Almost Missed It

(Adaptation of message by Kenny White River Hills Christian Church East Campus 12/23/2011)

This time of year so many things are going on...buying presents, planning parties, helping others, making sure no one is forgotten, seeing family and friends that you haven't seen in a long time. None of these things are bad (I'm not going into a rant about that). Even if all of them are going on at the same time (which for most of us they are) it is still not a bad thing. However if you let it get in front of the true meaning of the season then it is bad.

Now you are probably like "Oh great, another guilt trip at Christmas just what I need." or maybe its "Heard this one last year, and the year before, and like a dozen years before this one." I hope you'll keep reading though cause my goal is to make this one a little different from what you usually hear. See most often we are told not to forget about Jesus and honestly we do pretty good with that. We think of the little baby in a manger, with shepherds and kings worshiping him. (won't even go into how that is actually wrong lol). Truthfully if you do that you are on the right track but I think Christians can do better than what we all ready do.

See often times we almost miss it. We are doing our holiday thing and then its Christmas eve and its off to church only to rush home to finish our Christmas parties or wrapping or whatever we still have to do. We come so close to just missing the mark. Oh we might get on the target but do we really hit where we should? Are we focused on the bulls-eye? In the story of  Jesus' birth, the inn keeper/head of house just missed it. He could have played a major part in the Christmas story but now he is just a man who turned them away. (See Luke 2:7) Many people today just miss it as well, but like I said even if we get it, all to often we almost miss it.

Another part of the story illustrates this almost missed idea (at least in my mind). The shepherds were tending sheep on a quiet night. Now if you have never been out on a hill at night away from everything. It is very quiet and very dark. These shepherds were just sitting around their fire more than likely when all the sudden a bright light appeared and a shinning figure was standing in the sky. The Bible said that when they saw this they were terrified (see Luke 2:9) Now what do most people do when they are terrified? I believe the answer is RUN! I have no doubt that this is what came across their mind. If they had done that they would have missed the birth of Jesus. Whatever the reason they stayed; whether they were frozen in fear, held captive by the beauty, or worried about the livelihood if they left their flock, I think its safe to say they almost missed it.

Now its easy to say "Well I don't miss it; I help with the church Christmas pageant, volunteer at the local homeless shelter and spend time with my family, and read the Christmas story every night before bed for a week before Christmas. I don't miss it at all." I'll agree you sure don't miss the spirit of the holidays but that's just it. Outside of it being church functions some, aren't you just doing what everyone else does this time of year.

Here's my point. Whether you almost miss it, just miss it, or you completely miss the target, this time of year is to remind us of Jesus' birth but it shouldn't stop there. Jesus grew up, he didn't stay a baby; we don't pray to a "eight pound, six ounce, Newborn Baby Jesus." So shouldn't we look past that even at Christmas time. I mean shouldn't we really be trying to live like Jesus, not just at Christmas when we remember him as a baby (almost missing it) or going to church during this time of year because "its what you do" (just missing it).  Every day of our lives we should be trying to hit the bulls-eye with our lives. It won't all ways happen, we're bound to miss the mark sometime. I mean the Greek word translated as sin, literally means missing the mark and Romans tells us that all people will miss the mark. (see Romans 3:23)

My hope though is that we use Christmas to evaluate how close we are coming to the bulls-eye all year round, not just during this season.

Merry Christmas everyone and may you hit the bulls-eye more in the coming year.

MMM - You Know Better Than I from Dreamworks' Joseph: King of Dreams

This time of year we spend a lot of time looking at the year past; more so during the upcoming New Year's celebrations, but even at Christmas we look back. I mean we all have received the family newsletters in our credit cards telling us all the things we wanted to know (and some that we didn't) about the people in our lives. Hopefully when you look back good things come to mind. I hope that 2011 was a year filled with wonderful things, but for some I know it wasn't. So many things have happened over the past year to friends and family that I couldn't even name half probably. For some the good still out weighs the bad but there are those who could not say that. While today's MMM is for everyone, those who feel like 2011 was one of the worst years (or perhaps the worst year) ever, please take the time to think deeply about this blog.

Last night I watched a movie from the year 2000 (man it sounds really long ago when I say it that way). Joseph King of Dreams was a Dreamworks animated film that followed the blockbuster hit Prince of Egypt. The movie is a musical portrayal of the story of Joseph from the book of Genesis. Now it isn't biblically accurate but it is still a good movie and gets the message of the story of Joseph across to the audience. In the middle of the movie, when Joseph is in jail for a crime he didn't commit, there is a great song that is the focus of today's MMM. Check it out below or by clicking here.

Often when things go bad or things just plain go with neither an up nor down, we can feel abandoned by God wondering where he is. Like Joseph in the clip, we find ourselves challenging God that we don't belong where we are, that the things that have happened to us should have happened to someone else, or even that He doesn't really care. Yet if we take time to realize God is in control we also realize that He knows what he is doing better than we do. The chorus has a line in it that goes "I've let go the need to know why" that's what we have to do. Maybe 2011 wasn't great for you and you question God but if you let go the need to know why it happened you will have and easier time finding peace.

My favorite line from the song is the start of the second verse which goes "If this has been a test I cannot see the reason But maybe knowing I don't know is part of getting through." When things go bad or don't go anywhere we feel like God is testing us but like a kid in school, if we don't understand the reason for the test we get upset at the person giving us the test and look for meaning everywhere else. Sometimes though a test is just a test and the reason wouldn't even make sense if we knew why. This isn't to say that we should make light of anyone's tests, they deserve support but to push deeper than just through the test is to question God. The second part of that verse looks at that "I tried to do what's best But faith has made it easy To see the best thing i can do Is to put my trust in You." We try to do what we think is best based on what we think the test is for but if we would just put our faith in God, he would get us through. First Corinthians 10:13 tells us that no temptation (or trial) is too hard for us cause God has given us a way to get through it.

As we look back at the year and forward to the next, I hope you will remember that no matter what has happened or what you think the next year looks like; God will be with us. He know what lies in front of us and the best way around it. Trust Him to lead you where you need to go, knowing that where you've been is only part of the journey. Whether you trusted Him then or not, look to Him for way to get through whatever is to come.

God Bless and Happy Holidays

Merry Bah Humbug

For those that have talked to me in any recent time, you are well aware that I am not a prime example of Christmas Spirit. I often answer my friends Merry Christmas' with a very proper Bah Humbug. I want take the time to clarify some things though.

First I am not AntiChristmas. Christmas doesn't upset me or make me mad or anything like that. In fact Christmas as a holiday is a nice time of year. However that is about as far as I'll go for liking Christmas.

My problem with Christmas is the way everyone handles it. We hype Christmas as a time where we are with our family and friends. This isn't necessarily a bad thing but shouldn't we do this all year round. It just upsets me that we make such a big deal out of it during this time and then seem to forget about it the rest of the year. The same can be said about generosity. It just bothers me but on top of that even when we do these things it seems we make a show out of it. "Oh look at the big package I got for Susie who I only talk to during this time of year" "Oh i put 50 bucks in the red kettle this year, that's really gonna help someone out" It is just upsetting. What makes it worse is that the season starts off with a bunch of people fighting over stuff often either for themselves or so that other people will be impressed with them.

So forgive me if I don't get as excited about Christmas as other people. I don't hate you or Christmas but I also just don't feel a need to get that excited. I work to live my life with the characteristics of Christmas year round.

Want me to have a Merry Christmas then check out this article by Mark Driscoll (correction the article is actually by Grace Driscoll). It has several good points. The only thing I would add is in his first point, let some people NOT be overly excited about the holiday. Its ok.