Just a Room, Please!

Last night was Christmas Eve at First Presbyterian Church. We had our sanctuary mostly full with friend and family from out of town who were here to visit. We also had some people who I had never seen, including one person who seemed to be looking for a warm dry place on a cold and rainy Christmas Eve. The lady came in the back of the church shortly after the service began. I watched from my point in the front as one of our ushers took the orange tarp she was carrying to shield herself from the rain and a little of the cold.

She sat through the service, on the back row. She raised her candle on the last verse of Silent Night, just like everyone else in the congregation. She lined up to wish me a Merry Christmas with all the other folks scurrying out to join family and friends for some other Christmas celebration, but I knew before she spoke that she had nowhere else to go and no one waiting for her.


She tried to have a conversation with me while others were still waiting to shake the preacher's hand and move on. I asked her to give me a minute to finish wishing the other worshippers Merry Christmas, and she did.

When everyone else had finally exited and it was down to myself, an elder, and this other child of God, she proceeded to unpack her story.

She poured out a confusing story about a family member stealing an apartment from her that she thought she had rented, about not wanting to be a burden to other family members or involve them in the conflict, and feeling a strong responsibility to have a place of her own.

I told her that I could only offer her one room for one night, and I tried to steer her back towards the family members she said she had spent the previous evening with. It was Christmas Eve and I was ready to get home to my own family, to finish some of our own preparations, but God wouldn't let me alone.

The Holy Spirit has a way of being down-right annoying from time to time. He kept throwing at me the sermon I had just preached and the Scriptures I had just read, the whole no room at the inn thing! Really, how dare He!

I knew I would have to call the local hotel, make the reservation for her, drive her there, sign her in, and make the payment before I could make a dash for the grocery store and finally head home. I wish I could tell you that the Christmas spirit overwhelmed me and the love of Jesus Christ poured over me and motivated me to empty myself, even as I had already told the congregation that Jesus Christ did when He was born in the stable. Sorry, it wouldn't be true. The influence to move me to do the right thing was to avoid the guilt I knew I would feel later for turning away someone in need even as the innkeeper had done so long ago.

I did pat myself on the back for offering to throw in a meal as well. "Have you had anything to eat?" I asked.

"Yes, I am fine," was the reply. "I just need a place to rest. Just a room, please."

There was that Holy Spirit again reminding me of the same words Joseph may have used on his desperate search. My mind said, "Hey, I'm doing the right thing here! Cut me some slack! Don't convict me about my attitude as well!"

Thirty minutes later I watched her head out of the cold and rain and into her motel room for the night. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was warm and dry, and they would feed her in the morning.

By the time I got to the grocery store, it was closing for the rest of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. There would be some elements missing to the Christmas Day feast because of this side trip.

I wish I could tell you a story about some divine encounter or some evidence of the person of Christ Himself being ministered to on that raw night. The only comfort I had came the next morning reading the verse about "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." (Hebrews 13:2).

The Holy Spirit was still working from the previous night. My heart tried to listen, to discern some great spiritual truth. This time the Spirit had only one thing to say, "

I was hungry, and ye gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, and fed thee? or athirst, and gave thee drink? And when saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? And when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my brethren, (even) these least, ye did it unto me. (Matt 25:35-40)

And to think I was just wondering if I might have seen an angel when in fact I realized it just might have been someone far more grand!

Merry Christmas!
Pastor Craig

Claus, Krampus, or Christ?

I am fully aware that Christians of good faith may have dramatically different positions on the person of Santa Claus, Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, or any of the other names the Jolly Old Elf may have around the world. We think of Santa with his naughty and nice lists. In our childhood wonderland, we struggled to comprehend just how he could track all the children in the whole world, how he could fit all those toys into one sleigh, and how he could manage to get the whole job done in just one night! It was just amazing.

 

Of course, in our western version of Santa Claus, every child eventually gets on the nice list, and every child SHOULD get a present from Santa. However, it turns out that in other parts of the world Santa has a sidekick and not every child makes the nice list. According to Bavarian tradition Krampus follows after Santa and punishes those children who are not on the nice list.

When it comes to the secular portion of the Christmas story, it’s obvious that the theology just doesn’t match up. While we like to think of good people of all ages during the holiday season, we know that it is because we are exactly the opposite of good that Jesus Christ came in the first place. We are, all of us, adults and children, male and female, every race, every culture, every nationality, in desperate need of forgiveness. So, because your name and my name, indeed every single one of our names are absent from the “nice” list, Christ came into the world to give the greatest gift of all, His righteousness.

We know this is the greatest gift of Christmas, not I-pads, X-boxes, or a Lexus, not whatever is hot with Neiman Marcus this season. The simple gift that no one can top, the gift of a clean heart, not a reward for having a clean heart, but actually granting that change of heart we all need. This means the greatest gift you could ever give this Christmas is the gift of introducing someone to the Child in the manger, the Savior upon the cross, and the King rising from the grave.

Merry Christmas!

