​   By now all the magazines at the check-out are giving us advice on how to have the best Christmas ever.  Better Homes and Gardens will be sharing home decorating ideas that even the amateur can pull off.  Southern Living will show us the best Southern recipes and traditions to share with family and friends this holiday.  GQ and Vogue will try to make us look good for the holidays or Men’s Health will stress how to work off all the holiday calories you added on from all those great new recipes.  The travel magazines will show us beautiful snow filled destinations to travel off too for some time away with scenes guaranteed to give us lasting memories of Christmas 2019.
 
    Ultimately Christmas isn’t something we find in a magazine or even in the perfect recipe or destination.  As Dorothy found on her trip to Oz, the best places are the ones you keep with you in your heart.  So how are we to prepare for the perfect Christmas this year?  First you need to know why you are celebrating, and don’t just say it’s for Jesus.  Why is it for Jesus, what is the purpose of Christmas in the first place?  Paul would put it this way, “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance:  Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the worst.  But for this very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.”  I Timothy 1:15, 16
 
    The real reason for Christmas has nothing to do with 99% of what the magazines or our society will tell you.  If you have Christ in your heart then Christmas has come to you and that is what you need to celebrate.  How do we celebrate that?  When I say that I give gifts because God gave me his son, well, that’s nice but what in my gift giving praises God.  Will the person receiving my gift know that this is part of my saying thank you to God for his only begotten son?  How can my celebration be an inspiration to others? 
 
   Another thing that can make this the best Christmas ever is penitence.  Now wait a minute you may say, the holidays are supposed to be joyful, what’s all this about repentance?   I’ll repent of all the food I ate and how I spent too much in January.   But when you look at scripture, the kinds of gifts that please God aren’t the ones you can wrap and put under the Christmas tree. 
 
           “You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in
burnt offerings.  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise.”   Psalm 51:16, 17
 
     So how do you prepare for the best Christmas ever?  You begin with your heart and the question is, “Does Jesus have it?”
Don
 

“Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise.  Give thanks to Him;  Bless His name.”    Psalm 100:4
 
           In America we have a way of taking any holiday and making it about food and fun.  Now I have nothing against food and fun, especially if you throw in some family, but there is more to most holidays than that.  We are coming up on Thanksgiving this month and we may give lip service to the idea of being thankful but how many of us will really give any serious thought or time to actually being thankful?
So with that in mind I thought I would share some inspiring quotes on the topic and just maybe you will get inspired to take some time over the next few weeks to actually be thankful.
 
"If the only prayer you said in your life was 'Thank you,' that would suffice." - Meister Eckhart
 
"Yesterday's the past, tomorrow's the future, but today is a gift. That's why it's called the present." - Bil Keane
 
"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."    - John Fitzgerald Kennedy
 
"If you want to turn your life around, try thankfulness. It will change your life mightily."     - Gerald Good
 
"Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life."      - Omar Khayyam
 
"If you really are thankful, what do you do? You share."     - W. Clement Stone
 
"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched — they must be felt with the heart."    - Helen Keller
 
"Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it." - William Arthur Ward
 
"Not what we say about our blessing, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving." - W.T. Purkiser
 
Have a blessed and thankful Thanksgiving!        
             Don
 

​   We’ve all seen the T-shirts, “Stay Calm and Keep On _____”.   For teachers it says keep on teaching, for nurses keep on nursing, well, you get the idea.  For the most part it’s pretty good advice.  Panic and anxiety usually don’t make things any better and often makes them worse.  But as humans we usually want to know why or how.  Why should I stay calm or how can I stay calm?  For Christians both answers are found in our relationship to God.  Why stay calm, because God is in control.  How can I stay calm - by trusting that he is in control. 
 
   When Paul was talking to the smart people in Athens at the statue to the Unknown God he wanted to tell them about this God that to them was unknown, but he knew very well. You can read about it in Acts 17.  Paul made the point that this God couldn’t simply live in a temple or need people to do things for him.  He is the one who made everything and everyone.  It is in him and through him that we live and move and have our being.  This Unknown God was in reality the only God and we owed everything to him.  Paul over and over in his life demonstrated what it meant to stay calm and keep on.   For Paul that usually meant keep on preaching the gospel.  Since God was greater than any difficulty he would face it just made sense to keep on keeping on.

   Worry and anxiety rob us of calm, but they also zap our strength and take away our resolve.  Trusting God is not just about not worrying, it’s also about pressing on.   Don’t let life get in the way of what God has in store for you.  Satan wants nothing more than for God’s people to be sidelined and discouraged, that leads to us being ineffective and at worst to be a reason for others to doubt God.  That’s not to say I have to walk around with a silly smile on my face all the time.  But in the midst of the trial or storm I can stay calm and keep on believing.

   So stay calm and keep on believing!

