Monthly Archives: December 2008

The Baby Jesus — all-grown-up…

Posted on by

In a sermon from Matthew 10, Skye Jethani warns us against looking at the Bethlehem manger and thinking only about this innocent, helpless, sweet baby, tender and mild, laying down his sweet head.  He is no such thing.  Jesus said in that text that he did not come to bring peace but a sword.

He did not come to give us the warm fuzzies, but to demand our allegiance. He came to die on the cross to pay for our sins. He came to draw you to himself so you could be forgiven. He demands that we give him first place in our lives and worship nothing else — be it family or ourselves.

One of the greatest thinkers of the past century, C. S. Lewis, said it well in his book, Mere Christianity.

Christ says: Give me all. I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work. I want you. I’ve not come to torment your natural self but to kill it. No half measures are any good. I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a branch there. I want to have the whole tree down. I don’t want to drill the tooth or crown it or stop it but have it out. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires that you think are innocent as well as the ones you think are wicked, the whole outfit. And I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you Myself. My own will shall become yours.

The all-grown-up Jesus wants your all.  You can’t negotiate with him.  You can’t bargain with him. He doesn’t offer a full-serving for some, and lunch-sized portions for the rest.

He has come to dethrone everything that we might illegitimatly place at the center of our lives.  This message speaks of this all-grown-up Jesus in greater detail.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Do You Trust Your IT Guy?

Posted on by

I think I have some trust issues.  😐

As a pastor, I rely heavily on my laptop computer and having just been the victim of some theft, I asked my son, a computer engineering student, to create a program that will help track down stolen PCs and devices.  He handed me the prototype and said, “Dad — execute this code and see if it works.”

So, as he stood behind me, I began backing up my “Current Documents” folder to my USB drive.  “Dad,” he said, “this isn’t going to delete your data.  I’m a little insulted.”  I laughed and told him the data was very important. After all, this Sunday is Christmas Sunday and I have my sermon almost completed.

Then he said the funniest line I’ve heard in a while: “Dad — this would be like if every time you got up and preached I prayed, “‘God — please protect me from false teaching!'”

He got me there! I really need to begin to trust my IT guy.  😉

Even Though You’re Small, You’re Important…

Posted on by

Most who know me know the blessing I’ve given my children since they were small. I’ve given it to my church family for a dozen years as well. It goes like this:

There are certain things in this world that God has for you to do — and you’re just the right person to do them.

I’d like to think that was original with me, but of course, it’s not.  The concept is proclaimed throughout God’s Word.  Rick Warren expressed it very well in his book, The Purpose Driven Life. I probably first came across it as a teen when my pastor gave everyone a copy of The Four Spiritual Laws, a gospel tract that has been used countless times to help countless numbers of people come to faith in God.

Law number one goes something like this: God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.  I like that.
God loves you.  God has a plan for you.  It is true of us.  It was true of Israel  —  even the little town of Bethlehem.

In this podcast we look at this truth about Bethlehem and apply it to our own lives.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download