Introducing a New Blog!

Hey everyone! I just wanted to let you know about a new blogging adventure I have started. I call it "Growing Young" and it's just the day-to-day observations and interests of mine. You can find it here:

http://jcnewton.blogspot.com

Every now and then I'll post something to both blogs but for the most part I'll be posting to Growing Young more than this one. Be sure to check it out!

Be God's!

John Newton

What Brings Peace?

"When He approached [Jerusalem], He saw the city and wept over it, saying, 'If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes.'" (Luke 19:41-42)

What brings peace?

We're all looking for a little peace in our lives -- from the mighty to the meek. We put up fences to make peace with the neighbors. We trim our lawns for peace with our HOA. We obey our bosses in order to have peace at work. And we look for the path of least resistance at home so we have pace within our own marriages and our own walls.

But is peace guaranteed?

When Jesus approached Jerusalem on the foal of a donkey, he saw the city walls, the temple, and the crowds gathered to welcome him as messiah and king. But his disposition was not one of joy and pride. It was sorrow. After all, he was a "man of sorrows" (Isa. 53). What troubled him was that the people who lived in the city didn't know what brought true peace to their lives. And in five days they would reject the peace that Jesus brought into Jerusalem's walls. They were too busy looking for peace elsewhere. Perhaps many saw peace at the end of a sword. Maybe others saw peace as obedience to the scribes and Pharisees.

But the only lasting peace is found in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Our Lord told his disciples in the upper room, "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful (John 14:27)." Why? As he would explain over the next few chapters, peace comes in the knowledge that Jesus has overcome this world and its systems of war. He has overcome temptation and in a few days he would overcome death. And through our relationship with him, we, too, can overcome this world and have peace. Not in a militant way, mind you, but a spiritual way. We need not fear this world.

But the inhabitants of Jerusalem weren't looking to Jesus for peace. So he wept for them. And I weep for my neighbors who strive and struggle for peace in their hearts but fail to find it because they have not turned to the Prince of Peace. It truly is sad.

What Is Truth?

18:33 Therefore Pilate entered again into the Praetorium, and summoned Jesus and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Are you saying this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about Me?” 35 Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered You to me; what have You done?” 36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.” 37 Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say [correctly] that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” 38 Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?”

I love this small passage of John's Gospel for many reasons. In these six verses, John records a conversation between Jesus and the Roman governor Pilate, behind closed doors, early in the Good Friday morning. The exchange is fascinating to me because Pilate was a pagan who had been, essentially, "sentenced" to be governor of a volatile and highly religious province on the eastern edge of the Roman Empire. He didn't care one lick about the Jewish people or their religion. And he certainly didn't care one lick about their "anointed one" or messiah. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were just Hebrew names Pilate heard uttered every now and then by his subjects.

Yet, here standing before him was a meek Jewish man, bloodied and bruised by beatings administered by his own people. Their exchange is strange, at best. Yet its depth is almost unparalleled in the Gospels.

First of all, we have yet another declaration by Jesus that he is the Son of David, the King of the Israel. This is no small thing. It is a claim to the highest office in the land — and to the many prophecies of Scripture concerning the messiah. Pilate, the governor, had standing before him the so-called King of the Jews and the Hope of Israel. He is a king whose kingdom is "not of this world." In other words, the kingdom of heaven is not a civil government or system of laws. It is comprised not of race or gender or language. It is a kingdom in the hearts of people who have believed the King and committed their lives to follow Him.

Second, those people have a common bond that goes beyond race or government. They follow the Truth, as given by the Truth giver. "For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth," Jesus told Pilate. "Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice." Indeed, the people of the kingdom are those who hear the truth, as Jesus spoke it, and follow that truth. This statement led Pilate to a very perplexing question: What is truth? Can you see it, smell it, touch it or taste it? Is it always obvious or is it always difficult to find? And when it is revealed, will it always win any argument or solve any problem?

