Tag: Christmas

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Can God Trust You with His Dreams?

We sing of Mary, the Manger, and Bethlehem. We rightly focus on the baby Jesus. We talk about the visit of angels, shepherds and the gifts of the wisemen.  Joseph, he is often the forgotten person of the Christmas story, shoved to the corner of the barn. In many regards he is relegated to the roll of the step father of Jesus. His story, not told by Mark, Luke or John, is only found in the first two chapters of Matthew.

Matthew wants us to know that Joseph is anything but irrelevant. He is essential. Joseph knows who he is. If Matthew knew his linage, Joseph knew it as well. He knew he was a descendent of David and the promised Messiah. Joseph knew the Word and he knew the Law. When he found out Mary was pregnant, he knew he had a right to divorce her. Joseph was a decent and thoughtful man as well. Though he could have made Mary a spectacle, his thoughts upon hearing the news of her pregnancy, were of sending her away secretly and quietly. We know that Joseph knew the Word and obeyed because we see that after Jesus’ birth, he was sure to get him to the Temple on the eighth day. Joseph knew God, he was righteous, and had a strong relationship with Him. How can I be so sure? God could trust him with His dreams.

When Mary became impregnated by the Holy Spirit Joseph had thoughts of divorce. I’m sure friends and family had told him to walk away and we know that he had those thoughts as well. But, on a restless night when life didn’t make sense, he couldn’t sleep, he was sensitive. He listened to God’s dream, was visited by an angel and yielded to what God shows him. God made him aware of His plan, and though he doesn’t understand, he listens, he trusts, and he most importantly, obeys. Soon after the dream, he and Mary, marry. It begs the question; can God trust us with His dreams? Will we surrender when it doesn’t make sense, when it embarrasses us, and brings us pain?

Doing the right thing often doesn’t make sense and it often doesn’t make things easier, in fact, it often gets more difficult. For Joseph, I’m sure stories were rampant, words were whispered, and glances were felt. The longer the pregnancy goes, the more difficult life becomes. On top of that, Herod has called for all to be taxed. In this moment we see Joseph’s integrity and morality. When it would have been more convenient to make an excuse, he made a trip. With a very pregnant wife, likely in the wet and cold season, they travel to Bethlehem to pay their tax. It’s here that Mary births Jesus, but it is here we once again see Joseph’s relationship with God.

It’s after Jesus’ birth that he has a second dream. He had to have been excited about the new baby, overwhelmed by angels, shepherds, and wisemen, and dazed by the response at Jesus’ dedication in the temple, yet Joseph, is once again sensitive to the spirit and another dream. It’s not a convenient dream, it’s just the opposite, it’s a troublesome and overwhelming dream. Death is going to visit Bethlehem; they must leave and leave now. Imagine explaining the dream to Mary, “Mary we have to pack tonight, were leaving, and, we’re not going home to Momma or Elizabeth, we’re leaving the country, we’re going to a foreign land, Egypt.” Not an easy conversation. Once again, I’m sure he doesn’t’ understand, but because Joseph knows his God, he listens, and he surrenders. What do we do when it doesn’t make sense? If we are like Joseph, we obey.

Egypt was no picnic in the park. A new land, new people, and new laws and customs. They had to find a home and he had to find work. Nevertheless, he navigates what God and life has dealt him. We hear of no complaints. We see no wavering. Joseph trusted God, not for a couple of weeks or months, but likely for two or more years. There are no promises, no expiration dates, only living by faith, day by day, hoping one day things might change. How do we react when God says wait, or worse, is silent?

Waiting is often real worship. It’s living one ordinary day after another, hoping. It’s the question that likely came every night, will there be a third dream. Only time will tell. What we do know is that Joseph never wavered. Had he wavered, he would have missed the moment. Joseph walked with God day by day, and because he did, when the dream came, He was ready. The dream does come, but it comes with difficultly. It means pulling up stakes once again, it means leaving comfort, and it means embracing the unknown. God’s dreams often move out of our comfort zones.

