What is the point of Christmas? The obvious point of Thanksgiving is — well, giving thanks. The real point of Christmas, perhaps not so obvious, is hope. And the two are quietly connected. It’s hard to go all-in experiencing hope at Christmas if you haven’t first given thanks.

Giving thanks adjusts our perspective. Giving thanks nudges us to take our eyes off chaos and crisis in order to count our blessings. Giving thanks reminds us that we have needs and opens our eyes as to how many of those needs have been met. Giving thanks shifts, even enlarges our view — to focus on the Giver.

Thanksgiving is preparation for the Hope of Christmas. Lifting our eyes to the Giver in November primes our hearts for the greatest gift of Christmas in December. When my kids were little — and Christmas in their eyes was all about the presents — I tried shifting their focus a little, making a big banner for our front door with a glittery package and the words, “The first gift of Christmas was wrapped in swaddling clothes.”

If Thanksgiving points us to the Giver, then Christmas points us to our greatest need fulfilled. The perfect God, who delights to draw us near and give us what we need, can only dwell with perfect people. While He first created a perfect world, people have rebelled against Him and railed against each other. There has never been a perfect person, except for Jesus — the first Christmas gift, born in a stable and wrapped in swaddling clothes. He alone lived a perfect life and revealed the depth of the Giver’s love for us. His birth at Christmas was His first step toward the cross. There He laid down His perfect life for you and me, taking our imperfections on Himself. Every shameful thought, ugly word and evil action — past present and future — was hung on His shoulders as He hung on the cross. When He died, all of that died, too. When He walked out of the grave alive 3 days later, the hope of new life came out with Him…available to anyone who believes this truth. While fully God and fully man, Jesus conquered death. Since you and I are made in God’s image, Jesus conquered death for us, too. All that is left is for you and me to thank Him for taking our imperfections and offering us the hope of eternal life with Him.

Can you envision living forever in a place of unimaginable beauty, in the presence of the perfect God, the abundant Giver, who loved you enough to give His own life for you? Can you envision living forever with no fears, no tears, no pain, no sickness, no suffering, no death? Can you envision living forever with community and unity, with worthy purpose and passion, with every need fulfilled? Can you envision living forever experiencing perfect peace, joy and soul-satisfying love? THIS is the future for every person who believes in Jesus as God and Savior. THIS is the Hope of Christmas…and what our hearts were prepared for at Thanksgiving.

May the Christ of Christmas and the cross enable you to experience great joy as we celebrate the greatest Hope arriving on earth.

Happy Advent. Merry Christmas.

Are you living these days with the underlying sense that something’s missing?

What’s missing?
Is it:
> the freedom to go wherever you want without virus concerns? Well, sort of.
> the luxury of getting everything you want shipped to you in 24 hours? Well, sort of.
> the ability to schedule your days, knowing your kids will physically go to school everyday? Well, sort of.
> the joy of planning big weddings and holiday celebrations? Well sort of.
What’s really missing is — stability — knowing we can count on people, things, schedules, something.
After a year and a half, we’re still not there.

So why don’t we have stability?

It’s not because of corona virus; it’s another virus that’s been raging throughout the whole human race since humanity began. We have a plague of selfishness — an insidious contagion sickening our world. Selfishness destabilizes everything.

Selfishness makes a bully puff up his own identity by picking on others.
Selfishness gives us permission to stand by and do nothing when a neighbor is wronged.
Selfishness moves us to answer disagreements with gun shots.
Selfishness makes would-be mothers and fathers kill inconveniently-timed unborn babies.
Selfishness presses politicians and media to work more on preserving power and party than defend and develop our democracy.
Selfishness cheers on a woman leaving her husband or a man abandoning his family as leaving is easier than solving problems.
Selfishness enables us to run from reality and responsibility into the fantasy worlds of video games and pornography.
Selfishness is simply, “I want to do what I want to do, regardless….”

Disregard for other people is the test tube where the virus of selfishness incubates. In many cases, we have no regard for people because we have no regard for the God who created them. And we wonder why we’re living with instability.

