DateLine (12/20/06 – Green Pond, SC)
Christmas is a time to remember the needy. From bell ringers outside Wal-Mart to increased editorial coverage in the news, we’re reminded of the plight of the disadvantaged. To the credit of our country, the US responds and sets the standard for charitable contributions. According to the archives of the Washington Post, Americans gave ~$248.5 billion in 2004. Churches, mosques, synagogues and other religious entities received the largest share -- more than $88 billion.
For Southern Baptists, the Christmas season has been connected with missions as long as I can remember. For several generations an annual appeal has been made to the benefit of our International Missions work. In September of 1887 a woman with a funny sounding name, Lottie Moon, wrote a letter from her mission post in China suggesting a need for improvement in how Southern Baptist was funding missionaries. In December of that same year, the letter was printed in the Foreign Mission Journal. That single letter is credited with providing the impetus for the creation of a Southern Baptist offering to support international missions, which later became the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering® for International Missions.
Unfortunately the Lottie Moon Christmas offering is becoming a generational thing. Many younger persons in the church are not as familiar with the offering or in fact Lottie Moon herself because we have been remiss in recent times of emphasizing this great cause. In the words of Lottie herself from the “letter that started it all,” “we shall continue to go on in our present ‘hand to mouth; system. We shall continue to see mission stations so poorly manned that missionaries break down from overwork, loneliness, and isolation; we shall continue to see promising mission fields unentered and old stations languishing; and we shall continue to see other denominations no richer and no better educated than ours, outstripping us in the race. I wonder how many of us really believe that ‘it is more blessed to give than to receive’?
Need it be said, why the week before Christmas is chosen? Is not the festive season when families and friends exchange gifts in memory of The Gift laid on the altar of the world for the redemption of the human race, the most appropriate time to consecrate a portion from abounding riches and scant poverty to send forth the good tidings of great joy into all the earth?”
In 2005 we collected almost $140 millions dollars. Our collective goal for 2006 is $150 million. 100 percent of the offering is used in the overseas budget to support missionaries and their ministries. The offering is spent in support of over 5000 missionaries and special projects designed to share the gospel of Jesus Christ worldwide. I had a pastor years ago who challenged me to spend more on my gift to Jesus at Christmas than any other single gift to others. I can think of no better way to make that gift than to direct it toward the annual Christmas offering which bears the name of Lottie Moon. The greatest need is the need for Jesus.
For more information see http://www.Imb.org/lottiemoon.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
The Angels Rejoiced
DateLine (12/13/06 – Nanuet, NY)
Ah, the Christmas season; countless cantatas, nativity scenes, carols, dramas; which thrust the essential elements of the first Christmas into the consciousness of harried patrons. The Virgin Mary, Joseph, the Christ child, shepherds, the manger, and Wise Men; the icons of the season. Why has this story persisted at the forefront of our culture for a couple thousand years? The inevitable conclusion is that this was a significant event in world history. God, who always had been involved in the events of mankind, inserted himself physically into the human experience via a tiny baby in a way unlike any other. History was altered. Nothing reflects this more than the fact that our present day calendar is hinged around the birth of Jesus (i.e. BC vs. AD). Regardless of one’s religious persuasion the Christmas story is a fascinating historical event. Even now, 2006, a first-run movie is in the headlines; yet another recounting of the story (i.e. The Nativity).
As I contemplated the first Christmas something struck me that I had never before considered. As a matter of fact, I’ve never heard it mentioned although as I now reflect upon it, it may be the most consequential aspects of the Christmas story. I’m not referring to the fact that the birth of Jesus was the fulfillment of prophecy. I ‘m not discounting that the birth of Christ was the formal beginning of a solution for the sin problem of mankind.
The fact is God had voluntarily reduced Himself to one of the most dependent and vulnerable states known to humanity; that of a newborn baby. God, who embodies the very creative and sustaining force of the universe, packaged Himself in such a way that He was physically dependent upon an uninitiated teenage mother. While this is an absolutely remarkable event; even this is not what energized my reflections. Think about this; at one time in history, man enjoyed a special relationship with God. In the beginning, God and man had a special relationship. The Bible says that God walked in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day (Gen. 3). That all changed when man disobeyed God.
The aspect of the Christmas story that caused the Angels to Rejoice, the shepherds to race to the manger, and the Wise men to travel from afar was the “touch of a mother.” You see, for the first time in thousands of years, mankind (i.e. Mary) physically embraced God. Mary held God in her hands. Intimacy was restored between man and his Creator. The purity of the moment, the innocence of the moment, and the significance of the moment is symbolized by a newborn being gently caressed by a new mother. Not long afterwards He was gone as abruptly as He entered; crucified on the cross.
This is not the end of the story. While we do enjoy the indwelling Helper (i.e. the Holy Spirit) to sustain the intimacy of the Christ child within us, we have the promise that one day He will return for us. There is no doubt in my mind that each of us will enjoy the same dynamic played out in touch between Mary and the baby Jesus; we will have the awesome privilege to physically embrace God.
Think about it . . . . then raise your hands toward heaven!
