God has graced me with, what I think
is, a good job with a good benefits package that includes vacation
time. This week is vacation time with the first 2 days were spent
watching our sick grandson instead of sending him to daycare which
was a great time. Yesterday and today have been chore days, which
makes me think this is not really a vacation after all, but it is
good to not be bogged down with “work”.
This morning, before venturing into
chore mode, I came across a video of Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty/
Duck Commander fame. I was first introduced to Phil and his family
via the Duck Dynasty TV series and first heard of the show in my
Sunday School class. One of the teens in there said they were
watching it and said that they were Christians, so I had to check it
out. Now, let me be upfront, I have never been duck hunting in my
life and only been any kind of hunting one time, for rabbit, which I
felt bad afterward and never went again. I have the luxury of not
having the need to hunt, but would and will if the need ever arises,
so I do not think hunting is “wrong” and is actually quite
“right”. If you watch the video series I post at the end of this
posting you will hear just how God designed us as hunters.
During the video I heard a little about
hunting, which is to be expected, but then heard a LOT about God. It
was awesome and I soon began to realize that God had given these men
favor, through hunting, to preach the Gospel. Their scope of
influence is broad now, thanks to a love for hunting and God's
working in their lives to put them in the a large scope of influence.
This got me thinking about my scope of influence.
While my “world' is not as broad as
the Robertson family has been given, my task is the same – Preach
the Gospel to everyone I come into contact with. This means my job,
when I go shopping, to my neighbor, to the mailman, the UPS man, the
counter person at McDonalds and in my own home. Just because these
men have been given a larger “audience” doesn't mean that we are
to have a large audience to proclaim the Gospel. Everyone's audience
is given by God for specific reasons. My audience could never be the
same as Phil or Jase Robertson as I know nothing about hunting, but
not a single Robertson can have my audience or your audience. And
please don't misunderstand my use of the word “audience”, which
is not meant in an entertainment since, but in a “who God puts in
my life who hears my voice and who I can tell about Him”.
So I ask anyone who may happen across
this posting, who God has put in my scope of influence, to look
around you. Look at the opportunities that God places in your life
everyday to tell of His glory. You don't have to keep asking “God
please give me the opportunity to....” because He already does,
they are already there. Turn that prayer into “God please allow me
eyes to see the opportunities you have already given to me, to share
your Gospel, to share your love”. I guarantee you He will and while
you may never get a reality TV show you will be partaking in the
Great Commission of making disciples.
I encourage each of you to watch these
videos and see how God has placed hunting in their lives in order to
share the Gospel. If you are a Christian you will be greatly
encouraged. As you watch pray and ask God to show you the
opportunities that you may have to do this same thing, in the scope
of influence He has placed before you.
Ahhhhh. It's that time of the year. The time that the leaves are falling from the trees, signaling the arrival of fall, quickly followed by winter and Christmas. But hark, who goes there? Christians celebrating the coming of the Messiah? What? That cannot be! Who dares to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ; the greatest Miracle ever?
The chiding actually started on Facebook around Halloween time. I saw a scattering of posts deriding believers (in name only or actually true Christians) for joining in the celebration and festivities of Halloween, then quickly followed with "Yeah, they are the same ones that celebrate the pagan holiday of Christmas too". I admit, I never heard of the "pagan holiday of Christmas" until I joined Facebook a few years ago and had the privilege of coming across those that thought this way. Never did I know that I was bowing down to a idol when I set up a tree, put decorations around the house or gave gifts to people that I love. I was ignorant of such things being "pagan" and quickly learned that I may not actually be a Christian if I did, indeed, celebrate Christmas.
Wow! I was actually in shock and started doing some research. It seems that the celebration of Christ's birth was celebrated before moving the date to December 25th and was moved to that date to try and dissuade pagans from celebrating a false idol and instead show them who the true God is. So, the argument became "You celebrate a pagan ritual/ celebration of a sun god" and anyone who celebrates Christmas was indeed taking part in worshiping that god and there was no way that they could celebrate the coming of the Savior on that day. I wrote on some of this last year and just recently found out that I was incorrect in something, the celebrations by Christians was not an "alternative" to the sun-god worship. The celebration of Christ's birth was already taking place, only the date was changed to coincide with December 25th's pagan celebration.
I am still in the mindset I was last year: Christmas has been commercialized to a very high degree by the fallen culture we live in. Now, what do Christians do with that? Do they not celebrate Christmas because the lost society has "paganized" it? Or do Christians continue to celebrate the coming of the Savior? I'd say the latter, but with the assumption that everything situated around the holiday is Christ focused and honoring. So, pretty much the same as any other day of the year for a follower of Christ, but with one small bonus- We get the chance to actually tell others and show others what Christmas really is. We get a "free ticket" to be able to interject the story of Christmas and therefor tell why Jesus came to this Earth in the first place - to save sinners like us. We get a chance to tell the Gospel to folks that would normally not give you the time or day to do so.
Now, what about those that want to tell me that I am "participating in pagan sun-god worship"? I say: "Really?" These folks are under some very bad misunderstandings. I would like to know the process that leads someone to this viewpoint. I would like to know why they use pagan ways (Windows/ Bill Gates product or Mac OS/ Steve Jobs product) daily in bible study, work or entertainment and see nothing wrong with that. How can you shop at stores that have pagan owners, have pagan workers and buy pagan products and yet condemn a Christian (true or not) for celebrating Christ's birth? How can you call today Saturday when it is named after Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture? Or even venture out of your house on Sunday since that day was named after the Sun? I am not trying to throw a red-herring or straw-man in the mix, but simply show that many things around us may be "pagan" but that doesn't mean that we are pagan.
Take the Christmas season to show the love of Christ. If you choose not to celebrate Christmas, for whatever reason, then don't. Don't call someone a pagan because they do and I won't call you a Pharisee for trying to impose laws that are not there. Christ came to save us from sin. He lived a sinless and perfect life to atone for our sins. He died and shed His blood to wash us clean and I will tell that in any way I can, as much as I can, to whoever I can....... Even on December 25th.
It's official. This country has gone to hell in a hand-basket. Why is that? Because Obama was just called as the winner of his second term? No, because if Romney were to have won I would be saying the same thing.
The fact that these two men were the ones chosen by their party was a judgment of God. One is a professing Christian that sides more with Islam than his professed religion, promotes greatly the murder of babies, blasphemes God and mocks His Word and has sent this country into a tailspin. The other is a professing Christian but is a Mormon, which means he cannot be a Christian since that religion believes in a different god, Jesus, atonement, salvation, gospel, scriptures and so much more that has already caused Mormonism to appear more viable. Sure, each candidate has other issues, but those mentioned are enough to show that God has turned this country over to it's evil desires.