Pastor Craig

Wisdom

Our Bible study has been looking at the Scripture passages from the New Testament leading up to and including the events of the birth of Christ. Take a moment and run through the Christmas story in your mind. Who are the main characters? Angels. Shepherds. An innkeeper and his family. Other holiday travelers. Foreigners on a long journey. Almost everyone was going about their daily routine with little or no thought about a Messianic encounter. Most of them seemed rather apathetic.

When the magi came to Herod to find out more information about the birth of this king they were seeking, Herod called all the priests and teachers of the law to answer the question for him. We have no record of any interest on the part of the priests or the teachers of the law as to why Herod would be asking this question. Granted, he probably did not tell them about the visitors who had been following the signs in the sky, but still. . . Herod sent no ambassador or representative. We don’t have any record of other people who were in Bethlehem for the census wondering who these people were and what they were doing in this out of the way community. Maybe everyone was fast asleep when the shepherds came into town and no one asked them what demanded their trip in the middle of the night or why they had left their sheep relatively untended in the field.

No, the first Christmas was story was made up mostly of average, rather unimportant people. In fact, most to the Bible is that way. It is a story of salvation, but it seems as though that salvation and God’s interaction with humanity quite often begins at the most common levels.

Peter, James, and John; Samuel, King David, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would be less than footnotes in the history books if they had not been touched by the work and person of the Almighty God. Paul seems to indicate that God takes great joy in using the everyday, both people and things, to astound the entire world. I Corinthians 1:26-29 says,

Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. . .so no one may boast before him.

In this Christmas season take great comfort that you can never rise so high as to rise above your need for Jesus Christ; nor can you sink so low as to fall from his love and compassion.

Pastor Craig

Celebrate

When you read this on Sunday morning we will be in the season of Advent. Thanksgiving and Black Friday will be behind us. During the days leading up to the Advent season I wondered, “Just what does it take to have a Happy Thanksgiving?” Thanksgiving involves, for most of us, unhealthy portions of food, football, and festivities. At times, it is easy to let the formality get in the way of the family. Is this what it takes for us to have a happy Thanksgiving? The first Thanksgiving was preceded by the death of more than half of the original pilgrims who set out on the Mayflower. The rest would have perished as well if the Native Americans had not had compassion on them and share their stores and shown them how to plant and cultivate.

The first Thanksgiving was not a day to celebrate plenty. It was a time to celebrate grace and mercy, compassion and deliverance, survival and recovery. In reality the pilgrims were probably much more frugal with their use of food than we have been over the last few days.

Immediately following Thanksgiving, we move to what has become known as Black Friday, a celebration of materialism and greed. A store in Los Angeles saw roughly a dozen people pepper sprayed by a woman seeking an advantage in a battle over an X-box. In our own Wal-mart in Ennis, an employee told me about a fist fight that broke out over an item that was in limited supply. This behavior is so foreign to the Christmas spirit, to the giving and sacrificing of the Christ child, to God putting on flesh in order that we might be able to put on spirit and wholeness. We are in danger of losing Christmas.

Our holidays, all of which are rooted in some grand idea of respect, honor, worship, and recognition, have become sale days.

In these four Sundays of Advent leading up to Christmas we need to do what we can to reclaim our holidays. At the same time we need to recognize our own responsibility for making them that way in the first place. Advent is when we think about the coming of the Christ, not just in the manger, but in our own lives and as the reigning King of the universe. It is a time to recognize how much our Savior loves us and what is expected of us as members of His Kingdom. May our actions, our attitudes, and our words throughout this season reflect that which we truly celebrate.

Pastor Craig

Woefully Inadequate!

Have you ever felt inadequate? How about “woefully inadequate?” I felt this way just this last Thursday. I received a copy of my dissertation back with comments from my Technical Reader. Now before you are too hard on either of us, our whole cohort was given an early warning that Mr. John Anderson was one of the most demanding Technical Readers available. It is his job to be picky. It is his job to get your dissertation ready for public viewing. It is his job to make sure you final product does not embarrass the seminary, the specific program you are in, or yourself as the researcher, so I am not really complaining, just feeling “woefully inadequate!”

His exact words, “Your Chapter Two is woefully inadequate and incomplete.” One of my colleagues said, “I wanted to call him and make sure he was OK after I got mine back because I thought he might have been the victim of a brutal slaying with all the red on my paper!” I consider myself to be in excellent company.

I knew it was woefully in adequate when I sent it in. I was expecting a massive number of corrections and revisions, and that is exactly what I got. I imagine the feeling might be similar to something we might feel in the moments immediately before we appear before God’s throne in heaven. It is time for a reckoning. God is about to evaluate your life.

Actually, Mr. Anderson would be more like Jesus, the Messiah, than God as Judge. The technical reader looks at everything concerning your paper. He actually gets out a ruler and measures the margins and the indentations. He checks your formatting for headings and punctuation. He is the best thing that could happen to you. He is preparing you to appear before the group of scholars who will examine your work and ask you to discuss it and answer questions. You want to make a good impression on them, and you don’t do that with a bunch of typos and errors. He is making sure you have nothing to be ashamed of when you stand before those who will render a judgment on your scholarly attempt.

