Strange Light

Last week I saw a strange light out of the corner of my eye.

My wife and I were driving to a nearby city to do some Christmas shopping. It was early in the evening but still quite dark.

At first I thought the light was an airplane, but it wasn’t moving. Next I thought it might be a radio tower. When I glanced at it again, it appeared to have a number of flashing lights like an ambulance—white and red. Towers usually have flashing red lights.

The light was so high and yet near to the road that I didn’t think it was on a mountain. But it was dark and I could’ve been wrong. It sure was mysterious!

One thing I know—it caught and held our attention as long as we could see it. And it did so even though lights in the sky are a fairly common occurrence in our world.

As I thought more about it the next morning, it reminded me of Christmas.

“Now hold on just a minute! What’s does a strange light have to do with Christmas?”

Think about it. How did God get the attention of the Wise Men who brought gifts to Jesus and his family? If you know the Christmas story, you know he used a light in the sky.

The Bible says, “Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, ‘Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.’”

Was it a comet they saw? A UFO or a supernatural phenomenon? We don’t know. It was mysterious. But it got their attention and somehow they knew a king had been born!

What would it take for God to get your attention?

God did a lot to get the world’s attention before the first Christmas. Centuries in advance he sent prophets to announce the place of his son’s birth and the manner of his death. Then there was the star and Wise Men from the east that confirmed the time of the Messiah’s birth.

But God had a lot of competition for attention when Jesus was born. There had been a worldwide census for the entire Roman Empire—plus all the political intrigue of the day. The world was too busy to pay attention to a baby born to peasants in a small town.

It’s no different today. Even with a national holiday in America that remembers his birth, Jesus has a lot of competition from retailers, revelers and relatives. But to find the true “peace on earth, goodwill toward men” we must set aside the demands of the season and find Jesus.

The Bible calls Jesus “The true light that gives light to every man.” God said, “Listen to him.”

Jesus claimed, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” From this and other scriptures it is clear that Jesus is speaking of spiritual truth. In fact those who discover God’s truth often say, “It was like a light came on”!

Did you ever think about why people put special lights up at Christmastime? Maybe it’s to remind us of Jesus, the Light of the World.

So the next time you see Christmas lights, let them remind you that God sent light into our world so we might see Jesus, the Son of God. And seeing, we might believe in him and receive God’s free gift of eternal life through Christ’s death on the cross.

In fact the stated purpose of the New Testament Gospel of John is “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ [Messiah], the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.”

What about that strange light we saw? We’ll probably never know what it was. But Jesus and his love for you is something you can know for sure. I hope you find him this Christmas.

Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!

Advent-tageous

How do you prepare for Christmas? Some put up Christmas lights the day after Halloween.

Long-range planners began shopping for Christmas last January during the post-Christmas sales. Others waited until July. But what many prepare for is a holiday that could be called ‘Giftmas,’ the tradition of exchanging gifts. In many homes it’s all about the presents.

For an increasing number of Americans the Christmas traditions center on putting up pretty lights, a tree and then worrying about what gifts to put under the tree. But if a gift exchange is the only point of Christmas, we’ve settled for second best.

“Now hold on just a minute! Are you trying to ruin family Christmas celebrations?”

No--just the opposite. I’m suggesting that, to improve your family’s Christmas celebration, it might be advantageous to add a new tradition. Would you consider that?

If something is ‘advantageous’ it’s for your benefit. It’s beneficial, valuable or profitable. So if you’d like to use the next three weeks to improve your Christmas, make them Advent-tageous.

What’s Advent? Last Sunday began the season of ‘Advent.’ It’s a time when many Christians and churches intentionally focus on a 2,000-year-old event--an event that divided history and unites Christians.

Of course I’m speaking of the birth of Jesus Christ. His birth divides time into B.C. (“Before Christ) and A.D. (“Anno Domini” – Latin for “in the year of our Lord”). And Christ’s birth unites Christians because all agree it’s the defining moment in history.

‘Advent’ means the arrival of something. So Advent is a four-week period preparing to celebrate the arrival of Jesus 2,000 years ago.

Once Thanksgiving is over, most people remark about how fast the year is going and how “Christmas will be here before you know it.” Well celebrating Advent is a way to get ready and think about what happened when Christ was born. Why his birth was important.

Without Christ, Christmas celebrations become about us--the decorations, the food and the gifts we like. Advent helps keep Christmas about Christ.

