My wife and I recently ate out at a local Mexican food restaurant and we kept running into people we knew. All in all, we counted over a dozen people that we spoke to or encountered over the course of our meal. Not all of them were Northsiders and I don't think any of them knew each other but we knew them. When we were walking to our car we both commented on how Victoria is still a small town. Things like that don't happen in Houston or Dallas and that is fine with us. Don't get me wrong, it is a good feeling to go out and see a lot people you know. We both said we like it that way.
When is a small town no longer a small town? I think it is when you go out and never encounter someone you know at the grocery store or the restaurant or the mall. So, though Victoria is growing, by my definition, it is still a small town. I hope it stays that way.
Have you ever thought about the fact that Jesus was a small town boy? He was born in Bethlehem. It was classified as an "O, little town" even before the Christmas carol was written. When the wise men came looking for him, they came to Jerusalem, of course. When they inquired about where he was to be born, the scholars said, "In Bethlehem in Judea" another sign of a small town is when you have to say the name of the place followed by what region or county or state it is in also.
The prophet Micah had written in chapter 5 verse 2 and following. "But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel." The word "least" could also be translated "insignificant." God sent his son to come to earth in a place that people could have called insignificant if not for his birth.
Jesus was raised in Nazareth, not Rome, not Jerusalem, not even Jericho but Nazareth. Everyone knew him as "Joseph's son." That is another sign of a small town - everyone knows you and all your family connections too. When Jesus began his ministry, he made trips to Jerusalem and to Jericho but the bulk of his time seems to have been spent in places like Capernaum - another small town.
So at your Christmas gatherings when your relatives are talking about their big city adventures and advantages and you are feeling a little insignificant, just remind yourself - Jesus was a small town boy. When you travel out of town and meet your cousin's new wife from Dallas and she asks where Victoria is and as you explain she gets this dazed, confused look on her face as if she has no idea what you are talking about, just remember - Jesus was a small town guy.
He came to those who could be called insignificant to prove that no one and no town, are insignificant to him. Merry Christmas.
for the journey...
Tim
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Friday, December 19, 2014
Using Christmas
Perhaps he was the original "Bad Santa." We know he was bad enough to be lynched by an angry mob, perhaps the last man in Texas history to meet such an end. His name was Marshall Ratliff. He borrowed a Santa Claus suit from his landlady and set out from Wichita Falls in a stolen car with three other men to rob the First National Bank in Cisco, Texas.
On December 23, 1927, Ratliff dressed in his Santa suit and armed with a gun, walked into the bank and announced it was a hold up. He did not count on several children dragging their parents into the bank right behind him because they had just seen Santa walk through the streets of Cisco, Texas. They walked into the lobby behind Ratliff, saw Ratliff's friends who had now entered from the back of the bank with guns drawn and one little girl began to cry, "They're gonna shoot Santa!"
Things turned violent very quickly. There was a gun battle in the bank, a high speed car chase (for 1927 standards), a car jacking, a group of armed citizens joining the pursuit and finally a capture of the bank robbers. In all, six people were killed and eight wounded. Ratliff later escaped from jail and was captured by a mob of angry citizens who lynched him. Using Christmas backfired on Ratliff and his bank robber friends big time.
People still try to use Christmas for their own selfish reasons. A man called the church the other day, telling a tale of woe. He had just begun to attend our church, he said - we had no record of him coming. He was now calling "his pastor" to see if "his church" could help him by putting money onto his prepaid VISA card. There was no other possible way he could be helped and it need to happen immediately he said. I told him I was sorry I could not send money that way, but we would pray. We later saw he had been on our website fifteen minutes before he called and left his name and email address.
We can grow cynical and bitter about "the way people use Christmas," but maybe a better way to approach this season is to ask ourselves, "Are we letting Christmas use us?" In all the commercialism of Christmas, the conflict about Christmas and the chaos of the world at Christmas are doing anything positive? Are we being messengers of something different? Witnesses of God's love in sending his son? Examples of a better way to honor and celebrate the season?
I must confess, I am not as creative in letting Christmas (and of course God) use me as others are creative in using Christmas, but maybe it is not about my creativity. Perhaps it is more about responding to what God is doing in the world rather than what the world is doing in Christmas. Where is God at work this Christmas around you? How are you going to respond? Maybe that is a request I really need to respond to this week.
for the journey...
