A Christ-follower with a limp

Sunday, January 30, 2022

What the demise of Blackberry means for the Church

“Adaptability is being able to adjust to any situation at any given time." John Wooden

There was a time when it was hard to look beyond BlackBerry in the smartphone market. They were so ubiquitous, they were often dubbed “Crackberry.” At the beginning of the 2010s, BlackBerry’s dominance was undisputed. It was the most prominent smartphone in the world. Even President Obama had one. At its peak in 2013, there were eighty-five million subscribers worldwide. But that was yesterday. It’s the end of an era. BlackBerry ended support for its smartphones on January 4^th.

What happened? Blackberry failed to adapt to a changing world. Its billionaire founder, Mike Lazaridis, was celebrated as a national hero in Canada and Waterloo, Ontario, where the company is headquartered, was Canada’s Silicon Valley. The rot began when corporate leaders failed to recognize the huge challenge posed by Apple's first iPhones and were slow to respond to rapid changes in the smartphone market. In the end, BlackBerry fell victim to its own stubbornness…and the rest is history.

We’re in the midst of a world change. Covid has radically changed our world. This little virus has affected nearly every aspect of life from work and school to everyday activities like buying groceries, and even our wardrobes. Think about some of the changes that are now “normal.”

We have a new vocabulary. Oxford English Dictionary’s 2021 Word of the Year was “vax.” Several new words and phrases have become part of our vocabulary: “social distancing, masking, Rona, etc.”

We have a wardrobe addition. The must-have fashion item became a small piece of cloth to put around your face. At first they were homemade masks, then medical ones. While Wisconsin doesn’t have a mask mandate, many employees are required to wear them. You can’t enter a medical facility without one. In some parts of the country, you can barely leave your house without putting on a mask.

Anxiety and depression have increased. The pandemic has taken a serious toll on mental health. One study found that levels of anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts have skyrocketed since it began.

Increased alcohol and drug abuse. Another insidious side effect of the pandemic have been increases in alcohol consumption and illegal drug use. A study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association found alcohol consumption rose 14% during pandemic shutdowns. Women, in particular, reported worrying increases in heavy drinking. This crisis has worsened existing mental health problems.

Rampant rumors and conspiracy theories. Rumors like drinking bleach can kill the virus or inhaling hot air from a hairdryer will help cure it. The pandemic has hatched thousands of rumors and conspiracy theories.

School and church closures. Schools across the U.S. and the world made the decision to close and opt for virtual learning. It’s been debated how long they should remain closed and when is it safe to reopen. Many children though have fallen behind academically and may never recover.

In places like Canada and Australia, large gatherings are still banned and churches cannot meet. Pastors have been arrested and churches faced with draconian fines even for holding worship services outdoors.

Blackberry failed to adapt to a changing world, but in the Church we must. Our world has changed and we must adapt if we’re going to fulfill our mission. Yet, none of this is new for the Church of Jesus Christ. Read Church History, from the birth of the Church in the book of Acts, until today, the culture has continually changed and the Church has had to adapt to be effective.

Jesus promised, “I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). His Church will continue to grow until His plan and purposes are done. Throughout history many have sought to destroy His Church. They’re gone but the Church is alive and marches on.

What may not survive or thrive are individual churches. God’s truth does not change, thus our message must not change. What we must adapt are our methods and approaches to ministry. Because we’re in a new era, any church that desires to be effective and glorify the Savior is going to have to experiment and adapt. None of us are sure what all of that means. Here though are some considerations that affect today’s ministry.

People are very fearful. Many of those we are seeking to reach are very frightened. God doesn’t want us to live in fear. Fear is the direct opposite of faith. In fact, God’s Word overflows with admonitions to not fear. We’re not talking about foolishness. A lost world desperately needs to see people of faith not just talk about trusting God, but truly trusting God!

People are very angry. Those we are seeking to reach are often on edge. Anger is frequently the poisoned fruit of fear. Just recently in our area, a customer pointed a gun at a fast-food worker after seeing an employee touch his food without wearing gloves.

While anger is not always a sin, in that God gets angry, it must be handled very cautiously – like nitroglycerine (Eph. 4:26-27). Christians, instead of adding fuel to the angry atmosphere, must be cautious and not become caught up with irrational emotions that have contaminated so many. Instead, we must be the people of love, grace, and kindness, rather than being caught up in today’s rage.

