There are a lot of words that come to mind as I think about 2020 and most of them aren’t positive.  Of course, COVID-19 comes to mind and turmoil in most areas of life.  We faced hardships as a nation due to the pandemic and the resulting economic unrest.  Here at the church our normal schedule was completely thrown out the window.  I was looking forward to a Spring meeting with my son Paul.  Our attendance was growing, and we actually had a number of younger folks and kids.  We were looking ahead to VBS in the summer and in general 2020 was promising to be a good year.  Not that there haven’t been some important lessons learned and new skills acquired.  I can now make videos in two different systems and I never would have believed that financially the church would be in such good shape (in other words we haven’t gone through all our money).  Yet the loss of our time together in fellowship and Sunday school, the separation we feel and the loss of one of our members to COVID-19 deserve a time of grief.  We aren’t good with grief and often want to hurry through it.  But grief tells us that something important is missing or has been taken from us.  It’s OK to grieve our losses.
   For 2021 I have just one word for now, and that is hope.  I hope the new year will be better.  I hope that the vaccinations will get to everyone as quickly as possible and that we will be able to return to some sense of normal.  I hope that our nation gets back to work and folks settle down so that we can live our lives.  As Christians we are actually commanded to lead peaceful lives so that we may then have opportunities to share the Gospel without all the distractions.  I hope as things get to the new normal that as a church we can pick up from where we were a year ago.  I’m still looking forward to hosting a meeting with my son.  I hope that we can look forward to a great VBS and other opportunities for ministry in our community. 
   One thing I do know, not just hope for, God is still God and 2021 is still in his hands as are all of us.  So whatever your expectations are for the new year rest assured that God will work all things for good to those who love him.
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   Don
 

       Paul tells the Romans not to judge each other because one man considers one day more special and another man considers them all the same, yet who can blame us for getting a little more excited about Christmas.  As the song reminds us, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.”  Even in our secular world you can’t escape completely that this day is in honor of Christ.  This also offers us as Christians a chance to let others know why it is the most wonderful time.  The life we live, we live to Christ, not ourselves.  At Christmas the two sides of that are very apparent.  On one side you have those who live only to themselves and Christmas can bring out the greedy little child in all of us.  Media blares at us that this should be a time that we get what we want and make no apologies about it.  Even Christians get caught up in this spirit of the season.  The other side of Christmas is the focus on the Christ child and what his birth into our world has brought us.  We hear words like love, joy, peace and hope in a different way than we do most of the year.  They seem more present, more achievable, at this time.  It’s as if we believe that love could conquer everything, that peace and joy could be felt around the world, and all of this gives us real hope for mankind. 
      The life we live in Christ includes these words every day.  God’s love is present each day, 24 hours a day.  He gives us a reason to feel joy and peace even during a pandemic.  And he is still the greatest source of hope for this world.  These are not only the gifts that God gives us, these are gifts that we were meant to share with the world.  As the old commercial says, “I’d like to teach the world to sing, in pretty harmony . . . and share a Coke with them.”  We should want to share God’s love, peace, joy and hope with the world.  That means our neighbor (even the ones on Santa’s naughty list), our family and friends, but also with those who don’t seem like the type.    What I mean are those of different backgrounds, different faiths, different Christmases than us.  Wishing everyone a “Merry Christmas” but even more living Christ around them.  Jesus didn’t spend a lot of time hating on people when he was here the first time, and the ones he did get frustrated with the most weren’t the godless heathens.  The church today needs to live love, joy, peace and hope, not just in the four walls of our buildings, but on the city sidewalks, busy side walks dressed in holiday style. 
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                         Don
 

