when the CREATOR became His CREATION

Well we are just a few days away from December. So the Christmas season is officially upon us. That time of year where we here the same songs that we’ve heard for our entire lives, and we kinda like it. We put up with crowds and malls to show that we care about those closest to us. We adorn our homes with lights and place trees in our living rooms with the expectation that they’ll be dead in just a few weeks. We often return to church and actually, return to our roots. It’s time for coming home. It’s time for comfort. It’s time for quiet. It’s time to remember that one day, a couple thousand of years ago, the CREATOR became His CREATION. That’s what we’ll be looking at over the next four Sundays and on Christmas Eve. We’ll look at the predictions surround Jesus’ birth, and the birth of his cousin, John the Baptist who would prepare the way for Jesus. We’ll investigate the feelings of anticipation that Elizabeth and Mary felt about their sons, and the impact they would have on the world. Then, of course, we’ll examine the arrival of our God, in flesh, a baby. Finally, on Christmas Eve we will better understand His first presentation at the temple and the proclamations that were made over His life.  It’s gonna be a beautiful time that we can share together.
We will experience reunion.
We will live out renewal.
And we will share redemption.

Praise God, my protector!

This morning started out like most others. Up at 4:50 am, shower, shave, dress, the usual. At 5:25 am, I stepped into the garage, hit the opener, and headed toward my truck. Suddenly, 5 feet from the garage door, I froze in my tracks. Facing me, hackles up, was a huge pit bull. It took a second, but I recognized the dog as belonging across the street. That did not, however, put my mind at ease, as I did not know the people across the street or their dog.  I did know that the dog had been there as a pup, so it was less than a year old, and the house was occupied by two or three young men. None of that information was helpful at the moment.

The dog moved slowly forward. Now it was only 4 feet away. Options were going through my mind at a whirlwind pace.  Run! Where would I go? The only option was back towards the door of the house.  I would never make it.  Challenge the dog? Somehow I knew that was not a wise idea.  I was making direct eye contact with this dog – something I knew I was not supposed to do.  However, now the dog was 3 feet away, and I was not about to look anywhere else. I was considering hitting the panic button on my truck’s key fob when the dog started wagging its tail and dropped the bristled fur on its back. I decided to talk to the dog.

“Hi, pup! What are you doing out here?” I said, or something like that.  The dog jump up at me, but playfully. I honestly tell you that for a split second, when that dog jumped, I wondered how badly I was going to me maimed. When I saw that the dog was only as startled as I was at our chance encounter, I was so relieved that I do not have the words to express it.

Now what? I walked across the street with this still very frightening pit bull at my side, jumping playfully at my hand every two steps.  I knocked on the door.  Nothing.  I knocked louder.  No response. The dog jumped on me again! This time, in a playful but aggressive manner, almost like it was saying “You play with me NOW!”  I pet the dog, trying to calm it down. It was wearing two collars, a fabric one – like my dogs wear, but much bigger – and a choke chain.  Remember the rule about collars on dogs? That you should be able to get two fingers easily beneath the collar or it was too small? This choke chain was tight.  No room for a pencil. I banged on that door hard and long!  Still nothing. I looked around. The yard, the street, everywhere was strewn with trash.  Today (Tuesday) is trash day in our neighborhood, and Fido had been feasting, probably on turkey carcasses.

I had been praying this whole time, by the way.  First, praying for deliverance.  Then, praying for guidance.  Whatever I did, I wanted God calling the shots. Now, as I continued to pray, I walked to the side of the house, and the gate was unlocked. I opened it, and the dog, which never left my side, went in. I slammed that gate fast! The dog, once it realized it had been tricked, began lunging at the gate. It was like a scene from Jurassic Park! I prayed that the gate would hold.

As I headed home, I looked towards my home, and towards my neighbor’s house.   What could have happened if Gina had encountered the dog instead of me? What if my neighbor’s 2 ½ year old daughter had? 

