Some of the wealthiest, healthiest resolutions you'll ever make...

“Resolutions are popular because everyone feels they could use a little improvement.” Marilu Henner

  Okay, I’ll admit it – I’m a dog person. If you’re a cat person, I’ll pray for you J. Since it’s that time of year when everyone is making behavior modifications, I thought that our big chocolate lab, Ernie could use a little behavior modification. So I’m going to suggest to him that in 2015…

  * He stop trying to find the few remaining clean pieces of carpet in the house when he’s about to throw up.

  * He won’t lick family members faces after eating animal elimination or his own regurgitation. (Door-to-door salesman are of course, open season).

  * He won’t chew pens or markers, especially red or pink ones.

  * When in the car, he won’t insist on having the window rolled down when it’s raining.

  * He’ll remember that the sofa isn’t a face towel. Neither are family members’ pants legs.

  * That his head doesn’t belong in the frig or his nose on the counter, and that he’ll stop staring at anyone eating like he’s a starving 3^rd world child.

  * And that he not shake the rain out of his fur after coming back inside.

  It’s that time of year. Have you made some New Year’s resolutions? You’ve probably made some health and financially related ones. Can I suggest some resolutions you might not have considered? There not in any particular order, just something to think about.

  To spend more time in actual conversations rather than on social media. Want extra money? Put $1.00 in a jar every time you’re out for a meal and see people sharing a meal with someone but they’re on their phone. Put $5.00 in a jar for your spouse if you’re the one doing it. I know sometimes there are emergencies, but most of the time that’s not the case. We don’t always need to be connected. If you’re in the car with someone, talk to them, not on your phone to someone miles away.

  To spend more time having significant conversations. Sometimes days can go by with the conversations we have with our friends, family members and co-workers going no deeper than surface-level chit-chat. Though there’s nothing wrong with joking around, theorizing about the latest episode of your favorite TV series, or even strategizing about the Packers. But if we’re not intentional about regularly engaging in deeper conversations—that challenge us spiritually, intellectually and socially—too often, those types of talks become rare or non-existent.soci

  To do more and complain less. Ours is a complaining culture. There’s seemingly always something wrong. We need to ask ourselves, “what good will this do other than raise my blood pressure?” Complaining may give some momentary relief from frustrations, but working on solutions to the problems in our world can actually take steps forward in fixing things that are broken. While we may not be able to “fix” it, often we can take proactive steps that we have control over. And we can always pray!

  To spend more time thanking and less worrying. Every moment spent worrying is wasted, not to mention, it’s counterproductive. Francis Chan said, “Worry implies that we don’t quite trust that God is big enough, powerful enough, or loving enough to take care of the what’s happening in our lives.” We worry about that which we have no control over but we rarely thank God (or others) for our many blessings. Maybe it would help to keep a diary or log of your daily blessings.

  To spend time getting to know God better. Be honest, when we feel rushed, what’s the first thing we cut back on – our spiritual life. We skip reading our Bibles, our prayer life becomes little more than a quick verbal text, we skip church and can’t ever find the time to be in a small group. If we wait until we have time, it won’t ever happen. Spending time with the Lord, like spending time with a close friend has to be intentional and scheduled. J. Oswald Sanders wisely observed, “It is impossible for a believer, no matter what his experience, to keep right with God if he will not take the trouble to spend time with God. Spend plenty of time with Him; let other things go, but don't neglect Him.”  

  To try something new every week, if not every day. When is the last time you tried out a different ethnic food. With the Internet recipes from around the world at right at your fingertips. Break out of your routine. Do something different and new. Listen to new music. With Spotify and Pandora, keeping up with new music releases and styles has never been easier. If you read fiction, read a biography. If you read serious books, switch to fiction. If you’re always watching TV or surfing the Net, turn it off and pick up a book. Even switch where you sit in your family room or at the dinner table. Try a different version of the Bible. If you watch one news channel, watch one from the opposite spectrum.

  Cut yourself and others some slack. Most of us are wound too tight and far too stressed. If it won’t matter next week, it probably doesn’t matter today. In this social media era, where everyone’s opinion gets a platform, it’s easy to fall into the trap of getting angry at our friends over things they say that we don’t agree with. Outrage is way overrated. Commit to being offended less and reserving your anger for issues that really matter.