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”[1] So, when our name is called and we know it is our turn to answer to the King, we will see the doors open wide and recognize our sweet Savior standing by His side and waiting to stand by ours, and we will be comforted with a great comfort!

Pastor Craig

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[1] II Timothy 2:15

A Jug of Milk, A Hammer, and A Tent Peg

The Old Testament book of Judges contains many of the lesser known heroes of the Bible. Three of these can be found in a single extended story contained in the fourth and fifth chapters of the book of Judges. It is one of the Biblical stories where women save the day while the men lag behind in doubt.

The story opens with Deborah. She is identified as a prophetess (4:4) and judge, in that she held court under a palm tree (4:5), for the people of Israel. Being judge meant that she would settle disputes between people. She, probably much like Moses did, heard only the most complex cases, leaving the simpler ones to be decided by judges over certain sections of the people.

In her role as leader she sent for Barak and instructed him, “The LORD, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go, take with you 10,000 men. . . I will lure Sisera. . . and give him into your hands.’”

Sisera was the commander of the armies of Jabin, a king of Canaan. The army was well equipped and formidable with over 900 iron chariots. The Israelites, a non-professional fighting force, had zero! This makes it fairly easy to understand when Barak spoke to Deborah and said, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.” In other words, “Forget the command of God. I only trust people who are willing to stick there neck out, who are willing to back up the words with actions!” Deborah went. 

The Bible tells us “The Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword, and Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled on foot.” Enter the next heroine of the story, Jael.

Sisera was scared for his life. He came to Jael’s tent and asked he to hide him. She became the instrument of God to defeat the enemies of Israel. She said, “Come right in. Don’t be afraid.” (4:18). Sisera, be afraid, be very afraid! It says she gave him a drink and covered him up so no one would see him. It was while Sisera was feeling all safe and secure in his secret hiding place that Jael “picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground and he died.” One version says, “she struck once and did not need to strike again!” Yes, Sisera, be afraid. Be very afraid! God works, sometimes through the commander of the armies and sometimes through a woman with a jug of milk, a hammer, and a tent peg!

Pastor Craig

Veterans' Day

This is a very awkward article to write. How does a pastor write about Veteran’s Day and the birthday of the United State Marine Corps? For those of you who may not know, every Marine’s birthday is November 10^th because 236 years ago the Marine Corps was founded at Tun Tavern in Philadelphia, PA on this date, and for those of you who missed it, Veteran’s Day was Friday, November 11^th. Most of you probably didn’t think about it until you opened your mail box on Friday and found it empty.

What is the appropriate way for one who is a follower of the Prince of Peace to, at the same time, show proper appreciation for those who have helped keep war outside our own borders for the vast majority of our history? A simple thank you hardly seems sufficient. However, even that is more than some vets get.

Throughout these most recent conflicts I struggled as to how to pray for our troops. Many of you know that two of them were my own sons. Oh, I have no problem praying for their success and safety, but, as I do that, am I in fact praying for the death of someone else in a foreign land who may have a spouse and family as well? In a firefight between our people in uniform and those who would engage them on the battlefield I will always ask God for the life, safety, and success of our men and women.

Certainly, the best thing, the greatest gift we could pray for and wish for our military personnel would be that the need for their service would one day pass away from the face of the earth. However, that seems unlikely, and as long as the need remains, I am thankful we have some our best and brightest who are willing to take up the call and respond, putting themselves at risk that you and I can sleep securely at night.

The call of Christ to “Love one another” seems like the impossible dream much of the time. There is no glory in the killing of another human being. There is glory when good triumphs over evil. Sometimes it is difficult to decide if the cause is completely just. So, we do not pray for war. We pray for the men and women who are sent on our behalf to fight the war. We pray for success and safety, and, on days like we had this past week, we thank them for what they have done for us. We pay for the peace that passes all understanding to calm those whose hearts, souls, minds, and spirits are troubled by what they have seen and done. We pray for those who have suffered such great personal loss of a loved one because we are all sinful creatures and are not any closer to a peaceful world than when the angels first proclaimed it for the shepherds one night in a field 2,000 years ago.

So, we continue to preach the Gospel message of love, peace, hope, compassion, forgiveness, and mercy in the midst of a broken and sinful world. We pray for our enemies. We do our best to forgive those who have offended us. We pray for and ask for forgiveness for the ways and times we have offended others, and we long for a world that might be at peace and soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines that can stand-down from their watchfulness.

OCCUPIED!

 

It seems the news is dominated by the Occupy movement these days. In case you haven’t been watching the news for the past several weeks, the Occupy movement contains many different emphases but seems to center around a call for a more “equitable distribution of financial power.” This article takes no stance on the rightness or wrongness of the movement. All of us can recognize the importance of a just, equitable, and fair system with regards to financial power.