                                                                                                                                              Don
 

​           “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”  Psalm 139:23,24
           Introspection is looking inside your own mind and heart, and that can be a scary place to go for many of us.  It is a brave soul that looks into their own lives with real honesty, actually wanting to see and know the truth.  There are few friends or family members that we would give such an invitation to, to come inside our lives and know the real us.   Yet David invites God not only to come inside but to poke around and then report on what he finds.  That is an action that requires not only faith but also trust.  Someone that you are willing to open up to is someone you are willing to believe that they have your best interest at heart and won’t use that kind of knowledge to hurt you. 
       What might you find if you go on such a journey and especially taking the Lord along with you?  David specifically wants to know about those things that worry him; he invites God to know his anxious thoughts.  There are two mistakes we most often make with worry.  One is to give it too much control and to over worry about a situation or problem.  Really taking an honest look at what we are worried about means to put it in the proper context and remember since we are bringing God along we want his input and insight.  How does he see the problem?  The other mistake is to blow it off too easily.  Just like an infection, sin in our lives that’s not dealt with will only fester and get worse.  That is one of David’s other requests of God in this prayer, see if there is any offensive way in me.  Do we in some way offend God?  One of the hardest things to receive is good constructive criticism.  A friend or spouse may ask you what you really think about their appearance or something they have just said, but we know asking for and receiving graciously are two different things.  Yet how am I to grow and make improvements if I’m not open to hearing what others have to say.
       Finally David asks God to lead him in the way everlasting.  What action steps are you willing to take based on the outcome of the examination?   When something goes wrong in our nation often times one or more of the branches of government will call for an investigation.  Hundreds of man hours and millions of dollars will be spent looking into it, page after page will be written with recommendations on what to do, and that is usually the end of it.  The recommendations, well thought out by people we deemed knowledgeable enough to look into it, often go unheeded.  David didn’t want the information to go on a shelf somewhere forgotten.  He wanted God to take what was learned and to lead him on the right path.
       Are you willing to take a deep dive into your heart and mind, and to take the Lord along with you?  Will you ask yourself the hard questions and listen to the even harder answers?  Will you be willing to act on what God has to reveal to you?  

​           Don
 

 

   Do you ever get one of those messages?   Often an email or Facebook where you are invited to an event and the sender wants a response.  Any more all you have to do is click on the appropriate response – Yes I’ll be there, Thinking  about it, or Sorry can’t attend.  You don’t have to host the party, decorate for it or pay for it, but you do have to respond to the invitation.  If you say yes I’ll be there you need to show up.  God has sent us an invitation to us to accept his grace, love, redemption and forgiveness.  What is our response?
    In Matthew 22:1-14 Jesus tells of such a story.  The king invites folks to come to a banquet in honor of his son but most refuse.  Then the king opens his invitation to all and several came.  Jesus was talking about his reception from the Pharisees and religious people of his day.  The father sent him and invited Israel to receive their Messiah, but most of them refused the invitation.  God then opened his call to all to come and believe.  Those who refused the call missed out on the very thing they said they were looking for.  Others received what they could not imagine, what they had been told was out of their reach. 
   God is still calling people into a relationship with him through Jesus.  God still wants to give us all the blessings in Christ (read Ephesians 1:3-14).  But he is waiting for our response (Revelation 3:20).  Many claim to be looking for God in their lives and to desire his love and peace.  So if God wants to give it why aren’t they finding it?  One answer is they aren’t really looking for it. They aren’t responding to the invitation and they are like the Pharisees in Jesus day – missing out on what is right in front of them.
   So the question for each of us is, “Are you responding?”
​
Don
 

   They say that golf is a game that can only be played never mastered.  Having played off and on (more off than on) for 50+ years I can attest to the truth of that statement.  Here lately I haven’t given much time or effort to it.  I went out yesterday and played a few holes and the lack of attention to my game was very evident.  Frankly I looked like someone just taking up the game, instead of someone who had spent much of his adult life pursuing and enjoying the game.  I was trying to remember old habits that I thought were engrained in my life, only to realize nothing lasts forever.   After a few holes some form of a swing reemerged and I did a little better.  I may try to get out more often this summer, and even spend some time practicing, that would help.  But again you can only play it, never master it.  Yet I play on.
   Our Christian walk is much the same.  We can work on it every day and never really say we have it mastered, however when I spend time away from the Lord it shows up and not in a good way.  Habits that have been developed over time such as prayer and Bible study can just as easily be forgotten.  You don’t realize the power of being in the Word every day until you aren’t.  God doesn’t speak as loudly or clearly when you wander away from the Word.  You sit down and open the Bible up and it is as if a fresh breeze just blew in your face on a hot dry day, a reminder that you’ve been gone too long.
   Summer is a time to get back into those habits (actually any time is a good time).  Let’s do the 5 challenge.  If you aren’t currently spending any time in prayer and Bible study start with five minutes of each, just ten minutes out of your day.  If you have a steady habit of Bible study and prayer add five minutes to each.  Those who exercise daily understand this.  That workout that really helped you in the beginning isn’t doing much for you now.  Why?  Because your body is use to it, it needs a little more challenge.  If you are reading over the same section of scriptures all the time explore a book you haven’t read.  I know our tendency is to stay with what we know, what we are comfortable with.  I love Paul’s letters, very practical, speaks to the church today, however the Old Testament still has much to say.  And your prayer life may also be in a rut.  Couples after several years of marriage tend to fall into repetitive conversations and get rather bored with each other.  In prayer get more specific in your requests; look for new words to praise and honor God.  Make yourself think about what you are praying.
   Make this summer not an escape from God but a refresher on getting closer to God; you’ll notice the difference come fall.