The plague of selfishness is not new. Unlike the novel corona virus, disregard for people and God has been around awhile. About 3,000 years ago a group of people were wandering in the Sinai Desert with a guy named Moses out in front. They had said they were loyal to follow God since He had miraculously rescued them from slavery in Egypt, but the very reason they ended up wandering in the desert was — they wanted to do what they wanted to do. God had prepared a new place for them to live, but they would have had to work for it, in fact, fight for it. Though this same God had defeated Pharaoh and the entire nation of Egypt with supernatural miracles, the people refused to trust His ability to plant them in their new land. They whined, complained and started talking about going back to Egypt. So God said (paraphrasing, mine), “Fine. You don’t have to fight for your land; go walk around the desert for the next 40 years.”

Refusing God’s will & choosing self will often lead us to dry, dusty deserts in life.

As you can imagine, wandering in a desert can make you hungry so the people grumbled. God mercifully and miraculously made flakes like bread appear each night so the people could gather them in the morning, but the bread God provided had to be gathered and eaten God’s way. The people were only supposed to pick up enough for each family member for the day. God told Moses to tell them that at the end of the day, “No one is to keep any of it until morning.” God’s will was clearly stated. The people’s response? “However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell.” (Genesis 16:20) The very thing God had provided for their good, their healthy living — was rotting, decaying — because the people didn’t handle it correctly. They didn’t follow God’s instructions. They did what they wanted instead of what God told them was good for them. Does that sound familiar if you look at how a lot of us choose to live today?

That same thinking, “I want to do what I want to do” with no regard for other people or God, is causing rottenness and decay in our lives today — so we are sorely missing stability. Instead we have our modern version of rot and decay. Bullying. Indifference. Baby killing. Shootings. Divisive politics. Family abandonment. Addiction to video gaming and pornography.

We want to do what we want to do so we live amongst rot and decay with everything feeling unstable.

However, there is a way to stop the smell of decay and start to restore stability. Here’s the secret to living a life that is the opposite of everything falling apart. In Him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:17) “Him” is Jesus, God. He died on the cross and rose from the dead to prove His power over death and decay. He has the power to sustain and prevent breakdown and He gives His Spirit to all who follow Him so that WE, too, have the strength to make choices that build up and sustain, not break down. If we disregard Jesus then we reject His power — the power that can hold things together in our lives, our minds, our marriages, our families, our friendships, our schools, our government, our nation. There is no middle ground; we either accept Jesus and His ways or we are rejecting Him — the “Him” of whom it’s written, “In Him all things hold together.” Apart from Him, we can do nothing worthwhile. There aren’t enough self-help books or productivity podcasts on the planet to stabilize the spiral of decay that human selfishness has set in motion, but in Him all things hold together.

Want stability?

Get “in Him.” He stands with open arms. Tell Him you want to surrender your self will and embrace His good, perfect and pleasing will for your life. What’s missing? Many will say the old life before the corona virus. What’s really missing is a new life, surrendered to Jesus who has the power to bring better stability than we can ever know apart from Him. If you’ve never invited Jesus and His stabilizing power into your life, here is your invitation. If you need to renew your commitment to His will over your will, here’s your invitation. Jesus is standing, knocking, waiting for you to open the door to Him and His stabilizing power. You don’t have to live with the “something’s missing” feeling any longer. Jesus says,

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in…” (Revelation 3:20)

What one word would you use to sum up 2020? Unexpected? Unsettled? Or perhaps the ever-popular, unprecedented? Is it even possible to condense a year of global pandemic, social unrest, and disaster du jour into one word? As I thought about 2020, the word longing came to mind. We longed for the virus to go away and for life to get back to normal. We longed for restoration from wildfires and hurricanes. We longed for justice, comfort and peace. We longed for joy. And, as evidenced in surges of newcomers attending online church services and of Google searches about “prayer,” we longed for Jesus.

Seemingly in a flash, 2020 dashed to pieces any idea that we were in control. Celebrations that had always marked our lives were suddenly forbidden, or at best went “drive-by” or virtual. Sporting events that had previously knit together our weeknights and weekends took an abrupt time out. Travel once seen as refreshing became not worth the risk. The truth became evident; we were not as in charge as we thought.

Well, it was much the same for God’s people 2000 years ago. They were not in charge, either. They lived under oppression — the oppression of Roman governors and of sin. They longed for restoration. They longed for a better normal life. They longed for justice, comfort and peace. They longed for joy. They longed for Messiah, for someone to save them..