The issue I want to take with the movement is the use of the term occupy. Webster’s Dictionary defines occupy as: to take possession and control of (a place), as by military invasion. The very idea of occupying or possessing any material and therefore temporal resource seems somewhat ludicrous. The things of this world are on loan to us only for our brief time on this earth. We best not think of them or speak of them using eternal language.

The Gospel of Matthew tells us, after praising how God cares for such things as the flowers of the field and the birds of the air, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

We are not supposed to occupy anything on this planet. We are only stewards for a brief period of time before it all goes back to the original owner. No, instead of occupying, we are to be occupied by the Holy Spirit. We are to be sold out to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Yes, we will still need the food and shelter our body requires in order to be safe and healthy in this world, but we are not to be preoccupied with the possessions this world has to offer.

Where injustice occurs, we are called to bring justice, but it is always for others and not for ourselves. When we cry out, we do not cry out to demand our “fair share.” We cry out for salvation and we cry out to proclaim salvation in Jesus Christ.

We should seek to make our financial system fair and just. Where there is injustice we should seek to correct it, but as we correct it we remind everyone that peace cannot come from an abundance of this world’s goods but only from the One who created us all.

Pastor Craig

There Is a Place

Exodus 32 is one of the most shameful moments in the history of the people of Israel. After Yahweh God had brought them out of the land of Egypt, after he had appeared to them on Mt. Sinai and given them his commandments for holy living, and after he had parted the waters for the people to pass safely through they turned away from him while Moses was on the mountain, and they formed a god of the Egyptian gold they had taken with them. A god more like the ones Yahweh had shown to be inferior than reflecting anything of the glory, mercy, patience, and omnipotence Yahweh possessed.

In the very next chapter Moses makes a bold request. SHOW ME YOUR GLORY. This is what he asks of God. Maybe he thought he had earned it for all he had put up with in leading the people. Maybe he had his own doubts and wanted some sense of conformation. Maybe he just wanted to be closer to the God who had performed all these miracles in the presence of the people of Israel. The Scripture does not give us a reason for Moses making this request. It simply records the request.

It records God’s answer as well. NO ONE CAN SEE ME AND LIVE. The glory of the Lord is simply too awesome for finite humanity to endure. We simply fall, and maybe quite literally, fall apart in its presence.

What God says next is tremendous. THERE IS A PLACE NEAR ME WHERE YOU MAY STAND ON A ROCK. I am still exploring all that sentence may mean. Sure, it could be something as simple as identifying a specific spot of ground. But, somehow, I don’t think so. You see Moses’ request was prefaced by a concern about whether to move on from Mt. Sinai or not. His comments included telling God that it would be pointless for the people to leave this place and journey on towards the Promised Land if Yahweh would not journey with them. God assures Moses that his presence will indeed go with him and with the people of Israel. Then he does the most amazing thing ever. He grants Moses’ request.

God puts Moses on that symbol of stability and foundation and passes ALL  his glory in front of Moses only allowing Moses to actually see the most remote part, something like the sunset at the end of the bright and glorious day.

Have you been in turmoil? Has life itself almost beaten you down flat? Jesus Christ says, THERE IS A PLACE NEAR ME WHERE YOU MAY STAND ON A ROCK. There is a place where solid footing may be found, a place where the currents of shifting opinions cannot reach and erode. Christ calls you to come near to him. He will allow his glory to pass in front of you. You may only see the most remote parts. You may not comprehend all that you see, but though the sunset at the end of the day may not be as bright as the sun directly overhead at noon, those sunsets are among some of the most glorious and beautiful sights you will ever see. Come unto the Rock that is higher.

Pastor Craig

Contentment

This past week I was studying Philippians 4:11-13. For those who (almost all of us) don’t have those verses branded into your memory:

. . . I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who give me strength.

Contentment seems to be a vanishing commodity in our society. People are always on the move looking for something higher, better, more this or less of that. The most compelling purchase tag for a product is “New & Improved!”

Now, I’m not advocating stagnation. There is certainly something to be said for “making something of yourself.” We should strive for excellence, but excellence is not what I’m talking about here. What this is about is the constant search for something new. It is simply motivated by boredom and not a striving for excellence.

It seems that Paul has learned something most of us have not, how to be satisfied in any and every situation. Paul’s life was not easy, not by a long shot. He was arrested and imprisoned for trying to tell people something as simple as God loved them. He was shipwrecked. He was beaten by those who did not want him to preach his message and left alongside the road for dead. He had been hungry and in need, and he had been well fed and cared for. He was well aware of both extremes.

It was not a situation where everything was comfortable for him. Contentment in the midst of extravagance and comfort doesn’t really count as contentment, does it? Many of us wish for even a few of life’s finer things. Paul says, “I have had them, and I’ve done without them. I can take ‘em or leave ‘em.” Most of us would choose to take them.