People are very judgmental. For Christians, the only thing that ultimately matters is: Do you know Jesus as your personal Savior? Whether you wear a mask or don’t, whether you’re vaxxed or not, whether you’re a Democrat or Republican…all of those things are trivial in light of eternity. Yet, let’s be honest, what do we talk often about and focus on, even in the Church? In eternity, the only thing that will matter is: Do you know my Jesus?

Death has become very real. Just five years ago, there was an existential, live and let live. Not today. We have a great opportunity. Those who don’t know the Lord around us are much more focused on life and death issues, and eternity than at any time in potentially the last hundred years.

No one has all the answers. We do know that the mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ has not changed. We must be the ones who have His peace, who care and share His love, yet hold to His truth. We must adapt as we can and reach our world with His message of hope. This is our time! Let’s not miss the opportunities the Lord is giving us!

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address.

Sunday, January 23, 2022

The Sanctity of Life is more than just abortion

“Science is a gift from God. He gave it to us so we can know more about Him.” Dr. Joe Francis

A little earlier this month medical science entered a new world. David Bennett, 57, became the first person to receive a heart transplant from a genetically-modified pig. So far he is doing well after the experimental seven-hour procedure in Baltimore. The transplant was considered the last hope of saving Bennett's life, though it is not yet clear what his long-term chances of survival are. “It was either die or do this transplant,” Bennett explained a day before the surgery.

Doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center were granted a special dispensation by the U.S. medical regulator to carry out the procedure, on the basis that Mr. Bennett - who has terminal heart disease - would otherwise have died. He’d been deemed ineligible for a human transplant, a decision often taken by doctors when the patient is in very poor health. The pig used in the transplant had been genetically modified to knock out several genes that would have led to the heart being rejected. For the medical team who carried out the transplant, it marks the culmination of years of research and could hopefully change lives around the world.

Animal-to-human organ transplants were first attempted in the 1980s. In a famous case, Stephanie Fae Beauclair (known as Baby Fae) was born with a fatal heart condition and received a baboon heart transplant. She died within a month of the procedure due to her immune system’s rejection of the foreign heart and similar transplant attempts were abandoned. Medical researchers hope the use of pig organs will prove to be more successful. For this transplant, four genes were “knocked out” of the pig organ to make it more compatible for use in a human. Six human genes responsible for immune acceptance of the pig heart were also inserted into the pig genome.

More than 100,000 Americans are currently waiting for an organ transplant, and 17 die each day waiting for a transplant. But is it biblically ethical? Is it ethical to transplant animal organs into humans?

Most Christians have never had to consider the ethics of xenotransplantation, the transplantation of an organ or tissue from one species to another. With technological advances in biomedicine, that may soon change. While we need to continually be cautious about abusing our roles as stewards of Creation (Gen. 1:28), specifically the animal kingdom and avoid crossing obvious interspecies barriers, we should also give thanks to God for the lives that may be saved by such transplants.

This is also not a huge leap. For some time pig heart valves have been used effectively in humans. Literally, thousands of Americans are walking around with functioning heart valves that came from pigs. When it comes to pigs, there has been less rejection than from other species and the size of a pig's heart is similar in size to a human one.

But science asks the wrong question. Science asks, “Could we?” when the more important ethical question is: “Should we?” What was once science fiction is becoming accepted “science.”

Coma was a 1978 American mystery thriller film based on the 1977 novel of the same name by Robin Cook. Healthy patients are deemed brain dead and then their bodies stored so that their organs can be harvested.

Human Rights advocates have been alarmed for years by reports of organ harvesting in China targeting minorities - Uyghurs, Tibetans, Muslims, and Christians who have been imprisoned by the Communist government. While our government has sanctions against North Korea, the evils of China are ignored. There is one primary reason – it’s not profitable to American business or our government to hold China accountable.

Yet, one does not have to travel across the world to uncover atrocities. Abortion is a lucrative business. Those who defend it the most ardently often have a financial interest in keeping it legal and common. Nearly a million children lose their lives annually in the U.S. because abortion is a billion-dollar business.

