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  • My Grown-up Christmas List

    My Grown-up Christmas List

    Amy Grant recorded “My Grown-up Christmas List” for her “Home For Christmas” album. The lyrics imagine an adult going back to Santa with a different perspective on what matters most in life. Instead of material things the writer now asks for good things for others. I love the sentiment of the song.

    No more lives torn apart
    That wars would never start
    And time would heal all hearts
    Everyone would have a friend
    And right would always win
    And love would never end
    This is my grown-up Christmas list

    I thought about my “grown-up” Christmas list this week. I would love for all of the things in the lyric above to come true. But I have lived enough to know they will not. Everyday lives are torn apart. Wars start too frequently. Time does not heal every heart. Some who are reading this are lonely. Right seems to lose way too often and love ends for many.

    So what could I wish for that would be available for all? My grown-up Christmas list would have one simple wish. That every person would truly understand the outrageous grace gift that God offers to each one of us. All we have to do is open that gift in faith. Christmas is when the gift came to earth wrapped in swaddling clothes.

    I wish that everyone who hears the Gospel message would comprehend the one way love that God demonstrated. Instead of turning His back on sinners who deserved just that God chose to reach out to His creation with a radical plan for forgiveness. A plan that is unlike any other religion in history. Man made religion always demands something to earn salvation. God’s plan for redemption requires the lost to bring nothing to the table other than their sin and the need for salvation. Nothing.

    God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. (Ephesians 2:8-9, NLT)

    Not a single requirement other than believing. A gift of grace. Grace that is so vast and inexhaustible that no sin or sinner can exceed the scope of this amazing grace to cover their sin and redeem them. I coined an acronym for grace that only partially captures the enormity of God’s love.

    God’s Radical And Complete Embrace.

    God initiates salvation. The plan is so radical that it feels otherworldly. Salvation is complete and God’s embrace shows His desire to know us as His beloved children.

    I wish that everyone who believes the Gospel would truly believe that they are a brand new creation. Recreated as a saint with complete freedom in Christ. Adopted as a child of God. Forgiven forever. And that all of those things are completely true because of Jesus.

    I wish I could give those things to everyone on my list. Life will give us sadness, loss and loneliness but trust in Jesus gives us hope in the darkest storm. It started with the baby we celebrate today.

    Merry Christmas.

  • Need Another Gift Idea For Jesus?

    Need Another Gift Idea For Jesus?

    I love Dave Barry. As long as he is alive I will not have the weirdest brain on the planet. Here is his take on the secularizing of Christmas greetings.

    Once again, we come to the Holiday Season, a deeply religious time that each of us observes, in his own way, by going to the mall of his choice.

    In the old days, it was not called the Holiday Season; the Christians called it “Christmas” and went to church; the Jews called it “Hanukkah” and went to synagogue; the atheists went to parties and drank. People passing each other on the street would say “Merry Christmas!” or “Happy Hanukkah!”or (to the atheists) “Look out for the wall!”

     These days, people say “Season’s Greetings,” which, when you think about it, means nothing. It’s like walking up to somebody and saying “Appropriate Remark” in a loud, cheerful voice. But “Season’s Greetings” is safer, because it does not refer to any actual religion. Some day, I imagine, even “Season’s Greetings” will be considered too religious, and we’ll celebrate the Holiday Season by saying “Have a nice day.”

    There is a lot of humor and an uncomfortable amount of truth in those paragraphs. And while I might be attending the mall of my choice with my beloved today this is also a deeply religious time for me. For me this is a time to celebrate and marvel at the concept of God becoming man. The past two posts have offered some gift ideas to give Jesus on His upcoming birthday. It is an odd concept indeed that we generally give Christmas gifts to everyone but the one who is having a birthday. So if you are a late arrival we have been looking at the gifts of the Magi to see if we can get some last minute ideas. The first gift was gold and the second gift was frankincense. The third gift given by the magi to Christ child was myrrh.

    Myrrh is an aromatic gum produced from a thorn bush and it is obtained in the same manner as frankincense. The bush is gashed and the resin bleeds out and is collected. However, if frankincense represents sweetness, myrrh represents bitterness, at least to the taste. Myrrh was used chiefly in embalming the dead, (John 19:39) Nicodemus brought Myrrh and aloes to wrap the body of Jesus.

    Myrrh was a commodity of great value for early commerce.

