Dreaming of a "Right" Christmas

DREAMING OF A "RIGHT" CHRISTMAS

Like most people I love Bing Crosby's "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas". It's doubtful that for those of us who live in the Central Valley will have a white Christmas this year or any year for that matter. But it would be better if all of us could have a "right" Christmas. May I suggest that you prayerfully look to God, this year, for a "right" Christmas for you and your family?

Let me start by saying that for a Christian a "right" Christmas begins with a right emphasis, which means putting Christ at the center of our lives and activities.

In Luke chapter 2, when Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem there was no room in the inn. The tragedy of Christmas in America is that many people, while observing the season, have the wrong emphasis. Too often the emphasis is on gifts, work, parties...(Which has its place) but with little emphasis, or no thought at all, of Christ who came to be the Savior of the world.

In order for your Christmas to be right, I would like to suggest four vital ingredients:

1-TAKE SPECIFIC ACTION IN YOUR PLANS TO MAKE "ROOM" FOR JESUS.

   A.Read and study the Christmas story. And do it also as a family.

   B.Let your decorations, cards, wrappings communicate the true meaning of Christmas.

   C.Along with gifts such as toys, clothes, tools, etc...consider gifts that meet the person's

      spiritual needs (Bibles, books, games with christian themes,etc.). This of course requires

      wisdom. You don't want to give a Bible to a family member whom you know is hostile to

      the Gospel.

2-THE "RIGHT" CHRISTMAS SHOULD INCLUDE WORSHIP.

   A.Not only with your Church family on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, but with your

      immediate family around the Christmas Tree. Be creative. In my family, one of the adults

      was asked to read the Christmas Story, until our oldest grandson, Judah, was old enough

      to read. This year we will be asking our second oldest grandson, Jarin, to read it.

   B.Don't let the pressures of shopping, entertaining, etc, destroy your relationship with Jesus,

      and your inner peace. It is a known fact that families have their biggest fights around

      Christmas. Not because they don't love one another, but they allow themselves to get under

      pressure.

3-A "RIGHT" CHRISTMAS SHOULD INCLUDE GIVING.

   A.The Bible says that "God so loved the world, that He GAVE...".

   B.We are all in a frame of mind to give to one another, but let's not forget God. Christmas can

      be a wonderful time to rededicate one's life to the Lord. It is also a great time to give to

      God's work, to missions, to the poor.

4- A "RIGHT" CHRISTMAS SHOULD INCLUDE TELLING OTHERS ABOUT JESUS.

   A.You can tell your loved ones, your neighbors, your co-workers, etc.

   B.Again, you need wisdom. You can destroy a Christmas if you try to "preach" to people.

   C.There are ways of telling the Good News: Christmas cards with a well chosen verse of

      Scripture, an invitation to a neighbor to attend a Christmas Service with you, etc.

   D. God will show you the right way to share Jesus with others.

   E.As it was on that first Christmas when the angels spread the Good News, Jesus' coming is

      the best news mankind can hear.

I pray that God will bless you and yours, and give you a wonderful holiday season with Jesus as the Lord of all.

Pastor Ron

A Call to Excellence

A CALL TO EXCELLENCE

Please bear with me as I do a little venting in order to issue a call. Why is it that all too often Christians do things that are shabby and settle for second best? You can see it in their church facilities and furnishings. You can also see it in the donations they make either to the church or to the poor.

Having grown up in the 50's as a missionary kid, I remember those 55 gallon barrels that we used to ship not only our own personal belongings, but also the donations made by Christians, across the U. S., to be distributed to the poor on the mission field. I will never forget my parents going throughout the donations and having to throw out many of the items that were donated. Much of what was donated was junk and were being discarded by the donors. I specifically remember the obviously used under garments that went into the trash. Why do some Christians give their junk to God?

Again, please bear with me as I vent a little bit more. Does it bother you that there are some Christians who have a reputation for always being late, rude, or just doing a poor job of what they have been asked to do?

Please don't get me wrong, I love Christians, I've dedicated my whole life to serving the Church, which I love so dearly. And please don't think that I am one of those people who embraces a "prosperity Gospel", believing that we ought to live in luxury. All I'm saying is that I believe that people of faith should do well, and that we should always seek excellence. Jesus and His Church are worthy of nothing less than our best!

In Daniel 1:20, Daniel and his friends had been in training for 3 years, and now the time had come for the king to examine them. And it says that Nebuchadnezzar found that Daniel and his friends were 10 times better than the best his kingdom had to offer.

All I'm saying is this, let's strive to do things well, and to do it to the very best of our ability. Let's shoot for excellence.

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify you Father in heaven." ( Matthew 5:16 )

FAITH AND FAITHFULNESS

     A casual reading of the Scriptures can give us the impression that a life of faith is a continuing, exciting adventure. When we read the great stories of the outstanding Bible characters, like Abraham, David, Daniel, Paul, Peter, and so on, we think that everyday they had an epic encounter with God. Nothing could be further from the truth.

     Study carefully the Scriptures and you will learn that often there is a span of many years from one verse, or chapter, to the next. There are long seasons of quiet, unremarkable living from day to day. One such example is from Daniel 4 to the next chapter, 5. In between chapter 4 and 5 there are 23 uneventful years that pass by before he steps back onto the national stage.

What we need to learn from this is that walking in faith is mostly about daily faithfulness, the ongoing development of Christlike character, ongoing prayer and reading of the Word, and hearing God speak at times.

     This is something we must understand, if we're going to understand what it means to follow Jesus. The Christian walk requires that we just keep plugging along. So stay the course!

Pastor Ron

Let's Truly Care

In my devotional this morning I read a story about two Christian young men who decided to visit a Church in their community. The preacher preached about hell that Sunday morning. The two visiting young men described the preacher as seeming to be a little too pleased about the judgment to come upon sinners.

At the end of the service as people started leaving, the two young men decided to stay in their pew to see if anyone would come over and greet the two strangers that wandered into their Church. They wanted to see how much the preacher and the congregation really care about them. They sat there for a long time, and then left quietly. Their impression was that this was a Church that gleefully delivered bad news.

  

The lesson I drew from this sad story was that we should not rebuke people if we find ourselves enjoying it. If we're going to talk about hell and judgment, let us do so with tears in our eyes and caring in our hearts. Oh! By the way, let's be sure to greet strangers at Church.

Misuse of God's Word

MISUSE OF GOD'S WORD

We've all heard the stories about people who, in trying to find God's will for their lives in a given situation, said a quick prayer, opened up the Bible, and randomly put their finger on a verse. We wind up treating God's Word like a fortune cookie.

I remember hearing the story of a Bible school student who fell in love with a girl, who is now his wife, and in wanting to know if this was the girl God wanted him to marry, he prayed, pulled all the book markers out of his Bible and randomly opened it to a passage of Scripture, hoping to hear from God. To his horror the Bible fell open to a verse in Proverbs that warned against the danger of hanging out with prostitutes!

Now I've heard of people who have, in desperation, done that, and they landed on a verse of Scripture that was the answer for their dilemma. I believe God can do that, but that doesn't sanction that kind of approach.

In Psalm 119, David talks about diligently studying, meditating, responding, and applying Scripture to our lives. Don't just take an occasional "dip" into God's Word, but determine to be a consistent student of His Word.