  And when you make a mistake or even sin, remember, it’s ALL died for. If you’re good at beating yourself up, please make sure that you also affirm yourself and tell yourself what you’re enjoying. Thank God for His grace! For some reason, dark and negative self-talk is acceptable but self-affirmation, gratitude and enjoyment is psycho babble. It’s not and we need more of it. It may result in us not looking like we suck on lemons. God doesn’t expect perfection from us and we’re silly to expect it of ourselves.

  To challenge my own opinions and presuppositions more often. These are polarized days. Being able to take a stand for what you believe is admirable, but so is listening to the other side and putting yourself in someone else’s shoes. Even if we don’t change our position, questioning our own long-held presuppositions doesn’t just challenge our beliefs—it can actually strengthen them.

  To spend more time with people you care about. While it’s often more convenient to go to the drive-thru, eat lunch at your desk or use dinnertime to catch up on Netflix, it’s not good for us. There’s nothing wrong with doing this occasionally, but when eating on the run becomes a lifestyle, we end up depriving ourselves and others in our life of moments that could be used to build deeper relationships. At the very least schedule to meet a friend for coffee or lunch. If you don’t schedule it, it’s not going to happen.

  God has given us everything we need to enjoy life (1 Timothy 6:17). So are you? If not, why not? Maybe it’s time for some significant change.

Missing Christmas

“Jesus is not to us as Christmas is to the world, here today and gone tomorrow.”  Rick Mylander

  During the great depression a family was unable to afford much of anything but the bare necessities. One day news came that a circus was coming to town. Tickets cost one dollar. The little boy came running home excited and eager to get the money from his Dad. The father regretfully told his boy that he couldn’t afford to give him with that much money, but if he went out and worked on odd jobs, he might make enough to be able purchase a ticket on his own. The Dad promised to match what the boy could earn. So this little guy worked feverishly and, just a few days before the circus came to town, he found that he had just enough money, including his Dad’s contribution. He took his money and ran off to town to buy his circus ticket. On the day the circus came to town, he grabbed his ticket and rushed to the main street, where he stood on the curb as the circus parade went by. He was thrilled to watch the clowns, elephants, and all of the performers. A clown came dancing over to him and the boy put his ticket in the clown’s hand. He eagerly watched as the rest of the parade went by.   

  After the parade, the boy rushed home and told his father that he’d been to the circus and how much fun it was. The father, very surprised that his son was home already, asked him to describe the circus. The boy told of the parade that went down the main street and then of giving his ticket to the clown. The father sadly took his son in his arms and said, “Son, you didn’t see the circus; all you saw was the parade.”

  That boy reminds me of many people at Christmas time. They get so caught up with the carols, trees, lights, and gifts. They think that they’re experiencing what Christmas is all about, but really, all they’re doing is seeing the parade and missing the main event, the real Christmas story.

  Most of us would agree that Hollywood and contemporary music have made Christmas something syrupy and sappy. In the Church, authors, philosophers, poets, preachers and composers through the centuries have searched in vain for words that adequately capture the wonder, mystery, beauty, and power of Jesus as Emmanuel, God with us. And too often, we’re as guilty of missing the real Christmas story as a secular world.

  The miracle and meaning of the incarnation is hard for us to comprehend with our finite minds. It can be so difficult to grasp that we give up and start to view Christmas in ways that leave us impoverished and unimpressed with the real story. Often our songs and reflections about Christmas can fail to leave people gasping in amazement or humbled in awe that God would come to dwell among us.

  Sometimes we turn Christmas into a Hallmark special. Sentimentalism is focusing on the sights, sounds, and smells of Christmas that give us good feelings. Dazzling decorations, fresh baked cookies, poinsettias, family get-togethers, gift shopping, twinkling lights, Christmas carols, cards from friends, tree-cutting expeditions, wrapping presents. There’s nothing wrong with any of these things. They’re all expressions of common grace, for which we can joyfully thank God. And traditions are important. They’re truly the stuff memories are made of. I hope that you have some and that you’re passing them on to your children and grandchildren. Our family has developed a few of our own over the years and we look forward to them every year. Man-made traditions though are just a “ticket” though and miss the real show, or at least, the main story of Christmas. They fail to solve our deepest problems or fulfill our deepest needs.