Ah, the Christmas season; countless cantatas, nativity scenes, carols, dramas; which thrust the essential elements of the first Christmas into the consciousness of harried patrons. The Virgin Mary, Joseph, the Christ child, shepherds, the manger, and Wise Men; the icons of the season. Why has this story persisted at the forefront of our culture for a couple thousand years? The inevitable conclusion is that this was a significant event in world history. God, who always had been involved in the events of mankind, inserted himself physically into the human experience via a tiny baby in a way unlike any other. History was altered. Nothing reflects this more than the fact that our present day calendar is hinged around the birth of Jesus (i.e. BC vs. AD). Regardless of one’s religious persuasion the Christmas story is a fascinating historical event. Even now, 2006, a first-run movie is in the headlines; yet another recounting of the story (i.e. The Nativity).
As I contemplated the first Christmas something struck me that I had never before considered. As a matter of fact, I’ve never heard it mentioned although as I now reflect upon it, it may be the most consequential aspects of the Christmas story. I’m not referring to the fact that the birth of Jesus was the fulfillment of prophecy. I ‘m not discounting that the birth of Christ was the formal beginning of a solution for the sin problem of mankind.
The fact is God had voluntarily reduced Himself to one of the most dependent and vulnerable states known to humanity; that of a newborn baby. God, who embodies the very creative and sustaining force of the universe, packaged Himself in such a way that He was physically dependent upon an uninitiated teenage mother. While this is an absolutely remarkable event; even this is not what energized my reflections. Think about this; at one time in history, man enjoyed a special relationship with God. In the beginning, God and man had a special relationship. The Bible says that God walked in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day (Gen. 3). That all changed when man disobeyed God.
The aspect of the Christmas story that caused the Angels to Rejoice, the shepherds to race to the manger, and the Wise men to travel from afar was the “touch of a mother.” You see, for the first time in thousands of years, mankind (i.e. Mary) physically embraced God. Mary held God in her hands. Intimacy was restored between man and his Creator. The purity of the moment, the innocence of the moment, and the significance of the moment is symbolized by a newborn being gently caressed by a new mother. Not long afterwards He was gone as abruptly as He entered; crucified on the cross.
This is not the end of the story. While we do enjoy the indwelling Helper (i.e. the Holy Spirit) to sustain the intimacy of the Christ child within us, we have the promise that one day He will return for us. There is no doubt in my mind that each of us will enjoy the same dynamic played out in touch between Mary and the baby Jesus; we will have the awesome privilege to physically embrace God.
Think about it . . . . then raise your hands toward heaven!
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Never Give Up
DateLine (12/06/06 – Nanuet, NY)
When I began my college experience at a small liberal arts school there were two classes of Freshman General Chemistry. As I remember it about half of those students were declared Chemistry Majors (~ 20 students). Four years later only four of us walked across the stage at commencement as degreed Chemists. Over 30% of college students leave after the first year and almost 50% never graduate, according to the Department of Education as documented on http://www.youngmoney.com/. This statistic is consistent with my observation. Most of my peers did not flunk out, they dropped out or quit.
Calvin Coolidge, the 30th president of the United States once said, “Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”
Most long term human endeavors suffer from lack of persistence. Persistence is one of the most undervalued character traits. God saw fit to challenge us via the book of Hebrews to exhibit persistence in 12:1; “since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” It’s clear that a part of the human challenge is to press on even when we’d rather just drop by the wayside.
As a parent one of the some of the most important traits that I can model is persistence. My cue to model these traits is the Father. We don’t think of the Christmas story of one of persistence but it is. From the beginning, God planned a rescue of creation. Through thousands of years He stuck to the plan. About two thousand years ago the pace of the plan quickened; God became a man. The plan is still on track today. Christmas is a reminder of the persistence of God. There are no carols that echo the words; doggedness, perseverance, persistency, tenacity, tenaciousness, and pertinacity but there should be.
This Christmas as you see the lights, hear the carols, and prepare for family gatherings let it remind you of the persistence of the Father.
When I began my college experience at a small liberal arts school there were two classes of Freshman General Chemistry. As I remember it about half of those students were declared Chemistry Majors (~ 20 students). Four years later only four of us walked across the stage at commencement as degreed Chemists. Over 30% of college students leave after the first year and almost 50% never graduate, according to the Department of Education as documented on http://www.youngmoney.com/. This statistic is consistent with my observation. Most of my peers did not flunk out, they dropped out or quit.
Calvin Coolidge, the 30th president of the United States once said, “Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”
Most long term human endeavors suffer from lack of persistence. Persistence is one of the most undervalued character traits. God saw fit to challenge us via the book of Hebrews to exhibit persistence in 12:1; “since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” It’s clear that a part of the human challenge is to press on even when we’d rather just drop by the wayside.
As a parent one of the some of the most important traits that I can model is persistence. My cue to model these traits is the Father. We don’t think of the Christmas story of one of persistence but it is. From the beginning, God planned a rescue of creation. Through thousands of years He stuck to the plan. About two thousand years ago the pace of the plan quickened; God became a man. The plan is still on track today. Christmas is a reminder of the persistence of God. There are no carols that echo the words; doggedness, perseverance, persistency, tenacity, tenaciousness, and pertinacity but there should be.
This Christmas as you see the lights, hear the carols, and prepare for family gatherings let it remind you of the persistence of the Father.
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