But what about this Paul? What is the secret to contentment in the midst of poverty, unemployment, loneliness, and upheaval? Unfortunately, he doesn’t give us a simple multi-step program to achieving contentment. He does give us a clue though. I HAVE LEARNED.

It wasn’t easy. It took lots of work. The road to contentment is not an interstate highway, complete with rest stops and lots of bathroom breaks. No, the road to contentment is an uphill struggle, recognizing what is of true importance. What Paul learned was there was something so much more important in life than things. Paul had a mission to carry the Gospel to a lost world. Once Paul had his life purpose revealed to him everything else fell into place.

God has a mission for you as well. It may not seem as grand or glorious as Paul’s calling to travel the world as a missionary, but it is just as important because it is yours. You may not find it easily, but when you do – you will find contentment as well.

Pastor Craig

KISS

I would think that all of us are familiar with the simple acronym KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid). There are so many things in life that would be a lot less frustrating if we would follow that one rule. We do often try to complicate things. One of the clearest and best examples is in our prayer life.

Think about it for a minute. Sometimes people are terrified of praying in public. Others are quite comfortable with it. Usually, those who find this difficult have some aspect of worry regarding sounding stupid, not knowing what to say, or just plain “doing it wrong.” How could we possibly pray wrong?!

Jean-Nicholas Grou says, Be simple in your piety. Do not rely upon your intellect or upon subtlety and depth of your reasonings. Real piety is not concerned with thoughts but with the affections. Let your heart tell you what you wish to say to God and say it simply without bothering too much about the words; it is ridiculous to be eloquent in His presence and take pride in prayers that are well composed. We are simply talking to our friend. We spend very little time planning our conversations with our loved ones; they just happen. They flow out of the concerns and feelings within our heart. This should be how we pray to our God as well.

When it comes to our encounter with the Almighty it is difficult to do better than the type of prayer Jesus taught – secret and solitary. It is in the entering into our private moments that all else is stripped away and we stand totally transparent before our God, the one who knows all the things we want to cover up and keep hidden, the one who knows our sins before we can confess them, the one who sees beyond the formality of our composed and rehearsed prayers and simply wants to commune with us as we are. Praying in private centers our mind and heart on the object of prayer alone. It strips away all pretenses. Our dramatic words are futile with God; we cannot make him think we are more pious than we really are. When we go into a room and shut the door to pray, we face our own naked souls in all of their sin and beauty, and gradually our focus shifts from ourselves to God.

This is how our Lord wants us to appear before him. Whether we are praying in public or private, He wants us to come to him in our true nature, recognizing that He is constantly forming and reforming that nature, that He is fully aware of all our flaws and failings. In each and every prayer, we come before God, not to impress Him but to communicate with Him. It is in that transparent time that we know and are known. It is in that time that we are allowed brief glimpses of ourselves as God sees us. In these brief glimpses are see the sin-filled soul, but we see it transformed into a child of the King, holy and set apart, commissioned to carry the Gospel to the oppressed and downtrodden, messengers of light traveling in a world of darkness.

Pastor Craig

The Armor of God

Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand (Ephesians 6:11).

I recently read an article talking about the creation of “the warrior spirit” in the minds and hearts of our military men and women. It said, in part, “They must live fully in body and mind, aggressively engaged in the particular cause of defense.”

We too are called to be warriors. However, there is one very important item of which to take note. The purpose of armor is not offensive. The whole purpose of armor is defensive. You and I as soldiers of the cross are, or will be, under attack. We are not allowed to sit on the sidelines! If we are indeed involved with living out the call of Christ in the world around us, the Scriptures inform us that WE WILL INDEED ENCOUTER  OPPOSITION! We are called to preach justice in an unjust world. We are called to forgive our enemies when conventional wisdoms cries for us to destroy them. We are called to give to the ungrateful. We are called to do great things even when it seems impossible with the resources we have. We are called to push through the comments of the author of lies who tells us that we are too weak, too small, too ill equipped, too old, too young, too. . .Well, I think you get the idea. We are told to prepare ourselves to stand firm when all sorts of doubts and fears assail us. We are called to be ready. After you have done everything to stand. Stand firm then. . .(Ephesians 6:13).

The only offensive weapon given to us is a sword, The Sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. With all this armor to protect us we will survive, but if we are to win the day we must become acquainted with our offensive weapon. Is your sword more than an antique hung over the fireplace for display, kind of like your great grandfather’s favorite shotgun? Do you know how to use it? Are you familiar with how to clean it, how to load it, how to aim it for maximum efficiency? If you aren’t, you will survive because your defensive armor is strong, but do you want to do more with your Christian life than just survive the beatings the world can inflict on your faith? What soldier worth anything to his captain would run into the battle with ONLY his defensive armor in place, carrying no weapon to win the day for his commander? It is time to do weapons training. It is time to get to know that book that is in the drawer of the nightstand next to your bed, or on the coffee table, or up on the shelf in your library. It is time to open to read something other than the family tree that is posted in the front, to do something more with it than to add a baptism, a marriage, or a passing to the list already there.

