Well, We Got One Part Right

At the village church in Kalonovka, Russia, attendance at Sunday school picked up after the priest started handing out candy to the peasant children. One of the most faithful was a pug-nosed, pugnacious lad who recited his Scriptures with proper piety, pocketed his reward, then fled into the fields to munch on it.

The priest took a liking to the boy, persuaded him to attend church school. This was preferable to doing household chores from which his devout parents excused him. By offering other inducements, the priest managed to teach the boy the four Gospels. In fact, he won a special prize for learning all four by heart and reciting them nonstop in church. Then, 60 years later, he still liked to recite Scriptures, but in a context that would horrify the old priest. For the prize pupil, who memorized so much of the Bible, is Nikita Khrushchev, the former Communist czar.

The over used cliche goes "Going to church no more makes you a Christian than sleeping in a garage makes you a car." Question number 2 on our questionnaire sent all across the country to independent Baptist Teens was:

I Attend Church each week: A) 3 or more times a week; B) 2 Times a week; C) 1 Time a Week; D) Because my parents/school require it.

Again, this questionnaire was given to our teens. You would assume the answer to be A) 3 or more times a week. And, for the most part, it was. The results were as follows:

A) 70%; B) 18%; C) 5%; D) 7%

Well, we got one part right. The great majority of our teens are going to church faithfully...7% for the wrong reason, but at least they are going. But again, going to church doesn't make all things right.
Sadly, there are parents that "send" their children to church when they should be taking them to church. I encourage every father and mother to take their children to church with them.
So, if our children are at church, why are we losing them? I believe this is for many reasons. I will address the following and let Pastor Carr address as the Lord leads him.
I believe we major on the entertaining and minor on the discipling. Let's see how little Baptist Betty, born just 3 weeks ago will experience church for her first 18 years in the typical independent Baptist Church.
Betty will be brought to church and dropped off in the nursery until the age of 3. In the nursery she will play, eat, and occassionally make enough noise to be heard in the auditorium. Then Betty will start going to Sunday School. After Sunday School she will then go to 3-4 year old Jr. church, where she will play, draw, eat, sing fun kiddie songs and hear a 5 minute lesson. Sunday night, she will struggle through a service; the entire time being quieted by a pen, 3 bulletins, 2 tithing envelopes, a sucker, and three bathroom breaks. Oh, and don't forget the 4 rows of adults sitting behind her, waving and laughing and playing "Peek-a-boo" while the preacher is sharing the message the Lord gave him. Then, of course, 4 year old Betty goes to Patch Club/King's Kids/Awana or whatever is the flavor of the year during mid week services. There she will sing fun songs, a craft, say some verses, play a game, and of course eat a snack.
Soon Betty is in elementary. She now goes to Sunday School, Jr. Church, only 2 restroom trips during evening service and 1 bulletin, and midweek program as well. Then, Betty hits the big time. She goes to the youth group. Her Sunday consists of teen class first, where they will play a game, have a snack, gather with friends, and doze off during the lesson. Oh, she is involved. She can quote 100 verses (thank you midweek program and Christian academy). She is dressed right, matter of a fact, she has her eye on the deacon's son, Tom. He is a hottie. Soon she is sitting next to him in class and church. They pass a few notes to remind each other how great they are. She never misses an activity with Tom...I mean at her youth group. They sit on the back pew and leave quickly to go to their "talking spot" in the parking alot...alone. She loves the youth group and the activities. They are soo much fun...scavenger hunts, camp trips, volleyball, bowling....they all are great as they eat a snack, play a game, socialize, and a 5 minute devotion of course. She really is a "good girl." I mean, she isn't out getting high or drunk. She isn't losing her virginity. Dad and Mom are proud of Betty; struggling a little with attitude and her wanting to wear clothes that are a little questionable, and they did find that music CD; but she is a "good girl." Could be worse, right? Soon Betty graduates from her Christian Academy. We are excited for her.
Then Betty goes to her first post-teen class Sunday school. There are no snacks, no kiddie songs, nobody having fun...and wait, Betty is 18, she is an adult now! She can make her own decisions. Soon Betty is wearing her pants she always dreamed of. Rocking to her favorite music. Still dating Tom, and Tim, and Rob is cute too. Goes to church a few times a month. Dad and mom are praying. "Train up a child in the way he should go, and he will not depart from it." The teaching that is. I mean, we taught her right, had her in Christian school, youth group...she will return.
Soon, the servies at her OLD church are just not "meeting her spiritual needs." She is invited by a friend to the East Side Community Church. There, she finds it. What was missing...the snacks, the kiddie songs, the socializing, 10 minute devotions, the FUN that she was raised with...the way her church used to be. Dad and mom are glad she is in 'church,' it could be worse, right?
Another one, lost. Story varies some with each, but oh to familiar isn't it?
We are entertaining them, but not discipling them. They are loving church, until they are 19.
One area I believe we can improve this is by ceasing to separate our young people from their parents and church services. Scripture teaches that children are to be under the Word of God and its teaching with their parents:

