor's walk.
  
• Volunteer your time to a worthy holiday cause. Even if you are busy, you can spare an hour or two to help people less fortunate than yourself.
  
• Organize a drive at work or in your neighborhood. Collect food and personal items and donate them to a local shelter for the homeless or for battered women.
  
• Play Christmas music.
  
• Watch Christmas movies. "It's a Wonderful Life" is a good one for reviving a flagging Christmas spirit, as is "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."
  
• Read "A Christmas Carol" and "A Child's Christmas in Wales."
  
• Decorate your house for the holidays.
  
• Don't spend more money than you have. Anxiety over after-Christmas bills can ruin your holiday.

OK, Jesus wasn't born on December 25, and there is no special festival of his birth commanded in scripture. But this is the time of year when we traditionally pause and reflect on what the coming of Christ meant and means. And this is the time when we are traditionally more open to "peace on earth and good will toward men." That tradition is certainly a lot more positive than the one that has us spending money we don't have on things we don't need for people who already have everything that has become our Christmas tradition. Maybe we need to spend more time reflecting on things that are really important rather than things that only seem to be.

A Piece of His Mind

Angelynn's dog Maggie (Maggie is the the one on the right) used to live for mail time. She would lie on the back of the couch looking out the window for hours waiting for the mailman to come to the porch. When he finally came, she would bark and bark until she had given him a piece of her mind. The she would go back to sleep. Once I accidentally opened the door right as the the mailman came to the porch. She was out like a flash and ran straight to him... skidded to a stop and then ran back into the house. Once she had him, she didn’t quite know what to do with him! Maggie doesn’t do her mail ritual anymore. I guess she finally learned the futility of barking at mailman. (Besides our new couch is too tall for her to jump up on.)

Maybe we experience something of that when it comes to fellowship and Christian unity. We know fellowship is important; we do desire Christian unity. But when it comes down to actually living it out in real life, we don’t know quite what to do with it! Paul says something important about unity in Philippians 2:2, "Then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose." According to the NIV, Paul tells us we are to have the same mind, love, spirit and purpose. But actually, Paul uses same word for “mind” twice here along with a related word for mind. So the verse could have been translated, “Have the same mind, the same love, a together mind, and one mind.” So Paul, what are you trying to say?

But what does it mean to be of one mind? Well, what it doesn’t mean is that we all must agree with each other on all issues and practices. The only way that will ever think totally alike is if all but one of us stops thinking altogether! But we won’t do that, will we? And we shouldn't do that! The path to this one mind has to do with how treat one another. Paul continues in Philippians 2:3-4

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

After calling us to humility and sacrifice, he says, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus” (2:5). The word “attitude” here is the same word for “mind” used twice in verse 2. We are to have the same mind as each other because we all have the mind of Christ! Paul sees the incarnation (see 2:6-11) as the model that we are to follow in real life so that we will have the same mind. If we all reflect the life and attitude of Jesus, then we will have one mind!

No, having the mind of Christ will not ensure that we see every nuance of doctrine the same or have the same preferences in church music. But a Christ-like mind of humility and sacrifice will give us the framework on which to build unity and fellowship despite differences. When it comes to humility and love and sacrifice and kindness… Jesus wants to give us a piece of His mind!

A Cannonball for Jesus?

I’ve heard some funny baptism stories. My favorite is one Millard Gay told me about the couple being baptized in a small church that only had one dressing room in a curtained area beside the baptistery. While the wife was being baptized, the husband was getting ready in the little dressing room. The wife was evidently terrified of water, and as she went under, she panicked and began to thrash around. Being a rather larger person, she pulled the preacher underwater with one hand while grabbing the curtain with the other. She pulled the curtain down, leaving her rather startled husband standing there in his altogether. Not knowing what else to do, he jumped into the baptistery along with the drowning preacher and the hysterical wife. What song do you lead after that kind of baptismal service?

Things happen. This baptismal service was posted on YouTube (obviously from America’s Funniest Home Videos) and sent to me last week by Kate Looney. (BTW, congratulations to Kate and Bob on the birth of Jack Robert born last Friday afternoon). I think perhaps the solemnity of this baptismal service was slightly compromised as well! I look at this thing from the perspective of the poor preacher who is clearly at a loss on what to do or say. I can only imagine that when he did get around to baptizing this kid, he held him under longer that usual… if he ever let him up!