This dream will take Joseph and his family to Nazareth, and it appears that Joseph’s work is done. He fades into the unknown. We will see him one last time when Jesus turns twelve and he takes his family to Jerusalem, but beyond that, crickets. He is not seen or heard of during any of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus does not mention Him in any of His stories, and there is no mention of him at the cross. His work, though unappreciated by many, is finished. No accolades. No statues. No plaques. Joseph’s reward is knowing he listened to God’s dreams, obeyed, and made a difference for eternity.

Joseph story is the story of so many of people. They are the ones who are faithful. They walk with God. They aren’t in the limelight. They don’t get the accolades, yet God can trust them with His dreams. They serve. They give. They are always there. They are consistently reading God’s Word and listening for His voice. They find their knees often and are quick to respond, even when it doesn’t make sense and it may mean difficulties. They don’t waver. They don’t question. They do the little things that make a big difference for eternity. They are like Joseph. They are people God can trust His dreams with. Are we?

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The Three Gifts of Christmas 2023

For years I would do a three-week series around the holidays called, the Three Gifts of Christmas, it was based on the story of the wise men bringing gold, frankincense, and myrrh to Jesus. In our home we incorporated the idea as well, there would be three gifts in each stocking, and three nice gifts for each of us under the tree. This last year the series paused, as we stepped down from our pastorate, but after a year off, and a lot of requests for its return, its back.  Now in written form in a single blog, here are my three Christmas gifts for you as we merge into 2024.

The first gift is the gift of maybe today. It is the hope of every prayer. The hope for those who have sickness in their body, a loved one facing illness, or a marriage that is on the brinks. Maybe today is the hope of a parent with a prodigal child, for the person who needs a change in their career, or the lonely person longing for a spouse. After years of seeking help from physicians, the woman with an issue of blood went to Jesus, hoping maybe today things would be different. In a moment, with  a single touch of Jesus’ garment, all of her not todays turned into yes today. There are prayers I’ve prayed for years. Each time they’ve been met with a no, or worse, silence, but I don’t give up. I keep praying, hoping that maybe this time, it will be answered with a yes. Why should you keep believing? Why have faith? Why keep praying? Because of the gift of maybe today. No matter how discouraged, how overwhelmed, or how defeated you may feel, never let go of maybe today. Wake up each day, believe with every prayer, that your maybe might come today.

The second gift of Christmas in 2023 is the gift of suddenly. We find the word suddenly, which means “quickly, without warning, unexpectedly,” thirteen times in the New Testament. It is the nature of God to do things without warning. Suddenly’s were a part of Jesus’ birth and His ascension. When Jesus walked on this earth blinded eyes were open, deaf ears unstopped, and lame lives were changed in a moment. Suddenly’s have been eliminated or are discouraged in most modern-day church services, but they are something that people are desperately longing for. Suddenly’s were common throughout the book of Acts. Noise, wind, fire and the Spirit fell suddenly in the upper room, on Cornelius and his house, and on John’s disciples on Paul’s third missionary journey. I encourage you to live life, to get up every day, with the expectation, that just maybe, a suddenly might happen. You serve a God who loves suddenly’s!

Finally, my last gift of Christmas is the gift exceedingly. God always does things extraordinarily! When He turned water into wine, it wasn’t a little, but 10 large jars, and it was just wine, but the finest wine. When He provided food for 5000 men, plus women and children, all left full, and there were twelve overflowing baskets of leftovers. When He gave His blood, it wasn’t for a few people or some sins, but it was enough to cover every sin that every person might commit. God goes above and beyond, He does exceedingly! Live your life expecting, not just a little or enough favor and blessings, but live expecting exceedingly!

This year I feel that the three gifts that God gave me to share are gifts people are to take into 2024. It’s one thing to get a gift, it’s another to use it. How many gifts end up in drawers, closets, or worse, Goodwill’s or garage sales. That isn’t where these gifts are supposed to end up. These gifts are supposed to encourage you, inspire you, and give you hope. Tough days will come and discouragement will visit you in 2024, but when they do, pull these gifts out of the depths of your heart and they will carry you to a better day and better year. If you will, maybe today a suddenly will exceedingly overwhelm you.