13And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation; And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's. 2 Chron. 20

There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers that were conversant among them. Joshua 8:35

When all Israel is come to appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing.
Gather the people together, men and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the LORD your God, and observe to do all the words of this law: Deut. 31:11-12

Now when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there assembled unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children: for the people wept very sore. Ezra 10:1

In the New Testament, children were brought to Jesus and He welcomed them in His presence.

Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Mark 10:14

The New Testament Epistles were written to local churches and it was expected that the children would be in the congregation listening to the letters read aloud.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Eph. 6:1

Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. Col. 3:20

My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 1 John 2:1

Point is, they weren't in jr. church, teen class, kid's club, or anyplace else...they were sitting in the service. Rather than being surrounded by a majority of children their age, learning their traits (most bad), they, in the early church, were sitting in the congregation where the majority were adults who were matured in the Lord, who showed a love for the Word of God, who showed them what the Christian life was truly about.
I know it goes against "what we've always done." But as Pastor Carr said earlier, we need to get back to the Bible! Therein lies the answers. There is so much more (ie, what is taught in church, where they sit, who their friends are, if they pay attention)...another time perhaps.
Fact is our children are in church. We got that part right, but we still are losing them at an alarming rate. This is not God's plan!

Why?

Why? What a loaded question. So simple and yet so powerful, we often do our very best to avoid asking it, or if it is asked of us, we strive to do our best to avoid answering it. The reason, perhaps, being that we don't know the answer(something we men especially hate to admit) or we are afraid of what the answer may be.
As we are approaching this subject from a medical perspective(see Pastor Burke's comments regarding the plague)isn't that the reason why many avoid a visit to the doctor even when we know something is wrong? How foolish we are, yet how often this is done. Imagine if those back in the time of the plagues had continued on with the same practices as before even though they were getting no results. It wasn't until somebody decided to stop and ask "Why?" that they were able to track down a solution. This is a common practice in our world today - treating the symptom and ignoring the problem. One thing about human nature - once we get going down a path, it takes an act of some magnitude to get us, not only to stop, but even to slow down and take notice to what is going on around us. May I submit to you that that act has come. It is the destruction of the American family and with it the church. And no, I don't think that destruction is too strong of a word. Perhaps one would prefer to use "survival-challenged", but I think we are past the time for soft speech.
What is the solution? Let us begin again. By this I mean a return to the basics. Back to the B-I-B-L-E, yes that's the book for me. No more , "well, so and so does this, and this group does this." Let us ask, "What does the Bible have to say?" And then let's do that. Sounds simple I know, but I find that more often than not , the simplest solutions are the best ones.
Why? A very powerful yet simple question. Dare we ask it?
C. Lee Carr