I am often struck by the disconnect between the setting of baptisms and what is actually taking place there. Our baptistery area is junky and cramped; even when the water is clean, it looks murky and green. There is clutter around the area (pool chemicals, a skimmer, etc.) simply because we have no where else to store them. Because we believe that baptism part of one’s faith response to salvation, we baptize people as soon as they come to faith and want to come to Christ (click here for an article). That means we usually have no warning or time to prepare. The water is warm all the time… it is also green and murky all the time. So the setting amid the clutter is anything but an impressive backdrop for a baptismal setting.

But I firmly believe that despite our lack of pomp and ceremony, something dramatic is happening in the heavenly realm. The angels rejoice, or more correctly, “there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10). That suggests that it is God who is rejoicing before the angels. I don’t know that I can imagine God coming off the throne to high-five the heavenly hosts, but there is rejoicing in heaven. The service may not be impressive here, but God is pleased when people believe and obey Him.

T'was Sunday Night Before Christmas

I grew up a bit schizophrenic about this time a year. I always loved Christmas— time off from school, decorations, presents, and family traditions like Mom and Dad racing to be the first to say “Christmas-Eve gift.” But while I loved Christmas, we always made it crystal clear that it wasn’t really a religious holiday. I made sure all my more liturgical friends knew that this wasn’t really Jesus’ birthday. After all, the Bible doesn’t say when he was born or that we should do anything to observe his birth. So while we enjoyed the HOLIDAY, we had to make sure that it wasn’t a HOLY DAY. We didn’t use religious decorations. Our Christmas cards had winter scenes and a generic “Happy Holidays” greetings. In other words, we were politically correct before being politically correct was cool! We were free to join in the greed and the materialism of seasonal shopping and Christmas lists, and we did that with glee. But we could not mention anything about the birth of Jesus. Curious choice, was not it?

Everything about Christmas is traditional— its sacred and secular practices. Special Christmas services, nativity scenes, Chrtistmas trees, giving gifts, sending cards, taking trips— everything that represents this season is a tradition. Each family (and each church) has to decide which holiday traditions they will observe. I’m glad my family didn’t do the figgy pudding thing, but I do wish we would have sung Silent Night and Joy to the World more. People’s thoughts are on the birth of Jesus during this time of the year. Those songs are being sung. (This year a major motion picture on “The Nativity Story” was released during this season). Reminders of God’s coming into the world are all around us. That's story of Jesus coming is my story, and I'm sticking to it! I am thankful that we are at a place now where we can sing the songs, read the texts and use the powerful images of this traditional season to reflect the fact that God was born into our world.

We are doing that this Sunday as a church in a special way. We will have a time of worship as we together sing carols of praise, read the texts of his coming and briefly reflect on the “reason for the season.” After our devotional, we will have something completely different— a “talent show” that will use prepared dramatic readings and special presentation music. All of this will help us to reflect on this season of the year and what it meant for Jesus to come into our world. Thanks to Anna Caroline Causey for putting all this together. Afterwards we will have our church “Christmas party” as we enjoy a “finger food” potluck together. Hey, we don’t need a major holiday to have an excuse to eat together!

Honor Roll

I remember pouring though pages of tiny print in the Daily Press looking for the names of my daughters published the honor rolls of the various schools in the area. That long list of names wasn’t exactly hard news, but it was fun to see their name in the paper. I appreciated the school and paper colluding to give them this honor. Parents in Needham, Massachusetts no longer enjoy that privilege. Needham High School refuses to publish the names of students who make the honor roll because the school does not want to contribute to students' stress level in “this high expectations-high-achievement culture.” It seems that the honor roll represented “an unhealthy focus on grades.” Hey, that makes sense; I thought my school and parents had an “unhealthy interest in grades” when I was a kid!

Somehow not publishing the honor roll because it promotes “an unhealthy interest in grades” in school seems rather silly. Do the jocks still get to wear their letter jackets or does that promote an unhealthy interest in sports? Do singers in the school chorus and actors in school plays still get their names published in the program? Doesn't it seem rather logical for the school to recognize students for doing well in their classes?