Tonight, when I get home, I am going to have a chat with my neighbors across the street.  I am going to tell them the events of this morning.  I am going to tell them that I was very happy to have been able to put the dog back in their yard.  I am going to tell them that the dog’s collar is too small. I am going to ask them for their phone number so I can reach them if the dog gets out again. I am going to tell them that I believe God was in charge of the whole situation.  I will pray between now and then that God give me the wisdom, the words, and the compassion to deal with this as He would have me deal with it.  I am also thanking and praising God for His hand on me this morning.

- Cliff

Is the Church Upside Down?

Let me preface this as pure speculation.  This is meant to be fodder for discussion, not fact.  I would love nothing better than to have someone show me the error in my thought process here. – Cliff 

It seems to me that in the original Church, the act of “going to church” was quite different than it is today.  In the original church, believers got together for the purpose of fellowship, edification, education, and preparation.  The Church’s responsibility was to equip the body to carry out their individual responsibilities.  And those responsibilities include reading the word of God, sharing the Gospel, worshiping God, and moving toward sanctification.  I do not claim either list, the responsibilities of the church nor the responsibilities of the believer, to be complete.  They are intended to be characteristic.   

It seems to me that the Great Commission is a command given to individuals, not organizations.  We, the members of the body, are to make disciples of all nations (Matt 28:19). We are not simply to find unsaved persons and bring them to church, and expect our pastors – through great persuasive argument – to guide them to Jesus.  That is unfair to the church, unfair to the pastor, and it is shrugging off our responsibility. It also creates, I believe, the real danger that someone would become saved to the particular style, belief system, or charisma of a great teacher.  If, we should suppose, that great teacher stumbles, what is to become of the new believer?   

Now, in the church we read about that existed in the first century, the members of the church, filled with the Holy Spirit, living as unto the Lord, shone like a light to the unbelieving world. As they believed, their lives changed.  These changed lives were a witness to the power and glory of our Lord.  People were curious, they asked these new believers what caused this change? The new believer, as one who had found the cure for cancer, shared the source of their faith.  They carried out the Great Commission. 

This is what I think is happening:

Churches are getting big.  People tend to measure success by size these days.  Big churches generate big money. Big money funds great programs. Great programs attract more members. More members mean more tithe.  Suddenly church finds itself in the same scenario as business: Grow or die. 

I think that pastors know that the Great Commission was given to the individual, not to the church corporate. Somewhere along the line, a few charismatic pastors (and I am using charismatic in the secular sense here) were having great success in bringing non-believers to the Lord. They knew that their job was to teach to the saved, and preach to the unsaved.  They knew that God is responsible for the increase. But somehow, some way, they convinced themselves that they were better at evangelism than the congregation was.  So, like a lot of entrepreneurial types, they took over and just did it themselves.  Pretty soon, they had some pretty big congregations.  They had some serious funds to create new programs.  Everything was coming together nicely.  They told their flocks, “Don’t worry about evangelism; just invite them to church.  We’ll take it from there.”    

Pretty soon, other pastors took notice.  They went to visit, to see what was happening at the big church.  Soon, lots of churches were adopting the methods of the big, successful churches.  

There is potential for a real problem here, I believe.  The big church is getting a major portion of its increase from smaller churches. The increase of total Christians is relatively small.  Percentage wise, the Body is shrinking.  Moreover, because the big church is focused on converting non-believers, the new believer eventually gets less and less out of the services they are attending. Accountability in a large church is significantly self-imposed, so a shy, quiet person can easily disappear in the crowd.  The responsibility of equipping the believers shifts from the main church to the small-group. And on and on. 

So let’s turn church right side up! Let’s do this “grass roots” style!  Let’s do it by taking the bushel basket off our lights, and let people know we are all about Jesus!  Let’s begin to pray for workers ( Luke 10:2). We can pray for strength for each other! Then, when we bring a non-believer to church, they know why. We have possibly moved them a step or two towards salvation through the Holy Spirit in our lives.  They should know that what they hear at church is something intended for believers. Let them see the power of God’s word in action!  If they are living in unrepentant sin, let them be offended!  And let God be responsible for the increase.

 - Cliff