A Terrible Epidemic

There is a terrible epidemic in our land, mainly in our churches. It seems to be very contagious, as it affects the majority of families that I know. It is taking sons away from their parents, daughters away from their mothers, and husbands away from their wives. It seems to have been around for centuries, but in the last 30 years taken off at alarming rates.
Parents have been carriers for as long as there has been life, but the maturation of the epidemic is recently been most evident. Good news is that there is a cure; the bad news is that there is an extreme shortage of it.
The epidemic can be found in homes, public places, public schools, churches, church schools, and even home schools. Like the Bubonic Plague of the early 1300’s, it is destroying millions of lives. It is estimated that the Black Death of the 1300’s killed 1/3rd of the population of Europe at that time. It was not until great men stopped ignoring the problem and found out where it was originating from, that the plague was stopped. It was found to have originated in the Gobi desert, a bacterial disease carried by fleas on rats. It also resurfaced as the great plague of London in 1665-1666, again carried by rodents and rats and the fleas they bore. In the early 1900’s it resurfaced in central Asia killing millions; and most recently was used as a weapon by the Japanese in 1940, as they dropped from planes canisters filled with infected fleas upon their enemies causing great outbreaks.
The epidemic I speak of is just as contagious, just as deadly, and has been evident at some times more than others through out history. It has been used as a weapon by the Devil for years, and today we suffer through it like no other time in history. What I speak of is the epidemic of losing our children to the world and ungodly influences.
I had the privilege of being reared in a God fearing home. Since my birth, I have only seen my parents love and serve the Lord. Both sets of my grandparents have loved and served the Lord all my life; meaning, I have been so blessed in having the heritage that the Lord has given me. I went to my first church service when I was 5 days old, and have always been an independent, fundamental, Baptist. Unfortunately, I have seen this epidemic show its ugly head repeatedly.
Men whom my father worked side by side with in the ministry have fallen. Friends of mine in my Christian schools while growing up, have turned astray. When I was a teenager, I was in a youth group in Dayton, Ohio that ran between 60-100 teens per Sunday. For years, we traveled to area wide youth meetings, teen camps, talent competitions; and came out of those champions, on fire for God, ready to charge the world with Heaven’s message. I graduated in 1993. Recently, I spoke at that same church’s youth activity where the youth director now is a man that was in the youth group with me. He told me that from our days in the youth group that ran approximately 75 per week for 7 years….there are 8 still in church. EIGHT! And two of them were sitting at that table. I say that not to glory the two of us, but to awaken us to the problem sweeping our homes and churches.
I went to college at Fairhaven Baptist College. It was then, and praise God still, one of the finest, standard holding, KJV Bible preaching colleges in America. I watched between the years of 1993-1997 men quit one after another. My freshman year, there were 34 fellow freshman boys majoring in Pastoral Theology. Three of us graduated. The epidemic was alive and well in Indiana as well as in Ohio.
I came back home and served from 1997-2004 as youth pastor, Jr. Church director, and principal of our private school. Sadly, the epidemic was gaining strength. I watched as we, a small school, graduated nearly 40 seniors the first 6 years of the school. Today less than half are still in good solid churches. When I became pastor in 2004, I stood scratching my head and asking the Lord “Why?”
It was then, through the leading of God, that instead of standing there continuing to watch the epidemic take its course upon family after family, I decided to find where it was originating, and to see what can be done to stop it.
The next few months, with the help of my friend and assistant pastor/youth pastor, Lee Carr, we will share our thoughts and what we have found as to what has brought about this plague upon our land. A little over a year ago, we sent out a questionnaire to independent Baptist churches all across the country for their teens to fill out and return. We will seek to share what we have learned with you as to attempt to help any and all we can. We welcome your thoughts concerning the topics we write upon. Should you find interest in having your family/church take the survey, we will email/mail you one at your request. Following the year, we will take these entries and your comments and finish our book concerning the topic.
Please pray with us as we enter upon this project, that the Lord would be magnified, families and churches strengthened, and special wisdom be given.
Please note the poll question, as it will be a question from the questionnaire, and what we will discuss the next week. I will be making my entries at the mid-week, and Pastor Carr will be making his entries on the weekends.
To God be the Glory!
~Pastor Travis Burke

Funeral Message for Michael Spisak

Below is a transcript of the funeral message I preached Tuesday, January 6, for our dear Michael Spisak. We love Michael and praise the Lord for the 14 years we were able to share with him. Michael lived with a rare disease, and taught us all in his 18 years many wonderful lessons on what life is all about. We love you Michael.