I think we need to publish an honor roll at church. I don’t think the church here does a very good job of recognizing all the things our people do to serve God. I was in the office last night after services and there was Myra Bowser copying the lessons that she uses in her jail ministry classes she teaches. Down the hall, Richard Pitmann was still in a classroom with folks even though class had officially been over for 30 minutes, too wrapped up in people to worry about the time. Hayward Glaspell had been here at the building as much as I had been the last 3 days unstopping toilets and performing other equally glamorous tasks that no one knows about… unless it doesn’t get done. I could go on and on, but here's the point. How many of us know how much Myra, Richard and Hayward do for God?

I wish we had an honor roll to make sure that our churhc knows of all the service and sacrifice that goes on by their brothers and sisters. Yes, Jesus warns us to make sure that we never do our acts of devotion in order to be seen by others (Matt 6:1). But Paul shares the generous giving of the Philippians with the church at Corinth so their example would inspire and motivate others (2 Cor 8:1ff). I think we need to do a better job challenging ourselves with one another’s examples of faithfulness. I think we need to be better at giving “honor to whom honor is owed” (Rom 13:7, ESV). We don’t have an honor roll, but we do have the “Good Egg” column in the bulletin. We have thank-you cards and pats-on-the-back we can share when we catch someone doing good deeds. We need to make better use of all of these.

Glass Barns and Talking Cows

Billy Graham is one of the most recognizable names of our time. He has conducted evangelisitcs campaigns all over the world and was the spiritual adviser to several U.S. presidents. Graham is listed at number seven on Gallup's list of admired people for the 20th century. But a rift that is brewing in Graham’s family over how he should be remembered after death may affect the way he is remembered.

Franklin Graham, Billy’s son and head of Billy Graham Evangelistic association, is leading an effort to build a library (much like a presidential library) to memorialize the life and career of Billy and Ruth Graham. The library is being designed by consultants who used to work for Walt Disney. It is shaped like a large barn and silo as a reminder of Billy Graham's early life on a dairy farm outside Charlotte, NC. It has a 40-foot-high glass entryway cut in the shape of a cross, completed with a mechanical talking cow that will greet visitors (I kid you not). There will be memorabilia and multimedia exhibits to mark his life... and several opportunities to sign up for a mailing lists (I wonder what those are for). And at the end of the tour is a garden where the bodies of Billy and Ruth Graham will be buried. At least if Franklin and his group get their way.

Ruth Graham is saying, “Over my dead body.” She and her son Ned are opposing the library both as tribute and final resting place. Ruth says, “It’s a circus, a tourist attraction.” One family friend who tour the site now under construction told Billy, “You are not that place. It's a mockery. People are going to laugh. Please don't be buried there.” Billy Graham seems to be caught in the middle between the strong wishes of his heir and those of his wife. Construction continues on the library at Charlotte; whether anyone is buried there or not may depend on who dies first.

Billy Graham has had a remarkable life and career. One can only hope that his family pulls together so that their squabble does not overshadow that life and career. But does a glass barn and talking cow seem like the way Billy Graham should be remembered? The true legacy that one leaves beind is the living faith in those you have influenced. The Hebrews writer says--

7 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:7-8)

Wherever our body is buried or our asjes are scattered, they will; not be there for long! But a true memorial of faith and influence will last for eternity.

When Christ Appeared

We are just finishing a long study of the book of Hebrews in our Wednesday night class. If I could somehow figure out how to get the Flash presentation into MPEG, AVI or WMV, I’d use this as my conclusion to the book. You need to take the time (8 minutes) to watch this video of Hebrews 9-10. There are no props or special effect. It is simply scripture quoted from memory... in a very dramatic way.

The presentation is by Ryan Ferguson. Ryan has memorized the entire book of Hebrews from the English Standard Version of the Bible, and he presented chapters 9-10 at the WorshipGod06 Conference hosted this past august by Sovereign Grace Ministries. Ryan is a member of North Hills Community Church in Greenville, South Carolina; he is the Manager of the Fine Arts Center at Anderson University and also serves as a director in the theater department. As you can tell, he is a very gifted presenter.

Ryan's "interpretation" of these two important chapters well sum up the message of Hebrews. During this time of year when we traditionally reflect on the birth of Christ, Hebrews helps to remind us what the birth of Jesus means. There was no mystical “peace on earth” that broke out because this baby was born; there was no magical armistice that ended all human conflict. Jesus came to be with us to show us the way that we can be with God. He came near to live as the perfect High Priest so He could die as the perfect sacrifice of atonement.