But even if you focus your Christmas celebration on the birth of Jesus, you won’t necessarily have Christmas joy. Why not?

Well, why do we celebrate the birth of someone who lived 2000 years ago? We don’t celebrate the births of Plato, Aristotle or even Socrates. So why celebrate Jesus’ birthday?

Because Christmas is the day “God moved into our neighborhood.” That’s significant.

Jesus came to show us what God is like and what he wants—a relationship with us. And he not only showed us, his life and death made it possible. Possible for the sin that separates us from God to be forgiven. Possible for us to become children of God.

So Jesus’ birthday is significant to you if your faith and trust are in him as your Savior. Otherwise, why bother celebrating Christmas? Until Christ has changed your life, his birthday is no different than other day. But as a child of God you want to celebrate—because he’s family!

Now I’m not telling you what to do. I’m just thinking about how Christmas can be more of a benefit to us than just increasing our stash of stuff. One way is to make it Advent-tageous.

Here’s a suggestion: Attend a church that celebrates Advent and introduces people to Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. Then give yourself to Christ and become God’s child. When you do, you won’t believe the joy you’ll have at Christmas!

Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!

Thanks-Living

Our calendars and our culture tell us this is the week to be thankful.

But what if you don’t feel thankful? What if, for you, it’s been a difficult year?

The solution is to count your blessings. Celebrate God’s gifts to you. To try Thanks-Living.

I know, I know--times are tough. Unemployment is up. It’s hard to sell a house or get credit. The cost of just about everything is up. The H1N1 flu has some frightened and others grieving.

Plus our military's involvement with Iraq and Afghanistan seems like it'll never end. Many families will spend the holiday worrying about loved ones in harm’s way. Some will wake up on Thanksgiving Day convinced there’s more to be worried about than for which to be thankful.

Well hold on just a minute! Even though life can look pretty grim at times, it doesn’t mean God has forgotten us.

The Pilgrims knew that. So did Abraham Lincoln.

We’re not the first Americans struggling to feel thankful during trying times. Consider the plight of the Pilgrims before the first Thanksgiving feast in America.

The winter of 1620 was devastating. The harvest was almost non-existent. The cold was numbing. Parents saw children die in their sleep. There wasn’t much to celebrate.

But then came the bountiful harvest of 1621. The Pilgrims gathered to thank God for blessing them. Things could have been better but they also could have been much worse.

Fast-forward 242 years after that first Thanksgiving. Listen to the words of a man who faced different, but no less devastating, events.

Abraham Lincoln was President of half a country involved in a bloody battle with the other half. Yet in the middle of a war, he declared there was much for which the no longer united states could be thankful.

On Oct. 3, 1863--just two weeks after more than 34,000 Americans were killed or wounded in the battle of Chickamauga--Lincoln issued a proclamation establishing a National Day of Thanksgiving. His words bear repeating.

“The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies,” he wrote. “To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added…”

Lincoln went on to observe that America was at peace with foreign nations. Farming and industry continued, as did international trade. He said, “No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.”

“It has seemed to me fit and proper,” he continued, “that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States . . . to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.”

If Lincoln and the Pilgrims could thank God in the midst of their trials, shouldn’t we be able to do the same? Surely our difficulties are no worse than theirs.

The Bible tells us to “Be thankful.” It reminds us to “Sing with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, do it giving thanks to God.” That’s Thanks-Living.

Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!

Peace Process

One constant in history is violence. However, that’s not what you’d expect.

For millennia men have sought peace. But aggressors viewed peacemakers as weak and easily conquered. The only law aggressors seemed to respect is the one at the end of a gun barrel.

So to make peace takes more violence. What kind of twisted logic is that? Real-world logic.

In the real world, forced peace is not a true peace. It is only the absence of violence.

“Now hold on just a minute! Why can’t people just get along together?”

Anyone that’s attempted to stop a schoolyard fight quickly learns that telling fighting students to “Just get along” doesn’t bring lasting peace. Any truce is temporary. Usually the violence resumes on the street after school. Sometimes with tragic results.

Where did violence begin? According to the Bible, the first act of violence happened just outside the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve’s son, Cain, killed his brother, Abel.

Ever since we have lived in a violent world. For all our education and refinement, the human race still celebrates and revels in violence. Do you want evidence? Just check out the latest movie ads. Or think about some of the most popular sports around the world.

Most sports are violent or produce violence (post-game fights and destructive victory “celebrations”). In fact violence and sports are so connected that even our jokes make light of it.