It's a great question — on the surface. What's funny is that Jesus just told Pilate what truth was. Truth is the words of Jesus Christ. It is for the reason of revealing truth that Jesus took on flesh and bone. Revealing the truth about the Father. Revealing the truth about mankind's need for salvation. Revealing the truth about God's plan for salvation. One part of which involved this whole conversation between Jesus and Pilate!

What is truth? Start with Matthew 1:1 and start reading. In the following pages you will find the voice of truth.

Be God's.

Growing Young

Had a thought on my drive home from Megan's apartment tonight. We often talk about our spiritual life in terms of age, like "growing up" and "mature" to describe a positive direction and "infant" and "babes" to talk about the negative path. And those are all fine and dandy and biblical. But perhaps developing a better spiritual life not only helps us "grow up" but also helps us "grow young." Growing young is the recapturing of innocence lost; the losing of reason and logic for the gaining of childlike faith. When Jesus was asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" in Matthew 18, he pointed not the old and wise but to children. Why? Because children still retain an element of innocence in their lives. They can still believe without having to hear a reasonable explanation first. They see Jesus and go running straight to Him.

Rich Mullins was one of my biggest influences as a young adult. The singer-songwriter-poet-philosopher had a knack for turning the complex truths of faith and life into simple declarations of everyday truth. He wrote a song back in 1992 about this concept of growing young. Of recapturing what had been lost in his life as he had "seen silver turn to dross" and "have known so many secrets I wish now I did not know."

I don't know about you, but I long for that innocence. I long to forget things I've learned in life, things that have caused me pain and not joy. Even though I know I can learn things from the pain and hurt, I wonder what it would be like to not have had those experiences. What it would be like to be young again. I wish I could remove images and sounds, feelings and thoughts, anything that had taken my innocence away bit by bit, chunk by chunk. But it's hard. However, the longer I walk by the Spirit, the easier I find it is to remove those stains on my life. The longer I walk by the Spirit the younger I grow. And, maybe, if I walk long enough, I can be young again.

Here's Rich's song.

GROWING YOUNG

I've gone so far from my home
Seen the world and I have known
So many secrets I wish now I did not know
'Cause they have crept into my heart
They have left it cold and dark
And bleeding, bleeding and falling apart

And everybody used to tell me big boys don't cry Well I've been around enough to know that was the lie That held back the tears in the eyes of a thousand prodigal sons Well, we are children no more, we have sinned and grown old And our Father still waits and He watched down the road To see the crying boys come running back to His arms And be growing young.

I've seen silver turn to dross
Seen the very best there ever was
And I tell you, it ain't worth what it costs
And I remember my father's house
What I wouldn't give right now
Just to see him and hear him tell me that he loves me so much

And when I thought that I was all alone
It was your voice I heard calling me back home
And I wonder now, Lord, what it was that made me wait so long
And what kept you waiting for me all that time
Was your love stronger than my foolish pride
Will you take me back? Take me back and let me be your child?

Cause I've been broken now, I've been saved
I've learned how to cry and I've learned how to pray
And I'm learning, learning even I can be changed

1992, Rich Mullins & Beaker, from the album, "The World as Best I Remember It, Vol. 2"

When Popular Culture Wins

Popular culture has claimed yet another Protestant church victim. This time, it is the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) that has caved to social pressure to accept openly homosexual individuals as pastors and and other church leaders. I ran across this article the other day from Sam Hodges of the Dallas Morning News. Here's an excerpt:

"North Texas Presbyterians vote to ease rules on gay clergy"

In a break from the past, North Texas clergy and lay leaders of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have voted to ease the way for ordination of openly
gay pastors, deacons and elders.

Clergy and lay leaders of Grace Presbytery – the regional body covering 177 churches in North Texas and other parts of the state – voted Saturday to
remove constitutional language requiring that ordained officers maintain “fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or
chastity in singleness.”

The vote was 203-182 in favor of the change, with six abstensions, said Rob Allen, spokesman for Grace Presbytery.