   Paul is writing to the Corinthian church and one of the many issues he discusses is how we are to use our freedom in Christ (1 Corinthians 10:23).  We have a lot of freedom when we don’t have to worry constantly if we are making the grade with God.  He has accepted and saved us just as we are (hard concept to fully understand), so I’m freed from worrying about my every action every step of the way.  If someone invites me to a meal, I’m to go and enjoy it without raising a bunch of questions.  One of the questions raised in Paul’s time was, “Did this meat come from one of the temples as a sacrifice?”  Don’t worry, after all that other “god” is really no god at all.  But if another person there says, “This meat was offered as a sacrifice” don’t eat it.  Not because it was offered to another “god” but because the person who told you this may still be struggling in their faith with these questions.  I have the freedom in my own mind to partake, as Paul says I even gave thanks for it, but I don’t want to become a stumbling block for the other person and their faith.
   So, while I am thankful for what God has provided the overall issue is what is my witness to those around me.  Paul says that whatever we do we need to do all to the glory of God.  Is God honored when I put my rights and freedoms before another’s conscience and faith?  Paul goes on to challenge us to follow his example in this, but not really his, for he is following the example of Christ.  Paul has much the same to say to the Galatian church in Galatians 5.  We are to use our freedom not for our own selfish (sinful) nature, but to serve others.  Today Paul may use the situation of wearing a mask or not.  My salvation does not rest in whether I wear a mask or not, but how do I use my freedom as to whether I wear a mask or not.   Some act as though you were asking them to commit the unpardonable sin by wearing a mask, or that you are questioning their faith if they either do or don’t.  Why should I wear one if I don’t see the point in it?  Because you aren’t doing it for you, your doing it to help protect others.  We speak of sacrificing for our faith in Christ and then act offended if someone expects us to wear a mask, so much for commitment. 
   We have been raised to think of freedom as getting to do what I want, but that isn’t the life we are called to.  The life I live in the body I live to Jesus.  What would Jesus have me do?  We know from his example that he put our needs above his own.  He had the right to call down 10,000 angels to get him off the cross, yet in love for us he stayed there.  I guess it was a good thing they didn’t ask him to wear a mask while he was dying for us.  Think about it.
 
                                                                                                                Don
 

         We started a series in the last newsletter called, “The Life We Live” based on Galatians 2:20:
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”  What is this life we live in Christ?  Well this month how does living this life affect my sense of right and wrong, my morality?  This would seem like an essay answer, we follow what God says is right and wrong, but do we?  There are many sources for us to consider when trying to decide if an action is okay or is it sin.  God’s authority should be at the top of that list, in other words, the Bible.  God reveals to us his morality, what he considers right and wrong.  If I’m living my life now in Christ, and no longer for myself, it makes sense that God is the one directing my steps. 
   Too often we never get that far, to sit down and do our Bible study of what God thinks and says.  We aren’t very different from our neighbor who doesn’t really care about what God wants; he does either what he wants or what society says.   Depending on your society or neighborhood this may be very different from God’s view or it may look pretty good.  We often justify our actions by telling ourselves this is what God wants, without ever actually studying it.  Churches have often reflected more the norms and morality of society than of God’s true will.  If you live in a society where moderate levels of drinking are acceptable you probably see God as also approving of that.  If you grow up in a society or culture that views any kind of use of alcohol as sin, then you just as firmly believe that God hates any level of drinking and those who do it.  But what does God say?
   God hates homosexuality.  There are references in both the Old and New Testament to God’s view that this is sin.  Therefore God wants me to hate homosexual individuals.  Seems like a logical conclusion, but is it?  What is our response to be?  Anger?  Is that what God wants, is that the moral answer?  God calls us to compassion and love.  Our response to those we disagree with is found in kindness, even turning the other cheek to those who would harm us.   This is very different from the culture we live in.  If someone does you wrong you must pay them back, an eye for an eye.   Following God’s path is never easy.  Jesus said the path to destruction was wide and easy, but the path to life was narrow and hard. 
   So as you face decisions of morality and what stance to take, do your homework.  One of the good things about the internet is that it brings resources right to you, even scriptural ones.  If you have a question google it. . . “What does scripture say about___?”  You still need to sort through what is there and in the end you have to decide what God is teaching you, but it is a start.  You can always ask the preacher, though he may google it as well.  If we are to live this life, we need the tools and information to make good and moral decisions.

​   Don
 
 
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   I want to start a series of articles that discusses what it means for us to walk and live each day in our faith.   I‘ve chosen to call it, “The Life We Live. . .”  The idea comes from Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
   The first thing I want to share is the need to see God in our everyday life.  Last week on the radio I shared a series of devotions on the idea of being inspired by the everyday. In particular I was talking about songs written by Don Henley and my point was that God can nudge us, inspire us, and make us think by means that we might not look for.  Certainly we must check everything out with the revealed will of God, His Word, but often God speaks to us, reveals himself in little ways every day.  As Moses was getting ready to hand over leadership to Joshua he spoke to the children of Israel.  It was certainly an uncertain time for them.  They were finally on the verge of entering the promised land, the man who had been their leader, father, spiritual guide for most all of their life was about to leave them, and life was about to change in a big way.  In that moment Moses shared these words of hope: “Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.”  Deuteronomy 31:6
   It is easy to look at the “giants” around us and lose sight of God’s presence, especially in uncertain situations (we know something about that right now), but God’s message to us is to look for him for he will not leave nor forsake us.  Inspiration and hope can be found in the most unlikely of places, a song by the Eagles or a kind word from a stranger given at just the moment you needed to hear it.  When we are on the lookout and willing to see, we find that God is all around us.  So remember the life we live we don’t live alone from God, but we are constantly in his mind and in his presence.
Don
 