Years ago I lived near a large city known for its fighting hockey team. A frequently told joke was one that said a group of men got in a fight downtown and a hockey game broke out!

Sadly, the back-story behind many individuals on sports teams includes domestic violence.

OK, so there are a lot of angry people in the world. How bad is that anyway?

Bad enough to destroy civilization. In the book of Genesis, God told Noah to build an ark because a flood would destroy the earth. Why? Because “The earth is filled with violence.”

The Bible says God hates those who love violence. (Somehow I don’t think God is a big sports fan. I’m not saying all sports are evil. But some are evidence of our violent tendencies.)

So how can we ever have peace? It comes one person at a time. And it happens when that person enters into a personal, peaceful relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Jesus was one of the world’s greatest victims of violence. He suffered the most violent and painful execution man has yet devised--even though his judge said he was innocent!

Yet the record shows that Jesus was silent before his accusers. How was that possible?

The Bible says, “When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate. Instead he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.” Jesus knew that God’s justice would ultimately prevail. And he knew God’s plan would bring peace out of the violence he suffered.

Jesus could bring true peace because he had that peace. He said, “My peace I give you. Not as the world gives.” Jesus’ peace is not just the external absence of violence. It is an internal peace with God that allows one to be at peace with others.

Inner peace comes only when we give up trying to be our own savior through good works. It comes when we say, “Father forgive me and accept me, not because of what I have done but because of what Jesus Christ has done for me on the cross.”

The true peace process begins when we enter God’s kingdom through faith in Jesus Christ. Like Jesus, the most peaceful people in the world are those who entrust themselves to God.

To make peace we must first have peace. And the first step towards peace is turning to Jesus.

Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!

Minute Memoir

Last week I learned something about my mother I never knew. When she was a girl, another student tried to drown her at the YMCA. She said her life flashed before her eyes.

One day your life will flash before your eyes. Will it be worth watching?

“Now hold on just a minute! What are you talking about?”

Most people probably think their life will flash before their eyes only if they come close to dying. Something like a Minute Memoir played back on fast forward.

But the Bible talks about a time when God will review our lives. It says we “will have to give an account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.” Then it adds we will give account to God of “every careless word” we speak.

Apparently God can hit the brain’s rewind button and replay our life for him and us to see.

What’s the point of having your life flash before your eyes? I’m not sure. It’s never happened to me. But if it did (and I lived to tell about it) I’m sure it would make me think seriously about my life.

Perhaps God gives some of us a preview just to remind us that he can do it. And will do it.

Sadly, many people live as if they’ll never be held accountable for their actions. They don’t think it’s fair. They don’t see how a loving God could ever judge (or punish) anyone.

But if God didn’t judge evil people, there would be no way for us to deal with the injustices of life. The only recourse we’d have would be revenge. And that’s a society I wouldn’t want to live in. Once the cycle of revenge is started it’s hard to ever end it.

Because God loves us, he reminds us that he will judge wickedness one day. Not only is it a reminder to the wicked that they will be held accountable, it also gives hope to those who suffer injustice at the hands of others.

The problem is that we’ve all done things we’re ashamed of. In our hearts we know we’ve hurt others. How can we face God without being condemned?

The good news of the Bible is that God sent Jesus Christ to take our punishment. The Bible says that God accepts Jesus’ death on the cross as payment for our sin. So that means the only question we face is this: “What will you do with Jesus?”

Other religions require you to pay for your own sins. But through faith in Christ we can be forgiven. Is that an offer anyone should refuse?

I hope you never see your Minute Memoir on this earth. But according to the Bible, one day God will play it back for you. When he does, will it be worth watching?

The best way not to worry about it then is to live well now. How do you do that?

A man once asked Jesus, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Speaking of himself Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!

Thin Places

Thinness seems to be an obsession in our culture.

There are special diets to get thin. Or weight-reducing meal plans available for delivery to your door. Not to mention exercise workouts and weight loss coaches.

But until recently, I never had any help understanding thin places.

“Now hold on for just a minute! What in the world is a ‘thin place’”?

Interesting question! To find the answer, consider the Celts. Who are the Celts?

According to the Encarta Encyclopedia, the Celts were a people who dominated much of western and central Europe during the first millennium before Christ.

Recently I stumbled across an article that explained an interesting Celtic spiritual idea. The author was anonymous, but let me share the main ideas with you.