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Common and Kind to the Common

The first to see Him were not the blue bloods, the political elite, or those connected to the right social circles. In fact, the Wisemen, those who brought the wealth; gold, frankincense, and myrrh, didn’t arrive until Jesus was nearly a year old. The first to get an audience with God in flesh were shepherds, common men who took care of sheep. Jesus wasn’t born with a silver spoon in His mouth. He didn’t come from a family of movers and shakers or an aristocratic background, just a simple family from Nazareth.  The Nazareth, that when Philip told Nathaniel that they had found the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, said, “can anything good come out of Nazareth.” Nathaniel’s statement doesn’t leave you feeling like Jesus came from the right side of town. You would more likely find Jesus at a greasy spoon than any upscale restaurant in your local fashion district. One of the complaints the religious elite often had against Jesus was that he ate with publicans and sinners, common people. Jesus’ choice of leaders? Common Joe’s, fishermen and tax collectors. It seems it was almost a chore to dine with the who’s who. It’s as though He knew their agenda, not to build authentic relationship, but to broker deals and have influence. Jesus often seemed to be repulsed by their haughtiness, arrogance, and pride, maybe that’s why he gave so much time to the average person. He spent time with a broken woman at a well in the heat of the day, stopped for an old woman with incurable sickness, and more than once had to provide food to crowds who were either too poor, or didn’t have enough sense to bring food for a long day. His disciples tried to stop kids from getting to Him, but unlike them, Jesus didn’t see children as annoyances, but treasures. Though they were small and seemed insignificant, Jesus regularly paused and took time for them. In Philippians 2 Paul said, “that He made of himself no reputation,” and described Him as a servant, humble and common. Paul lets us know that Jesus would have likely spent little time creating his image, being a social media influencer, or rubbing shoulders with the clicks or “the in the crowd,” He was simply common. He was incredibly popular, but it never changed who He was. He kept His balance by praying often and never forgetting His purpose, to save the lost, broken, and hurting. It’s Jesus who we should pattern our lives after, not the latest concept or trendy pastor, just Jesus. While we’ve fell far short, this has been Mary and I’s goal from the outset of our ministry. At the college I worked at, everyone was always welcomed into my office, it wasn’t a place for the “big I’s and little you’s,” but a place everyone knew they could come for a listening ear. At lunch you would often find Mary and I sitting at the table with the students rather than with the staff, it just felt like the right place to be. As pastors at Life, we made sure that we took time for everyone. We consistently had lunch with “regular families.” We intentionally spent a lot of time with widows, students, and people who were hurting. They were our kind of people. We struggled and even avoided those who wanted to gossip, be in the know, or tried to influence us with their money or social standing. It felt so empty. Now, after 30 years of ministry, one of the greatest blessings is connecting with students or church members from years gone by and hearing them say, “you guys were so different,” we’ve never met ministers like you all,” or “you all are just so common.” We blush, smile, and say, thank you. It wasn’t an agenda, or learned concept, we were, and still are, just trying to be like Jesus. Common and kind to the common.

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Tell Your World

I’m getting older and my musical taste is headed that direction too. I admit it, I like Rascal Flatts, especially at Christmas. When Mary and I are ready to put up the Christmas tree nothing sets the mood better than Rascal’s version of Go Tell it on the Mountain. Crank up their version of Joy to the World in our home and you’ve got instant Christmas spirit. If I’ve got to have something a little more traditional, give me their rendition of Hark, the Herald Angel Sing and I’m at Bethlehem. What cranks your gears? Who is your Christmas artist of choice? Maybe for you it’s a little Mariah Carey and Jesus, What a Wonderful Child or Carrie Underwood singing All is Well. Whatever your flavor, it’s time to bring out the Christmas music, the one’s that magnify Jesus’, and celebrate the birth of the Savior. This season is not about Santa and reindeer, gifts and greed, but God who came in a baby’s body to save a broken world.  If there is ever a time this world needs to know His story, it’s now. Our culture is confused, families are fractured, and our country is as divided as ever. There seems to be no solution, but for those who know Jesus and His story, even in the darkest of hours, there is hope. Why sing Go Tell it on the Mountain? Because people need to know the story of our Savior. Why blare Joy to the World?  Because you live in a world filled with despair and people need to hear that there is real joy in Jesus. So, dial in your Spotify Christmas list, play it loud, and play it often. Go tell it on the mountain, or at least in your world.