How and why a church denomination with the history and tradition of the Presbyterian church would cave in to social pressure and spit on the pages of Holy Scripture is beyond me. God's word makes it clear that homosexuality is not only a sin, it is an abomination in God's sight that comes from a depraved heart. Can homosexuals become believers? Certainly. Can they come to church? Many do. But should they lead the church? As Paul said, "May it never be!" But it is. At least it is in some denominations.

What has happened to the Presbyterian Church (USA) is a classic case of the twisted system of this world invading and influencing the thinking of believers. The Church is called to engage our popular culture. This is certain. A read of Jesus' "High Priestly" prayer in John 17 makes it clear that the Church has been left in this world to draw the lost towards Christ. But while we're in this world, we are susceptible to the world's temptations and philosophies. We must be on guard to make sure that the world does not influence our own beliefs and convictions and -- maybe even worse -- twist the way we interpret God's word.

Stand for truth! Even when society tells you otherwise.

Be God's!

About Performances

"I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel — which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ." -- Apostle Paul to the Galatian churches

It never ceases to amaze me how the kingdom of God is completely upside down (or is it right-side up?)compared to the kingdom of this world. After all, blessed are the meek and oppressed. Cursed are the proud and mighty. And then there is this: salvation and good standing before God is not swayed by anything we do. What was that? Performance doesn't matter? What about all those "do's" and "don'ts"? Well, they don't affect how God sees you. He knows that you and I can't cut it as holy people. We do not have that ability inherent within ourselves. There are none righteous, King David crooned a long time ago.

In the kingdom of this world we judge each other based on what we do, not who we are. If a man has great wealth and gives a lot to charity, we consider that man to be blessed. "He must be doing things right!" we think. Never mind the six marriages, the live-in girlfriend, the lives he has trampled on his way to the top. Nope. We don't judge based on his character. We judge based on the external things.

But in the kingdom of heaven, the King calls us to accept one another based on who we are — despite what we do. We will all mess up and fall. It's inevitable. But we are children of the King — adopted sons and daughters of God the Father — who are deeply flawed but dearly loved. And because we are sons and daughters, we should acceot one another, even if we stumble and fall. This is the message of grace. That the unacceptable would be accepted; the dead resurrected; and the unlovable found to be lovely. Permanently.

It's not based on performance. It's all about God's perfect grace. As the Chris Tomlin song, "How Can I Keep From Singing?" states, "I am loved by the King; and it makes my heart want to sing!"

Be God's!

Sweet Dreams

Here's another poetic offering, compiled and recreated over the past few years. It's my wish for a young boy, just starting to discover the world of make-believe. As I posted earlier, I believe that dreams are fuel for the engine that drives the hearts of men. They take us beyond the here and now -- beyond the reality we see around us -- and lead us someplace better, someplace holier, and, perhaps, someplace with greater adventure.


SWEET DREAMS

Standing on the beach, I watch the tide roll out
Sending the ships out to sea
And I wonder, young friend, how you're doing right now
Chasing your heart's deepest dream

'Cause right here on the shore, it is such a bore
I'd rather be out on the sea
Sailing away to some far away land
There's adventure just waiting for me!

So drift off away to a far away land
of paupers and prophets and kings
May God ever hold you in the palm of His hand
and fill your young mind with sweet dreams

In every boy's mind, there's a treasure to find
Of stories too good to believe
Of heroes and giants, villains and kings
Who play out a breathtaking scene

Maybe there are pirates! Maybe a storm!
Maybe a princess in need!
I'm never gonna know, if I never go
And follow my heart's deepest dream

So drift off away to a far away land
of paupers and prophets and kings
May God ever hold you in the palm of His hand
and fill your young mind with sweet dreams

Poem: Dreams

Just the other day I was thinking about the role that dreaming (dreams, desires, fantasies) play in the lives of men. I thought about how I am personally affected by the ambitions and dreams I have for my own life, or my family, or my church. Dreams can often carry a person away from reality and become a distraction when real problems need real attention. But without dreams, we never will go anywhere in our lives. We never will test our boundaries or set our goals higher than where we already are. Dreams keep a person going in the midst of an unsettling reality, because that person knows that things may get better in the future. And maybe they'll become more than better -- they'll become extraordinary. With these things in mind, I wrote the following poem over two lunches at Wendy's, my favorite lunchtime "think tank."