In the year ahead, we will not be standing on the sidelines. We will take an active part in the advancement of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ on this earth. There are no reserves in God’s army. We are all active duty.

Pastor Craig

Reconnect, Recommit, Rejoice

This last week the Committee on Ministry of Grace Presbytery called and asked me to moderate the session of Central Presbyterian Church in Waxahachie. Their pastor, Rev. Anna Whitehead, is leaving to move to Alabama and they need someone to step in until such time as an interim can be found. It doesn’t take much, just one extra meeting per month, and it does give me the blessing of getting to see how another church works and conducts its business.

The first meeting I attended was Thursday evening. I was privileged to see a church dream. The session has been asked to create a vision statement, something that says what they feel God is calling them to do and be in the corner of the world where God calls them to minister.

Unfortunately, most times these statements are written simply to meet the requirements to get the church’s Church Information Form (CIF) circulated through the denominational channels. It rarely sees the light of day and is not generally implemented when the new pastor arrives on site.

How sad! To wrestle with the Almighty as Jacob did beside the river and to finally catch a glimpse of ultimate glory, only to leave it sitting in a filing cabinet along with old financial statements, meetings notes, letters of transfer, and previously paid utility bills.

All of us are the people of God trying to understand the vision and mission intended by the work of God to minister to the world God created. Once we find that vision, when we have a word from the Lord, we should move forward with determination. This isn’t true only for churches going through the process of filling out forms to find a new pastor. This should be the goal for each and every church each and every day.

This Sunday of Reconnect, Recommit, and Rejoice is something that we should pursue as a vision beyond a program for a single Sunday. We should be about seeking continual connection, transformational commitment, and enthusiastic rejoicing. As we are striving to do that we live out the call of Christ in our lives.

It is back to church, back to basics, restart Sunday. It is the time we ask ourselves, “If we could transform our church into anything we want, what would it be?” It is also the time we ask the follow up question, “Realizing that God gives us the grace and power to transform ourselves and our church into that which we dream it to be, why haven’t we already done it?”

It is time to heed the command to the Israelites and get up and move forward. They almost chose to stay still, cursing the darkness but refusing to light the candle of God’s grace. May we move more quickly to respond!

Pastor Craig

What I Miss About 9/12

None of us would ever wish anything bad to happen, even though great good may be seen in the aftermath of the evil. I get the privilege of writing to you on the anniversary of 9/11, arguably one of the darkest days in the history of our country. All of us were changed on that day. Some of us lost loved ones. Almost all of us knew someone who knew someone who lost someone dear to them. In the aftermath, we have endured 10 years of war.

In between 9/11 and the years of war was 9/12, one of the highlights in all of our nation’s history. It was a day when people poured forth from their homes to respond to the needs of their fellow citizens. Thousands upon thousands stood for hours to donate blood. Tons of food and clothing were taken in drives across the country. Hundreds marched immediately to their local recruiter’s office, some even lying about their age, to enlist in the defense of our country and see those who had planned such an evil upon our country brought to justice.

The best of all was the outpouring of people seeking meaning and purpose. Who could have done such a thing, and why? If there is a God up in heaven, and if He is God of the entire universe, what was He doing on that awful morning? Those are questions we will never fully understand. We have probably come to our own personal answers and that is the best we can do.

The important thing was that we gathered to the one place where we might possibly find meaning, purpose, and answers – the Church. In ten years since, we have gotten comfortable again. We have stopped looking for answers. We have stopped praying for country and countrymen, or at least the intensity of our prayers has greatly diminished. We have gone back to being Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Tea Partiers, or whatever else we may claim to be instead of being brothers and sisters. Our fellow countrymen in need have again become an inconvenience. Church is something that takes up our Sunday mornings. I would never want to go through another 9/11, but I sure do miss the positive aspects of 9/12.

Yet, God is still there. He still waits for your questions even if He doesn’t always give the answer you want in the detail for which you were looking. He wants to heal your hurts and pains. He has never left you, and never will. He has been faithful in His waiting for you. The question is, “What have you and I done with our relationship with Him over the same time?”

Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. O Lord, you preserve both man and beast. How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings. (Psalm 36:5-7 NIV)

Pastor Craig

Living With God

Do you believe that people can experience the presence of God as our Bible heroes did in the stories we love so much? I do. However, at the same time, I must say that I find those experiences rare. I think they were rare back in Bible times as well. We need to remember that the Bible tends to be a book ABOUT and FOR such encounters as opposed to everyday life, go to the store, pick up kids up from school encounters.

I think we are meant to live in an ongoing conversation with God, speaking and being spoken to. Rightly understood I believe that this can be seen in God’s visits to Adam and Eve in the Garden, Enoch’s walks with God, and the face-to-face conversations between Yahweh and Moses.  We see these times as highly exceptional moments in the religious history of humanity. Aside from their obviously unique historical role, however, they are not meant to be exceptional at all. Rather they are examples of the normal human life God intended for us: God’s indwelling his people through personal presence and fellowship. Given who we are by basic nature, we live only through God’s regular speaking in our souls and this “by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

While we no longer literally live with God in the garden, we have available to us many other methods of conversing with him. We communicate with God through worship, Bible study, communion, and prayer, to name only a few. You may have other ways you hear the voice of God. Take some time and list those many ways God has spoken to you and recognize how close he really is.