Michael Matthias Carr Spisak, 18, of Blanchester, Ohio died 4:00 PM, Wednesday, December 31, 2008 at his residence. He was born December 26, 1990 in Dayton, Ohio, the son of Kimberly Carnell Ellis of Blanchester, Ohio and JohnMichael Matthias Spisak of Wilmington, Ohio. He was a member of the Cozaddale Baptist Temple in Goshen and enjoyed baseball.
In addition to his parents, Michael is survived by his stepfather, Ruston Ellis of Blanchester, Ohio; two brothers, Chandler Ellis and Jordan Ellis; his grandparents, Marilyn Carnell of Blanchester, Ohio, Butch Spisak of Wilmington, Ohio, and Pat & Larry Knowlton of Illinois; a great grandmother, Ollie Mae Carnell of Tennessee; and his uncles, Chris (Corby) Carnell of Clarksville, Ohio, J.R. Spisak of Wilmington, Ohio, John Robert Spisak of Wilmington, Ohio, and David Allen of Wilmington, Ohio. He was preceded in death by his grandfather, Jimmie Carnell, and his great grandmother, Janet Smithson.
Funeral services will be 10:00 AM, Tuesday, January 6, 2009 at the Reynolds-Smith Funeral Home, 327 N. South Street, Wilmington, Ohio with Pastor Travis Burke officiating. Burial will be in Clinton County Memory Gardens. Friends may call from 4:00 PM - 8:00 PM, Monday, January 5, 2009 at the Reynolds-Smith Funeral Home.



Luke 18:16
But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.

Around 1995 our church began a bus route in Blanchester, Ohio bringing children to church. The Furnish family told my sister Chrystal about a young boy named Michael who they would love to be able to come to church. We went and knocked on their door for the first time. We were thinking when we parked the car that it was going to roll down that hill they call a drive way….and we are still afraid to park on that thing. We then knocked on the door and Michael stood there with his mom. Chrystal told Michael and Kim about the bus route and a huge smile ran across his face…”I can ride, I can ride that bus.” He said jumping up and down. Kim said, “How can I say no to that…I guess he will be o.k.” The next few months, every Sunday, the bus would pull up next to the house and Michael would come running down the hill to the bus as fast as he could. Soon though, because of his illness, he would start to hobble down the hill to the bus. Before too long it was quite a struggle. Bro. Jerry Snell would ask Michael if he could carry him to the bus. Michael would have no part, “I can do it” And do it he did. Week after week he hobbled to that bus carrying his Bible under his arm. Finally it came to a point where Kim made Michael allow Bro. Snell to carry him to the bus. But through good and bad days, he would always sit on the very front row of the church bus and sing to the top of his voice the The BIBLE, Jesus Loves Me, Deep and Wide, Jesus Loves The Little Children of the World. It was in the Spring of 1997 that Michael realized that he was a sinner and ask Jesus in his heart. In June he was baptized and became a member of our church. Michael loved the Lord. He was so excited the day his grandma got saved. Michael sat in his wheel chair at the front of the church while people came and shook his grandma’s hand. His words were, “I’m glad I got to live and see my grandma get saved.”
Michael would be able to attend our church’s school for quite a while and earned a place in every member’s heart as to why we continue to drive our busses and visit children to bring them to church. In 2000, our church built a new building which would house our Sunday Schools, Junior church, and our academy; and when you first walk in those doors, the very first thing you will see is a picture of 7 year old Michael, surrounded by his beanie babies, smiling from ear to ear. We have dedicated to Michael that building where children come and learn and grow in the Lord. I was Michael’s principal, Jr. Church teacher, worked on the bus he rode, and I have been his pastor the last 4 years…and while it is my job to instruct and educate him….Michael did a lot of that to me as well.

Underneath his picture in our new building is a Bible verse from Hebrews 12:1 “and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.”