  Sometimes we turn Christmas into a White Glove inspection. When I was in college, before we went home for the holidays, we had to make certain that our rooms were spic and span. It was called a “White Glove inspection.” Sometimes we do that with Christmas. We sanitize it when we only present a picture-perfect, storybook rendition of what took place in Bethlehem 2000 years ago. The straw in the manger is fresh and clean. There’s no umbilical cord to cut and no blood. It’s a “silent night.” The surroundings are strangely free from the pungent odor of manure. Joseph and Mary are calm, cool, and collected. Everyone gets a good night’s sleep. There’s no controversy or gossip surrounding the birth. It’s a pleasant, appealing way to think about Christmas, but it obscures the foulness, uncertainty, and sin that Jesus was born into. We forget that rather than coming for the put-together, well-to-do, and self-sufficient, Jesus identified with the rejected, the slandered, the helpless, and the poor.

  Sometimes we turn Christmas into a Kum Bah Yah moment. A religious world focuses on just one smidgen of the Christmas story, “Peace on earth.” Christmas is manipulated into some U.N. peacekeeping moment. Christmas primarily then becomes about promoting virtues like universal brotherhood, peace, joy, generosity, love, and of course, tolerance. It ignores that the incarnation is an earth-shattering event and forever altered the course of human history. While those are good things and again evidence of God’s common grace, they’re not the Christmas story. We should be thankful that our still culture sets aside a time of year, however commercialized it may be, to celebrate and commend being kind, paying it forward and loving your neighbor. But the fruit of Christmas is impossible to achieve or sustain apart from the root. We understand what love is by looking not to ourselves and our good deeds, but by considering Jesus, who came into the world to lay down His life for us (1 John 3:16). Preaching or singing about peace without recognizing our core need for the Prince of Peace, is a shallow peace indeed. The incarnation, the real Christmas story, is that God became man. It was never meant to be marginalized to a few weeks. It means something cataclysmic every day – Jesus, the eternal Son of God who before time was worshiped by innumerable angels, set aside His glory and entered the world through the birth canal of a young woman that He had created. The fullness of deity took of residence in the body of a baby gasping for its first breath. The One who spoke the universe into existence lay silent, unable to utter a word.

  And He came by choice and with the sole intention of redeeming a fallen and rebellious race through His perfect obedience, substitutionary death, and victorious resurrection. The Son of God entered our world of space and time to die on a cross for our sins and be our Savior. “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4-5). That’s the real Christmas story!

Have yourself a quiet Christmas...

A Christmas candle is a lovely thing. It makes no noise at all. But silently gives itself away.” Eva Logue

Please don’t rat me out, but I think Buddy from Elf was wrong. One of the repeated lines from that movie was, “The best way to spread Christmas Cheer, is singing loud for all to hear.” The last thing that our world needs is more noise. There’s just so much noise already in the world today, so many voices screaming and competing for our attention. If you want to be heard, you almost have to shout or blare.

  During a typical lunch hour at the University of California at Berkeley, spokespeople for a dozen different causes can be found on the plaza, trying to outshout one another. One day though a lone figure sat down defiantly in the middle of the crowd and held up a sign that said, “SILENT PROTEST.” Finally, someone tapped him on the shoulder and asked, "What are you protesting?" The defiant figure held up another sign which said simply, “NOISE.”

  That experience reminds me of the Salvation Army bell ringer who was informed by a police officer that a local ordinance would prevent her from ringing her bell to invite contributions. But such a silly law couldn’t stop such a creative and determined woman. The next day she did a brisker business than ever as she would wave one sign and then another in the air. The signs simply said “ding” and “dong.” I love it!

  There’s so much noise in the world, especially in those weeks leading up to Christmas — music blaring out of every store, often in every department: impatient customers raising their voices to get the attention of weary, overworked store clerks; the blaring of horns and traffic jams, whining children, crabby parents. Because I find that all of the noise can be overwhelming, sometimes when I’m shopping in the electronics department of a department store, I’ll quietly move down the row, turning down the volume on each TV or stereo system.