11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. (Hebrews 9:11-12, ESV)

A Bad Hair Day and a Good Movie

I think I got the worst haircut in history last week. OK, it wasn’t as bad as the one General Custer got at Little Bighorn, but close. One of the handicaps of wearing glasses is you can't see when your hair is in the process of getting clipped too short. I had a great conversation with the stylist as she kept cutting and cutting… and cutting and cutting. After she was done, I didn’t know whether to complain or go out and join the Marines! Come to think of it, the girl at the counter at the movie last night (The Nativity Story) did ask if I got the military discount. Must have been the haircut! When Fred White said something to me about my haircut, I told him, “Yeah, well, at least mine will grow back!”

The movie was great! Everyone in our small group seemed to really enjoy it. I thought that the story was told with a great deal of respect and attention to detail. One "dramatic license" had the Magi to visit Jesus at the stable on the night of his birth. Matthew makes it clear that Jesus was in a house by the time the Magi arrived (Matt 2:11). While Luke calls Jesus “an infant” (brephos), Matthew refers to him as “the child” (paidion). The movie has the slaughter of the innocents and the flight to Egypt take place on the same night that Jesus was born while Luke had Jesus presented at the Temple after the time of purification (33 days), which would not have happened if he the family was already on the run from Herod.

There may have been other miscues, but I didn’t notice them—I was too wrapped up the story. And that says something—this is a very familiar story and yet the movie managed to keep us engaged while telling it. The social stigma faced by Mary and Joseph, the faith with which they faced their situation, the relationship between Mary and Elizabeth, the struggle of the poor and desire for the coming of Messiah, and the insanity that drove Herod—it was well done. The only shocking thing about the movie was the $9 ticket price. OK, so it's been awhile since we've paid full price to see movie!

One of the secular reviews I read suggested that The Nativity Story was beautifully filmed but lacked any real spirit with which to engage the audience. I totally disagree. The audience I was with was definitely engaged and thought the movie had plenty of spirit. But then, we know the Star!

Greedy Churches?

Have you ever gotten one of those emails from Nigeria asking you to help someone smuggle some money out of the country that you can keep if you help? One website lists 542 different examples of this basic email scam involving free money from Nigeria. Of course, to get the free money, you have to give them money, open them a bank account, or give them a credit card. Hint: The friendly folks from Nigeria are interested in getting your money, not giving it away.

According to a report that will air tonight on ABC’s 20/20, these spammer-scammers are now targeting American churches and ministers, cheating them out of millions with the promise of helping them improve their church building or finance their ministries. Of course, the church has to pony up some legal fees, taxes and expenses up front. Gotcha! The scam cheated members of the Hickory Ridge Community Church (Sussex County, Del.) out of $350,000 on the promise that they would receive $41 million. An accountant hired by the church was duped when the Nigerians confessed faith in Christ and professed that they want to promote the gospel with the money. This scam has done more than deplete the church treasury. According to prosecutors, Mary Winkler, the Tennessee preacher’s wife who shot her husband had been duped by this same scam. They suggest (her family has a different story) that she shot her husband after he confronted her about the scam.

Greed. When it came time for someone to draw up the list of seven deadly sins, greed was put on the list. And it should be. Paul says that greed (somehow the older “covetousness” doesn’t seem as severe) is like the sin of idolatry (Col 3:5). The word here (pleonexia) is related to the word for "exploit" (pleonekteō), and it makes sense. Those who are greedy sure make it easier for others to exploit them, right? Somehow I’m not as frustrated with those behind the Nigeria scam as I am with the churches and ministers who seem to be so easily duped. Were they just naive, or were they greedy? Paul was able to say with a clear conscience that he neither showed greed nor exploitation in his ministry, “You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness” (1 Thess 2:5). We need to be able to say the same thing.

BTW, the news article that reported this in ABC’s website is basically a blog that allows reader’s comments. Do you know what most people said in response to this story? Here’s a very representative comment, “These churches are probably just seeing dollar signs, like usual. And besides, many of them scam money out of people every Sunday (every day of the week on the television). What goes around comes around.” Oh, sure, churches and ministers are just interested in getting money! Where would they get that lame idea? Hmmm…

A Slumbering Giant

Today is the anniversary of the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, a day that continues to live in infamy. Shortly after the attack that all but decimated the United States Pacific fleet, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto of Japan made this observation, “I fear that we have awakened a sleeping giant and filled him with a terrible resolve.” His statement turned out to be prophetic. It was the entry of the United States into World War II with all of her “terrible resolve” that would eventually spell the end of the Empire of Japan and the fall of the Third Reich.