The Bible refers to this life as a running race. Thankfully, it is not a competition where we are trying to out run one another, but it’s a marathon. A race that we need just to finish….keeping our eye on the goal…Heaven and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Michael loved running and racing. He loved recess time. Once, while he was in the second grade, his body was at a point where he could get around, but he couldn’t run like the other children. He was sitting on the porch next to his teacher while the other kids played, and he looked up at his teacher and said, “Mrs. Snell, they all can run faster than I can.” She said, “It’s ok, every body ran faster than me too when I was in school.” Then Michael said, “But you know, I won’t be sick forever.” Mrs. Snell thought he was thinking he might get over this illness and wasn’t sure what to say. Michael then said, “When I get to heaven, I will run faster than them, I won’t be sick anymore.”
Michael is not sick anymore, and he can run with the best of them!

The reason we chose this verse to keep under Michael’s picture for everyone to see is b/c it is a constant reminder for us as a church of what we learned from the Life of Michael Spisak:

1. Don’t Ever Quit: “let us run with patience the race that is set before us.”
Michael didn’t know what the meaning of quit was. Through his illness, his handicap, his trials…he kept smiling, kept going, kept fighting. He never gave up.
I am thankful for his mother. She also has taught us that lesson. Her love and care for Michael remains unmatched by anyone I have ever seen. Nearly 14 years she showed a love and care and comfort such as I have never seen before.
Learn this lesson from Michael, don’t quit. If you are having difficulties in life, don’t quit. If you are ready to give up on some area of life, Michael would tell you, don’t quit. If you are losing hope, Michael would tell you, don’t quit! Don’t ever quit. When I feel as a pastor, tired and worn, I am reminded, don’t ever quit! We have a race to run, we have a job to do, and until God says were done…don’t quit!!! We can’t, as a church, quit trying to reach more children. We Must Never Quit!!

2. Look to Jesus: vs. 2 says, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.”
In spring of 1997, Michael looked to Jesus. One may say, “Michael was just a child.” The Bible says in Matthew 18:3 “And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”
Children will believe what you say is true. While in school, a boy named Josh Patterson in Michael’s class everyday would ask when lunch time was. One day Michael answered him “Mom says it’s not lunch time till the Price is Right is over.” That was lunch time, because mommy said so.
Michael was saved because he believed what Jesus said; it was true, because Jesus said so.
John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto them, I am the way the Truth and the Life, no man commeth unto the Father but by me.”
Rom. 3:23, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
Rom. 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Rom. 5:8 “But God commendeth his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
In our text in vs. 2 “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Rom. 10:13, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

That Spring day Michael looked to the Lord to get him to heaven, he prepared for the day when his race would be done…and I praise God that based upon God’s Holy Word, I know Michael is in Heaven today….because he looked unto Jesus.
If Michael could say one thing today, he would say this, “look to Jesus.” Look to Jesus for salvation, look to Jesus for comfort, look to Jesus for strength, look to Jesus for wisdom….Michael did…and that’s why he ran the race well. Every runner will tell you that you keep your eyes on the tape, the goal, and don’t get distracted. Keep your eyes on the Lord and run this race!

3. Prize for Running is Awesome: There were so many medals and trophies and certificates in Michael’s room, and he was rightfully proud of everyone of them. But the prize he received on Friday, December 31st, outdid them all. Vs. 2 says that Jesus is the “finisher of our faith.” He is the prize. The moment that Michael closed his eyes and took his last breath…Bible teaches in 2 Cor. 5:8 “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” The moment he closed his eyes and took his last breath, he opened his new eyes in Heaven. There was the Lord….and I promise Michael ran to His arms!!! The Lord said “Well done, thou good and faithful servant,…you ran the race, you finished the task, enjoy the joys of the Lord.” Michael enjoys today the prize…being with Jesus…reunited with loved ones who went on before…he has a mansion…he walks the street gold…no more darkness…no pain…no medicines…no tubes…no wheel chairs…not even a limp…he runs and sings and praises God.
As he said on the porch that day to Mrs. Snell, “When I get to heaven, I will run faster than them, I won’t be sick anymore” He was exactly right, and praise God for it!