Let’s consider the ethics of David Bennett’s case. Why him? Weren’t there more worthy candidates for this experimental surgery? In 1988 he stabbed a bar patron seven times in a brutal attack and was convicted of it. After the attack, the victim, Edward Shumaker, became an invalid. The attack ultimately resulted in a stroke and his premature death.

Then, do we really believe that a culture that has little problem terminating life in the womb will have a moral dilemma terminating life at the end? Active euthanasia is becoming more common in Europe and not just for terminal illness. In 2015 doctors in Belgium granted an otherwise healthy 24-year-old woman suffering from depression the right to die, even though she does not have a terminal or life-threatening illness.

Will we get to a place where euthanasia is chosen because it is less expensive to terminate the elderly, terminally or mentally ill than it is to care for them? Are we that far behind Nazi Germany or North Korea?

Is it an accident that the same states with the most liberal abortion laws, put Covid patients in nursing homes, knowing full well that the elderly and infirm were the most vulnerable to the virus?

Elitism is rampant in our country where the superrich and ones who make the laws fail do not live under those same laws. Is it farfetched to believe that we’re on the brink of cloning to harvest organs for some elitists?

Today we are celebrating Sanctity of Life Sunday (some churches celebrated last Sunday). If Christians do not have a firm grip on the sacredness of life and the importance of the Imago Dei, what kind of world might we soon have? Isn’t the role of Christians as salt and light in our culture to resist pragmatism and question the scientific community with “Should we?” Trusting “science” unequivocally has the potential of opening a Pandora’s Box, that once open, will never be closed.

Sunday, January 16, 2022

Hope!

“Hope can see heaven through the thickest clouds.” Thomas Brooks

According to a recent poll, roughly two-thirds of Americans say they felt nervous, depressed, lonely, or hopeless on at least one of their past seven days, the poll found. For each of the four emotions, close to 2 in 10 Americans said they felt that way on three or more days. 14% said they felt reactions such as sweating, becoming nauseous, or hyperventilating when thinking about their experience with the pandemic. One in four adults ages 18 to 24 have considered suicide. “There’s been this narrative that young people are spared a lot of the impact of Covid because they’re less likely to develop real severe physical complications,” says Ellen Burstein, one of the poll researchers and a junior at Harvard. “But it’s taken a profound toll on their mental health.”
We are living in what some experts have labeled “a pandemic of hopelessness.” For many, the turmoil has less to do with Covid-19 than the pressures on our mental health triggered by lockdowns and uncertainty. They feel like they’re living in a nightmare. A pandemic is raging, erasing more lives than many wars combined. People experiencing hopelessness may make or think statements such as:

My situation will never get better. I have no future. No one can help me. I feel like giving up. It is too late now. I have no hope. I will never be happy again.

On Saturday, December 17, 1927, the crew of the Navy submarine S-4 was trolling beneath the waters of Cape Cod Bay. They were engaged in routine testing of their vessel. The Coast Guard Cutter Paulding was traveling across the surface doing the same. The vessels never saw each other. The submarine broke the surface just in time to receive a death blow from the Paulding. The submarine, with its crew of forty, sank in less than five minutes and came to rest more than one hundred feet below on the ocean floor.
Rescue attempts, though meager and primitive in 1927, began at once. But due to impossible weather, it took twenty-four hours for the first diver to descend to the wreckage. As soon as the diver’s feet hit the hull, he immediately heard tapping. There were survivors, alive, trapped inside.
Pounding out Morse code on the hull with a hammer, the diver discovered that six crewmen had survived the collision. With their air supply dwindling, the six survivors tapped out in Morse code a final haunting question, “Is there any hope?”
That’s what many in our world are asking today: “Is there any hope?”
This morning we’re beginning a several-week series: HOPE. Many around us have lost hope. It may be that they’re in what they consider to be a hopeless relationship. Others have lost hope after learning of a terminal medical condition. Some look at our country and our world and feel a sense of hopelessness. Others struggle with an addiction or habit for years and can’t seem to conquer it. They wonder, “Is there any hope?”
Our God is the God of hope. The Bible is a Book of hope. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be working through how we can have hope, God’s hope.
To help you head in the right direction as we begin this series, here are some practical strategies for growing in God’s hope:
Begin each morning by spending 20-30 minutes in God’s presence, reading and meditating on His Word, praying, and even singing. Believers like us who struggled with hopelessness made it the priority of every single day to delight in time with their Heavenly Father. If you lack hope, ask God to fill you with His hope and eternal perspective.
Memorize some of God’s wonderful promises that kindle hope in your soul so that you can meditate on them throughout the day. Romans 15:13, 8:28, 8:32, and many other verses like them will help you to set your mind on the things above rather than on the problems that are bogging you down. The Psalms are loaded with verses of trust in God in the midst of life-threatening situations.
Keep a gratitude journal and write down several blessings every day that God has given you. Begin by thanking Him each morning for sending His beloved Son to save you from your sins. Thank Him that you have His Word to guide and sustain you. Thank Him for all your blessings and even for your trials (1 Thess. 5:18), which help you to grow. Immediately confess all grumbling as sin and instead deliberately think each day of things that you can thank God for.
When you feel overwhelmed with despair, talk to yourself: Tell yourself, again and again, to hope in God. The depressed psalmist did this repeatedly (Ps. 42:5): “Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence.”
Read the biographies of godly saints who have run the race before you. Read how William Carey, Adoniram Judson, George Muller, Amy Carmichael, Corrie ten Boom, Joni Eareckson-Tada and many more men and women of faith trusted God in the midst of overwhelming trials.
As Adoniram Judson suffered horrible torture and deprivation in a squalid Burmese prison. A friend sent him a letter and asked, “Judson, how’s the outlook?” Judson replied, “The outlook is as bright as the promises of God.” Adoniram Judson abounded in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. So can we! That same hope from God is available to us!