Don
 

    ​“What can I do for you today?”  That’s a pretty standard greeting when you walk into a shop, especially a quaint little mom and pop store.  What do you need, how can I help you, or may I be of service? We may have walked in with something specific on our mind or a shopping list or we may just want to browse for a bit to see what they have to offer.  People often come to God or the church in the same way.  They may have well thought out questions such as on the day of Pentecost, “What must I do to be saved?”  Other times folks aren’t sure, they know they’re looking for something but not sure what it is.  We need to be ready for all wanders.
    The question, “What can I do for you?” may seem like a strange greeting to someone who has just dropped in to visit but it may get them to thinking.  Have you ever done something which you thought was random only to discover there was a purpose after all?  Have you stopped to talk to someone, even a perfect stranger, not really knowing why and find that God had a plan for that conversation?  We need to make room for God to move in our lives.  We need to be willing to start conversations, not knowing where they may lead.  We need to take time, and what a precious commodity that is.  It is in these moments that God reveals so much, not just the needs of others, but to show us our own needs.
    I know that feels scary, to open that door, to invite someone to share their world with you.  It might be a world of hurt.  They might share needs that would cost us to help meet or they might even disagree with us and challenge our faith or position.  The great explorers of old never made a single discovery by staying in the harbor.  All those great adventures, all the new lands, all those things which made them famous came as a result of throwing off their moorings and heading out to sea.  Your next adventure may begin with a handshake or a simple question, “Can I help you?”
Don
 

I was sitting outside enjoying a beautiful spring evening and contemplating different things.  One idea that was weighing on my mind was the purpose that we have as the church, not just our individual congregation, but the church universal.  At the same time I was looking at one of the large pecan trees in the backyard and noticing that it was beginning to bud out.  From this musing the thought slowly developed of how the tree had something to teach me about the church.  The mighty trunk of the tree, as strong and thick as it was, could never stand on its own.  It has to be rooted dip into the ground, held in place by the root system.  The church may seem strong, it has been around for a long long time, but it doesn’t stand on its own.  There are the roots of our faith and heritage deep in the soil of God’s provision through his Word, his Spirit and most of all his Son.  We must be rooted in him to grow.
The branches coming off the trunk are the different individual churches that reach out into the world and while there are many of us we are united in our faith in Christ.  Coming off of the individual branches were the numerous small branches from which the buds were coming out.  Those buds, which would become leaves and pecans, needed connection with the tree for their nourishment, their life.  They couldn’t make it on their own.  As Christians we draw from the church our strength and nourishment to live the life of Christ.  So the church is here to empower us and give us life through Jesus.
But then I realized that just as the leaf relied on the branch for life, the branch needed the leaf just as much.  A tree without leaves would wither and die just as much as a leaf without a tree.  A church without folks is a pretty lonely place.  Just as the church gives life to the individuals there, the people of the church give life back to the church.  As a church we have a responsibility to feed and nurture the Christian, but each Christian has a responsibility to give back to the life of the church.  It won’t work any other way.  Without this mutual relationship we both die for the truth is the church is its people.
So if you wonder what your purpose is it is to be the church, to be Christ, for as much as you need the church, the church also needs you.
Don
 

Where’s your heart?  That probably sounds like a silly question.  It’s right where it’s always been, in my chest.   We talk of giving our heart to someone, or having a heart, but it’s still right there pumping away and it hasn’t moved an inch.  “Well that’s different,” we say.  In that case we are speaking metaphorically, it’s our love that we are giving or our feelings that are hurting.  The ancient Greeks spoke of splagchna when they talked of such things.  The King James Bible translates this word as “bowels” as in tender bowels of mercy.  I think they were getting closer to the truth.  When we hurt over someone or pine for someone we feel it in the pit of our stomach, in our splagchna.
Ultimately such feelings come from our mind, having the attitude or an emotion of love and compassion.  Paul asked the Philippian church if there was any tenderness from being united with Christ (Philippians 2:1, and actually he says a lot more well worth reading.)  As Christians we need to feel what God feels.  We need to love what God loves and to feel anger over what angers God.  To have a heart for God like King David did requires for us to actually have the mind of Christ.  When we see things from God’s perspective, we understand how he sees the world and how he sees us, we will then begin to feel as God feels.
If our heart is set on our own thoughts, worries and ideas we will not have the heart of God.  If the source of knowledge that feeds our heart is only from the world around us, we will not have the heart of God.  If our heart is shaped by the media, culture or traditions that we are raised with we will not have the heart of God.  We must let him renew our minds, we must let him give us new eyes to see with and yes we need a new heart, God’s.
Don