  God cannot be found in noise and restlessness. As we look at His creation, it’s very apparent that God is the friend of the quiet, even silence. Look at  how nature, the trees, flowers, and grass grow in silence. See the stars, the moon and the sun and how they move in silence. We need silence to hear God’s voice in the inner sanctuary of our souls.

  It’s too easy to miss the real message of Christmas and the Incarnation because it’s lost midst all of the Christmas racket. Too often at Christmas because we over pack our lives and hustle at such a frenetic pace, that when there is finally quiet, we find ourselves dozing off. The quiet, instead of a time of listening and reflection, is overwhelmed by our own weariness. Soon rather than reflecting, we’re just snoring.

  An often overlooked yet vital sidelight in that first Christmas is found in Luke 2:19, “Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.” This morning during our Grace Family Christmas, take some time to “ponder.” If there’s any music that we’re too familiar with, it’s Christmas music. We can listen to it or sing it by heart, yet never let it touch our hearts. Or we become enamored with the beauty of the music, we miss the message. Christmas is a time for more pondering like Mary did.

  One of the best examples of that to me is George Handel’s Messiah. If you’re familiar with the Messiah, you know that every word of that oratorio composed in 1741 is from Scripture, from the King James Bible. It’s one of the best-known and most frequently performed choral works in Western music. Every holiday season professional choirs and musicians will do beautiful renditions of it. Yet, many of those who are playing or singing aren’t even religious. Often, they’re atheists or God-deniers. Sadly, they’re so focused on the voices or the beauty of the music that they miss the power of God’s eternal Word. It’s only in God’s Word that we find forgiveness and eternal life. The Bible is God’s written Word; Jesus came in His incarnation to be the Living Word (John 1).

  Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” Such a simple verse from the Bible, yet one of the most difficult to follow, particularly in our noisy world. When was the last time that you sat still—perfectly still—for any length of time? Not just your body, but your mind…your soul? Many of us find that very difficult. It’s a lot harder than it sounds, yet so much more rewarding than you could ever imagine.

  God reaches out to each one of us with that “still, small voice.” Most of the time, though, we’re so busy, so active, so preoccupied that we don’t hear what God is trying to say to us. We can’t even hear His voice in His Word. That’s why quiet and solitude are such an important part of the life of faith. Perhaps, it’s more vital during the Christmas season than even at other times of the year. Because it’s in the solitude and silence that God waits for us. The more often we practice solitude, the more often we will find the God who waits, and the more we will hear the God who speaks.

  It’s in the silence we God can give us a glimpse into our own souls. Most of us never reflect on who we really are. It’s only as we know who we are and the condition of our souls apart from Christ, that we’re sinners, that we have committed crimes against a just God – that we see our need of salvation and a Savior. Apart from reflection, we can convince ourselves that we’re nice people. Or, at least not as bad as some of the “bad” people out there. At best, we erroneously believe that like the Grinch we can re-invent ourselves and create our own new heart BUT we can’t.

  Jesus did not come to reform us, He came to resurrect us. He came to give us new life. Apart from Christ, we are all “dead in our sins” (Ephesians 2:1). That’s why over and over again, we find in the nativity account that “He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Or, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).

  Yet, it’s often only in the quiet that we hear the voice of the Spirit compelling us not to come to the manger but to run to the Cross. He was born to die for us. He’s God’s gift to us. Have you accepted Christ as your Savior? Have you accepted God’s gift to you?

Get ready to be accused of being a Scrooge

“How shall I ever understand this world? There is nothing on which it is so hard as poverty, and yet, there is nothing it condemns with such severity as the pursuit of wealth.”  Ebenezer Scrooge

  If you’re going to take a biblical approach toward poverty, be ready to be accused of being a “Scrooge.”  A biblical worldview isn’t PC. To many, it appears cold and heartless…Scrooge-ish. During the Christmas Season, there are countless appeals to help the less fortunate. This past week my mailbox was filled with appeals for “Giving Tuesday.”

  As Christians, we’re commanded in Scripture to care for the poor and hurting, particularly the widow and fatherless. Yet, because most of the requests are packaged emotionally rather than rationally (and rarely biblically) without working through many of the variables, the bigger questions often are never asked, much less answered: Is this help truly helping? Is this wise stewardship of the resources God has entrusted to me? Am I assisting or am I enabling?