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My Home Town. Noblesville at Christmas

A holiday postcard. A Norman Rockwell Christmas painting. The Christmas song, “Silver Bells.” All will give you the essence of the town Mary and I get to call home. It’s Noblesville during the Christmas season. The light posts all have snowflakes, bells, and ornaments attached that light up in the evening. Santa’s house sets on the town square reminding you that Christmas will soon arrive. Drive through in the evening and the county courthouse is lit in red and green. On any given Saturday you may see an elf on the square, and you will definitely see families lined up to visit Santa in his cozy little workshop. If you come early, stop in at the Uptown Café, Rosie’s, or Erika’s for a homemade breakfast. If you aren’t able to catch breakfast, at least stop into Noble Tea and Coffee, and grab a mocha or coffee before hitting the quaint shops. Each shop has its own unique décor, and all make you feel as you just stepped into Christmas. There is the Logan Street Mall with nearly 50 local vendors and the Old Picket Fence Shop filled with antiques. If your taste is for something more of the retro style or Magnolia, step into Vintage Adventure or Persimmon’s Avenue and you’re sure to find something you can’t leave without. If you plan for a December weekend visit, you will want to take the kids on the Reindeer Express train ride. Still need more? Grab dinner at one of the many restaurants, I have an affinity for Grindstone Pub or a good Italian dish at Matteo’s. Finally plan on finishing off the evening with a horse driven carriage ride through downtown, a walk through the Christmas Light village, or some ice skating at Federal Hill Park. I may have a bit of a bias and be a little nostalgic but add a big snowstorm and you have the perfect opportunity to see a Norman Rockwell scene in person, and the place Mary and I get to call home.

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We Need a Little Christmas

Why did I start a Christmas Series in November? Great question. Because it has been a long and difficult year and we needed some joy, something to make our hearts merry and a word to encourage our spirits. Nothing does that quite like a song, especially a Christmas song. In Ephesians 5:19, Paul encourages us “to speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your hearts to the Lord.” Christmas songs remind us of the hope found in Jesus. Sing Joy to the World, and you can’t help but feel the hope in Jesus. Sing Silent Night, Holy Night and calm and peace surrounds you. Other Christmas carols cause us to reflect on days gone by. Sing, Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire and whether you have a fireplace or not, or even if you have never tasted a Chestnut, you can still feel the warmth and nostalgia. Still other tunes take us to dreams of another place. Sing songs like Walking in a Winter Wonder Land or Let it Snow and whether you’re in Florida or the Rockies you want to grab the mittens and gloves and make a snowman or have a snowball fight. The simple point is this, Christmas and the songs changes the spirit of the heart. We become more reflective, kinder, and tend to have hearts that long to give. Proverbs 17:22 says that “a joyful heart is good medicine.” So, I invite you, click on your favorite Spotify Christmas list, pull out some old vinyl’s or dial up the Christmas radio station and start the joy early this year because as the song says, “We need a Little Christmas, Right this very Minute…”

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Christmas. God Still with Us