As I set watching the results through the night I was shaking my head at every state that was "called" for either candidate. I did start to realize that I am not a fan of the Electoral College system. It is not a true consensus of the true vote. It is what it is, but that doesn't mean it is a good thing. Is it really "fair" that a handful of states be able to elect a President for the other, larger portion of the country? I think not, especially if the popular vote for the "losing" candidate is higher than the "winning" candidate. It's a very faulty system.
What also is faulty is the "evangelical church", small c. It is also called the visible church, or the perceived church because it is what the majority of people see as the Christian church. Sadly the visible church is not the true Church of God, not that some of the visible church are not part of the true Church. Most of the public look at Osteen, TBN, Obama, Romney and Oprah as Christians, which shows that the public do not know what true Christianity is. Oh, they may have seen it, but they label it as "extreme" or fundamentalism, trying to discredit those that actually adhere to the bible.
Most professing Christians have jumped aboard the Romney wagon and are now left dejected and feel duped. I do not disparage anyone that voted for Romney, but still can't understand why so many professing Christians back(ed) Romney at the level they did. Because I cast my vote for candidate other than the "main 2" I was seen as weird. Not that my vote mattered anyway, as Kentucky was the first state called for Romney but I voted my convictions and my vote went to a man that holds biblical values and professes to know the True God, been changed by the true Christ of scripture. Of course my candidate had no real chance to win, but why was that? I say it is a shame, since a lot of what I heard was "The 3rd party candidates had no chance of winning. Oh, it would be nice if they did, but it won't happen". I would say that it is because of that mindset and those that said that could have voted for the "better" candidate and could have campaigned and promoted a 3rd party. A huge chunk of the USA professes to be Christian, so if they pulled a "Chick-Fil-A" and stood up for something there could have been a much different outcome.
So, what is the answer? Reform, of course. Reformation of the Church, making the visible church into the true Church of Christ. Not that we would make a theocracy, but that God fearing men would be put into leadership positions and actually turn this country around. That's the only way this country will survive. Right now God has shown His disdain for "us". His judgments are many and most folks just brush it off or try to explain it away somehow. Not me, I see God's hand of judgment against us. I am not scared, for I know whom is really in charge. God. My faith is in the Lord, not men, not elections, not our President or the Electoral College.
(This is my latest post at the Treasuring Christ website. Please take a moment to look over the website. There are many great resources available there.)
If you take a look at my avatar you will see E 5:25. Not that you may have noticed it before, or if you have you may have just thought it was the number on the back of my favorite sports player’s jersey or something similar. The fact is that means Ephesians 5:25, a verse that gripped me a few years ago and refuses to relinquish its grasp.
Ephesians 5:25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her........
Today I found myself doing some yard work on my last "official" day of vacation. I still have the weekend and the Labor Day holiday, but today is my last "paid" day off.
During the process of moving a brush pile out of my yard, the thoughts of last-night's Republican National Convention were running through my head. I started to truly seek God on how I should vote. I have, recently, been anti-Romney and have always been anti-Obama. I've wanted to do the God pleasing thing and vote for a candidate that has the moral convictions that I do, based on Biblical standards. The thing is, although there are candidates out there that do match my personal beliefs, they, in all actuality, stand no practical chance of winning this years election.
Here are my (perceived) choices:
1) Vote for Obama
2) Vote for Romney
(For many it ends there, but that's not reality)
3) Vote for a 3rd party candidate that may/ may not stand the chance in winning the election.
4) Don't vote
So there is the dilemma facing all Americans. Laid out in 4 choices. For the political liberal it is a no-brainer, vote Obama and keep heading toward full blown Socialism, keeping a man in power that sidesteps the Constitution, who spends Trillions more than we have as a nation, record unemployment, record (extended high) gas prices and so on. For the political conservative it is clear, vote for Romney who promises a lot of things in opposition to the current administration. But, what about the conservative Christian vote? Or should I say Christian vote, because liberal and Christian should not really go together unless you're talking about love, forgiveness and helping others (all of which shouldn't be a mandate, but done freely).
I find myself perplexed. I had 100% committed myself early on to vote whoever the Republican nominee would be. I was in the "anybody but Obama" camp, firmly. I still am, but now with Romney being the GOP Nominee things change. My perspective has been changing of late anyway, leading up until last-night's nomination. I have been searching out 3rd party candidates that more closely match my belief structure than Romney. I guess it boils down to the following statement:
"Can I, being an Evangelical, Bible believing, conservative Christian place my vote on a Mormon who drags the Name of Christ through the mud with his false god, trying to fulfill the LDS's White Horse Prophecy, while giving credence to his false religion as millions of other professing Christians clamor to support him."
It's really a decision that needs to be weighed in light of the Word of God, not that there are not any decisions that shouldn't be.
This decision should be a tough one for any Christian. It baffles me to see that a lot of Christians are gung-ho behind Romney. True, I do not want Obama back in the White House, un-tethered by that pesky term limit thing, free to further destroy the fiber of this country. I can't stand that thought, at all. Which is my true dilemma. Do I vote for the "other" party, the one with the only foreseeable chance of dethroning Obama? Or do I vote for a 3rd party candidate, such as Virgil Goode, who actually would make the best choice to lead this country going forward?
Ah, but Goode doesn't stand a chance. Why? Because the bulk of people in this country think we must conform to the strict guidelines of D's and R's. I've always fancied myself and Independent. I have voted for Republicans and I have voted for Democrats. Actually, since I turned 18 in 1986 my vote was for every elected President until Obama. I did not vote for Obama. That means I voted for Bush Sr. (R), Clinton (D) twice and Bush Jr (R) twice. I had a fairly strong voting record until Obama came along, but then again after voting for Bush Jr the second time and the following election which featured Obama I was radically saved by God. I saw things differently and knew that Obama was not the one for the job. I defaulted to McCain in that election, since he was, what I saw it, the only viable alternative. I was playing the game and was trapped in the 2 party mentality, but was rapidly being changed by God and thus developing a different view of the world. I no longer saw red and blue, I saw God and thus started seeing that even my vote should be done in accordance with God's Word and to honor Him. If I was no longer living my life, but Christ was living in me, then shouldn't I be voting to typify that?
So, here I stand (actually I am sitting). I can do no other, but try to seek God, use His Word, seek godly council, pray and ask for a clear understanding of whom I shall cast my single vote. I do know that I will not vote for Obama, since he believes in the slaughter of babies and actually promotes the idea of doing so and wants to use my tax money to do so. Then there is the fact that he tramples the Constitution under foot, doing as he pleases, by any means possible, executive orders, czars, blatant disregard to the Constitution.