DREAMS

Close your eyes and dream with me
Of cotton sands and a turquoise sea
Where palm tress frame a place of rest

And I'm with you and you with me
Our ears are filled with the musical sea
As the sun shines down we are blest

And we dream away...

I did not think we'd have gone this far
When the waves were high and the valley dark
And emotions clouded everything we'd see

Yet we hoped that this would not be the end
For our love is constant more than the wind
And we hoped that better things were yet to be

So we dream away...

Some say dreams are but lofty notions
Meant only to distract and deceive
But I say dreams are fuel for the engine
In the heart of a man; to keep him going
When a valley is all that he can see

He's got to dream away....

The Heart That's Right

In studying the lives of King Saul and King David, there is a clear distinction between the hearts of the two men. Saul was a mighty warrior, a man of great stature and a commanding presence. He looked like a king. And when he was on top of his game, there was none better than Saul. David, by contrast, was the runt of the litter. The youngest of Jesse's sons, David was counted on to keep the sheep but little else. He was handsome in appearance but what attracted people to him wasn't his good looks. It was his heart. After all, man looks on the outside, the prophet Samuel declared, but God looks on the heart (1 Sam 16:31).

Saul's heart sought the Lord early in his kingship. He did the right things and said the right words. And the Lord blessed him with victory after victory. But on a hilltop in western Judah Saul's heart turned. Instead of waiting one more day for Samuel to arrive for a sacrifice, Saul did the deed himself and brought the wrath of God upon him. Samuel admonished the king, "Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the LORD?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams." The prophet then went to anoint the shepherd boy of Bethlehem as king.

David sought the Lord early and often in his life. From the Valley of Elah, where he defeated the giant Goliath, to the caves of the Judean Wilderness, David sought the will of God and obeyed it. As king, David had a few hiccups but overall remained a man after God's own heart. In fact, David knew of the delicate yet important nature of having a right heart. After his sin with Bathsheeba, the king pinned the words of Psalm 51, in which he cries out, "For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise."

David understood that what we do is not as important as why we do it. A right heart is one that seeks to obey the Lord and act in accordance with the Lord's will. Offering our time and energy must have as its motivator a heart seeking to obey the Lord. If we are just getting busy for busyness sake we have missed the boat. For the Lord delights in an obedient heart. A heart like David's. Not Saul's.

Be God's!

Hide and Seek

There's just something thrilling about a chase. Great movie scripts are written about chases, like Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, Bonnie & Clyde, or The Fugitive. That last one best fits the chase I got swept up in this afternoon: the chase between King Saul and David, son of Jesse. Our pastor, Steve, is beginning a sermon series on the Life of David next Sunday and as the communications/promotions guy at the church, I have been swept away by the creative process. Just today I played around with the idea of making an old-fashioned newspaper frontpage chronicling the David-Saul chase. "Fugitive Strikes Again!" the big, bold headline read. The story would come from 1 Samuel 26, in which Saul receives a tip about the whereabouts of his nemesis David. The king himself marches 3,ooo men into the wilderness to find the young fugitive only to come home humiliated. You see, David and company snuck into the king;s camp at night, stole his spear and water jug, then woke him up to wave it in his face. Or so I read it. "Why are you chasing me?!" David exclaims. It's a great question. He had done nothing wrong yet was hunted down by a jealous king. Saul shakes the sleep out of his eyes and replies in humility, "I'm so sorry, my son. You were right, I was wrong. You have spared my life. I will spare yours." Of course, history records that Saul continued his pursuit of young David and many more adventures awaited them. All of them thrilling. All of them suspenseful. All of them adding up to the greatest chase of them all.