Sunday, January 9, 2022

Making a Reset

“The greatest power you possess in life is your understanding that each day life gives you a fresh start any moment you choose to start fresh.” Guy Finley

Timanthes was an aspiring Greek artist during the Roman era. While studying under a well-respected tutor, he was nearing completion of a major painting. Upon arriving in the morning, he found the canvas blotted out with paint. Enraged, he confronted his teacher who admitted to destroying his work. His tutor said, “You were spending so much time admiring what you had done, that you were no longer improving. This was a great painting for some, but not for you. You can do much better.”
So, Timanthes went to work again, energized with anger. But his mentor was right. The new and improved product became one of the most famous paintings of antiquity, Sacrifice of Iphigenia. Thanks to a little-known art teacher who insisted that his student do a reset and start over.
This time of year, we reflect a lot on the past and the future. Networks carry programs reviewing highlights and low points from the past year. People talk about resolutions and goals for the coming year. It would be wise if we used this time as an opportunity for a reset.
Now I’m not suggesting that you quit your marriage, your job, or ditch your kids, but you can have a new marriage, new kids, new job, etc., by resetting yourself. Reset being the husband/wife you are, reset your parenting, reset your reputation at work, reset your walk with the Lord.
Making a reset takes something few are willing to invest. Many have a sense of dissatisfaction with the state of their life, yet they’re so busy doing that they fail to take the time to evaluate what they’re doing.
2,500 years ago the great philosopher, Socrates warned: Beware the barrenness of a busy life.” Most of us are so busy that we fail to take the time to evaluate our lives. Or, worse we justify what we’re doing because it must be right because “everyone else is doing it.” But what if all of the birds are flying in the wrong direction. Your Mom was right, “just because everyone else jumps off the roof, doesn’t mean that you should too.”
Making a reset requires taking time for evaluation. For the Christian it means taking some time alone with the Lord, praying, and asking for the wisdom that He’s promised to supply (James 1:5).
Making a reset requires vulnerability with those who love you and are spiritually mature. For most of us our spouse is our greatest source of insights on where we need a reset. Those who love us the most usually know us the best. Ask these questions: If I could grow in one area this year, what do you believe I should grow in? If I made one change to improve our relationship this coming year, what would it be?
Then, each of us needs a godly friend who will honestly speak into our lives. Just a word of caution. Sometimes our contemporaries and close friends are just that because there is no friction between us. Either they won’t risk confronting us or they think, value and look at life the same way we do. In others words, they don’t rock our boats. For a reset though we need spiritually mature friends who are willing to rock our boats.
Solomon had such a friend in mind in Proverbs 27. In verse 5 Solomon writes, “Better is open rebuke than hidden love.” Verse 6, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend” and verse 9, “the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.” Having this kind of friend means having our world rattled and moving outside of our comfort zones.
Making a reset requires having an eternal perspective. At this time of year, we’re blitzed with commercials about diet programs and fitness clubs. Getting fit and physical exercise is important, but it will only help you for this brief life.
The Bible compares our physical bodies to tents. If your neighbor had a tent in their backyard and spent tons of money redecorating, patching, and changing the colors to keep up with the latest trends, you’d think, “what a poor investment.” Most of us focus on the maintenance of our “tents,” yet neglect our souls.
1 Timothy 4:8 says, “for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” Making it a priority to daily spend time in your Bible and in prayer is an investment, not just for this temporal world, but for eternity.
The average person spends a couple of hours on social media every day, yet we somehow rationalize that we don’t have time for God’s Word and prayer. What’s more important? The latest news or trends or God’s eternally good news that can change your life?
The Lord Jesus gave His life for us and wants what’s best for us. He wants our lives to count for this world and for eternity. So, like an exercise program start small. If you begin with a Bible/Prayer marathon, you’ll soon quit. Consistency is more important than quantity. Determine to take 10 or 15 minutes a day with the Lord.
Most find that starting in the morning is best. Otherwise, you find by the end of the day you’re just too tired. The reset many need is to simply start.
Making a reset requires continually exercising your mind. Wise parents know that they have to teach their children to love more nutritious food than Happy Meals. God gave us our minds to be used. They need to be stretched and prodded.
The average American reads four books a year. Most of us could easily read a book a month. It would only take 10 minutes a day. You probably spend more than that waiting for trains at railroad crossings. Stretching in our reading helps us reach this world. It helps us think more clearly and have a larger worldview.
Before we blink we’ll be ringing in 2023. Let’s do a reset and wisely invest this year, making it the best year ever!