There are also hindrances to hearing God speak to us. We may have preconceived notions God has to fight his way past before we can hear the still small voice whispering his will and work to us. Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:1-13) found all sorts of ways to block God after their initial sin. Rather than admit their guilt and ask for forgiveness they immediately proceeded to the blame game, finally even blaming God for their failure.

The conversation God had with Adam and Eve hardly represents humankind’s proudest moment. They had just deliberately disobeyed the only rule God had given them. How would you have reacted if you were there? It is easy to think from a distance that we would have rejected that temptation. They had everything – companionship, food, meaningful work, face-to-face conversations with God. Before you are too hard on them, picture God coming to look for you after your sins, knowing all your flaws and failures. How far do you think you would run? The key is that God still came looking, wanting to be in relationship with them, wanting that personal and intimate relationship with them even more than they wanted it with him! Amazing!

Pastor Craig

The Gathering

I am sitting in the Grand Ballroom of the Doubletree Hotel waiting for the few minutes to pass before a new seminar is to begin. Roughly 2,000 Presbyterians are here from all over the country. They came for something called The Gathering. They came for different reasons.

In addition to this seminar there have been multiple small group discussion opportunities. My discussion group is #135. It is made up of pastors and lay people gathered from California, Arizona, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Colorado, Oregon, Georgia, and Texas.

One pastor is committed to sticking it out and ministering in place. One has a congregation that has voted unanimously to pursue a course of separation from the denomination, two pastors serve congregations that are divided if not conflicted on what to do, where to go, and how to respond. One person is newly ordained, only two weeks ago. Another is still in seminary and is exploring how to pursue God’s call upon his life. One is an Irish national pursuing God’s call to minister to a congregation within the United States. Another is striving to minister so boldly within his presbytery that it will transform the presbytery into something that addresses the slow death of the PCUSA. These are my brothers and sisters. They are yours as well.

This is the new reality in which we find ourselves and our churches at this time in the history of our denomination. This is the face of diversity. Diversity has been a term that has been used over the past several decades only to divide the church.

In the midst of this tremendous diversity what is there left to unite us? Historically, there is only one theme around which the Scriptures call us to unite. It is in fact the dividing line between authentic Christian doctrine and something else. It is salvation through Jesus Christ alone. It is the reason the pastor from Arizona has chosen to stick it out and “minister in place,” not because of the calling of Christ alone, but because of the unity the Spirit of God has been able to forge between evangelicals, conservatives, progressives, and liberals when all of them agree on what comes first – Jesus Christ. This is what we are called to as well, to minister where we are, not waiting for “the right climate or circumstances to fall into place, but realizing that people need Jesus NOW – not just when it becomes convenient for us to tell them about him.

The months ahead will bring changes within our structure. We will see or hear of changes around us. One thing will remain constant. Jesus Christ is Lord!

Pastor Craig

Remaking Church

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears.

-- Glenn Clark

It is time to “remake” church. We have operated too long on too much of the same old traditions. We do that because they give us nice, warm memories about how wonderful it was long ago if not far away. We remember our times, or the times of our children in youth group. We think of retreats, lock-ins, camp songs, and special events. We remember how wonderful they were and we want to recreate that specialness again for a new generation. The problem is the new generation has moved on. They want to create their own memories, not simply relive ours. I do not intend to slam old traditions here. I have some very well entrenched traditions of my own. However, when it comes to where our congregation should be, I find myself quoting the words of Dr. Phil, “How’s that workin’ for ya?”

Youth and young adults these days are more direct than they were even in my generation. I was never allowed to call an adult by their first name, even if I tried to attach a Mr. or Miss to it. I remember VERY clearly being told to tell my father that Garland was on the phone and wished to speak to him. Well, I relayed that exact message to my father and was met with the following response, “That would be Mr. Disharoon for you. Please don’t forget that in the future.” Obviously, a comment and a tone that had a LASTING impression upon me.  

I’m not complaining about the new found familiarity that young people seem to have with adults. On the one hand, I think it helps us bridge the generation gap between adults, young adults, and youth. No, my point is simply that times have definitely changed. Yet, the church, consistently, is among the last place to change with the times.  

In response to my own comments, I am asking you to join me in a new effort in ministry at First Presbyterian Church. Carpathia will adopt the attitude of the RMS Carpathia which prompted the passengers and crew of that ship to put aside all other ordinary tasks when the call for assistance came from the Titanic, steam through the night, and work until all who could be rescued were rescued indeed. We will meet the first Thursday of each month at 6:30 P.M. in the church parlor. We will begin on Thursday, September 1^st. Come and join with us. Come with ideas, but come ready to champion your ideas through your own sweat equity as well. Together may we save all Christ will allow us.