Christmas ... After the Storm

As I sit here at my computer at 1:37am on Friday, January 2, 2009, I think it has finally dawned on me that Christmas is over. And I'm sad. Christmas is my favorite holiday and the festivity surrounding it always lifts my spirits. So in honor of the holiday that just passed, I offer up my favorite things from the 2008 Christmas season.

-- Christmas lights. They always entertain me, though their purpose has been long lost.
-- Garland. I wish we all would be kinder to garland and leave it up year-round. Ribbons, too.
-- Opening Christmas gifts at home. There is little better than being with family when it is time to celebrate.
-- Saying "Merry Christmas" to as many people as possible. None of this "Happy Holidays" stuff!
-- Vacation Days. I have a bad habit of not taking time off the first 11 months of the year. So it all falls during the holidays. And, man, did I ever need it.

Turning 32...

Playing "Grandpa" for a Christmas play, 2004.

Not sure what to think of 32. I hardly got to know 31. Come to think of it, whatever happened to 30?

Isn't it funny how time changes as time progresses? Oh, I'm sure some nuclear physicist out there would set me in my logical place over that last sentence, but many times what is true of our experience doesn't match what logic and math tells us. I know that time doesn't change. But our perception of it sure does. One day we're young and we feel that way. Sooner than we want, we feel old. Sometimes those two feelings are a matter of days apart. Sometimes hours.

One truth about life is that every person is getting older and more frail. Even someone who is 12 years old. Our bodies gradually disintegrate until they can handle time no more and they lay down for a final rest. Not so with our souls, for sure, but definitely true of our bodies. And each birthday is a reminder of that frailty. And a reminder to me that I need to be focusing more and more on the spirit and not neglecting the spirit in favor of the flesh. Saint Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians that even though our flesh may be getting weaker and weaker, our inner man -- our spirit -- is being renewed day by day through the power of God's Spirit. So while we live in ever decaying bodies, our hearts can be getting stronger and stronger if we let God's Spirit work within us to mold us and shape us into the image of the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

That's what I'm thinking on this day, when I turned 32.

Four Dollar Grace

Megan and I went to a hockey game tonight and, even though we had a wonderful time, we nearly didn't make it back home because we both made an important omission. We didn't have any cash. Not even a dime (though we did see one flipping on the bottom of an escalator). It's easy to think that in the modern society cash is gradually becoming obsolete. I mean, with credit and debit cards and all, who needs the green stuff? We did. Tonight. You see, we took the local transit train to the sports arena and should have known trouble was brewing when the ticket dispensers could not read our credit cards (nor anyone else's). A transit worker told us to go ahead and get on board and so we did.

Grace number one.

When we arrived at the train station to ride back, the ticket dispensers there didn't even take credit cards. Just cash. That's right. JUST cash. We hurried around to find an ATM and I withdrew $40 in two 20's. Thinking our cash problem was solved, we arrived back at the dispensers to find that they didn't take 20's. Our fare was $3. Both freezing in the cold wind, we were frustrated and quite unhappy! So Megan did something impusive: she asked a few people waiting for a different train if they had change for a 20. One man looked at us and said he had some ones. We walked closer with the 20 and he reached into his wallet. Four ones. And some 20's. Nothing else. Drats! Then the man did something remarkable. He GAVE us the four ones. Just gave them to us.

Grace number two.

We were the foolish ones by not taking cash along. We didn't deserve four dollars. But he gave them anyway. We put three of them in the machine. Two one-way tickets came out. I retruned the dollar to the gentleman and said, "God bless you" to him as Megan and I rushed to board the train. I never heard the man's name. But if you, sir, somehow stumble across this humble blog: "Thank you." You blessed our lives tonight and showed us the grace of God through your simple sacrifice. We are in your debt.