Then there's the newly appointed GOP nominee, Mitt Romney. Third generation Mormon. Tightly ingrained in his false religion. Very moralistic, an upstanding and successful business man, believes in one man and one woman as marriage, doesn't believe in homosexual marriage, mostly pro-life (except for rape and incest, which is still murdering innocent babies), just a "good" man in the eyes of the world. But he is a Mormon. Electing him, with the support of evangelical Christians sends a very dangerous message to the world that Mormons have a viable religion that is Christian, just being a different denomination. I know the differences. I know how heretical the LDS message is. Sadly, most others do not and hence do not see this as anything to even be debating. The mindset is:
"Romney upholds the same values as I do, Obama doesn't. Therefore I will vote for Romney because he is not Obama."
That would be all well and good if there weren't more choices than the two.
If the only choices were Obama and Romney I probably wouldn't even cast a vote. As many have said; "The lesser of two evils is still evil". So, my faith would trump my Constitutional right to vote and I would vote for neither. But we have more choices than Obama or Romney. That is what's great about this country and the system that God has put into place here. We can vote for other candidates, with clear conscience before God, knowing that He directs the placing of kings and rulers (Daniel 2:20-23, John 19:10-11), He is sovereign and He is still in control, whether it's with Obama, Romney or another President in place. God is still God and that President is still under His reign.
Are we to separate our faith from our vote? That is the million dollar question. Do we leave God at the curtain when we draw it shut and cast our vote? Do we take into account that we should do everything to His glory (1 Cor. 10:31, Col. 3:17&23)? Or do we look at circumstance and what ifs? Do we think that casting our vote for a 3rd party candidate is a vote for Obama? Or is that a vote that honors God? Do we try to rally others FOR Romney, hence joining league with an anti-Christ that could ultimately send millions to Hell because of the thought that Mormonism is a true religion?
The most common argument I have heard is:
"If Daniel the Prophet could serve the pagan Nebuchadnezzar, and Joseph could serve Pharoah, you could vote for Romney."
I say to that, "Really? And just how did Daniel condone or help put into place Nebuchadnezzar and Jospeh condone or help pu into place Pharaoh?"
Daniel and Jospeh just did as God commanded and respected those that God did put into place (Romans 13:1-5, Titus 3:1, 1 Peter 2:13-17).
I want to do what will honor God in my vote. I do not really enjoy the thought of Obama sinking this country further. I do not like the thought that I may lose comfort if Obama is re-elected. I do not like it that he has potential to run unhindered over this country and set in motion destruction to us as a nation. But I must and will not let my comfort, nor my situation, nor public opinion, nor "don't throw your vote away" take precedence over honoring God through my vote. I must stand blameless before Him in my vote, without the blood of millions on my hands for casting a vote for either of the two main parties anti-Christ figures, who come in the spirit of anti-Christ to deceive and set in motion what could possibly be the emergence of The Anti-Christ (1 John 2:18,22-23, 1 John 4:2-3, Jude :4)
I know where my vote is swaying, it is, at this point, for Virgil Goode. As far as my research has shown Goode is a believer in God, he fears the Lord and he upholds biblical convictions, even further than Romney's false morality. So, my vote is FOR a person (Goode) and not AGAINST another (Obama). That is my convictions, this is the understanding that God has given me to this point. It would make it a lot easier if all of the evangelicals were to turn out in force, voting for Goode. Kind of like when everyone turned out to support Chick-Fil-A when the Dan Cathy came out in favor of Biblical marriage that sent liberals in a whirlwind. I know that it could be done. Plus shucking the two party system might, just might, bring a modern day revolution upon us.
Where do you stand? Why do you stand there? Is it in opposition against someone or is it in affirmation for someone? What has lead you to that decision? I assume that if you are reading this that you are a professing Christian, so how does your decision attest to God? These are not just rhetorical questions, I really want to know. I really need insight, other than my own, to Christ centered decisions in the area of voting. This will be me second election out of 7 that I have been a follower of Christ. My first as a Christian was on habit and worldly advice, but this time I need it to be out of Christ centered advice. Please leave a comment here and share where you stand and why. It will help me to understand better and may help impact others as they seek who they should vote for.
I've set through a lot of altar calls
in my life. Some of these altar calls were bad, in the baddest sense,
others were worse, but none worse than the one I set through last
night. It was actually three altar calls strung together over about
an hour and a half.
Being raised in a typical “American
church” I grew up with altar calls after every service. It was just
how the service progressed: Singing, prayer, preaching, altar call
with soft music, proclamations of salvation, leave. Of course, I use
the “preaching” and the “prayer” in loose terms as they were
both usually man-centered. But hey, it's all I knew as a child and I
was a fine product of the “modern gospel” for 30 years, believing
I was saved because of an altar call. I was “held over hell on a
corn stalk” being told how terrible hell was, literally having the
hell scared out of me and driving me right to the altar to say the
prayer. It was just “how it was” and that's all I knew.
Thirty years later, when I actually had
an encounter with God He began to show me things. I had returned to
the church of my youth and had heard the same messages, seen the same
methods, witnessed the same results. People flocked to the altars to
“get saved” or “rededicate” their lives to Christ. The altar
call trip when I was 8 was my only one, but I would say 50% of the
other altar calls I set through I was praying that prayer all over
again. As a mater of fact my prayer before going to bed each night
usually had some form of, “God, if I'm not really saved, please
forgive me and don't send me to hell”.
The extended altar call last night
really struck bad to me. I had just enjoyed a great concert from a
Christian band that I really like. I made my way to the merch table
to pick up a t-shirt and have the band sign my CD cover before I
left. The guest “evangelist” began to speak and they shut down
everything, no sales, everyone stop and pay attention. I was told
that, “We can't sell anything now, this is why we put this on
tonight, right here”, with a head nod to the stage area. The
“evangelist” started out making fun of how a few girls had
laughed at other events that he had been a part of. I would say that
if any of those girls had been there they would not have been very
flattered by the words he was saying. He was after laughs and he
received laughs. I guess this was his ice breaker routine to grab
attention of everyone. It worked, because my attention was fixed on
him, wondering why he would be squandering this opportunity to share
Christ with the crowd before him. He did speak a little about the
bible, told how God's sheep hear His voice and then the altar call
commenced.
“Do you want to hear God's voice?”
“Do you want to go to heaven when you
die?”
That's about it in several different
forms. By this time a brief shower had started falling, so he was
rushing to get to the altar call and rushing, somewhat to get to “the
prayer”. He asked everyone to bow their heads, raise their hand if
they wanted to be able to hear God's voice an commenced the text book
“sinner's prayer”. He then did the next thing in the “Altar
Calls 101” play book and asked those that said the prayer to stand
up, “nobody's looking” after all. Then after a few had made it to
their feet began to tell them, “OK, now don't be ashamed, come on
forward.” Typical psychological manipulation. I would guess that
about 35 kids went forward and were passed off to the events
counselors at the side of the stage.