    As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded \with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt. (Genesis 37:25)

    The Psalms tell us that myrrh was a valued perfume.

    All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia;
    from palaces adorned with ivory
    the music of the strings makes you glad.  .(Psalms 45:8).

    Myrrh kept its fragrance for several hundred years when stored in an alabaster pot. Myrrh also had medicinal qualities, sometimes mingled with wine to form a painkilling drink. That was offered to Jesus on the cross to ease His suffering.

    Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. (Mark 15:23)

    So the Magi brought myrrh as a gift of great value but also as a foreshadowing of the human suffering that Jesus took upon Himself when He came into our world. So what can we give to Jesus in response to His willingness and love to take on suffering and death on our behalf? How about giving the gift of being willing to die to our self…our selfish desires…our own agenda? It is a daily choice that followers of Jesus make to live like that. We ought to consider others as more important than ourselves (see Rom. 12:10). We can’t do that unless we first learn to die to ourselves. The Message has an interesting take on Colossions 3.

    So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ–that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective. Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life–even though invisible to spectators–is with Christ in God. He is your life.

    Jesus is my life. And I want to be serious about living this resurrection life in 2009 and beyond. During the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season I need to take time to remember that. So let’s review our potential shopping list for Jesus on His birthday. Perhaps you would like to give Jesus the gift of more time with Him.  How about the gift of really believing that Jesus is Lord over all…not Lord over what you and I select? Perhaps you are ready to take the faith step of being willing and ready to die to your desires so that you can serve the needs of others.

    Happy Birthday, Jesus!  He gave us a gift that we cannot repay when He surprised earth by bringing Heaven to this planet on Christmas Day. So it seems appropriate to wrap a little something for Jesus and present it to Him this year.

    Merry Christmas!

  • The Horror of War Paused by a Silent Night

    The Horror of War Paused by a Silent Night

    One of my favorite Christmas stories happened during the horrors of war. The Christmas carol “Silent Night” was responsible for a wartime Christmas miracle.

    The year was 1914 and soldiers were having to spend Christmas Eve night on the battlefields of France during World War I, the Great War, as it was called. After only four months of fighting, more than a million men had already perished in the bloody conflict. The bodies of dead soldiers were scattered between the trenches. Enemy troops were dug-in so close that they could easily exchange shouts.

    On December 24, 1914, in the middle of a freezing battlefield in France, a miracle happened. The British troops watched in amazement as candle-lit Christmas trees began to appear above the German trenches. The glowing trees soon appeared along the length of the German front.  Henry Williamson, a young soldier with the London Regiment wrote in his diary: “From the German parapet, a rich baritone voice had begun to sing a song I remembered my German nurse singing to me…. The grave and tender voice rose out of the frozen mist. It was all so strange… like being in another world — to which one had come through a nightmare.”

    Silent Night
    Holy Night
    All is calm
    All is quiet

    “They finished their carol and we thought that we ought to retaliate,” another British soldier wrote, “So we sang “The First Noël” and when we finished, they all began clapping. And they struck up “O Tannebaum” and on it went… until we started up “O Come All Ye Faithful” [and] the Germans immediately joined in …. this was really a most extraordinary thing — two nations both singing the same carol in the middle of a war.”It is recorded that enemy soldiers greeted each other in the no man’s land that was a killing zone the day before. The soldiers wished each other Merry Christmas and agreed not to fire their rifles on Christmas Day. The spontaneous cease-fire eventually embraced much of a 500-mile stretch of the Western Front. According to the reports of soldiers at the scene, hundreds of thousands of soldiers celebrated the birth of the Prince of Peace among the bodies of their dead.

    Christmas truce

    Other soldiers told of how the “enemies” exchanged badges and buttons from their uniforms. Others shared photos of wives and children and some even exchanged addresses and promised to write after the war ended. The German troops rolled out barrels of dark beer and the British reciprocated with offerings of plum pudding. Some soldiers produced soccer balls and a spirited match broke out as fellow soldiers shouted encouragement.

    At one location along the front the men who just the day before sought to kill one another now gathered together to bury their dead. Together, with heads uncovered, they held a service to memorialize their fallen comrades. A solitary voice began to sing Silent Night, in French. He was joined by another voice — this one singing in German — the words of a Christmas song known and beloved by all.