Celebrating Jolly Ole Saint Nick

Before there was a "Night Before Christmas" or paintings by Courier and Ives, there was Nicholas, a humble Christian man from Modern Day Turkey. Yesterday, Dec. 6, was the Feast Day of Nicholas, known in the modern day as St. Nick, but his true legend has been long lost through the centuries. You see, this man we Americans call "Santa Claus" did not want the praise we have heaped upon him. No, jolly ole St. Nick was actually a young pastor who lived in the AD 300s and did his works of mercy under the cover of secrecy and night. Here's a column I wrote a number of years ago for my newspaper after researching the legends of Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, that I hope shows you why I consider St. Nicholas to be my "patron saint" (if I'm allowed to have one!).

----------------------------------------------
December 22, 2002
The Grapevine Sun

Christmas all started with a small sack of gold.
No, really – a small sack of gold.

But before you brand this theologian a heretic, please allow me to explain.
The true “Christmas” happened when God came down to become man, being born one cool winter’s night over 2,000 years ago.

But the “Christmas” I am referring to is the secular one, which actually also has religious roots.
The sack of gold coins was either thrown through the window, or dropped down the chimney, of the home of a destitute family in Myra, Turkey, around the year 300. The culprit was a mystery.
The family was in a desperate situation. A father, a nobleman with three daughters, found his financial situation growing worse by the day. His business had failed and he and his daughters had little to live on.

And when his oldest daughter announced that she wanted to get married, the father’s heart sank because he had no money for the customary bridal dowry. One of her younger sisters than announced that she would sell herself into slavery to provide the money, but, of course, no one in town wanted to see that happen.

News of the predicament came to a concerned gentleman one day and he decided to do something about it.

Long into the night, the father heard a “thud” out in his living room. Groggy as any person would be early in the early morning hours, he looked in the room to see a small sack lying on the floor.
Upon further investigation, he found gold inside and started to panic. Who threw this in his house? And whose gold is this?

He quickly ran to the door and threw it open, looking outside for the culprit. But there was no one there. And as any one of us would do, he started rejoicing and kept the money, paying off his debts and affording his oldest daughter a nice dowry.

About a year later, his second daughter announced that she wanted to be married. But the gold was long gone and the poor father was once again broke.

He awoke one morning to find another sack of gold lying on his living room floor. The stranger had struck again! There was no note with the gold, and no one in town knew who might have done such a selfless deed.

The identity of the gold giver was safely anonymous, which was to his preference.
Some time later the youngest daughter announced her marriage wishes to her poor father, and the father suspected that another gift would soon be coming. So he set up a string-and-bells perimeter alarm to let him know if the kind stranger returned.

Late one night, the father awoke to the sound of the bells. He rushed into his living room to see another sack on the floor, and then dashed to the door to see if he could catch the benevolent bandit as he left the scene.

The father looked outside and saw a man hurrying away from the house. He ran after him and finally caught up to the man, recognizing a familiar face.

The gift-giver was Nicholas, the young archbishop of the church in Myra.
“Why did you give us the gold?” the father asked.
“Because you needed it,” Nicholas answered.
“But why didn’t you let us know who you were?” the father asked again.
“Because it’s good to give and have only God know about it,” came the reply.

Even though Nicholas begged the father not to tell anyone about his good deeds, the father couldn’t keep silent and told as many people in the town as possible. Pretty soon, Bishop Nicholas became associated with many other anonymous acts of kindness that had gone on in the town over the previous few years.

He did it all without expecting something in return. He did it out of obedience, for his Lord Jesus had said 270 years earlier, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

As the leader of the local church, he felt responsible for meeting the needs of his church members, and dedicated his wealth to doing so. According to some reports, he would at times disguise himself and secretly visit the homes of the most needy under the cloak of darkness. He delivered food, clothing and money.

And the recipients had no idea where the blessings came from. They just knew that the Lord had answered their prayers and met their needs.