The rain had stopped, so the second
altar call commenced. This time it was geared at those that “have
heard God's voice, but now listen to the voice of the world instead”.
He was giving the altar call for people to rededicate their lives.
This was filled with a story about scaring girls when he was younger
and was played into “don't be scared to live for God”. Not much
of a reaction to this part of his extended altar call. He ended it
with “prayer” and handed the mic to the promoter.
I was ready to buy my t-shirt and hit
the road for the hour drive back home. But, alas, the promoter must
not have thought that the second altar call was good enough. He began
with the same “don't be scared” ploy. This was followed by “we
have to do....”, “why aren't you.....” and “If you
don't.....”. This man was filling these people's heads with works
and trying to lay guilt trips on everyone. At one point he said, “If
you are not out evangelizing then you are sending people to hell”.
My head was about to explode because I had yet to hear anything, in
the three altar calls, about God's holiness, God's requirements,
man's sinfulness and rebellion, Christ's perfect atonement, the blood
of Christ that takes away all of our sins, the grace of God in even
allowing us to have a breath because of our rebellion. Nothing. Nada.
Zilch. No Gospel. No call to repentance. Nothing of the true Gospel
whatsoever. Only a emotional call and guilt trip to garner decisions.
I prayed during all of this that God would save despite the false
message. He saved me despite the false teachings I was sitting
under, so I know He does it.
If I were a confrontational person I
would have been in a serious discussion with the promoter and staff
last night. If there ever was a time I wanted to confront someone it
was last night. It was probably for the best that I did, at that
time, not say anything. But, I will probably say something if I ever
happen to be at another event that this guy puts on. I know that this
false gospel is sending millions to hell. I also think that most of
these people mean well, but also that the “road to hell is paved
with good intentions”. Unless someone repents and is born again
they will not see the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus made it clear that you
must follow Him, lay everything aside, even the love for your family
is to seem like hate in comparison for your love for Him. The easy
believism that permeates most “churches” and “Christian”
events must be addressed and must be stopped. Then again, this may
just be part of the judgment of God, giving man over to their own
self centered desires and works mentality, trusting in themselves for
salvation and not on Christ.
We must stand on the Word of God alone.
We must not water down the Message of Christ. We must not tickle the
ears of others and tell them what they want to hear in order to get
them to commit to a decision. We must not play people's emotions and
instead preach the full council of God and allow the Holy Spirit to
work in convicting them, God made it simple enough to trust in Him.
Sell it all and follow Him. Do not give regard for the things of this
life, but instead have the mind of a pilgrim, just passing through,
making disciples, pointing to Christ in all that we do, exalting His
Name, preaching the Gospel in season and out of season. Proclaiming
The good News to this lost and dying world. Are you ready? Then Go!
Last year, here on my blog, I chronicled my journey on my way to losing 60+ pounds. Over a 10 month (+/-) time frame I had many people telling me how good I looked, asking me how I was losing the weight and just over all being a cheerleader for me. I appreciated those comments, but when my new “look” had become old news the support dwindled.
It was October or so of last year, while on a business trip, that I decided that I was going to “splurge” for the trip. That set off a chain reaction that had me gaining back a lot of the weight I lost. How much? I have no idea, because I refuse to weigh myself. I’m disgusted that I allowed the weight to come back and I’m disgusted that I lost the will to jump back on the wagon and keep the weight dropping. I succumbed to food again and had dove full force into the old eating habits that I once had.
What was different during the time that I had begun to gain the weight back was that others never mentioned my weight gain, as they had my weight loss. I’m sure it was because they thought I would be embarrassed by the comments or didn’t want to hurt my feelings, so I don’t fault anyone, but I do wonder why I only had a couple of people ever mention my weight gaining.
I do think that it may have made some difference in my perceptions. If I had known that others were noticing, then I may have stepped back and reevaluated what I was doing. During the time I have gained the weight back I was not being held accountable by anyone. I depended on myself to “saddle up” and muster up the will power to stop eating the food that held me captive, but always put it off. “What’s another Swiss Roll going to do?” or “What is one more trip to the Pizza Inn buffet going to add?” Which I determined wouldn’t be a lot. And that is probably true, a single Swiss Roll or a single dinner at Pizza Inn would not have made much of an impact, but it was deeper than that. It was sin.
Reflecting on the roller coaster of weight loss (this time), I have seen how it does parallel sin. I see that I need support, both while I am doing “good” and winning the battle. But, more importantly I need the support when the battle is beating me. I need to be held accountable for the sins in my life. I need people to point out that I treat my wife lousy some times, that I raise my voice to often at the kids, that lust runs rampant, food becomes an idol and laziness just breeds more laziness and excuses. I believe this is part of bearing our brothers sins/ burdens (Galatians 6:1-2, Romans 15:1, Proverbs 27:17, James 5:13-20, Ephesians 4:25)
We are weak creatures. We often times act from the flesh rather than from the spirit. We forget that these bodies are dying and that we are just passing through this world, en route to our true home. We tend to think “now” is time to feed this flesh of our selfish desires, to sin and sin big. We push God to the side and say, “Let me take it from here, I’ve got it under control now”. This is why we need each other. We need to lovingly come beside our brothers and sisters in Christ, our wives and husbands, or children and parents and help carry them, help them see points of sin that they may not even realize is there or may be saying as I did about eating, “I’ll do better tomorrow”. Sad thing is that tomorrow usually does not come and sin is not dealt with and things get worse. The weight piles on and the sin kills.
I just ask that we each look at our motives. Look inward and ask yourself why we do not lovingly tell someone that you have noticed sin in their life. It is actually one of the most loving things you can do for a Christian. I am not saying to become a fruit checker and try to be someone’s Holy Spirit, but allow God to use you and work through you for the sanctification of others and also for yourself. Confess to one another, become accountable to one another, be open for rebuke and be open to give rebuke. I do not hold anyone other than myself at fault for my sins or my weight gain, but I do know that if someone would have lovingly told me that they noticed the pounds coming back, or the snack cakes in my lunch or the PB&J’s that I ate on a regular basis, I probably would have heeded their words and snapped out of my self deception. The same goes for my sin. If someone confronts me and says, “ I have noticed ……., let’s pray together about this and allow me to help carry this load with you” it would make me step back and actually see things I have allowed to blind me.
This is a first for me. My good friend Whitt from Treasuring Christ asked if I would like to be a monthly contributor to the TC website. Apparently he has read my posts here before, but that didn't stop him from asking anyway. I was honored to have been asked and this week my first endeaver there was posted. Below is the first part of it, so please visit the Treasuring Christ website to read the rest of it. WHile there please sign up for the many and valuable resources there, including men's and women's ministry pages, the Emergency study that I have recommended here before and several other studies. There are just too many for me to list here, so please bookmark the site and dive in.