Sunday, January 2, 2022

Making the Most of Mistakes!

“Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life.” Sophia Loren

Have you ever dialed a wrong number? I’m not talking about a butt call, but actually getting the numbers confused and dialing a wrong number. How about making a wrong turn? Sent an email to the wrong person or did a reply all when you should have replied to one person?

2022 is still in the delivery room. You probably already know this…you’re going to make mistakes this year, lots of them.

There’s a tendency for most people to confuse mistakes with sins. They’re not the same. The term “mistake” implies an error in judgment—something done unintentionally. A legitimate mistake might be…turning onto a one-way street, going the wrong way, or pouring salt into your coffee, thinking it was sugar, calling someone the wrong name or completely forgetting their name. It’s picking up Pepsi when you’re supposed to buy Coke. These could all be legitimate mistakes.

A sin is more than a mistake. It’s a deliberate choice to do something you know is wrong. The word “transgression” is stronger. It implies deliberately stepping over a boundary.

In 2022, you’re going to make mistakes. Mistakes though are just part of an imperfect world. They can even be fun or open doors to new adventures.

At the beginning of December 2021 one Pontiac, Michigan, high school basketball team sent out a group text to a wrong number. The person that they inadvertently messaged was Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback, Sean Murphy-Bunting. Their mistake would lead to a FaceTime call with some of the biggest stars in the Bucs' locker room that day.

The call started because they didn't believe who Murphy-Bunting was. He then got tight end, Rob Gronkowski, to join in, before handing the phone off to cornerback, Richard Sherman, and running back, Leonard Fournette. Fournette stayed on FaceTime for a good 10 minutes while Tom Brady finished up a meeting. The boys are absolutely losing it during this. After some time passes he pops up on the screen and says “What’s up fellas?!?!” And those boys lose their minds!

“That was sweet,” Brady said of the impromptu FaceTime. “I didn't know who it was. [Leonard] said, ‘Here's my boy’ or whatever he said. It was nice. It would have been nice for me when I had been in high school too.”

And when Tom Brady found out the kids were from Michigan? “Even better,” he said. “That was fun. That was really fun. It was really good to see all those young kids hyped up.”

That’s a mistake that they’ll tell their children and grandchildren about. To me, it’s what makes Tom Brady a G.O.A.T. It’s not just his unbelievable skills on the football field, it’s how he and those other professional football players treated some teenagers who had simply dialed the wrong number.

You’re going to make mistakes. I’m going to make mistakes. Everyone you know is going to make mistakes.