Tim
On December 23, 1927, Ratliff dressed in his Santa suit and armed with a gun, walked into the bank and announced it was a hold up. He did not count on several children dragging their parents into the bank right behind him because they had just seen Santa walk through the streets of Cisco, Texas. They walked into the lobby behind Ratliff, saw Ratliff's friends who had now entered from the back of the bank with guns drawn and one little girl began to cry, "They're gonna shoot Santa!"
Things turned violent very quickly. There was a gun battle in the bank, a high speed car chase (for 1927 standards), a car jacking, a group of armed citizens joining the pursuit and finally a capture of the bank robbers. In all, six people were killed and eight wounded. Ratliff later escaped from jail and was captured by a mob of angry citizens who lynched him. Using Christmas backfired on Ratliff and his bank robber friends big time.
People still try to use Christmas for their own selfish reasons. A man called the church the other day, telling a tale of woe. He had just begun to attend our church, he said - we had no record of him coming. He was now calling "his pastor" to see if "his church" could help him by putting money onto his prepaid VISA card. There was no other possible way he could be helped and it need to happen immediately he said. I told him I was sorry I could not send money that way, but we would pray. We later saw he had been on our website fifteen minutes before he called and left his name and email address.
We can grow cynical and bitter about "the way people use Christmas," but maybe a better way to approach this season is to ask ourselves, "Are we letting Christmas use us?" In all the commercialism of Christmas, the conflict about Christmas and the chaos of the world at Christmas are doing anything positive? Are we being messengers of something different? Witnesses of God's love in sending his son? Examples of a better way to honor and celebrate the season?
I must confess, I am not as creative in letting Christmas (and of course God) use me as others are creative in using Christmas, but maybe it is not about my creativity. Perhaps it is more about responding to what God is doing in the world rather than what the world is doing in Christmas. Where is God at work this Christmas around you? How are you going to respond? Maybe that is a request I really need to respond to this week.
for the journey...
Tim
Friday, December 12, 2014
Do You See What I See?
The preschool kids were coming out into the foyer after their turn at the Northside Baptist School's presentation of "The Best Christmas Present Ever." I was there in the foyer, at the Welcome Center, ready to hand out invitations to "The Sounds of Christmas" performance on Sunday and I heard their conversation.
The first little boy in the line they were now struggling to stay in, turned and announced to the other preschoolers, "I saw my Daddy!" Without skipping a beat the next little girl in line said, "I saw my Mommy and my Daddy!" Then someone else chimed in to the new competition, "I saw my Mommy and my Daddy and my Grandma!"
As the teachers tried to keep them in line and coach them to walk back through the foyer for their appearance in the next act, the one-upmanship continued of who each one had seen. It was as if this whole Christmas program had been arranged for them so they could see their family. As adults we know the bigger reality is that all those people - family and friends - had not come there to be seen by the children but to see the children.
We can read the Christmas story and see it is written from the human stand point of what we saw in that first advent. Mary saw the angel, Gabriel. The wise men saw a star. Joseph saw visions in a dream. The shepherds saw a host of angels and then they saw the baby in the manger. These were all wonderful sights and those who saw them told others of the amazing things they had seen.
I wonder if from heaven's view though, we all are a lot like those preschoolers. We can think about what we have seen in "Christmas" but the greater reality is that the reason Christmas happened in the first place is because we were seen. God sent his son from heaven to earth because he saw our need and he acted on his love for us - just like the families in the audience came to see the kid's performance.
Perhaps this Christmas, we need to not take the perspective that all this happened for us to see, but it all happened the way it did first and foremost, because we have a God who sees us, who knows our need and who always acts on it. The fact that we get to see him at all, is because he sees us.
She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: "You are the God who sees me," for she said, "I have now seen the One who sees me." Genesis 16:13
for they journey...
Tim
The first little boy in the line they were now struggling to stay in, turned and announced to the other preschoolers, "I saw my Daddy!" Without skipping a beat the next little girl in line said, "I saw my Mommy and my Daddy!" Then someone else chimed in to the new competition, "I saw my Mommy and my Daddy and my Grandma!"
As the teachers tried to keep them in line and coach them to walk back through the foyer for their appearance in the next act, the one-upmanship continued of who each one had seen. It was as if this whole Christmas program had been arranged for them so they could see their family. As adults we know the bigger reality is that all those people - family and friends - had not come there to be seen by the children but to see the children.