The Heart Of Your Treasures: Posted on the Treasuring Christ website
What you are reading is the 3rd
incarnation of this article. The first two? Well, let’s just say
they got a little wordy and I tried to get all “expositional” on
the whole chapter of Matthew 13. And I realized; “Jeff, this is not
about breaking down each verse word by word. This is about Christ and
the Treasure He is to you”.
So, here I am, after sleeping another
night with the verse on my mind and weighing on my heart. Waking with
it being the first thing on my mind: “Again, the kingdom of heaven
is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and
for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that
field.”
I cannot read this verse without it
bringing to mind, Luke 12:34 (and Matthew 6:21) “For where your
treasure is, there will be your heart also”. These verses have
caused me to really look inward to where exactly is my heart. What is
my treasure? Is my treasure Christ? Am I willing to sell everything I
have to pursue Him?
If I were to have started this blog
today, instead of years ago I would probably have titled it “That
Grace May Abound”. Not that I wasn't aware of God's grace(s) at
that time, but He was showing me so much truth from His Word and
about what I had been living for the bulk of my life. Today, my 44th
Birthday, as I reflect back over the past years of my life I see the
signs and evidences of God's grace throughout. Yes, even when I was
lost and in rebellion to my Lord, He was still pouring His grace and
His love out in my life. Grace is often attributed as "unmerited favor" or a reprieve of guilt and with those I totally agree with, but it is also the natural extension of God's love to His children.
I think about my childhood, about how
He put me in a church, to learn the bible stories that showed His
power and how He worked in people's lives like David, Shadrach,
Meshach and Abednego, Noah, Moses and many others in the Bible. I
never really learned, though, why these stories were in the bible,
that they all actually pointed to Christ, but nonetheless, they were
laying groundwork in my life to point me to Him later in life. I
think of my “rebellious” years, which were actually all my years
until He saved me. But the ones that stick out are when I openly
flung my fist in the air and said, “I'm doing this my way, I'll do
what I want – when I want”. All the time thinking that I was
saved because of a profession as an 8 year old in that same church's
youth group.
The years passed and I can honestly
only think of only a single night that, as I lay down to sleep, I did
not pray to the god I had created in my own mind. The reason? I dozed
off drunk. I would always pray for forgiveness, for the same sins,
for the life that I lived and for the multitude of sins I committed
each day. God was still graceful to me, He kept me safe, He kept
those around me safe, He still allowed me the days until I would
finally and truly know Him.
I see the signs of God working my life
through the years. Even though, at the time, I didn't realize it was
Him. The things I prayed for that never came to pass, the things I
did pray for that actually did. The staying of His wrath against me
as I defiled His Name by professing to know Him, all the while living
in open sin to and with those I was making the profession to. I know
first hand the deception of a false convert, which is again by His
grace. I attribute this to my “zeal” for truth. I just so greatly
want others that live in deception to be awakened from their slumber
and meet the One True God.
I have in my recent past, since God
saved me, seen His grace in many ways. Today He has shown me that a
lot of times His grace is shown through people He has put in my life.
I think about people that for many different reasons should have had
their anger heightened toward me, in my zeal (misdirected zeal) said
and did things that I should have actually stopped to think about
beforehand. But God in His richness of Grace allowed these people to
react with the grace that I lacked. These occurrences have made a
huge impact on me and I now see that these, too, were an act of God's
grace in my life. God has used these people in many ways and without
that grace shown I would not be where I am today. I still have the
“zeal” for His truth, but also have a fresh zeal for His Grace.
It is through His grace that I have a better understanding of how to
interact with others better. Not perfectly by a long shot, but
better.
In 2010, on my birthday, I set out on a
year long journey on this blog titled “A Year In MY Life ThroughPictures”. It seemed like a good idea at first, but soon became
somewhat tedious. I do not regret doing the series, but it did leave
a sense of antipathy ($2 word alert) to me, I just didn't want to
write any longer. I was burned out and I was spent. I needed a break.
So, since finishing the year long series in 2011, on my birthday, I
have been sporadic, at best, with my postings. A few things here and
there have sparked me to bang something out, but no real inspiration.
Until now. Why? I have no idea, but I feel the need to start posting
again.
Let me say something again that I have
said from the get-go on this blog. I AM NOT A WRITER. I hated English
class in high school. I hated diagramming sentences. I can't spell. I
do not properly punctuate. I make up words. I ramble on and on. I
lack sentence structure. I lack any sense of writing ability that
would characterize someone that anyone else would want to read. But I
think of Moses, who had a speech impediment, whom God used anyway. I
think of Jeremiah who tried to talk God into not using him:
Jeremiah 1:4-9
4 The word of the
Lord came to me: 5 I chose you before I formed you in the womb; I set you apart before you were born. I
appointed you a prophet to the nations. 6 But I protested, “Oh no,
Lord, God! Look, I don’t know how to speak since I am only a
youth.”
7 Then the Lord said to me:
Do not say, “I am only a youth,”
for you will go to everyone I send you
to
and speak whatever I tell you.
8 Do not be afraid of anyone,
for I will be with you to deliver you.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
9 Then the Lord reached out His hand,
touched my mouth, and told me:
I have now filled your mouth with My
words.
Not that I should be compared to Moses
or Jeremiah, but God is still God and I am still feeble. Moses and
Jeremiah tried to talk God out of using them and I have done that
too. But I see that God can use whoever He pleases, however He
pleases, whenever He pleases and I don't want to miss that. I want to
be aware when He is using me and actually, willingly and openly be
used of Him in whatever capacity that is. I don't want to miss God
like I did 38 years of my life.
So I ask anyone who ventures upon this
blog site to be graceful of my mistakes, I make them often. Please do
not hesitate to correct me grammatically or if I have something wrong
spiritually. I would actually prefer that you correct me, so I do not
continue in error. But some things you may be in error in as well and
I ask that you seek correction too. God is still graceful to the
humble, but not the prideful. I have learned that the hard way,
through my stubbornness and through my lack of grace to others. God
has been very good to me and has corrected me through His grace and
through His grace through others.
What better way to describe grace than
this:
Ephesians 2:4-9
4 But God, who is rich in mercy,
because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were
dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you
have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit
together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages
to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His
kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been
saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of
God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Post Subtitle : Guilty of preaching a false gospel
Lots of talk the past few days about Word of Faith “preacher” Creflo Dollar. Seems that he is accused of battery and cruelty to children in an alleged attack on his 15 year old daughter. I will not go into the details of the alleged happening, but you can find it all over the internet at any news source. Also, you can find a scan of the actual police report here. My prayer is that this situation will be used to bring interest on Dollar and thus exposing his false gospel, regardless if what the criminal charges are.