If you can, enjoy your mistakes. If you make a wrong turn or miss your exit, the world will not end. If you dial a wrong number, it’s just human error. If you spill something or break something or lose something…it’s just a mistake.

One of the greatest gifts that a parent can give a child is the freedom to make mistakes. Kids accidentally spill things, break things, and lose things (Big kids do too!). It’s part of growing up. It’s not the time to read them the riot act. It was just part of being human…just like their parents.

Most of us need to learn to take life far less seriously. I’ll never forget when Jane and I were first married and I wanted to repay a friend for repairing my car with a southern meal. So I cooked: fried chicken, biscuits, and buttermilk gravy to repay him. But I made a big mistake with the biscuits. Rather than a teaspoon of baking powder, I didn’t understand the abbreviation and put in a tablespoon of baking powder. They were horrible! But my friend was so gracious and only laughed at my blunder.

Turn mistakes into adventures and opportunities. Our children always knew that life for our family was about to get interesting if we were driving somewhere and either Jane or I looked at each other and said, “Pudding!”

It’s a code word from the George Bernard Shaw play, Pygmalion (it later inspired the film version, My Fair Lady). For the two actors who used the code word, it meant that an adventure had started.

Life is often an adventure and a fun one. There were many unique places we went or people that we met just because we’d made a wrong turn. Rather than becoming angry or anxious, look for the fun opportunity.

Alaska is one of the fifty states because Russia thought they needed money more than territory and sold it to the U.S. for a mere 2 cents an acre. Though ridiculed “Seward’s Folly” mocking then U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward’s purchase of the territory, in just 50 years the USA was able to earn from Alaska more than 100 times what they had invested in its purchase.

Let your mistakes cultivate that needed gift of humility in your life. J.K. Rowling, who was a client of the Christopher Little Literary Agency, was rejected 12 times in row for her first novel. Finally, when the eight-year-old daughter of an editor at Bloomsbury expressed her desire to read the rest of the book, Bloomsbury decided to publish Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. However, the editor believed that this novel would be a major flop, and even went to the extent of advising Rowling to look for a backup day-time job. And the rest is history. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, which was released in 1997, and the following four novels in the series, became the fastest-selling books ever, with a total of 450 million copies sold worldwide. It’s the bestselling book series in literary history.

Life is not a planned perfect selfie. It’s more like a scene from America’s Funniest Bloopers. You can choose to become embarrassed or irritated, or you can laugh at the reminder that you’re human. Being human means we humbly admit that we blow it and don’t have all of the answers.

In 2022 learn to laugh at yourself. It will keep your soul healthy (Proverbs 17:22) and give you some needed perspective that this isn’t a perfect world and neither are we. And taking life a lot less seriously sure makes the day-to-day journey a lot more enjoyable!

Sunday, December 26, 2021

The Greatest Story

“There’s nothing more important than a good story.” Lauren Graham

Do you love a good story? I sure do. Years ago I loved to hear Paul Harvey share The Rest of the Story. Today one of my favorite podcasts is Mike Rowe’s The Way I Heard It. Both are such gifted storytellers.

I’m thankful theaters are finally open again and Hollywood has started releasing blockbusters. Watching a movie at home isn’t the same as a large theater with a big screen and a tub of popcorn.

Apparently, it’s something that’s hardwired into us – we crave a good story. Maybe it’s because stories give us a sense of place in this eternal, supernatural existence. They stir our imaginations and help us make sense of love, betrayal, hatred, and compassion. Stories prepare us for experiences like sorrow and suffering. The ways we interpret our lives, our relationships, our past, and our future are all tied up in stories.

Even our fairytales are connected to reality. We long for someone to love us in spite of our beastliness and break us out of our castle of suffering. We crave a hero to free us from our sleeping enchantments of ignorance, pain, and injustice. In our heart of hearts, we really don’t want death to be the end. “It can’t be,” we tell ourselves, “that evil is allowed to ultimately triumph. That’s just not fair!”

Though most people in America hang Christmas decorations and exchange gifts on December 25^th, few say they could give all the details about the biblical Christmas story. 53% of Americans say they could retell the biblical Christmas story from memory, but only 22% say they could do so accurately, according to Lifeway Research.