When good stands united, then evil is given no place to stand. How the church needs to understand that truth! We can get so torqued with one another over differences in our understanding over issues, differences of opinions on ministry options, and differences in our preferences over forms and formats. We must understand that these differences are inevitable; different people are and will always be different. We will never agree on a lot of things that relate to how we do church, and sometimes those differences will seem pretty profound.

But then we see our little church logo and we remember— we are God’s family under a cross. It is the cross that makes us one despite our differences; the cross that proclaims that our differences ultimately make no difference at all. And it is the cross that makes us one family. Paul says in Galatians 3:26-28

So you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have been made like him. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female. For you are all Christians—you are one in Christ Jesus. (New Living Translation)

God made us one at the cross. We don’t become one in Christ when we are able to agree on all the forms and formats of how we do church. We are one in Christ simply because of Christ. Whenever we see that and come together as one, then the slumbering giant of the church will be awakened… and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

New Slant on an Old Debate

The only blog that I read with any regularity (other than my own, of course) is that of Mike Cope, preacher for the Highland Church of Christ in Abilene. On December 3, Mike posted an article by Leroy Garrett discussing the decision by the elders at the Richland Hills Church of Christ (in the Dallas-Fort Worth area) to offer an alternative worship service using an instrumental praise band. Richland Hills is not the first of our churches to offer an instrumental service-- I have a great “live” worship CD recorded years ago at Oak Hills in San Antonio (where Max Lucado is the minister). But Richland Hills is the largest church in our fellowship, and their decision will get people's attention-- either in a good or bad way. I encourage you to read the article and the discussion it generated... and then look at Mike's summary posted the next day.

I don’t know what your personal views of instrumental music are, but I imagine that Denbigh has about as much diversity on the topic as was generated on Mike’s blog. I rather believe that most of our people see instrumental music as a matter of opinion (rather than sin) but that they are perfectly happy with our a cappella tradition. Even on those occasions when we do use instrumentals (like our upcoming “Sunday Night Before Christmas” presentation), we do make a distinction between that and our usual mode of worship. I don’t think anyone wants to make a issue of this at Denbigh--I know I don’t.

But I am convinced that God is much more interested in our hearts and in our attitudes than He is in how we stand on this issue. What divided our fellowship 100 years ago was not a piano-- it was a heart on both sides that cared more for being right than about following Christ. One side introduced a piano; the other side walked out. The spiritual descendants of both sides have their own way of telling the story so that they were the ones standing for the truth. I doubt God was smiling at either side!

You don’t often get a second chance in church history. But our fellowship now gets something of a "do-over" when it comes to the instrumental music question. Can we stand together with brothers and sisters in churches like Richland Hills that take a different slant on our cappella worship tradition? Can churches like Richland Hills offer alternatives with which even some of their own members are not completely comfortable? Can we allow ourselves as a people to be informed by our traditions without being controlled by them? Can we remain one fellowship even if we have two ways of offering our praises to God? That remains to be seen. You know what? I think we can pull it off this time!

Rules of the Game

When Tressa and Angelynn were little, our favorite games were ones that we made up. In fact, we invented two new sports that really should have been added to the Olympics. While these sports didn’t catch on with anyone else, they provided us provided us with hundreds of hours of fun… and got us fussed at a time or two for breaking stuff.

• With Tressa, the sport was “Roofball.” You throw the ball up on the roof, and whoever catches it when it bounces off wins a point— five points wins the game. Tressa got points for “direct catches,” those where the ball came off the roof. Dad only got points for “indirect catches” off the rebound where the ball first bounced off Tressa’s hands. We also played Dogeball, Whiffleball and other games, but Roof Ball was our favorite.
  
• With Angelynn, the sport was "Hall Soccer." It consisted of closing all the doors in the hall (of our old house) except the ones on the end and then kicking a nerf ball through the open door to score a goal. Not only was ricocheting the ball off the walls and ceiling permitted, it was expected! We played other games— though not much Whiffleball. Giving Angelynn a stick to swing at people wasn’t a wise move!