    But the miracle of peace was temporary. Slowly, under threats from their officers, the troops returned to the trenches and the recoils of rifles split the temporary “Silent Night.” Some soldiers admitted aiming so their bullets flew well above the heads of the “enemy.”

    Perhaps those of us who celebrate the birth of the Savior could learn a lesson from this Christmas miracle as we engage those who do not share our beliefs and faith in Jesus. Those on the other side of the cultural trenches are not unlike us. The message delivered in Bethlehem was peace and goodwill toward all men. When we fight the cultural war we need remember that the whole purpose of Jesus invading our space and time was to love and ultimately die for those on both sides of the battle.

    But perhaps the biggest lesson is how the power of a unified focus on Jesus can unite even bitter enemies. My heart aches as I see Christians splitting ranks over things that don’t amount to a hill of beans on an eternal scale. I picture Jesus weeping over the churches of America like He wept over Jerusalem. I picture Him weeping over how Christians in this country divide over non-essentials and fail to communicate the joy and life-changing power of the good news of the Gospel. Jesus gave this final command to His followers…

    “Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.”  (Matthew 28,  The Message)

    Pretty straight forward. Nothing in there about personal gain, power, or prestige. The power of what happened on that Silent Night united enemies centuries later on a French battlefield.  My Christmas prayer is that the miracle of God becoming man will unite you and me, His followers, to seek what actually matters. To really make it about Christ and not about us. To model His grace to a culture that desperately needs that grace. While we still have the chance.

    (Note: There is a movie (Joyeux Noel), a DVD (The Christmas Truce), a children’s book (Christmas in the Trenches) and a historical book (Silent Night: The Story of the WW I Christmas Truce) about this event if you want to know more about the story.

  • Weekend Wildcard: Coming Attractions

    Weekend Wildcard: Coming Attractions

    Please take a moment to sign up to receive each new article as it is posted at Confessions of a Bad Christian. Next week I am posting an article about a World War I Christmas Miracle plus the first two parts of “A Gift List for Jesus on His Birthday”. Go to the front page by clicking here. Look to your right just below the smiling disembodied picture of yours truly and my well thought out mission statement.

    “Bringing sporadic joy and intermittent wisdom to tens of readers several times a week.”

    There you will find a “sign up for my blog” box. Type in your email address and hit send. You will receive a confirmation email to make sure you really want to go through with this. Hit the confirmation link and you will have the latest ramblings delivered to your email as they are rambled. Thanks for taking the time! Your encouragement is a blessing and inspiration.

  • Thursday Thought

  • Hump Day Hope: This Little Light of Mine

    Hump Day Hope: This Little Light of Mine

    For some reason this song came to mind today.

    This little light of mine,

    I’m gonna let it shine.

    The song was written by Moody Bible student Harry Dixon Loes as a children’s gospel tune. “This Little Light of Mine” also became a Civil Rights anthem in the 50’s and 60’s. Racial reconciliation is still an area that could use a lot of Gospel light.

    I didn’t realize that the full lyrics included a bit of light for each day.

    Monday gave me the gift of love,

    Tuesday peace came from above,

    Wednesday told me to have more faith,

    Thursday gave me a little more grace,

    Friday told me to watch and pray,

    Saturday told me just what to say,

    Sunday gave me the power divine,

    Just to let my little light shine.

    Wednesday is have more faith day. Regular readers know that I will love Thursday.

    Jesus told His followers that we are to be a light to those around us.

    “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.” (Matthew 5:14-16)

    I don’t know about you but those challenges from Jesus are daunting. Sometimes I don’t feel much like a light to the world. I feel more like the dimmest bulb in the Church Light Store. A quote from one of my favorite authors gave me hope.

    “Imperfection is the only prerequisite for grace. Light only gets in through the cracks.”~ Philip Yancey

    For years I tried to patch the cracks with new disciplines and phony masks. Now I own each and every flaw and crack that allows the light of the Gospel into the darkness of my soul. And when I am vulnerable to others they see that light shining right back through those same cracks of imperfection. And suddenly the command of Jesus is not so daunting because it has NOTHING to do with me. It is all about letting the light of the Gospel into my heart and sharing that light with others. Then good deeds flow out of gratitude and not begrudging obligation.

    Another of my favorite writers is 19th Century preacher Charles Spurgeon. He said this about the topic of light.

    “I would not give much for your religion unless it can be seen. Lamps do not talk, but they do shine.”