Pastor Craig

COURAGE

“Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow.”

Mary Anne Radmacher

Courage is not just a good idea. It is not the action that is honored in the form of medals, tickertape parades, monuments, or plaques. It has been defined not as the absence of fear but as the clarity of mind and commitment to action in spite of that fear. Probably, for the sake of this brief writing, courage could best be defined as perseverance, possibly even faith.

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of thins not seen. (Hebrews 11:1). Faith involves courage. It is the step forward into the future, not because we know the future, but because we know the one who holds the future in His hands. I don’t know what will happen tomorrow. I do not know what will happen next week. I know what is on my schedule, but I have no assurance the things I have written on my calendar will actually come to pass.

James 4:14 says, You do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little awhile and then vanishes away. We do not know how much time we get on this earth. Though our Creator loves us, we have no guarantee that our plans will succeed. Christian marriages sometimes end in divorce. Christian parents don’t always have kind, gracious, obedient, respectful, loving children. Some Christians are homeless. Other Christians are in prison. Still others do not recover from their illness in spite of all the prayers that are sent to heaven on their behalf. Just why are we Christians, then? What prompts us to faith, perseverance, and courage? I certainly hope it is something more than the fear of a negative afterlife.

Yet, as Christians, we do not hold back. We do not adopt a defeatist attitude. We are not without hope. For every time we fail we recognize Christ’s forgiveness and start fresh. We move forward with a confidence not based in our own abilities, but in the one who forgives us for our mistakes and rebelliousness. Though the day be dark, the one who created the day gives us a completely new one with each sunrise and encourages us to try again.

Pastor Craig

One Purpose

It seems there are so many things to tear the church apart these days. There are churches that have women pastors and officers. There are others that forbid them. There are Christians of all denominational flavors who are Pro-Choice, and there are others who are staunchly Pro-Life. You will find Christians on both sides of the issue regarding capital punishment. You can find Democrat Christians or Republican Christian. You can even find Tea Party, Independent, Libertarian, and Green Party Christians, just to name a few.

There are Christians who are separated by mode of baptism, theology of communion, stand on gay rights and the place of gays and lesbians in the worshipping community. We separate ourselves by worship styles and views on spiritual gifts. It is fairly easy to see why some people might avoid church. They already have all the turmoil and tension in their life they need!

The Apostle Paul doesn’t seem to recognize any of these divisions. If he does recognize them in other places, here he seems to say there is a higher calling. In fact he centers the Church and its mission on one, clear, concise vision.

“Make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.”

                Philippians 2:2

Paul wants the Church to share one grand and holy purpose – to share the love, compassion, and forgiveness of Jesus Christ with all the world. If we recognize the problem of humanity as first and foremost a poverty of spirituality and a broken relationship with our Creator, then the solution to the problem is obvious. In fact Jesus Christ says there is no other solution, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father but by me.”

I won’t say the other things don’t matter, but I will say they become much less important once we get our number one priority settled. Once that is set, the other things tend to fall into place. Once that is set, we begin to put all the other issues in their proper priority as well. Once that is set, we realize we can indeed work with someone who believes quite differently on some theological points because we can agree on that point which has the utmost importance.

Pastor Craig

Search & Rescue

Our mission trip to New Orleans was amazing. Almost six years after Hurricane Katrina virtually destroyed a major US city there is still much work to be dome. Approximately 200,000 of the residents of New Orleans are still living away from their former home. Some of them, like a college classmate of my own, have vowed never to do something so stupid as to “live below sea level again!” Others long to return to one of America’s most unique cities.

Project Homecoming put seven teams comprised of 50+ people into the Central City and East New Orleans areas. My site was a home on AP Tureaud St. We painted, insulated, finished carpentry and generally cleaned up the area around the home.

Other teams began homes from the ground up. Still others sided homes that had already ben framed out. We worked with day camps for children, helped teachers get their classes ready for school, and generally brought hope through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

One symbol was common everywhere we went. It was a symbols of both hope and despair. It was painted thousands upon thousands of homes, remaining there from 2005 until today in the homes that are still unoccupied. The “X” you see at the top of this page has information regarding the day the property was searched, the status of the utilities at the time of the search, the team conducting the search, and a count of the corpses found inside the house. In the midst of this sea of destruction it was amazing the number of zeros there were for homes containing corpses.

However, the symbol reminded me that Christ is always on a search and rescue mission of his own. He comes seeking you and me. He comes every day. He comes calling us to respond to the command of the gospel to go into all the world and make disciples. His symbol looks something like this.

The question mark is asking the question of what Christ will find when he comes to search your life. Will he find a heart willing to respond to his call to go where he sends? Or, will he find only excuses? When government has forgotten most of the victims of Katrina in the six years since the disaster, it is a blessing to them to know that Christ and his Church have not.

Pastor Craig