After a lifetime of service, Nicholas died on Dec. 6, 342.

But his charitable ways did not end then. His way of anonymous giving was carried on by the local townsfolk, who did it all in the name of Saint Nicholas.

Eventually, the late bishop’s legend spread across Europe. Saint Nicholas became “Saint Nicklaus” in Holland and then “Sinter Klaus” in Germany. In America, it was changed once again to “Santa Claus.”

And the tradition of giving anonymous gifts has continued with the name. As this tradition continues Wednesday morning, and many of you participate in the exchanging of gifts, remember Saint Nicholas, who gave without return and found the highest joy in doing so.

Let that be your Christmas goal – to not let the gifts you receive rule your holiday attitude. Enjoy the blessings of giving.

Quotes of the Past Year

These were collected over the past year from my church's youth pastor, Brent McKinney, who has a knack for summarizing spiritual truths in catchy, bite-sized sentences. Here are a few I ran across today while clearing out some old papers on my desk.

"We need to follow the Christ who IS rather than the Christ we want." Said in response to Ephesians 4:20-24, which says: "You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."

"You've got to talk about the darkness before you can talk about the light." Said in response to 2 Corinthians 4:3-6, which says, "And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness,"made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ."

Brent McKinney, quote machine

I'm Thinking...

... that some people have no concept of safety, either for themselves or for others they are around. On Friday I saw a lady in a car behind me with a Starbucks coffee cup in one head, a cigarette in between her clenched fingers and a cell phone glued to her right ear, held by her other hand. She had no hands on the wheel. Thankfully, she was stopped on a busy road, waiting just like me for a car ahead to turn left.

... that even animals have a concept of growth and learning. Yesterday Megan and I went to the Fort Worth Zoo on another photography trip and we had a blast watching the tiger cubs and the lion cubs interact with each other. In the case of the Malaysian tigers, the mother was playing with her three cubs and appeared to be teaching them the basics of survival. She taught them how to fight, how to defend themselves, how to climb trees, how to be careful around rocky ledges, etc. It was really cool to watch.

... that the Law of Moses was like a parent raising a child. It had great value for teaching the child righteous living and restraining their independent spirit until they could control it, but once the child became an adult and left home, the laws have no more power. The child is no longer under law. Now they have freedom. And they can choose to live out the right things they learned under their parents' laws or they can run the other way. The choice is theirs.

Of Stillness & Simplicity

We live in such a fast-paced world that many times we get burned out by our life's speed. It seems that you and I are always on the run and we rarely have time to breathe. How can we possibly slow down when culture pushes us faster? What do we have to do to get ourselves a little slice of stillness & simplicity? The following is a devotional entry I wrote in March of 2007. I recently ran across it in a box of papers and wanted to share it with you. It is based on Psalm 4. I hope it blesses your life as much as it has recently blessed mine.

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"Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer. How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods? Selah. Know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself; the LORD will hear when I call to him. In your anger do not sin; Meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah." (Psalm 4:1-4)

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It's easy to get caught up in the busyness of life. We seem to keep ourselves occupied with activities all day and many nights, so much so that I think we tend to lose communication with our God, who often speaks in stillness and simplicity. I think of Elijah, who ran to Mt. Sinai after his great victory on Mount Carmel scared for his life because a crazy queen wanted him dead. On that holy mountain God showed His glory first in a strong wind, then an earthquake, and then a massive fire. But God's voice was not in any of those impressive displays. No, it was in a gentle breeze that the Lord whispered to Elijah. In stillness and simplicity.

Our Lord often withdrew from the multitudes, and even from His disciples, in order to find some stillness and simplicity (see Matt 14:23; 26:36; Mark 6:46). He knew that there was a need for us to withdraw from our busyness and calm our hearts and minds. It's a lesson that we all could benefit from in this day and age.

