COME IN FROM THE COLD

Saturday, November 29, 2008

(Adapted from an article in Charles Swindoll’s splendid book, The Finishing Touch)

Christmas comes each year to draw people in from the cold.

Like tiny frightened sparrows, shivering in the winter cold, many live their lives on the barren branches of heartbreak, disappointment, and loneliness, lost in thoughts of shame, self-pity, guilt, or failure.

We try to attract them into the warmth. Week after week Choirs sing. Preachers preach. Lighted churches send out their beacon. But nothing seems to bring in those who need warmth the most.

Then, as the year draws to a close, Christmas offers its wonderful message. Immanuel. God with us. Jesus willingly descended into our world. He felt our pain, knew our sorrows, and died for our sins. He didn’t come to frighten us, but to show us the way to warmth and safety.

For many, Christmas is the loneliest or most depressing time of the year. Single parents. The aged. The hospitalized. The dying and those ministering to them. Men and women in the military.

This Christmas season I pray that the warmth of the Savior’s love will spread itself over you as never before. And that whenever and however possible, you will keep reminding yourself that there are still tiny, shivering sparrows who are too terrified to come in from the cold. Maybe, just maybe, this Christmas, because of something you do or say…they will.

OUR VALUES ARE MESSED UP

Why do we do what we do?

Did you read about the employee who was crushed to death on Black Friday when a wild herd of shoppers ran over him in an effort to get a bargain?

Who says I can’t step on somebody’s neck that is in my way?

No absolutes. No principles. No ethics. No standards. With this kind of thinking, it’s only logical that man has no value.

But man’s value system is not the same as Gods. God believes that man is of great value! He demonstrated that to us went he sent his son to a manger in Bethlehem.

But those people who stomped over the employee on Friday weren’t thinking about the Savior, they were thinking about the stuff.

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS

Friday, November 28, 2008

Well, not really, it looks more like Black Friday. The mall parking lots are all jammed with cars and the stores are packed with people. I know this because I have seen it on television.

Mothers and fathers were up at “the crack of dawn,” rushing from store to store trying to make sure they can prove “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.”

The sun is shining brightly here in Scottsdale today. I expect it to be shining just like this on December 25. It almost always does. It never really “looks” a lot like Christmas around here.

Today, tomorrow, the next day or the next, we will start decorating our house—inside and out. That will make it look a little more like Christmas. Every year, I say to myself and to Charlotte, “You know, I’m getting too old for all this climbing on ladders, crawling on the floor, packing, unpacking." She agrees. And then we go ahead and do it again!

Our church went through all this busy work a few days ago. The place looks fantastic.

Now we are getting down to the “real thing”:

Christmas in the Park Outreach Event – December 6

From Age to Age Christmas Musical – December 11, 12, 13

Christmas on Main Street Family Festival – December 13

Christmas Eve – Family Celebration, Candlelight and Carols – December 24

Yes, Virginia, it really is beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Thursday, November 27, 2008

THANKS GIVING

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

(A story by Charles Swindoll in his book, The Finishing Touch)

I will never forget that Thanksgiving.

I will never forget standing erect in my classroom, my hand over my heart, as I repeated the Pledge of Allegiance to our flag.Our nation was at war and times were hard.My teacher has lost her husband on the bloodwashed shores of Normandy. After we had saluted the flag, we bowed our heads for prayer. As we did, she began to weep. I did too. All the class joined in. Then she stumbled through one of the most moving expressions of gratitude and praise that I have ever heard emerge from a soul plunged in pain.

At that moment in my young life I fell in love with Thanksgiving.

Lost in sympathy and a boy’s pity for his teacher. I walked home very slowly that afternoon. Although only a child, I had profound feelings of gratitude for my country…my friends…my school…my church…my family. I swore before God that I would fight to the end to keep this land free from foes who would want to take away America’s distinctives and the joys of living in this good land.

Thanksgiving…mark it well. It is a day of eminence, a day of memories, a day of commitment. May it not be eclipsed behind the shadows of our national aches nor beneath the passing pain of personal hardship.

May we all, indeed, give thanks.

HE LOVES THE CHURCH OF CHRIST AND HE LOVES ATHLETES

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Everyday we walked from the dorm to the Bean (cafeteria) several times. As we walked we discussed many things—but always we discussed sports and athletes.

Regardless which athlete we talked about, if he was outstanding, Ray always said, “I think he’s a member of the church”—meaning the Church of Christ. In Ray’s mind THE church and the Church of Christ was the same thing. He loves outstanding athletes and he loves the Church of Christ so he wants every athlete “worth his salt” to be a member of the Church of Christ.

This year it looks like the top two athletes in the country and vying for the Heisman Trophy are both quarterbacks, both are from Texas schools—Texas Tech and Texas University

.

You guessed it. They both are members of the Church of Christ! And not just in Ray’s mind and hopes—they really are.

I hope one of them wins too and I don’t really care which one. However, it has nothing to do with them being members of the Church of Christ. I just feel that either one of them deserves the Heisman.

Like Ray, I also love the members of the Churches of Christ. They are good people. But unlike Ray, I don’t think they are THE CHURCH. The church is made up of those who have accepted Christ as their Lord and Saviour and have become the sheep of his pasture, regardless of which pasture they are in.