And on a magnificent starry night in Bethlehem 2000 years ago, God sent Light into the dark world, keeping the promise He had hinted at in the Garden of Eden and held out to Abram (who would later be renamed Abraham). The Promised One, the Messiah, the Word made flesh, was born into our world to crush the head of evil, open for us the door of heaven, and usher in His righteous eternal reign. God proved His faithfulness to meet our deepest longing as Jesus, Emmanuel, “God with us,” came to earth — bringing with Him eternal justice, comfort, peace and joy. May you live in and celebrate this reality this Christmas. Joy to the World the Lord is Come!

Bible Verses to Ponder:
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”  Genesis 3:15

The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.   I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”Genesis 12:1,3

¹The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder.
⁶ For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. Isaiah 9:1-3, 6-7

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

My grandmother was the most grateful person I’ve ever known. She was easily delighted by a lemon-filled donut, a surprise visit from family, or a photo album chronicling a celebration. I remember her with a smile on her face and joy in her heart. Anyone who met her would never have guessed that she had ever lacked anything, but her past told a different story.

She grew up in a house with dirt floors. Her childhood was marked by hard daily work on the farm, often around large animals that frightened her. Joy and laughter were hard to find, as were brand new clothes or other things often considered necessities today.

After years juggling school and hard work, she married, moved away from the farm and took a job in a dental office. She had three daughters, lost her only son, and weathered by faith almost losing her youngest daughter in another health crisis. Through it all she was not bitter and did not complain. In the old photo albums, she was always smiling in her children’s or grandchildren’s wedding pictures, smiling with a new grandchild or great grandchild in her arms, smiling in someone’s graduation or holiday celebration.

She never had a big house, never took big trips, but she had a big heart and knew how to do a big Thanksgiving. The whole extended family would gather in her small house. All the food went on a long table in the basement. We said grace with people standing throughout her little kitchen, dining room and family room. Then everybody went to the basement and filled their plates with food. Some of us ate in groups upstairs and others were downstairs; her little house was full to overflowing with joy and gratitude.

I think my grandmother overflowed with gratitude because she chose to live in the reality that she didn’t deserve anything…that everything was a gift. When you start with dirt floors, 20-year old carpet under your feet is luxurious. How often does my bitterness, or even jealousy, spring from not having something that I think I should?

We all know our Thanksgiving celebrations this year will look different. All of 2020 has looked pretty different. So I’m trying to approach these holidays like my grandmother would — focusing not on what I don’t have or think I should have — but on everything good that has come into my life. It’s easy to be so distracted by what we think we’re missing that we miss noticing our blessings. May God draw your focus to the people in your life who love you. May He give you this Thanksgiving eyes to see the abundant good He has brought into your life and may He give you a heart that is easily delighted by them!

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

So in our nation, it feels like anxiety and suppressed emotion are building up like steam in an old locomotive engine ahead of the election. Whether spoken or unspoken, it’s as if people are holding their breath waiting to see if their “ideology” or the “enemy ideology” wins the election. If the tension that seems to be floating in the air is any indication, no matter how all the political races end, a whole bunch of people are going to be catastrophically disappointed and a whole bunch of others are going to be happy — I think.

The human temptation (if one ends up on the “winning” side), is to whoop, holler and gloat with excessive celebration. On the other hand, if one ends up on the “losing” side, the temptation is to weep, wail and (according to recent trends) lash out in violent frustration. Some of the pent-up emotion is the result of this grueling election war we have all watched in the media for months. Some is the result of being held hostage by an oppressive pandemic for almost 7 months. Some is the result of personal oppression that has spanned years.

Regardless of the cause, it might be wise of us to anticipate the opening of the emotional flood gates and pray in advance for God to enable all of us to respond to election outcomes with grace, compassion and self-control. If our candidate wins, perhaps we could plan to be sensitive to those around us whose candidate didn’t, guarding our words and Facebook posts? Perhaps if our candidate doesn’t win, we could hold onto the truth that there is NO political leader who is equipped to step in and fix all that is broken in any people group, be it local or national. God already sent the world a Savior and His name is neither Donald nor Joe, but Jesus. He is not hanging around with a physical presence anymore, but the Spirit of Jesus is alive and well — and those of us who claim to follow Him are called to be His hands and feet here. The song says, “They will know we are Christians by our love.”

To my friends…Christian or not or unsure…(which include those of widely varying skin color and political ideologies, btw) — I am a sister in Christ and/or friend to you before I am in any way political. After the election dust settles, I will continue working behind the scenes to bring blessing to you where I can. I will continue to pray for you and be a friend to you.

Hoping compassion is contagious…