Sunday, December 22, 2002


JUST ONE FLOOR APART

This past week I went with my students on a hospital tour as part of their career education. As we were guided through the hospital, we came to the floor where cancer patients are cared for. There is the out-patient chemotherapy section and there are the rooms where patients must stay to be cared for. Then our guide pointed down the hall too some rooms where the doors where closed.
“These are our care rooms. This is where terminally ill patients come to die and where we can care for them”. My students just stood there, quiet, absorbed in their thoughts.
“Now let’s go upstairs” our guide startled us out of our revere, “everyone likes to visit this floor.”
Onto the elevator we went and up just one floor. When the doors opened, the students immediately perked up as they say where we were. We were on the floor where the babies were.
As we walked past the nursery, watching a young couple preparing to take their new daughter home, I couldn’t help but notice the contrast of just one floor. On this floor life was starting, one floor down, life was ending.
As an adopted son of God, the brother of Jesus (Galatians 4.5; John 1.12) I have no fear of death. Death no longer has any hold on me.
“Joh 5:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, He who hears My Word and believes on Him who sent Me has everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation, but has passed from death to life.”
Don’t get me wrong, I still fear the method of my passing, but not what waits on the other side.
When my time of service to my Lord on this earth is done, I will pass from this life to another. That is the promise of God to His children. My time between the floors has passed well, and then I will move on.
This is the gift of this present season. The intangible present that God has sent. One that we cannot touch, smell or see, but will have forever—the gift of Jesus on the cross for our sins.
God gave us His life so that we might live. An eternal present.
Just one floor, from life to death. Where will you be when the elevator takes down to that floor?
Just one floor.

Monday, December 16, 2002



A Charlie Brown Christmas
One of my most favorite television shows is the 1960's Christmas show, “A Charlie Brown Christmas”. Charlie, Lucy, Snoopy, Linus and the rest of the gang practice for the school play and search for a Christmas tree. A warm, funny, touching story.
If you have seen the show, remember the scene in the play where Linus quotes the Christmas story? The account about Mary and Joseph and their journey to Nazareth and the birth of Jesus.
That show was made almost forty years ago and how have times changed.
Today, you will never hear the Christmas story in a public school, rarely do you hear Christmas carols (you know the kind Handel, Bach and the rest wrote?), even Silent Night (which stopped WWI for a while) is truly silent in the halls of schools. Just today I read of a school where the only thing allowed is Happy Holidays and Season’s Greetings.
I would like to be able to figure out what went wrong. How did a Christian holiday, a Christian celebration become so stagnant, an anathema to many, almost the enemy of the state? Or is it such a big deal?
I remind you, that Jesus came to save the lost, not sell toys. Jesus came to redeem our souls, not create Santa Claus. Jesus is here to heal our wounded souls not to have us sing carols, no matter how religious they sound.
Yes, all this political correctness, separation of church and state stuff (the big myth, but that is another day), has me upset and kinda ticked off. But the big picture is that I celebrate Christ everyday. I thank my God for the saving power of Christ, that God loved me so much, he gave Himself for me.
Yes I celebrate Christmas. It is a wonderful time of the year. I enjoy all the movies, songs, cookies and lights. It is too bad the Scrooges among us don’t or are afraid to.
Merry Christmas...and thanks Charlie Brown.
The Season
Up here on the ridge top, basketball season is just starting. Most teams around our little ridge top farm have played four or five games.
It is interesting to watch the teams start their seasons. They wear tee-shirts that read “Winning attitude”, “No pain, No gain”, “A new attitude (I like that one)”.
Coaches are quoted in the paper saying either this is the year (they hope), it is a rebuilding year (not much hope), we have a young team (they are in high school, they’re all young), and my favorite, “we don’t know how we will do this year, but we will do well”, meaning they plan on winning the league, no less and probably will.
But, by the end of February, after four long months, there will be teams with winning records, teams with so-so records and teams with losing records. For most of the teams, hopes have been dashed on the cruel rocks of reality.
That is so much like life. To start life with so much hope, with the “winning attitude” then the rocks of life come along. Hope is dashed on the shoals and then...
“For he who beyond hope believed on hope”(Romans 4:18) is about Abraham. God promised him that he would be the father of all nations, and he placed his hope in God and his promise.
When all seems lost, when all seems dark, there is God and His promise.
“ And may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)
In Christ there is hope.
You may think your life is not all there, that you have lost at the game of life, but in Christ you have hope. You have God’s promise.
Now excuse, me, but I have to go to a basketball game. May the best team win, and in Christ we all win.

Thursday, December 05, 2002

Have you been called intolerant? Judgmental? A hate-monger? Anti-this, anti-that? Against whatever is popular and current? Has the political correctness police come after you? No? Maybe you will, maybe you won't, but Christians have been accused of this or worst, and this is not in come distant country far from you, but right here in the good old USA.
Just as the preacher said, long, long ago, "That which has been is that which shall be; and that which has been done is that which shall be done; and there is nothing new under the sun." (Ecc 1:9)
Today, Christians are told to be tolerant and accepting of different religions. That everyone is different (duh!) and we can't hurt their feelings. We must learn about diversity. Well....people have worshiped God or gods in different ways for a long time. True, it is important to learn to "get along" and not go across the street and slice your neighbor's head off for worshipping in a way different than you, but preaching intolerant tolerance is just not good.
Let us look at the past for a valuable lesson on why we must be very careful of accepting of other's beliefs.
In the law handed down from God to Moses is a very specific warning about worshipping a certain pagan god: " Again you shall say to the sons of Israel, Any man of the sons of Israel or of the strangers who live in Israel, that gives any of his seed to Molech, he shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones." (Lev 20:2)
Fairly intolerant of the Hebrews and their God isn't it? Well, according to historical research, worship of Molech was very bloody, and it involved the most innocents of all the children." What went on? An idol of this god was built and then heated till it glowed red hot then the children where laid on the outstretched, metal arms of the idol and as they tried to get off the hot arms they rolled off into the flames below. Mothers where to stand so that when you looked at them, this was a cheerful sacrifice. Flutes and drums were playing so you couldn't hear the screams... I don't know about you, but I would be very offended by this religion.
And, yet, in spite of the horrific worship pattern of this religion, the Hebrews, despite warning after warning, fell into just a worship pattern; "And they built the high places of Baal, in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech; which I did not command them, nor did it come into My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin." ( Jer 32:35)
Somewhere, the people started to accept this type of worship. The horrors of it all did not deter them.
And I suspect it started with the name calling, "what? how can you call this wrong?" "Are you judgmental?" "You are a hateful person to say that!" All arguments to persuade the people that this was acceptable form of worship evidently were successful, except for the children. . .
Until next time on my front porch.