    I just finished recording the message for Facebook this week from Matthew 8 and this idea is still on my mind, “All we need is a little faith.”  Jesus heals the leper who says to him, “If you are willing” and Jesus’ response was “I am willing.”  He healed the Centurion’s servant from a distance because the Centurion believed all Jesus had to do was say the word and by his authority it would be done.  Jesus marveled at the faith the Centurion showed.  Later while going through a storm while crossing the Sea of Galilee, Jesus’ disciples panicked.  Jesus rebuked the storm, but first he rebuked them for having such little faith.
   After all that the disciples had seen, it was hard for them to fully put their faith in Jesus.  That was a theme repeated throughout the gospels.  “If you only had the faith of a mustard seed you could say to this mountain be thrown into the sea and it would,” Jesus told them.  Somewhere over the next few years, after even more and greater miracles, the disciples came around.  After Jesus’ ascension this wishy washy group of men became a force for the world to reckon with.  In the face of staggering odds they proclaimed the gospel message not only in Israel, but across the Roman world.
   What will it take in our lives to simply “have a little faith”?  What if we had a faith that solid and sure, a faith firmly planted in Jesus?  Like a fine perfume, a little bit goes a long ways.  What could we accomplish, what mountains could we move?  We’ll only know if and when we do it, so, have a little faith.

    Don
 

     Along with the worries and stress over the COVID virus, we have been facing a lot of racial strife here in America the past several weeks.  This seems to divide us as a nation even more than we’ve been.  It is easy to draw lines between the “Us” and “Them” groups.  There are those for the minorities and racial justice, and on the other side there are those for the police and law and order.  It is easy to paint one group as the “good guys” and see the other as the “bad guys”.  I think if we will take a step back and look at things more fairly and objectively we find that we’re not so different.
    The Declaration of Independence declares, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”  We all want to be able to have the freedom to simply live our lives.  That is true of everyone not just a privileged few.  And so to be in favor of addressing the inequities in our system doesn’t make someone bad or unpatriotic.  Upholding the belief that there must be order to a society makes complete sense.  We ALL need these things and desire them.  In America we are raised with a sense of fairness, of giving everyone a level playing field.  But the reality is we aren’t there yet.  So instead of an “us” against “them” mentality we need to seek, even pursue a course of action that puts us all on the same team working for a common good.
     Christians should have already known this.  Christ is the great emancipator and equalizer.  To the Galatian church the apostle Paul said we are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.  There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:26-29).  To the Ephesians Paul said that Christ himself is our peace, making the two one (Jew and Gentile) by destroying the dividing wall.  He has brought us into one body and then reconciled us to God (Eph. 2:14-18).
         If one part of your body is hurting, how does the rest of the body feel?  Do we simply ignore the injured part, treating it as if it has no place in the body or no right to hurt when the rest of the body is feeling fine?  Of course not, if anything that part of the body now receives all the attention.  The rest of the body is moved to comfort and heal that which is hurt, because until that is resolved the body as a whole has no peace.  If there are brothers and sisters in Christ who are hurting because the system we have in place has flaws then are we to turn our back on them because we aren’t experiencing the same pain?  Are we to ignore or even criticize their pain?  We all want to live free of oppression and tyranny.
       We need to pray for and support our police; they hold a position of authority over us (Romans 13:1-5).  But we also need to be willing to hold them accountable to do their job fairly, without prejudice, equally to all people.  James warns us about showing favoritism and the consequences of it (James 2:1-13).  We also need to pray for those who have and are suffering injustice.  And to simply say that all of this discord is just from the devil is to be blind to the truth.  AA teaches us that until a man stops denying his problem he can never overcome it.  The same is true for a nation.  We will never heal, or even begin healing until we are willing to accept the reality of the problem.  Then we need to do what Solomon led Israel to do – repent and pray.  Not everything is bad; we DO have the greatest nation in the world.  But it is because we have the right to criticize and point out what needs fixin’ that makes us great.  In dictatorships there is no freedom of dissent, everyone is expecting to blindly follow and think what they are told.  That is why the freedom of speech should be and is one of our greatest freedoms.
      Pray for our nation at this time, all of it.  Pray for our leaders, all of them.  Seek to listen to and understand the views of those you differ with.  What is it they are asking for, what is it they need?  I think once you really see what they are asking for you’ll find that it is something that you yourself expect to have and receive.
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Don