GodWithUs_featureEmmanuel, God with us. Announced to Mary, confirmed to Joseph. In a moments time, life changed. God comes to earth in a stable in Bethlehem in the form of a baby. First seen by shepherds and then wisemen. Life would never be the same. Religion as it was known would disappear. The lame would walk. People who were deaf would hear and those who were blind would see. Sinners would be forgiven, the broken would get an audience with Jesus and the dead would rise. When Jesus steps into your world, life changes. The story of Christmas is Jesus coming to humanity. But more than coming to humanity, it’s the story of God coming to individual people. What He did 2000 years ago He still does today. Has God come to your world? If so, when? What was your experience like? When did He become real to you? Was it an answered prayer that introduced you to Him? Was it an experience in a church service when you felt him in an undeniable way? Maybe it was in a bible study, a small group or possibly a quiet moment alone when you came to understand, “God was with you.” Whatever the moment, it was a “Christmas” moment, the moment God came to your world. This Christmas share your story. It may not be as dramatic as Mary and Josephs or as unbelievable as the shepherds, but your experience was just as real, and it could change someone’s life. Christmas, a reminder that God still comes to us and that He is still God with us.

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The Gift of Spontaneity

o-HAPPY-WOMAN-facebook-1024x683Spontaneity. It’s a person walking up to a Salvation Bell ringer and beginning to sing Christmas carols with them. It’s a child, reacting to a gift that was totally unexpected; so overwhelmed that they respond without thinking…spontaneously! Spontaneity is a natural impulse or tendency; without effort or premeditation. It’s natural and unconstrained; unplanned. Spontaneity, it’s the way God wants us to live and what He wants us to experience. Mary hears that she is highly favored, that she will be overshadowed by the Spirit and she will birth Emmanuel, God with us. Without thinking, she reacts and says, be it unto me! It’s Elizabeth, upon seeing Mary, feeling her baby leap inside her and exclaiming loudly, “blessed are you among women.” It’s shepherds in a field, experiencing an explosion of light and songs of angels, and without thinking, leaving their sheep and going to see the baby Jesus. What does it take to experience spontaneity? It takes stepping out and acting when it’s not on our daily agenda. It takes hearing, believing and acting when we hear God’s subtle voice prod us. It is responding in faith, without completely thinking it through. It’s the spontaneous moments, the “suddenlys,” that change our lives. It’s often the spontaneous moments that our families remember the most. The gift of spontaneity, it changes our days from the mundane to magnificent. It leaves us with a smile on our face and a warm place in our heart. It’s where you want to live, it’s what God wants you to experience. Live in, live for, His gift of the spontaneous!

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Christmas. It’s Your Story

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Here we go! It’s Christmas season. Trees are going up. Decorations are being hung. Parties and events put on calendars. All leading to a December 25th celebration. What we do each year resembles the spirt of heaven as they prepared for our Saviors birth. Imagine with me the gasps of Heaven as our Lord begins to unfold His plans. From what family, what lineage will you come? A king? A priest? A politician or religious leader? God responds, no, a twelve-year-old girl who will be engaged to a fourteen-year-old young man. A puzzled look. A frown and questions. Are you serious? Don’t you realize the ramifications? What people will say? God says, I’m fully aware. This way people will know that I can come to anyone in any situation. Another angel, sensing tension, asked from what city will you come? Jerusalem? Hebron? No, Nazareth. More puzzled looks and questions. Why Nazareth? It’s off the beaten path? A poor and forsaken area? God replies, yes, so I can identify with those who are forgotten and broken. As the Heavens grow more still, another asks. When will you go? God responds, around the time that Caesar Augustus takes a census. More gasps. Gabriel says, you realize that means that she will be nearly full term? That they will have to travel for Nazareth to Bethlehem. The weather, it will be cold and wet. Yes, I know, but I will be with them and as I am with them, I will be with others who face hardships. The story of Christmas is not so far from your story. A story with ebb and flow, twist and turns. Christmas. It teaches us to never lose faith and never lose hope. God is with us.