Psalm 4 is an example of one man's plea for stillness and simplicity. King David is recorded crying out his distressed heart before the Lord, begging for an answer to his worry. He is being hounded by various tribulations, men who seek to bring him down -- deceptive men who worship another god. David's mind was worried and his heart was anything but still. As a result, he had trouble hearing the voice of God, though he knew he could hear Him if he was to still his heart. God listens to the righteous. But will He respond? David believes that God will answer him. But before he hears God, David prescribes several action steps for himself.

First, do not get angry with God, which is sin. Be mad at unrighteousness but let your anger stay there. Don't direct it anywhere else. Second, meditate quietly upon your bed. David says to meditate "in your heart." When you are troubled, pray to God just as David prayed. Finally, he says the most important thing to himself -- be still. Literally, "to rest in silence." We live in such a busy age that the last thing we need to do when distressed is distract ourselves. This only prolongs the problem. We don't need to start doing more things, getting busier and busier. We need to be still and know that He is God. We need to drop what we're doing and turn to Him in our distress. And in doing so I think we'll learn the great value of stillness and simplicity.

Be God's.

Quote of the Day

"What is your primary concern? Is it the social and political conditions in which you find yourself, or is it your relationship to God and eternity? If you are obsessed by your present conditions; if you become agitated, passionate and bitter about them, and simply condemn people on one side or the other, you are already outside the New Testament position. The Christian's one burning concern is his relationship to God and to heaven and to eternity, and because that is so he looks upon all other matters as secondary. He looks at them coolly and quietly, realizing that his first business is to be related as a Christian to all that life involves. He is different from men who are not Christians. It is only when his spirit is thus right that he can begin to consider whether as a citizen living in the world he should be trying to change or improve or maintain this or that—whatever his point of view may happen to be. But the final and the vital concern is always this, "My Master is in heaven"; whether I am servant or master, whether I am employee or employer, am I submitting myself to the Lord and living to His glory?"

—D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

God Over Governors & Governments

I've heard several Christians say in disgust and distress today, "What should we do now that Barack Obama is president-elect? What does this mean for America?" Here is a biblical reminder of what we should do, taken from Romans 13, and written when evil emperor Nero was on the throne. The truth is never easy to swallow. I know. But we are called to be men and women of truth.

1 Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.

2 Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. 3 For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; 4 for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.

5 Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience' sake. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. 7 Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor."

Just to remind you: Nero was the instrument of God, selected by Him, and the bearer of a sword of justice. This is the same Nero who used Christians as human torches to light his streets. Did he use justice wisely? Not always. But was he still established by God? Yes. Remember when Jesus was talking to Pilate before his trial? Our Lord said to the oft-cruel governor, "You would have no authority if it were not given to you from above." If Nero and Pilate could be used by God, why not Barack Obama, who may be a Christian like us?

The truth is the truth. And you and I need to be defenders of the truth. We need to stand up for truth. So pray for President-Elect Obama. Respect his position. Obey him. And honor God in the process. Even if you disagree with his policies.

Be God's!

Election Day

Well, it's election day here in the United States, and Americans are heading to the polls (unless they have already been there) to elect a new president, vice president, and various senators and representatives. Some states are electing new governors. Every four years there is a peaceful change in leadership in this nation, something that few others can claim. In most places, leadership changes at the end of a gun or when a government collapses. In some places, only a major death can bring about leadership change. Some places never seem to change...

The USA is a remarkable place for many reasons and has been blessed by God beyond measure, no doubt. Every time there is an election day, I'm always amazed at how two years of bickering and hard campaigning can end with civility and well wishes. I remember when in 2000 the White House not only changed occupants but also parties. The outgoing president and first lady did their best to help the new first couple transition into the House and the job. It still strikes me as remarkable. And no matter whether John McCain or Barack Obama win the White House, there will be another peaceful transition of power. No guns. No tanks. No genocide. No mass resignations of the ministry. Just a handshake and a smile.

We may be first of all citizens of heaven, but there is something still very remarkable about being residents of earth.