   You have to go back 50 some years in American history to recall events similar to those we are seeing now and on top of that we have that little thing called a pandemic.  To hate, as many on both sides of the issues are doing, is easy.  It is human nature.  To seek to justify our view and to paint the attitudes and actions of those on the other side as misguided, unpatriotic, or just plain evil again is human nature, our nature, at its finest.  We want to highlight the sin of the other person, all the while excusing any short coming in our own behavior.  What should be the “Christian” response to all that has happened over this past week?  Righteous Anger?  Moral Outrage?  An eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth?  There is that voice in each of us that cries, “Yes and even more besides, after all they deserve it!”
   If you have been following my lessons from the Sermon on the Mount on Facebook or YouTube you may recognize the eye for an eye scripture.  Jesus references it in HIS sermon, and says that is not to be our way.  We need to turn the other cheek.  At the National Prayer Breakfast this year even President Trump acknowledged that is a tough one, but he’s working on it.  We all need to be, and no it isn’t easy.  And Jesus goes beyond just turning the other cheek, he then says we are to pray for those who hate us, to engage in acts to reach out in love to that person (read Matthew 5:38 – 48).
   So what is our response to the events of this past week?  Pray, not just for those you side with against the evil forces, pray for the evil forces.  When you look past your anger over their actions and ask yourself why they are doing this, you can then begin to pray for them and seek good for them.  Make a commitment to find a way to want to love them and to stop hating on them.  Hate never really did much good, but love covers a multitude of sins.  These are certainly hard times we are living in, but that is when Christ shines the most and now more than ever the world needs to see Christ in us.
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   Don
 

​             “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”  2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)
 
           We hear a lot today about a new normal (which doesn’t really feel normal at all).  Our lives have been turned upside down and then some.  Graduates are looking at screens instead of an auditorium filled with family and friends.  Businesses are scratching their heads trying to figure out how to bring in any kind of income.  Parents have become teachers and teachers find themselves trying to teach while parenting their own children.  Now when we see a TV show depicting a large crowd a voice insides us yells, “Move six feet apart!”  Even when things begin to get back to normal, will it be the same ol’ normal we were used too? 
 
As Christians we are actually called to a new normal.  Paul tells the Corinthian church that if we are in Christ (in other words if we claim to be a Christian) we are new creatures.  What was normal, or a part of the old life has passed away and it’s not coming back, the new is here.  In other words you can’t be a Christian and continue to live the old normal, there has to be a new normal.  Even when the virus has subsided we won’t look at life quite the same way.  Just going to a restaurant or out to a movie won’t be taken for granted.  And when we are sick with a cold or the flu we might be more mindful of how easy it is to make others sick.  And though we may be a little standoffish for a while, hugs will definitely not be thought of the same (I for one can’t wait. I’m way behind on the hugs needed for good mental health).
 
Taking on the nature and person of Jesus also means some changes.  I need to look at love and forgiveness in a different light, the light from a man hanging on a cross.  I need to find patience for and understanding in the things and people that drive me crazy.  After all Jesus did all that for me, and he is the one setting the normal for my life now (not me).
 
  Things will be different after the virus is dealt with, and not all for the bad.  Jesus wants to make me a new creature, one that is definitely better than the person he found when he saved me.  Here’s to the new normal.
 
Don
 

   Those of you on Facebook may have already seen Troy Woodard’s post that once all of this is over we may find that we need less things and appreciate more what we have.  And to that I give a hearty AMEN brother!  Times such as these are hard and uncertain but God hasn’t changed.  He’s still on his throne and still in charge.  It’s actually easy to forget that when we are so blessed.  Most of us aren’t worried about the roof over our head or the food on the table most the time, and to be honest we don’t give much thought to it either.  It is in times of uncertainty that we count our blessings and look to God to sustain us, not our pocket book.
   The apostle Paul knew this all too well.  He writes to the Christians in Philippi while sitting under house arrest in Rome, not sure whether he will live or die.  To make matters worse he even has to provide for himself while under arrest.  So Paul has seen not only the threat of his life from Caesar but just being able to feed himself and keep a roof over his head.  The church at Philippi had sent an offering to him and one reason for his letter is to say, “Thank you”.  Yet just after his thank you he gives this lesson on faith and contentment:
   “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 gives me strength.”  Philippians 4:11b-13.
   Paul’s not minimizing the situation, but he is putting it into perspective.  He didn’t say it was fun to be hungry, but his contentment didn’t depend on it.  His faith and trust were in Jesus and in him all things are possible.  Wherever you find yourself right now, out of work, afraid of getting sick, feeling alone and isolated, Christ is with you and will give you strength.  So know that you aren’t alone.  Paul also knew the power of friendship and personal connections.  Even in this time of social distancing we are here.  Call, text, or communicate however you can to the church, family, and neighbors.  Even in this time we are in this together.  Be well and be safe!
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Don