First off, I did post the story on my Facebook page along with a comment that pretty much said Creflo was guilty. It is true that in this country we are innocent until proven guilty. So, for that I was wrong and not giving Creflo his due diligence in making his case before a judge and/ or jury. However, I do not believe this will reach that phase of the judicial process, so we may never know if he was guilty or not. Actually, does it really matter anyway? After all he has been abusing scripture and his listeners for decades and people still flock to him.
Dollar has a long history of being a Word of Faith teacher. This in itself is a heresy that has run rampant on the world for a few decades now, with other WoF (Word of Faith) preacher/ teachers like Oral Roberts, Jessie DuPlantis, Kenneth Copeland, T.D. Jakes, Benny Hinn and Joyce Meyer being some of the more well known. Not that there are actually “bigger” heresies than others, but the more prominent in this movement are the “little gods” statements, name it and claim it speak, your faith is what can cure you, sow your seeds into “my” ministry to receive your blessings, if your not being healed then your faith isn’t strong enough and one I just came across today - that Jesus “grew” into His Sonship and “Godness”.
Actually, I have listened to a few of Dollar’s messages over the past few days, taken directly from his website so they wouldn’t be “out of context”. In those messages I found not one single solitary shred of the true Gospel of Christ. I heard a lot of prosperity and a lot of “me” and “I”, even saw Dollar do a “thus sayeth the lord” as he closed his eyes and proceeded to act as a direct oracle for God. So, what is Dollar’s message all about? It is all about self, to the core, through and through.
I’ll clear the air here. I am in no way against a pastor of God having money. I don’t think it is beyond belief that God could bless His children abundantly. Only thing is, Creflo’s not a minister of the Gospel. Creflo feeds his congregation steady doses of “me” and “I”. He even expounds when preaching and calls what he says THE gospel, but not a single word of the Jesus of scripture, not one word on His blood, not one word about sin, not one utterance of repentance, nothing about sanctification, nothing at all resembling the true Gospel of Christ. Admittedly I did not listen to each and every message the Dollar has preached over his career, but shouldn’t the primary reason to preach to people be to glorify God? I mean I heard a few verses ripped out of context, but other than that it was an all out motivational talk/ sales pitch.
It really saddens me that so many people are on their way to hell because of this type of message. This false gospel has man as its central point, what can God do for me type of attitude. I suppose that is why it is so popular. I know there are a few prominent Christian voices out there that are calling these carlatans out. Justin Peters, Voddie Baucham, Hank Hanegraaff, John MacArthur and rappersIV Hisson and Jovan Mackenzy all speak out against the heresies that are spewed from pulpits every Sunday morning. I praise God that these “voices in the wilderness” are there, but I also pray that all pastors and followers of Christ would also take a stand for the true Gospel and push to expose these workers of darkness and of a false gospel. These workers of iniquity are actually to be anathema/ accursed according to Galatians 1:8-9. Instead they have their wears and false messages peddled on TV networks like TBN and TCT, their books and study guides displayed on “Christian” bookstore shelves and people ingest their poison all the way to the grave. Why is that? It is the human nature of self, the greed factor, the lust of money, the lust of a comfortable lifestyle, the desire to be healthy above all else. It is the “perfect” anti-gospel, relayed by prosperity preachers who flaunt their millions to the poor people they are ripping off.
I get infuriated at the state of what people see as Christianity today. It is not really hard to see why so many people are turned off by what they see on TV and read about in the news about the “church”. The secular world sees the hypocrisy of what passes for the gospel these days. The even sadder fact is that when the True Gospel is proclaimed people shake their heads and want nothing of it. They think it is extreme to actually taking up your cross daily, serving those in need, preaching to others, witnessing to those in your life, talking about being a slave to Christ, actually doing what the bible says a true follower of Christ will do - FOLLOW HIM.
Probably the most troubling part of the current issue with Creflo Dollar is those professing Christians that are saying Dollar is a brother in Christ, a fellow Christian. They see the name “pastor” and see that he “preaches” but beyond that they are ignorant of what Dollar actually preaches. They come to his defense (judging ‘for’) and admonish those that are opposing dollar (judging ‘against’). As I stated, I did unfairly judge Dollar guilty of the crimes he is charged with. I apologize for that and learned I should not, but I will not apologize for using this newfound spotlight in the public eye for Dollar to expose his heretical preaching. I wait to see how this all plays out - who will rush to his defense in judging him not guilty, those that judge him guilty and those that use this as a catapult to expose his lies to the world and use it to proclaim the true Gospel of Christ.
I also would like for anyone that may happen upon this posting and says that Dollar is a true preacher of the Gospel to please leave a comment for why you think that. Please leave any link to any message that is the true Gospel. Please explain how he can preach a heresy so much and still be a true child of God. I am always open for correction and will admit if I am wrong.
God has shown His grace on me. After 30 years as a false convert, willing to call anything and everything “Christian” that professed to be, God opened my eyes to the false messages. God showed me how utterly sinful and how much under His wrath I was. He showed me the true Jesus Christ, His sacrifice, His atonement for my sins, His blood shed on Calvary for me, His death, burial and resurrection, being my Propitiation, my Advocate, my Savior! Know what else? He can be yours as well. All you must do is repent and believe in Him. Turn from your sins and to the Holy God. Cry out to Him and fall at His feet and follow Him, wherever He leads, however the road turns. See God as He is - Holy and how you are not - a sinner. Cling to Christ. Deny yourself. Leave all behind and follow Him.
Have you ever damaged your testimony? You know, damaged your story of your walk with Christ? Do you even know what that means or have you never heard of damaging your testimony?
I used to hear that a lot growing up at my childhood church. It seems that was the appeal to the members of the church, don't do something that will make you look bad in front of others. Of course at the time it sounded really good, then again so did the idea of just saying a prayer and getting it “all taken care of”. Now, looking back, I can see why this was a popular saying in the realm of the “modern gospel”. It is directed at “self” just as the “gospel” was directed.
So, what is wrong with this? Why am I now, 30 something years later bringing this up? Because I had an epiphany today about “damaging my testimony”. I don't know why it popped into my head at work today, other than it lead me to write this blog and shed my thoughts on the matter. I've never really thought about damaging “my testimony” before, so this was kind of out of the blue as I was thinking back over how God has worked in my life, through childhood, my teen years, my young adult life and now my middle years. I can see how God has guided me through the years, even when I was not yet His child.
