HAROLD: Can you imagine being a there the day he shows up? If he doesn't mask his glory?
ALVIN: No.
HAROLD: Waking up, looking out your window to see this giant eyeball looking at you? The eye of God!
ALVIN: He’s going to send every one of ‘em into cardiac arrest. When they get a load of his holiness they’re just gonna keel over by the millions!
HAROLD: We should get seats.

These are a few lines from "Imagine Christmas" a Christmas musical we are going to be doing at my church on Christmas Eve. As I read these words for the first time I almost shouted "THAT'S RIGHT!" If we truly got a glimpse of God's holiness we would keel over.

Christmas is such an awesome time of year and at this point in my life it my favorite holiday. Easter is a great celebration of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection and at times I think I can maybe, possibly, partially, kind of wrap my mind around the idea of a grown man sacrificing himself for others. Yes, that grown man is God incarnate and yes, the sacrifice was for the forgiveness of sins for all of mankind. Even still, it is somewhat comprehendibleto me. Christmas, however, leaves me 100% at a loss for words. Get this. God, who created all things; "All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being" (John 1: 3) and is not confined to size and shape, "Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens" (Isaiah 40:12) this God, our God, THE God came down to the earth. He went through the birthing process, potty training, learning to walk and talk and his voice cracked when he went through puberty. He created the stars, sun, moon and planets. He created them out of nothing.
He became a baby that was totally helpless and dependant upon a young mother and carpenter father. That is why I love Christmas. Because I can't explain it or even begin to wrap my mind around it.

The title of our Christmas Eve service is "Imagine Christmas". Go ahead try to imagine it. I dare you.

Peace

O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me, is the current of Thy love
Leading on-ward, leading homeward to my glorious rest above!

These words written by Samuel Trevor Francis in the late 19th century lingered in the air as the cup was being passed and you could see in the faces of the people that they were being deeply moved. Not because of the arrangement of the song but because of the power and truth of the words.

I think about when I lived in North Carolina and how my wife and I would make day trips to the ocean shore. I loved it when the waves were high. My most memorable trip was one in which my father was with me. After some gentle coaxing and a goading comment or two my father finally joined me in the water and after catching our breath because of the chilliness of the water, we were splashing and laughing like a couple of school boys. We would watch the waves come in and try to jump over them only to be thrown back by their force. Eventually, we stopped fighting against the waves and started to allow them to move us where they wanted to and we began to enjoy the moment even more. Some family members who were watching kept shouting "Free Willy" but that is another story. We were relishing the immenseness of the waves. Eventually, we stumbled out of the water smiling and laughing and my dad told me it had be 30 years since he last swam in the ocean and he had forgotten how much fun it was.

The love of Jesus - unmeasured, boundless free, rolling over me as a mighty ocean, underneath and all around me. What an incredible picture! When was the last time you thought about His love like this. It is always there. Are you struggle with sickness, family discord, financial difficulty, school, work? Or is life going well for you? Whatever the case may be. Think about His love and how it can completely surround you and carry you along. Stop struggling against it and embrace it.

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, love of every love the best! ’Tis an o-cean full of blessing, ’tis a haven giving rest! O the deep, deep love of Jesus, ’tis a heaven of heavens to me; And it lifts me up to glory, for it lifts me up to Thee!

Shalom!

Attitude Change

Sundays come and Sundays go. In the past I tended to look at them as just another work day. Oh sure, I enjoyed the times of worship and the teaching and fellowship but it was work. I was on the clock and doing my job. Over the past several months my attitude has changed. Yes, it is still part of my job but I am excited to be there to celebrate what God is doing in our lives as a body. One of the reasons for the change of attitude has been the fact that we have had so many baptisms lately and many more are coming. We are seeing followers of Christ, some for a few months others for many years, desiring to be obedient to Christ's call to be baptized. Every single one of them have said that they are doing it not because because it is a prerequisite to salvation, it's not, but rather that this an opportunity to let people know they are Christians and also because they want to express their love for Christ by being obedient to what He commands.

The idea of being obedient out of love for a person is something that I believe is sorely lacking in our society. Too often we are obedient because we have to. We are obedient because we don't want to be punished or disciplined. Thank you to my dear brothers and sisters who are being obedient out of love.

Thank you for helping me to change my attitude about Sunday mornings. I do not want to be there because it is my job, I want to be there because of my love for Christ. I want to be there because it is an awesome opportunity to celebrate, honor, and glorify God with my brothers and sisters in Christ.

Peace

Life at times can get so fast paced that one loses track of time. That is the way this summer has been for me. I cannot believe that my daughter starts first grade tomorrow. I look at her and have a hard time believing that she is my daughter. I mean, it seems like yesterday that I was holding her in my arms for the very first time. Just minutes old, all wrinkly and pink trying to find her thumb so she could suck on it. Now she is a confident and courageous young girl. As a family we went bike riding today with the final stop being the beach. I watched her walk out into the crashing waves laughing and hollering "woohoo!" and I am a bit overwhelmed by how fast she is growing up. My encouragement to anyone who reads this blog is to enjoy every moment and do not allow yourself to become so busy that you don't have time for family. It goes by too fast and you will find yourself wondering where it went.

Peace.

Wish I was in the woods.

I just got back from a family vacation which included officiating my baby sister's wedding and three and a half days of camping in northern Wisconsin. When we arrived at our campsite deep in the woods I realized I had no cell coverage. At first I felt helpless and a bit naked but by the end of the day I loved it. When we packed up and left for home I was jolted out of vacation mode when my phone began to ring. I was wishing I was back in the woods.

Our society today is so dependent upon technology that it is a little bit scary. What would we do without cell phones, laptops or gps's? There are times when I long for the days before we carried around electronic umbilical cords. Sometimes I feel that technology makes people unwilling or unable to make decisions on their own. Instead they place a phone call only to apologize for bothering you on vacation or your day off. Let people have their time. Very few things are so urgent that one can't wait until the next day or week.

I know it may sound like I am complaining but I am more reflecting on our society and how it has changed so dramatically over the past 10 years.

Had a great vacation but I am glad to be home.

Peace.

Back in the Saddle Again...

Well, I am back in the office and although the trip to Challenge was great I am glad to be back. Not leading worship for almost three weeks was good but it was tough. I had the itch to get back to it when I got home. Sunday was a good day. Worship service was wonderful as we celebrated the Lord's Supper and continued our series on "Going for the Gold." It is good to be home. I will share more later.

Peace

Challenge Is Over

The week in Salt Lake City at Challenge '08 is over. It was good week and I believe God was honored and blessed. There were approximately 5,500 teenagers at the conference and everyday they were challenged to take a step in their faith walk with Jesus. Even though I am a youth pastor and I have attended many events like this I am always personally challenged myself. This week was no different.

One cool thing that happened wasn't super spiritual but it was super cool. We made an attempt to break the Guinness Book of World Records record for the world's largest Kazoo band/choir. Check it out.



Peace