In a world of heroes, villains, comedies, tragedies, twists of fate, and surprise endings, there’s only one story—one grand narrative that encompasses all other stories on earth: the good news story or the gospel story. Do you know the gospel story?

Someone told it like this…Once upon a time, the universe was created as part of a larger, supernatural, spiritual world. The good King (Jesus) and the evil sorcerer (Satan) really do exist. Unfortunately, years and years ago, all of humanity was blinded by an evil spell. The first prince and princess (Adam and Eve) sacrificed their innocence and were expelled from paradise. Ever since that day, all the King’s children (including you and me) have longed to get back into paradise. We wake up each morning longing for the spell to be broken.

Thankfully, on the first Christmas, the heroic King punched a hole between His world and ours, coming to save us from the evil spell! Jesus grew up living a sinless life. He calmed storms, healed the sick, and raised the dead. After He laid down His own life to die on a cross, God’s Spirit raised Him back to life three days later. Jesus is the only true hero with a qualified resume to save us, transform us, and one day restore us.

Finally, one day soon, evil and death will ultimately lose, the King will ultimately win, and His followers will live happily ever after with Him! As C. S. Lewis declared in The Weight of Glory, “The door on which we have been knocking all our lives will open at last.”

In more modern terms that’s the gospel story but you don’t have to invite someone to church to hear the gospel story. You can tell it. All of us share stories. Shouldn’t we be able to share the greatest story? Maybe begin by retelling the story to a friend who has the Bible in front of them. They can correct whatever errors you make. The aim is to retell the story according to the following guidelines (the acronym is SAM):

Simple: Only use words that the listener understands. If you’re sharing it with a child, make sure you use words on their level of comprehension. If it’s a child or an unchurched adult, use words on their level and that would be in their common vernacular. Being incarnational means leaving the “language” of your world and entering theirs.

The Lord Jesus was the master of this. When He talked to Nicodemus, the religiously schooled theologian, He used complex words and concepts. When He talked to blue-collar fishermen, He used the metaphor of fishing. As He talked to the woman at the well in John 4 who had come to draw water, Jesus talked about being thirsty and her thirsty soul.

Accurate: You can simplify the story by leaving out some things—place names, names of persons, details about a particular location, yet don’t add things to embellish the story.

Memorable: Retell the story in a memorable way. What’s memorable? Feel free to use facial expressions, body language, and actions to get the emotion and the drama in the story across to your listeners.

Can you imagine sharing the new spiderman story in a dull monotone lecture style? Stories of heroes are exciting! Love stories are emotional.

Jesus is the greatest hero of all time. It’s an exciting story! And it’s a beautiful love story. You and I, because of sin, were the ugly stepsisters. Jesus the Prince didn’t leave His throne for Cinderella. He willingly left His throne for us, the ugly stepsisters. Not only did He leave His throne, but He also let evil men nail Him to a cross. He could have called the armies of heaven to rescue Him, but He didn’t. Instead, He willingly laid down His life for us, to pay the price for all of our sins.

If you’ve committed your life to Christ, it’s your story. And if you haven’t yet committed your life to Christ, it can be your story starting today.

Will you surrender your life to Jesus today? Trust Him. Commit your life to Him. Put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, finding your ultimate fulfillment in His eternal story. If you commit your life to Christ, then His story will become your story!

Sunday, December 19, 2021

He's the YOU you need!

“God made Christmas happen; friends make Christmas beautiful, music makes Christmas festive; giving makes Christmas joyous, love makes Christmas.” William Arthur Ward

According to this year’s data the most played Christmas song is Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas, followed by Wham!’s Last Christmas, and Ariana Grande’s Santa Tell Me. Some top songs make indirect references to the religious aspect of Christmas, but most stick to love, the weather, or an occasional chestnut. Globally, the most popular Christmas song to mention Jesus is Boney M.’s Mary’s Boy Child/Oh My Lord, which comes in at No. 71. It’s followed by Nina Nesbitt’s O Holy Night at 79 and Josh Groban and Faith Hill performing The First Nöel at 90.

The presence of Jesus in popular Christmas music varies widely by country revealing differences in musical taste, holiday traditions, and the spread of Christianity by missionaries, markets, and immigration.