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Christmas, the Season of Change

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The year, and especially the past nine months, had seen more twist, turns, ups and downs than a roller-coaster. It was more than they could have ever imagined. The announcement of their engagement had filled their lives with celebration, travel, gifts and preparation for marriage. Nowhere in their engagement script was a pregnancy. They were virtuous and God-fearing people. Their family had taught them the law with passion and they loved God with all their heart. But a visit of an angel to Mary brought news beyond comprehension. She was stunned and speechless, filled with joy but at the same time feeling the sting of the overwhelming challenges. To be the one chosen to be overshadowed by the Spirit and bring God to earth was the greatest of honor. To explain it to her family and soon to be groom was nearly an impossible task. Joseph’s angelic dream brings some strength and hope to the moment, but still there are doubts. Those doubts would visit often; the thought of divorce would surface in his mind almost daily. Resolve moves into both of their hearts and they decide they will believe in the words from Heaven. That the pregnancy was supernatural and that God was truly growing inside of a teenager from Nazareth. Though they believed, others didn’t. There were endless questions from their parents. Friends strayed and foes judged. There are whispers, innuendo and downright rude gazes. That an angel visited a young couple from Nazareth with a prophetic word, and teenagers at that, was just too much. May we suggest that there was even mockery. There is an incredible moment when Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth; her baby leaps with joy inside her womb. There came flashes of hope when Joseph and Mary were alone and realized, it’s God in her womb. The end of the pregnancy brings yet another challenge. Herod has called for a tax, one that required families to return to the home of their birth. So, nine months pregnant, they begin a pilgrimage. It too is filled with challenges. Dangerous travel, poor weather and challenging terrain are all a part of the journey. Mary, days from birthing a child, must keep up with the caravan. For nearly two weeks, through rain, cold and wind they walk. Down mountain paths, across deserts and then a fifteen-mile ascent through rocky cliffs. When it seems as though it can’t get any more overbearing, it does. Bethlehem, a wide gap in the road on the journey to Jerusalem is their destination. They arrive in the small village only to find the family house already filled with relatives. No room in the house, they are relegated to the stable behind the house. Cold, damp, smelly; what place could be lowlier for the birth of any child, much less God in flesh. A stable, a place for animals now houses God. In the midst of all the hardship and difficulty, when no one could see the possibility, Joseph and Mary likely feeling hurt, lost and forgotten have no idea that the world changed. That night would be end of so much and the beginning of so much more. No one knew that in that moment the dateline would change from B.C. to A.D. No one knew that night that the sheep He laid among would never again have to die for the sins of a man. It was just a rough nine months for two obscure teenagers who believed the impossible could happen through them. Who could have imagined? Probably not Joseph and Mary. Whatever this year has held, whether hills and valleys, twist and turns you’ve walked through, know three things. First, the journey can be hard but you will make it. Second, regardless of how it looks in the moment, the impossible may be taking place in the midst of the most difficult situation. Finally, like Joseph and Mary, God has been with you, is with you and will always be with you. Christmas. The celebration of change!

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The Unexpected

UnexpectedThe unexpected. It brings a myriad of emotions from screams to tears. Sometimes people faint while others dance. The unexpected, when the impossibility becomes a reality. One year we surprised our kids with a puppy. It was so far off their radar that when they opened the box they literally froze in shock. They were so stunned that they set in silence for what felt like five minutes. We nearly had to shake them back to reality, but when we did, the pandemonium was unbelievable. Dancing, shouting and screaming all ensued as the reality of the moment sunk in. The story of Christmas is about God doing the stunningly unexpected. An angel shows up in a forgotten little burg to a young teenager, calls her highly favored, and announces she will be the mother of Emmanuel, God with us. Unexpected. Simple and unassuming shepherds sitting on a quiet hillside tending sheep when suddenly there is an explosion of light and sound as the skies are filled with angels singing, Hosanna. Unexpected. I wonder how many people in the tiny town of Bethlehem were asking, “who is this teenage couple,” as lowly shepherds show up to honor Him and Magi come with mountains of gifts. Who could have imagined that God in flesh in the form of a baby had come to their town? Unexpected. Christmas and the gifts under the tree. They fill us with imagination, wonder and maybe the unexpected. They are to remind us of what Jesus did and can still do. The unexpected.