First the phrase, My testimony, is directed at self. Just as the easy-believism message prominent in my childhood and which has grown to the “norm” now, so was this admonishment to not “damage your testimony”. This was said to those rebellious teenagers out on the weekends doing stuff they shouldn't be doing or the person cheating on their taxes or husband cheating on their wife. It addresses a great problem in the world of professing Christianity (churchianity): If you do not preach a message of repentance, new birth, faith, sanctification and holiness then you have to continually address a lifestyle of sin. Of course ,to those that are truly a child of God this idea seems foreign, to have to continually tell people NOT to sin, the same sins... over and over again. To try and reach a mind and conscience that doesn't grasp the idea of sin in the first place.
The cause of this message is the false gospel that creates false converts that give lip service to the name “Christian”. They said a prayer, walked an aisle, have been in church since they were born, their parents are Christians, or any other number of things that lead someone to believe they are “saved” but actually are still under the wrath of God. I have seen it a thousand times, people make emotional decisions, are pressured into saying a prayer, raising their hand, walking an aisle and their name is jotted on a decision card, they are paraded in front of the congregation and the “preacher” pronounces them saved. The emotionalism reaches its peak as the crowd erupts into applause, tears flow and another person has their fate of hell sealed under the guise of making a “public profession”. They are told to write the date in the back of their bible, and show the devil that page any time he comes sticking his nose in their business. Only thing is the devil never got his nose out of their business and was along side the congregation in applause for the false profession. As the days go by, the weeks add up things change. The elation of the applause was gone after shutting the car door in the parking lot. The handshakes and back slaps lasted a few services, but were quickly diminished. Life resumed as normal. The temporary halting of some sins halted itself and the sins came back, even greater than before. After all, you “got saved”, you live under grace now and all you have to do is ask for forgiveness and it's all taken care of.
When the lifestyle of sin rears its head once again, what is a preacher to do? Go back to the emotionalism once again. Set up a meeting with the one living in sin. Address the emotions once again, something along the lines of “Bubby, you know you shouldn't be doing those things. You can't hurt your testimony like that. What's your mama gonna think if she finds out you been drinking again? Does your wife know you've been dancing with those other women? Don't you feel bad about doing those things again?” Appeals to the emotions to not “damage/ hurt your testimony”, just as the emotional plea to “Come to Jesus. All you have to do is say this prayer”. It's a never ending cycle Why? Because it was a false gospel, by a false teacher, making a false convert.
A major issue with the statement “damaging your testimony” is the fact that you don't really have a testimony. A true believer has a testimony to God about what He has done to you, in you, through you. So how could you damage something that God has done in the first place? A Christian that does sin, who repents, will give testimony to how God, once again, graciously pulled them out of sin. It will not be focused on “me” or “my” anything, but on the One that actually did something, God. Which counteracts the whole message of the easy-believism message today.... It's all about ME. When the true Gospel is all about God.
The whole belief structure of easy-believism/ American gospel is based on self. This goes all the way through the life cycle of the false convert of this system. I say a prayer, I ask Jesus into my heart, I cleaned up my life, I stopped drinking, I stopped smoking, I started going to church every Sunday morning, I got baptized, I sang in the choir, I taught Sunday School, I went to Sunday School, I went on a mission trip, I, I, I. When it should be God saved me, God pulled me out of the mire and changed my heart, God took away my vices, God cleaned me up, God used me to teach other about Him, God, God , God. This mentality follows through when the false convert returns to sin and the leaders or friends see that something is wrong. It's often called “back sliding”, but honestly it is just a returning to the sin that never was washed away in the first place. But damage control has to start and the emotional appeals start again.
If the majority of “preachers” today would actually preach the Gospel then they wouldn't have to continually meet with people to appeal to them to stop sinning. Divorce rates would drop, if not completely go away among those professing Christianity. There would be no more “re-dedications”. There would be filled pews instead of only filled membership rolls. False conversions would be the exception instead of the norm. People would have testimonies of God's greatness instead of having “my testimony”. Sinners would repent. God would be glorified.
The remedy? The Gospel. God. Christ crucified. Repentance. Re-birth, a new creation. Sanctification. Faith. The Blood of Jesus.
It seems I've fallen into a trap. A self placed trap of laziness, of procrastination. I have largely shucked my "duties" of keeping this blog active for any length of time, other than the "Year in my life through pictures" series that I started on my birthday in 2010 and completed on the day after my birthday in 2011. The "Year in my life" series started out as a great idea, to chronicle a year of my life from a personal level, one picture at a time. It is a great concept, on the idea level, but on the practical level it became very tedious to me and I felt it as a chore rather than something edifying. I would not change the fact that I did it, but in doing it I was kind of jaded at writing (attempting to write) a blog with any consistent pace. So, I stopped pretty much, except for the occasional post here or there to vent or if some world event was unfolding. I became something I really never have been, a procrastinator.
I've usually fared well with tasks at hand. Maybe that is why it became an issue, it was a task to write a post, so I just put it off until later. Sadly the "later" never really materialized and I became a blogger backslider and forsook the very site that I know God has used to His glory. It has to be His work, because I lack many things that are normally required of writers:
1.) Knowing how to actually write
2.) Knowing proper sentence structure
3.) Being entertaining
4.) Ability to spell words correctly
5.) Knowledge to share
See, the only thing I had going into this blog was the desire to see God glorified, to edify brothers and sisters in Christ, to challenge the lost and to vent on occasion to what I saw going on in my world around me. Through the blog I planned on chronicling the quest for a new church home that never really panned out because God saw fit to place my family in the perfect church family. Then over the years I got apathetic and clammed up for not any one reason or another. For that I am sorry, to anyone who has ever read a post here, to myself for stopping and mostly to God for developing a spirit of procrastination.
I am going to look at this "revelation" as another way for me to seek God. It seems like these seemingly "small" issues are what God uses in my life as catalysts to ready me for "bigger" things. I will seek Him for what to clunk out on the keyboard and when. I will seek to glorify Him in what I write. I will seek Him in all aspects of my life on a higher level. These "small" things need tending to in "big" ways. I simply want to tell of the love the Father has for me, for you and for the world. I want to see the false teachers silenced. I want to see sinners repent. I want to see God glorified above all, in all and through all I ever do.
So please partner with me in prayer as I seek the Lord on how to proceed. I know it will be with regular postings as that is a current burden, but other than that I will not speculate. Well, and a new look to the blog which is easier to read. I also ask that if I write anything that goes against the Word of God that you call me out on it, be Bereans and question me. I am nothing apart from Christ and I am probably the most fallible person in the blogosphere, so please help me if you see I need it. I will readily apologize if I am wrong and correct anything that is wrong. I have done this several times and have gained much from doing so.
I cherish your prayers. I cherish your opinions. I cherish your input. Please send them all my way.