When we use the word ‘thin’ it is often to suggest the idea of weakness. Expressions such as ‘patience wearing thin,’ ‘thinned paint’ or that a novel’s plot was ‘thin’ are good examples.

“Celtic spirituality, however, puts a completely different spin on thin,” said this author. The Celtics called something thin when the veil between our world and God's kingdom becomes transparent enough for us to glimpse God's presence near us.

Thin places, Celtics said, are those moments when one sees God's hand at work in our lives. Moments we stop and, however briefly, wonder if there is more to life than just this natural world. We wonder what lies beyond the grief, pain or boredom of our daily lives.

Places and moments can become thin when someone remembers your pain or offers a helping hand. Or when words of love arrive unexpectedly, a friend shares your tears or you enjoy belly-shaking laughter together.

Such times in our lives open a pathway to the core of our soul. They point the way to the satisfaction of a common yearning--the desire to be connected, to be a part of something greater, to be loved, and to find peace.

The message of the Bible points us to Jesus Christ as the only way to find the true answer to those yearnings. When we meet him through the pages of Scripture, we arrive at the ultimate ‘thin place.’

Our journey down that path begins when we come to God through faith in Jesus’ death on the cross for our sin. The Bible says, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Speaking of God, Jesus said, “He who has seen me has seen the father.” In following Jesus, we are pursuing a relationship with our Creator God. That’s why Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Jesus is the eternal connection. He is the door to a personal relationship with God.

When we serve Christ we also join him in his mission “To seek and to save the lost.” Jesus adds that he “did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

The amazing truth of the Bible is that through faith in Christ, we find the peace, purpose and meaning in life we have searched for our whole lives.

It’s not wrong to want to be thin. But in our pursuit of thinness, let’s be sure we don’t overlook the thin places that can bring us closer to God.

Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!

Filtered Faith

Is your faith filtered?

Filters protect us in many areas of our lives. Oil and fuel filters protect cars from dirt. Email filters keep out messages we don’t want. Water filters improve taste by removing impurities.

Then there are the faith filters we use to protect our faith.

“Now hold on just a minute! How can faith be filtered?”

It’s easy to do. If we don’t agree with something, we can ignore it. True or not—it doesn’t matter. If it doesn’t feel right, we don’t like it--and that’s all that matters to us.

William P. Young helps us understand filtered faith in his book, “The Shack.” He observes somewhat cryptically, “Paradigms power perception and perceptions power emotions.”

A paradigm is a model we construct in our mind about how the world works or should work. For instance, “Good guys always win and bad guys always lose” is a paradigm.

Young adds, “Most emotions are responses to perception—what you think is true about a given situation. If your perception is false, then your emotional response to it will be false too.”

He concludes, “So check your perceptions, and beyond that check the truthfulness of your paradigms—what you believe. Just because you believe something firmly doesn’t make it true. Be willing to reexamine what you believe.”

Many people are afraid to examine what they believe. A fearful person’s natural response is to say, “You’ve got your opinion and I’ve got mine. And you’re not going to change my mind.”

When we talk like that we are acting as if there is no standard of comparison higher than us! And that is the height of pride.

The Bible warns us to beware of those who “measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves.” It says such people “are not wise.”

Religious people are often portrayed in the media as mindless robots programmed by others. Or as opinionated ignoramuses who ignore the obvious. In some cases that may be true. But don’t let that be you.

God encourages us to use the minds he gave us to examine the evidence, look for truth and then put our faith in what is true. To the skeptic he says, “Come now, let us reason together.”

Over and over Jesus said, “I tell you the truth” (some versions have “Verily, verily” or “Truly, truly”). Then, in one of his most famous quotes, he said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”

Notice that it is not just any truth that brings freedom. Jesus is not speaking philosophically.

In the context he is speaking about truth that leads to salvation and freedom from sin. And it is only in listening to Jesus that we learn eternal truth leading to ultimate freedom.

Are you a truth-seeker? Or do you look only for evidence to bolster your dearly held beliefs? Like a sick man going to his doctor, only the truth can help us solve our real problems.

In “Hamlet” Shakespeare wrote, “This above all: to thine own self be true.” Being true to self demands we seek truth above all else. For only then can we live with a clear conscience. Only then can we be all God made us to be. Only then can we truly worship.

The people of Jesus’ day thought worship had to happen in a certain place. Jesus disagreed. He said, “God is spirit and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”

In matters of faith, truth matters. So drop the faith filters and pursue truth all the way to Jesus.

Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!