We must continue soul winning! We must continue running the busses and picking up children! We must continue the school! We must continue fulfilling the great commission given to us by our Lord.
How we praise the Lord for the life and life’s lessons of Michael Spisak; and may we continue to reach others with the same life changing Gospel!

Happy New Year!

Stacey and I brought in the New Year with my sister Rachel and brother in law Ricky at our house. We played a few games of "In a pickle" and "Things..." and had a great time. We drank hot tea and Ricky drank coffee from my new Keurig machine. It was much fun. We turned on the t.v. at 11:57 p.m. to watch the ball drop in N.Y. Then at midnight, I leaned over to my wife and gave her a kiss and wished her a happy new year.
Now its about 12:30 and Ricky and Rachel are gone, the dog is in the garage, and Stacey is asleep and I sit here and ponder on 2008.
Many great things happened this year: Early in 2008 we found out we were going to have our third child! That is rather life changing. Alex, our son, got saved this year! We had a great couple's retreat at church. Our Summer Explosion meetings were tremendous. Two of our young ladies at church got married to terrific young men..and they did it w/out playing the dating game. Can you believe they prayed and focused on becoming what God wanted them to become and God brought them a young man without them having to date 40 guys....amazing isn't it? We had one of our best Mission Conferences at our church. Hope was born in September! I wrote a Christmas play which our church performed this year and it actually turned out o.k. Had a great Christmas and now here I sit wondering what 2009 holds.
All I know is this...I am glad I know Who holds 2009. As I enter this new year I am thankful for the Lord and His leading and working in my life. We have established for our church a theme for 2009 "Victory Through Christ." I truly expect God to give many great victories this year for our church and families.
One great mystery I have never figured out is this...why wouldn't someone want to let God have His way in their life? My best conclusion is this...they are afraid of what He might ask of them, and we are very selfish people and love ourselves dearly.
A verse that has been on my heart this week is 2 Corinthians 14:14:

for I seek not yours but you:

God doesn't want what is mine, He desires me. Isn't that wonderful! The Lord loves me! That is one of the problems with society today. Wives don't want their husband's money, they need their husbands. Children don't want their parent's gifts, they need their parents. Sometimes we are afraid to listen to God because we are afraid of what He might ask of us...tithe, time, children, job, hobby, our sin.
God wants you...a total giving of self to Him. When we get there, the other things will not matter.
So this year I seek to take a fresh look at God's Word and my life. I seek not to do what every other pastor and christian does, but what the Bible says for me to do. I seek to have a closer relationship with the Lord than ever before-knowing that He seeks not what is mine, but me. That truly will make a Happy New Year.

What is Your Goal this Christmas?

"

"He is the Reason for the Season"
"It's CHRISTmas Not Xmas"
"We need to put CHRIST back in Christmas"

I agree...but then again, what do you expect from the world? If the world doesn't care about His death, why should they celebrate His birth? Then again, why are we celebrating His birth? There is no Scripture mandating us celebrating Christmas; but there is Scripture mandating we remember His resurrection...every Sunday on THE LORD's DAY.

STOPPPPPPP....

Some were getting all upset already ready to pounce on me some ripping comment about not celebrating Christmas...I'm not one of those...I celebrate Christmas. I love Christmas. I love remembering the fact that Christ came to this earth and according to Philippians 2, "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."

I praise God that His Son came and was born and died for me, but wouldn't it be great if every Christian were excited about every Lord's Day(which we are to celebrate) as they are about Christmas (which we aren't told to celebrate)?

So what is your goal this Christmas? To celebrate the Lord's coming? To make memories with family? To get lots of cool stuff? Most Christians are adamant for option "A", but let them compare how much time they shopped with how much time they prayed to thank Him for coming. Let them compare how much time they decorated with how much time they witnessed. Let them compare how many tracts they passed out with how many gifts they wrapped. What's our goal?