Angelynn almost always won our Hall Soccer battles, and Tressa usually won Roofball. The reason for that was not that I am not competitive by nature (far from it). Neither was it because I had grown old and slow and fat. Well, I had, but that wasn’t the reason I lost. I always lost because the girls were always the ones in charge of making up the rules of the game. Every new situation that came up would necessitate them making a new rule. Putting a spin on the ball before you throw it on the roof is illegal. Blocking a shot with your hand is OK if you’re short. And so it went. If the rules need to b changed in the middle of the game, then so much the better.

There is something fundamentally flawed about allowing the players of the game the right to make up the rules as they go along. But that is where we are in our culture today. The rules of right and wrong are constantly shifting, morphing to make it easier on the players. Things clearly right and wrong a generation or two ago are no longer so. Marriage is no longer marriage; life is no longer life. We demands freedom to lives any way we please, and so we change the rules.

Jeremiah said, “I know, O Lord, that a man’s life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps” (Jer 10:23). Petersen’s The Message renders Jeremiah’s words like this, “I know, God, that mere mortals can’t run their own lives, That men and women don’t have what it takes to take charge of life.” No, we don’t have what it takes to take charge of life. “Here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” (Eccl 12:13). Let’s keep in the game and leave the rules to God.

Communal Faith

We know that we are all supposed to have a personal relationship with Christ. The Bible doesn’t use that language, at least not in any of the English versions I have. But we are indeed to come to know the God Who knows us personally and intimately. But for many, “personal relationship” with God seems to mean “private relationship.” I have heard people say that their faith is a personal thing and that no one else has the right to intrude on that in any way. That is just not true. In Acts 2, those first disciples who put their faith in Jesus were added to a church that nurtured and cared for them. All through scripture, the practice of Christianity is communal, centered in a relationship with other people who also have a relationship with God. Faith is not a private thing at all, it is something lived out within a family. William Willimon and Stanley Hauerwas put it like this—

Salvation in Christ is being adopted (baptism), made members of a people, Israel, and the church. We really believe that if we were not part of this people we could not be saved. So when the church has opinions about how you spend your money, how you have sex, how you vote, this is salvation. You are not simply being saved from personal greed or licentiousness, you are thereby being made a member of God’s people.

Do we believe that? Do we believe that when the church’s opinions about how we should live our lives should matter? Do we believe that the community of faith should impact our financial lives, our sexual lives, our political lives? Or are we more of the opinion that church is where I come to worship and that my spiritual life is really no one else’s business?

There is an excellent article you should read on New Wineskins by Lauren winner that is actually an except from her book Real Sex: The Naked Truth About Chastity. She tells about a Christian friend who was spending a lot of time alone with her boy friend at night, sometimes spending the night. They were not having sex... but were doing just about everything else but. Her Christian roommates knew about it, but no one even mentioned the impropriety of her behavior. They were all too embarrassed to raise the issue of chastity; they didn’t want to intrude. Winner responds--

But the Bible tells us to intrude—or rather, the Bible tells us that talking to one another about what is really going on in our lives is in fact not an intrusion at all, because what’s going on in my life is already your concern; by dint of the baptism that made me your sister, my joys are your joys and my crises are your crises. We are called to speak to one another lovingly, to be sure, and with edifying, rather than gossipy or hurtful, goals. But we are called nonetheless to transform seemingly private matters into communal matters.

Of course, premarital sexual behavior is just one of many instances of this larger point. Christians also need to speak courageously and transparently, for example, about the seemingly private matters of Christian marriage—there would be, I suspect, a lot fewer divorces in the church if married Christians exposed their domestic lives, their fights and tensions and squabbles, to loving wisdom, advice, and sometimes rebuke from their community. Christians might claim less credit-card debt if small-group members shared their bank account statements with one another. I suspect that if my best friend had permission to scrutinize my Day-timer, I would inhabit time better. Speaking to one another about our sexual selves is just one (admittedly risky) instance of a larger piece of Christian discipleship: being community with each other.

Does this jind of "fellowship" (the "church word" for sharing) make you uncomfortable? Does that kind of community seem too extreme? Are we even willing to admit that we might be a bit better at living for Christ if we were a bit better at sharing our lives in Him with one another in concrete and real ways?