Though it’s not the intent of the song, Mariah Carey’s, All I Want for Christmas is you has the right goal – it’s just the wrong “you.” Many believe that if they had someone to love or to love them, if they had someone in their life, some “you” then Christmas would be perfect. Experience demonstrates that a human “you” won’t satisfy. The only “You” that will truly satisfy our heart’s greatest longings is the YOU who came on that first Christmas 2,000 years ago, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Two millennia later tragically most of the world still doesn’t know who that YOU truly is. While Jesus has been acclaimed as the greatest religious leader to ever live, the most influential person to have walked on this planet, and unique to the degree that no one can be compared to Him, the true Jesus is still an unknown. Considering Jesus Christ merely on the basis of an exemplary life and His superior moral teaching will never remove the stumbling blocks to Christianity raised by an unbelieving world. The real test of what one thinks of Jesus revolves around who He claimed to be and what He accomplished during His brief mission to this world. Without a personal relationship with Jesus Christ life is an empty stocking.

John Blanchard estimated that, of all of the people who have ever lived since the dawn of civilization, there have been about 60 billion people that have walked this planet. Of those 60 billion, only a handful have made any real, lasting impression or have actually changed the world. And in that handful, there is One who stands head and shoulders above all of the others—His name is Jesus. More attention has been given to Him; more devotion has been given to Him; more criticism has been given to Him; more adoration has been given to Him; more opposition has been given to this one person than all of the others combined.

Every recorded word that He said has been more sifted, analyzed, scrutinized, debated—every word—than all of the historians and the philosophers and scientists put together. After 2,000 years, there is never one minute on this earth that millions are not studying what He said. Here’s a person who lived in a minuscule, tiny little land two millennia ago; and yet, His birth divides the centuries—BC and AD; Before Christ and Anno Domini, the year of our Lord. Even the more modern BCE, which attempts “religious neutrality” and to deny the impact Christ had on this world, still begins with Christ’s entry into this world of time and space.

He never wrote a book and yet, library after library could be filled with the volumes, the multiplied millions of volumes, which have been written about Jesus. He never painted a picture, so far as we know; and yet, the world’s greatest art, the world’s greatest dramas, the world’s greatest music, the world’s greatest literature has Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, as its source. He never raised an army, yet multiplied millions have died for Him. He never traveled more than fifty miles from His birthplace and yet, His testimony has gone around, and around, and around the world. He only had a handful of followers that followed Him in His ministry; and yet, today, over 30% of the world’s population names His name—the largest such grouping on Earth today—Jesus of Nazareth. A public ministry of only three short years and yet, here we are, 2,000 years later, saying, “Jesus, Your name is wonderful,” because His name is. He had no formal education. He didn’t attend a university or seminary yet thousands of universities, seminaries, colleges, and schools are built in His name. No one can call himself, herself, educated who does not understand Jesus Christ. As historian Kenneth Scott Latourette said: “Jesus has had more effect on the history of mankind than any other of His race who ever existed.”

Who is Jesus? He is many things but the reason that He came was to be our Savior. There is only one Savior, Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12). In His Son, God sent the greatest gift for sinners like us. No wonder the Apostle Paul exclaims, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Cor. 9:24).

The greatest event in all human history is the coming of a Savior from heaven to earth. Without His coming, there is no meaning to history. Jesus came into the world to save the world and us from divine destruction.

Why do we need a Savior? Because we are all guilty sinners. We need a Savior to take the guilt of our sins and to die our eternal death. That’s why Jesus died on the cross. All have sinned, including the virgin Mary; we all need a Savior. The shepherds of Bethlehem represent all sinners. To them, God announced that He had sent a Savior—His greatest gift to mankind. In Him, we receive grace and salvation.

A missionary, Gene Dulin, tells of standing in Austria, looking at a hand-carved nativity scene. The figures were a bit larger than life-size. It was one of the most beautiful that he’d ever seen. As he stood contemplating the meaning of the nativity, a grandmother stopped with her three-year-old grandchild. She stooped over and began talking with the child. She pointed to Mary, then to Joseph, and to the baby. Dulin says that while he couldn’t understand her language, he knew she was telling the story of Jesus to her grandchild. Then Dulin added, “For 2000 years parents and grandparents have passed on the story of Jesus. It has changed millions of lives and the whole world.” And it still does! That’s the gift of the baby in the manger but He didn’t just come to be born. He was born to die so He could be our Savior. Is He your Savior?