  Neither the questions or answers are simple. Nor is there “a one size fits all” solution. Each situation usually must be individually considered and evaluated. To develop and apply a biblical worldview requires wisdom and the investment of careful evaluation before there’s a financial investment. As believers, we’re stewards with limited resources. We’re to be wise with what our Heavenly Father has entrusted to us. Some day each of us will give account for how we invested His money.

  To apply a biblical worldview in this area, that’s theologically driven and includes personal responsibility of the recipients, is pariah to many, particularly those who are emotively driven. Put a cute child’s picture with big imploring eyes in front of us and we’re grabbing our wallets. Yet, because these problems are increasingly complex, our approach is going to potentially need to be a lifelong work in progress. Let me suggest though…

  Before you give, do some research on the organization you’re considering donating to. For example, I don’t give to Goodwill. The “Goodwill Mission” appears to me to be to pay local CEOs like they’re royalty. I have a hard time giving to an organization that’s supposed to help the poor where the CEO is paid extravagantly (salaries in a nearly seven figure range). People donate believing they’re giving to help the needy, not pay huge salaries. Also, look for organizations who actually direct the bulk of funds to the cause you believe you’re donating to. Many spend more on fundraising and administration than on people or the cause they’re purportedly seeking to help.

  As I read Scripture and what it says about helping the poor, the emphasis is on assisting what’s known as the “working poor.” Contemporary social handwringers would dub the Apostle Paul a Grinch for his instructions regarding the poor: “Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness…For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.” (2 Thessalonians 3:6 & 10). Under the Mosaic Law provisions were made for the poor but it wasn’t a handout. The edges of the fields were to be left so the poor could glean the remnants of the harvest. We find a beautiful account of that in the Old Testament book of Ruth. Biblically, then our responsibility is to help those who are the working poor. When we help those seeking to help themselves, many of them with our assistance and encouragement will leave that designation, ultimately becoming independent and contributors to others in need. The Bible also teaches that we’re to let natural consequences of indolence motivate people to change.

  The Bible teaches that our first priority, after our biological family, is to help our spiritual family. Galatians 6:11, “as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” That’s why at Grace we have a Deacon Care Fund. Because there are enough needs within our church and because we don’t want to enable those who know how to manipulate the system, we rarely help those outside of our church. To be candid, we just don’t know them.

  Let me share just one example of why we take this approach. We had a woman stop by the church a few years back looking for cash to buy her baby asthma medicine. We wouldn’t give her money but offered to meet her at the pharmacy to pay for the prescription. We went there but then she never showed. Later, she was arrested for fraud. It’s easier to help those in our church and fellow believers. We know them and their circumstances.

  What though is often misunderstood is what it means to be truly “poor.” Most Americans have no concept of true poverty. Most have never gone without a meal because there was no food. You’ll find that many who consider themselves poor have cable, Internet, Netflix, multiple cell phones and cars, smoke, drink and often use illicit drugs. Poor is not all that poor in America. And to suggest that those are not necessities is considered cold and gauche. Add to that, frequently they’re cohabiting yet expect others to underwrite the costs of their children. So not only have we lost the War on Poverty, the “army” of the impoverished continues to exponentially grow.

  One of the greatest problems is that there’s little incentive to work in our current system. Obviously, the issue is far too complicated to work through in this short space. In fact, bettering yourself is discouraged. Under our current system, if you begin to work, make money, you then lose your government assistance funds. That’s just stupid! Yet, I see well meaning charities essentially doing the same thing. Rather than having a graduated scholarship program to help clients develop financial independence, they continue to give them money if the funds are available.

  Yes, we’re to help those who are truly needy (and not just at Christmas). We are to have generous hearts but must do it in a way that lines up with Scripture. The line between helping and enabling is often a fine one. God probably has brought needy folk into your life that you can be Jesus too.

  We must never forget though that the greatest need of everyone, rich or poor, is to accept the Gospel, to personally accept God’s great gift of salvation. What real good have we done if we help someone out of poverty, yet they exit this life spiritually poor into a Christless eternity?