    Remember where your light comes from today. And let a little bit reflect back to a world that could us some light now.

  • Monday Musing: Can Santa Clause Influence Your Christian Journey?

    Monday Musing: Can Santa Clause Influence Your Christian Journey?

    (Today I am re-posting one of my favorite Christmas articles. Consider it “regifting” and feel free to regift to others!)

    Recently I poured over the new titles at the local Christian bookstore. The usual suspects dominated most of the shelf space. One of the most important books in my Christian journey was not displayed. And that is a shame. Because this book has a message that needs to be heard.

    The original version of the book was entitled TrueFaced and the newest revision is called The Cure.  I don’t think I have ever had a book (excluding the inspired one) impact me as much as this one.

    I am borrowing one little bit of content that is very timely during this month. John Lynch is one of the authors of the book and in this section he addresses how we are programmed from childhood to default to performance theology. He calls it the “Santa Claus is Coming to Town theology”.

    You better watch out
    Better not cry
    Better not pout
    I am telling you why
    Santa Claus is comin’ to town
    He’s making a list….checking it twice…three times…every day
    Gonna find out who’s naughty and nice
    Santa Claus is comin’ to town
    He sees you when your sleeping, nows when your awake, he knows when you’ve been bad or good so be good for goodness sake.

    Oh, he’s watching. Waiting for you to screw up so you will get coal instead of a bicycle. You had better please him. And we teach our kids to put on the mask and be something they are not. Because Santa Claus is comin’ to town. This omniscient being who is judging our every deed is coming to town…and we learn to do the dance early. Buck up…be good. Don’t cry. Don’t pout. Santa Claus is coming to town.  (©Copyright 2003, William Thrall, Bruce McNicol, John Lynch. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication prohibited.)

    He is exactly right. We learn that we get good things and receive love only when we are good and do good things. Santa is pleased (and we later substitute God) when we obey. So we learn early. We had better be good. Or least fool everyone around us to think that we are being good.

    Ask any child this Christmas if they are being good and I will wager you will never hear this response.

    “Well, to be honest, I am really struggling with the whole being nice thing. I have actually been pouty and I cried yesterday. It just isn’t working out this Christmas so I suspect the video game system will have to wait.”

    Nope. What you hear is the lie that we learn early and too often keep handy in our arsenal for a lifetime.

    “Oh yeah. I am being really good!”

    I remember (vaguely) the tension of the Santa Claus years. I knew I hadn’t really changed much if at all. I tried to modify my behavior for a week or two leading up to Christmas but I knew I failed. I learned a couple of things early. I learned how hard it is to change behavior by sheer willpower and I learned that I could apparently fool Santa by living a lie. I learned that that he would bring me presents in spite of my failures if I covered it up. I did not learn about grace. That maybe Santa gave me gifts because of who I was and maybe he came to my house because I was lovable instead of rewarding me for what I had done to please him. I figured I had fooled him and to get the good stuff I would have to continue to hide the little boy who broke an ornament and then hid it.

    Isn’t that too often how we view God? We had better not cry. Better not sin. I’m telling you why. Jesus is coming to town. He’s making a list and He is checking it not once or twice but every moment of every day. God knows if you’ve been bad or good so if you want to be healed or happy or prosperous you had better be good for goodness sake. If I do mess up I am scared to death that I will get a bad life or miss all that God has for me. So I put on the mask and try to be really good for Jesus. If I can fool those around me maybe, just maybe, I can fool God too.

    Satan sells the lie so convincingly. And we buy it for months and years and even decades.

    But God and Santa are very different in their approach. God does not keep a list. He is not impressed by our hernia inducing straining to control sin.

    You know the verse well.

    God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.  Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. (Ephesians 2:8-9, NLT)

    Jesus offers us so many gifts. But the one we seem to have the hardest time unwrapping is the gift of grace. The gift that allows us to become who God desires us to become as we simply trust Him and quit trying to be “good” for goodness sake. We are saved by grace and faith in Christ. We become like Him by the same radical strategy. Faith that He has changed us into a new creation. And understanding the grace that gives us good gifts even when we don’t deserve them.

    Don’t let the Santa Claus theology creep into your journey. Go straight to the gift of grace that Jesus left under the Cross. Open it. And clothe yourself in His salvation, acceptance and love. It may be the best gift you have ever given yourself.

    (You can download a sample chapter of The Cure by clicking this link)