We can read the Christmas story and see it is written from the human stand point of what we saw in that first advent. Mary saw the angel, Gabriel. The wise men saw a star. Joseph saw visions in a dream. The shepherds saw a host of angels and then they saw the baby in the manger. These were all wonderful sights and those who saw them told others of the amazing things they had seen.
I wonder if from heaven's view though, we all are a lot like those preschoolers. We can think about what we have seen in "Christmas" but the greater reality is that the reason Christmas happened in the first place is because we were seen. God sent his son from heaven to earth because he saw our need and he acted on his love for us - just like the families in the audience came to see the kid's performance.
Perhaps this Christmas, we need to not take the perspective that all this happened for us to see, but it all happened the way it did first and foremost, because we have a God who sees us, who knows our need and who always acts on it. The fact that we get to see him at all, is because he sees us.
She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: "You are the God who sees me," for she said, "I have now seen the One who sees me." Genesis 16:13
for they journey...
Tim
Friday, December 5, 2014
The Cost of the Incarnation
"Most American evangelicals hold views condemned as heretical by some of the most important councils of the early church." That statement from a Christianity Today article got my attention. As I read the article I found that much of our modern confusion centers around things related to Jesus and the incarnation. We are good at celebrating Christmas but not as good at understanding the implications of the incarnation of Christ.
Note that this survey is speaking to people, 96% of whom believe Jesus rose from the dead and 92% believe that salvation is found only in Jesus and 96% believe in the Trinity. But nearly a quarter (22%) said that God the Father is more divine than Jesus with another 9% not being sure. Also, 16% said that Jesus was the first creature created by God with another 11% not being sure.
The Bible does not teach that Jesus was created and it certainly never teaches that Jesus came into existence to come at Christmas. It always teaches that Jesus was fully human and fully divine. Somehow Jesus came into this world as a human but never lost any of his divinity. He would even say that he and his Father were "one" (John 10:30).
It cost something for the Jesus, the son of God, to become a son of man. People would never fully understand him while he walked on this earth and today we still don't. That was one price he bore in becoming God incarnate - being misunderstood.
Our little minds can hardly fathom what it must have been like to leave the glory of heaven for the goriness of a human birth. Perhaps C. S. Lewis caught this part best when he wrote this in Mere Christianity:
The Second Person in God, the Son, became human Himself: was born into the world as an actual man—a real man of a particular height, with hair of a particular color, speaking a particular language, weighing so many stone. The Eternal Being, who knows everything and who created the whole universe, became not only a man but (before that) a baby, and before that a fetus inside a Woman’s body. If you want to get the hang of it, think how you would like to become a slug or a crab.
We often think of what it cost him to go to the cross. To fully understand him, perhaps we should first seek understand what it cost him to go to a stable in Bethlehem.
for the journey...
Tim
The poll can be found at http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2014/october-web-only/new-poll-finds-evangelicals-favorite-heresies.html
Note that this survey is speaking to people, 96% of whom believe Jesus rose from the dead and 92% believe that salvation is found only in Jesus and 96% believe in the Trinity. But nearly a quarter (22%) said that God the Father is more divine than Jesus with another 9% not being sure. Also, 16% said that Jesus was the first creature created by God with another 11% not being sure.
The Bible does not teach that Jesus was created and it certainly never teaches that Jesus came into existence to come at Christmas. It always teaches that Jesus was fully human and fully divine. Somehow Jesus came into this world as a human but never lost any of his divinity. He would even say that he and his Father were "one" (John 10:30).
It cost something for the Jesus, the son of God, to become a son of man. People would never fully understand him while he walked on this earth and today we still don't. That was one price he bore in becoming God incarnate - being misunderstood.
Our little minds can hardly fathom what it must have been like to leave the glory of heaven for the goriness of a human birth. Perhaps C. S. Lewis caught this part best when he wrote this in Mere Christianity:
The Second Person in God, the Son, became human Himself: was born into the world as an actual man—a real man of a particular height, with hair of a particular color, speaking a particular language, weighing so many stone. The Eternal Being, who knows everything and who created the whole universe, became not only a man but (before that) a baby, and before that a fetus inside a Woman’s body. If you want to get the hang of it, think how you would like to become a slug or a crab.
We often think of what it cost him to go to the cross. To fully understand him, perhaps we should first seek understand what it cost him to go to a stable in Bethlehem.
for the journey...
Tim
The poll can be found at http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2014/october-web-only/new-poll-finds-evangelicals-favorite-heresies.html
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