-Jeff
I am sure for the next few weeks we will be inundated with memorials to Whitney Houston. Her passing today made her part of the ultimate statistic - 1 in 1 will die. I am sure as she woke up this morning she had no idea that this would be the last day she would do so. As her day progressed she probably had no idea that today, this day, February 11th 2012 she would breath her last breath and step into eternity.
I am not an expert on the life of Whitney Houston. I know she was a very popular singer and acted in The Bodyguard, was married to Bobby Brown for a while and had a child together. Other than that I couldn’t really tell you, other than her erratic behavior and drug abuse. I have no idea if she was a Christian or even professed faith in God, which is a sign that she did not actively proclaim Christ.
The Grammy Awards will be telecast tomorrow night, in which we will hear many accolades to Ms. Houston. I am also fairly certain we will even hear how she is “with God now” or “in the arms of angels” or people bidding her to “rest in peace”. Thing is, by all accounts she is probably not doing any of those things. From the little research I did this evening Houston was raised in a Baptist home, later attended a Pentecostal church and went to a Catholic school. She sometimes talked about her “faith” but I could find no account of what that “faith” was. Her life was full of drug use, rehab stays and behavior that makes faith in Christ seem to be the farthest thing from the truth. This is not to say that Christians cannot fall into these evils, but they will definitely not stay there. I caution everyone to be really careful about preaching Whitney Houston into heaven. Professing faith does not really mean a lot. And just because she was famous and had an obvious God given talent does not mean that she was a Christian, it just means she wasted her God given talent on selfish ambitions.
So, what to do? Use this as a springboard, a reason to talk to people about death. Explain to them that we are all going to die one day, maybe even today. Don’t scare them into saying a prayer or anything, but make sure they know that today is the day of salvation and that we are not promised another breath on this earth. Make sure they know the true gospel of scripture and are not placing their faith anywhere except on Christ. Not in a prayer, not in church membership or attendance, not on being proclaimed saved by a pastor, not on how good they have lived - only repenting of their sin and trusting in Jesus Christ and His merit can save them. Point them to resources such as Real Truth Matters , www.needgod.com or any other biblically based ministry’s website. Pursue a relationship with them, disciple those that you talk to, show them where your faith lies.
Use this tragic end to a tumultuous life as a way to share the Gospel. Never waste the opportunity to tell someone how they too can know God.
Over the past couple of years there has been a struggle inside of me around this time of year. What is that? About Christmas. Why is that? The commercialization? Not really, but that does play part of my thought process during the Holiday Season.
I had a great talk today with dear brother in Christ, Whitt Madden, about an article that I posted on Facebook yesterday about Christmas. This article pretty much summed up a lot of what has been going on within me lately. To put it frankly, I am torn. I am battling 43 years of instilled holiday cheer with Christmas as it really is, where it is rooted and what it has become.
To sum up the battle in a few words - Christmas did not start out as a “Christian Holiday” (Holy Day), it began as a pagan festival in recognition of the sun’s position during the winter solstice. The Roman Catholic church did not like this and began to “Christianize” the festival and pull the congregation back from the worship of Saturn, the sun god. I will not rehash what is common on the web with all that was added or “Christianized” in the process, but much of it is still seen this day in same or slightly changed forms (Yule log, tree, etc.) Fast forward to our day and society has thrown Christmas back to pagan rituals with worship of money, giving gifts, receiving gifts, decorations, family get togethers, and so many more rituals that now begin even before Halloween.
So, what is Christmas this day and age? It is not a reverence to a sun god, but it is definitely still not reverence to the Son of God and His birth either. It is a mish-mash of Roman Catholic traditions (Christ-Mas, being the most obvious) and the love of “me” (what can I do to make me feel better (give gifts,, etc), what will I get this year, how pretty can I make my tree, how many people can I feed, how many people will come to my house, and on and on). But Christ is nowhere to be found.
Am I ready to throw in the towel for Christmas? Not entirely, but to continue in how the world “celebrates” Christmas, yes. I have seen both sides of this argument played out last year and starting to see it this year. In the one camp are the staunch “You better not be celebrating Christmas - it is pagan and you definitely can’t be a Christian and celebrate Christmas - you are a heretic” contrasted with the other camp “I love Christmas time of year, family, fun, giving, singing, mistletoe, Christmas tree up before Halloween, spiced cider. Oh, and Jesus too” camp that thinks the other camp is nuts for calling them nuts and back and forth. Ughhhhh. Alas, I fit into neither camp, but somewhere in between.
I am so thankful for brothers like Whitt that God has placed in my life. He has had very similar convictions as I have (as well as others around me too). After speaking with him today I think he had the most Christ centered reaction to Christmas I have ever heard - let it be about Christ and His glory. How novel is that? Instead of giving electronics or toys that will be forgotten or broken in a few days or weeks, give that money to Cure International and watch God work through that gift to show Christ to someone in need of medical attention. Do not give a gift that does not point to Christ, either directly or that will bring people together in the Name of Christ. Some things could be bibles, hand made devotionals, donations to Cure, donation to World Vision to buy livestock for families in impoverished areas, donation to Heart Cry Missionary Society to support indigenous missionaries across the world, donations to your local Church or ministry, giving your time to Christ based missions to show the love of Christ to others. So many ways that can make an eternal impact FOR the Kingdom rather than temporary splashes that will be gone tomorrow and have no impact whatsoever.
At Whitt’s website, Be The Domino, he is a few days in to a series called “Give This Christmas Away”. I highly suggest that you check out this series and let the heart of this series impact you. Go to God and pray how He would use you to give Him away this Christmas season instead of an iTunes gift card or blu-ray player or even a baby doll. Give a gift in someone’s name to a Christ based ministry, give that person a card and inscribe in it how that the money normally spent on the superficial is now being placed in the hands of God to do the Supernatural in someone’s life. Who knows what eternal impacts can be made from Christ focused giving this year and years to come.
I know that my focus on Christmas has evolved and is continuing to be sanctified and brought into a more Christ focused view. I will not, however, be calling anyone a heretic that continues to “celebrate” as I always did nor will I be confused over the other extreme in pointing the finger back and calling people “scrooge” for shunning the “pagan rituals” of this land. As all other aspects of my life I wish to glorify the Lord in this, especially since the Holiday was given His Name.
So I ask anyone who may happen across
this posting, who God has put in my scope of influence, to look
around you. Look at the opportunities that God places in your life
everyday to tell of His glory. You don't have to keep asking “God
please give me the opportunity to....” because He already does,
they are already there. Turn that prayer into “God please allow me
eyes to see the opportunities you have already given to me, to share
your Gospel, to share your love”. I guarantee you He will and while
you may never get a reality TV show you will be partaking in the
Great Commission of making disciples.
