New, new, new!

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. – Romans 15:5-6 (NIV)

A new idea, a new project, a new goal, or new adventure seems to come pre-packaged with a dose of adrenaline, anticipation, and excitement.  The residue of simply thinking about the possibilities can power an electric plant!

For some of us, it takes time to warm up to… or buy into taking on something new.  The fear of change, the thought of pouring energy into change, and the resistance that change brings – keeps many on the bench and far from those tingling nerve endings that emerge when embarking on a new path.

We can spend all of our resources inviting people to change.  We get caught up in their emotional highs and soak up the outflow of the energy they produce – and we push forward together.  Getting started… making change… easy.  Staying the course, pressing on, breaking through, and pushing beyond the re-boot… takes fierce persistence.

We consume our fuel and pour it all into new beginnings… hoping someone will refill the tank to help us continue.  In any new plan… we need gas!

As Christians, we can soak up the excitement of new beginnings with our buddies – that’s easy work.  But we should be prepared to encourage one another as our resolutions lose their resolve – and we hit the wall.  Reach out today – find someone who’s sluggish – give them fuel.  They are hungry for the boost.


by Jeremiah
Argument plus depiction still offer a potent combination. Argument without depiction risks being dull to all but highly motivated specialists, while depiction without argument risks confusion and even appropriation by contrary convictions. But argument and depiction that is worked out in life produces the abundant fruit for all to eat.

The King of kings

The King of kings

It's interesting that the Lord sent angels to announce the birth of Christ to shepherds. This was the greatest event in the history of the world, and it was proclaimed to some of the most humble of men. Why did the Lord bypass the "great" men of the day?

For one thing, God isn't impressed with the things men are impressed with. These shepherds may have been the great men of the day in God's eyes. Certainly, kings would have been afraid of a new king as Herod was. It could have been dangerous to let tyrants know of the birth.

Some scholars have thought that the time of Christ's birth was around the time of the Day of Atonement. Hence, these could have been temple shepherds that were keeping the sheep to be used as the sin sacrifice. Therefore, it would be appropriate for them to come inspect the Lamb of God to verify He was without blemish.

It could be as simple as the Lord chose the shepherds because His Son would be the great Shepherd of the sheep. Maybe they were the only ones who would listen to the announcement. At any rate, it was prophetic for these lowly shepherds to be chosen for the great announcement because Jesus would always associate with the common and the poor.

What an irony that the King of kings would be in a stable! I'm sure this was a puzzle to the shepherds. Yet, no earthly accommodations would have been adequate. Therefore, it really didn't matter where Jesus was born. Wherever it would have been would have been infinitely less than the glory He had with the Father. Jesus humbled Himself to become a man.

It's hard to imagine something like this happening and the shepherds not going to worship the Lord. Yet, today, people often hear this same proclamation and do nothing about it.

When we see the Lord for who He is, we will also make this known to everyone who will listen.

Luke 2:8-18 (NIV)
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.
9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.
10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.
12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.
17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child,
18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

Peace on Earth

Luke 2:14
14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

If you look around you will see that there is no peace amongst people on earth. There are wars, fighting’s, government overthrows, pickets, demonstrations, fear, murders, protests, disputes, anarchy. Where is the peace in all of that? The peace that the heavenly host was singing about was not peace among men. It was peace between God and man. This can be clearly seen by looking at Jesus' statement in Mt 10:34, which says, "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword." Although the Gospel has changed men's hearts, and there are many instances where this change has caused peace between men, that was not what the angels were praising God for. They were rejoicing that the war between God and man was over. As Isaiah prophesied, "Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD'S hand double for all her sins" (Isa 40:2).

Jesus bore our punishment so that we could be reconciled to God. This peace came through the blood sacrifice Jesus made on the cross (Col 1:20). God isn't angry anymore. All our sins--past, present, and future tense--were placed on Jesus, and now God can justly love us. God isn't mad. All of God's judgment against our sin was placed on Jesus (Joh 12:32). He's not even in a bad mood. God is a good God, and we are to have our feet shod with the preparation of this gospel of peace between God and man (Eph 6:15).

We now have a covenant of peace where God will never be angry with us again or rebuke us (Isa 54:9-10). We are supposed to shod our feet with this gospel of peace (Eph 6:15). Let peace reign, it has already started between God and you, it’s now time to celebrate and carry that peace to others.

Merry Christmas