There is nothing wrong in taking Christmas time for option "B" either. Family time is precious, and unfortunately, not enough Christians are investing in it. We need to make memories with our children. We need to take the time to hang the ornaments, make the cut out cookies, go see the lights. We need to look forward to Christmas Eve at Papa and Mama's house. We need to wake up at 5 a.m. Christmas morning and wait for the first sounds to come out of our children's bedrooms in anticipation. What's wrong with those things? Christmas can be a great time to build memories and establish traditions. My favorite is remembering my father read the Christmas story every Christmas morning and eating a Christmas breakfast my mom would make. I miss those days; but look forward to next week, when on Thursday morning I will read Luke 2 to my family with the smell of a fresh breakfast filling the house that my wife has prepared for us. I will see wide open-anxious-tired eyes looking at me early that morning-just as I looked 25 years ago at my father. Christmas! I love it.

My goal? To rehearse the story of Christ's birth to my family and to our church; to take the opportunity to share why He came to the lost; to make memories and enjoy the traditions of my family; and maybe...just maybe get something really cool (like a TomTom GPS...in case Stacey reads this).

I love Christmas!

Broken Ornament

It's hard to believe Christmas is almost here. I know that for many it is a time of struggling and hard feelings; just keep in mind Who it is all about. Jesus came that we might have joy. I, for one, love this time of the year. I love the fact that I recognize a few songs playing at the store. I love the lights on people's houses. I love the nativity scenes everywhere. I love A Christmas Carol. I love going to our families different homes and mostly always staying home on Christmas Day. I love the "how many more sleeps till Christmas?" question that Grace asks every day. I love putting up the tree. I love wrapping gifts (and I stink at it). I love handing out the presents..."Toooooo mommyyyy from Daddy" I could go on and on. I love the traditions of Christmas.
One tradition we have is buying the kids an ornament each year that represents an event or fascination the child had that year. One day, when our children get married, we will give them their ornaments to put on their tree, as a reminder of their child hood. Above is a picture of Alex this year with his ornaments thus far. What you can't really see is that the second ornament is broken. It is a white ceramic teddy bear, or at least it was. Last December, as we were putting Christmas decorations away, the box with the ornaments fell to the ground. Most damage was minor and affected only the "throw away" ornaments; except Alex's second year ornament-the bear's lower half was shattered...paralyzed for life.
I tried super glue, but it didn't work (on the bear, my fingers-yes). Stacey was a litle upset, but time heals-that is, until you pull out the bear this year. It was a nasty reminder of last year's blunder. The irony is-that is the only ornament we didn't buy. That was a rough financial year and we couldn't afford one. Someone gave Alex that one because they knew he loved teddy bears. Get it? We were "Broke" that year...anyways.
We still put it up on the tree, and we will always do so. It's not hung on the back side of the tree or behind a big branch. It hangs there with all the others in all its glory. Just because it is not what it used to be, doesn't mean it can't still be a testimony and continue to represent what it was designed for. We love the broke ornament...somewhat even more.
In churches like ours-that preach the truth, standards, holiness, sin hatred; at times some people feel "intimidated." They feel they can't possibly be that way and the Devil discourages them or makes them quit. Others, there was in their past a mistake, or an accident, or a sin tragedy that left them broken-not what they used to be. The Devil again lies to them and convinces them that they are not as good as the others and will never fit in-that they should just quit or go to a church that doesn't preach the whole Truth so they will feel more comfortable. Don't listen to the Devil. He is a liar and the father of all lies!
Fact is, if you look at every one of Alex's ornaments close enough...they all have flaws..except the brand new one-but it won't be long for that one either. The ninja turtle's sword broke off and had to be glued. Scooby has no right hand. The tonka truck's ladder is broke and lying on the table. They all have flaws. Thus they all hang on the front of the tree and we love everyone of them.
We love them not because of their perfection, but for who they represent. None of us are perfect, we should strive to be the best we can-but the best of men are still men at best. God loves us, and our church should love us not for our perfection, but for Who it is that we represent. We belong to Christ. You may have a "right hand missing" or have "dropped your Sword." You may have been broken to where you can't do what you once did. You may even have had a tragedy like ornament #2. Don't quit!! Forget not Who you represent and continue to adorn Christ with your life.

1 Peter 3:4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.