Christmas Giving

Christmas in North America is a special time of giving. All the stores are advertising Christmas deals that you "can't miss."  We give so much that the average Canadian spends $800 on Christmas gifts. I know I have given gifts to my boys that I thought they really wanted, and that I believed would also enrich their lives. A month or two later they were forgotten. The money was wasted – in so many ways.

Christ taught that it is more blessed to give than receive, so what is wrong with our gift-giving traditions? We are giving to the wrong people! We spend hundreds of dollars giving gifts to people who are already among the richest in the entire world! We are so concerned with the treasures of this world, which are here today and gone tomorrow. The Bible's message is so different!

He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward him for what he has done. (Pr 19:17)

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so they may take hold of the life that is truly life. (1Ti 6:17-19)

Don't try to ignore this passage by saying you are not “rich.” If you are reading this, that means you have education and access to a computer. That already makes you wealthier than most of the people in this world. You are rich. If you have a house over your head and a full stomach, you are richer than the millions that will go to bed hungry in a shelter that doesn't keep out the elements.We are to be rich in good deeds (are you too busy to consider the poor this season?).  We are to be generous and willing to share. I don't think Paul means just passing around the wealth from one wealthy person to another. When we live of life characterized by giving generously to those in need, we lay up treasure in heaven.

This is a live chart of statistics available at http://www.stopthehunger.com/

7,081,262,322	current total world population
905901347	undernourished people in the world right now
1,566,326,767	overweight people in the world right now
522,108,923	obese people in the world right now
17,182	people who died of hunger today
10,096,900	people who died of hunger this year

We like to live like the proverbial ostrich with our heads in the sand. I challenge you to look around you this Christmas season and see beyond your traditions and your materialism and take a look at what Jesus really meant by giving. Jesus quoted from Isaiah 61 when He stated why He had come.

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. (Lk 4:18-19)

It is a disgrace to Christ that those of us who claim the name Christian should spend so much on ourselves, and leave the needs of the poor completely unmet! Do we spend more on our Christmas gifts than on the priorities of Jesus? How much do we spend on reaching the lost? There are over a billion people who have never even heard the name of Jesus one time, and we celebrate His birth in gluttony and materialism.

Please watch this video from Gospel for Asia that puts things into perspective.

Forgotten Christmas

Dear Father,

As I put this study together, I am appalled at my own misplaced priorities. For many years I have been among the North American poor, yet I have always had food and shelter. I would try to give my children as many gifts as I could – usually from second-hand stores, but I had bought into the lie that they needed “things” to be happy. Please forgive me, Father. Please help me to adopt your priorities this Christmas season. Please help those who read this blog post to re-evaluate their own traditions and priorities. As your ambassadors, we have mismanaged your resources. Please forgive us. Please show us what specific needs You want each one of us to focus on this Christmas season. Please give us hearts that seek to build up treasures in heaven rather than building our own kingdoms here on earth. May Your name be praised in our words and our actions this Christmas season.

Amen.

Happy American Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

to all my American friends.

Today's post is by a guest author -- my pastor, Shawn Ketcheson.  He is a great man of God -- willing to preach the hard truths of Scriptures, yet (or because of that) full of the abundant life Jesus came to bring.  He is humble, willing to share openly about his mistakes and brokenness.  He is having a tremendous impact on those around him as he calls us all to bring the Good News to those who have not heard.

This is a newsletter that Shawn sent out prior to Canadian Thanksgiving.

My Dear Friends:
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.  I’m looking out my office window at home and comparing the colors of the leaves on the trees here to the colors of the leaves on the trees in the banner above.  There isn’t a lot of difference.  The colors are amazing in both.   Isn’t God incredible.  So much to be thankful for.   We thank God for food in a world where many go without.  We thank God for friendship in a world where many walk alone.  We thank God for hope in a world where many walk without faith.  And we thank God for safety in a world where many live in fear.  We are so blessed.  Lots to say thanks for.
Do you always feel thankful?   Are you always thankful?  Do you always appreciate what you have?  I know I don’t.  Sometimes I really don’t feel all that thankful.   When I don’t feel thankful, I remind myself of how fortunate I am in comparison to others and, I rediscover that thankful heart.   I remind myself that I have a loving supportive wife, when some people are in  relationships that are falling apart.   I remind myself that I have awesome children who are fun to hang out with.  I remind myself that I am a part of an incredible church family in a world where many have no faith family.  Is this a “Biblical” approach to Thanksgiving?    Should our thanksgiving be dependent on our having “more” of whatever than somebody else?  Today I am feeling a bit guilty for this approach to being thankful.  Doesn’t it seem rather shallow to be dependent on the miss fortunes of others to have a thankful heart.   Do I need to go a tad deeper?  I think so.
On Sunday we will look at the standing orders of the Gospel.   Here they are,  “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).   These are called “standing orders” because they apply to every Christian in every situation.  The Greek makes this very clear because these imperatives are all in the present tense. You could translate it “continually rejoice, continually pray, and continually give thanks.”

This is a great challenge, isn’t it?  After all, we would have no problem if the text said,

“Rejoice sometimes”
“Pray occasionally”
“Give thanks when you feel like it.” 

 It’s the modifiers that trip us up:

“Always.”
“Continually.”
“In all circumstances.”

Want to know if your faith is genuine?  It is not your ability to memorize verses or judge and correct others that proves your faith is genuine.  Your faith is the real deal when your heart leads you to rejoice, pray and give thanks, in all situations.   If we only rejoice and give thanks when there is  money in the bank, when the marriage is good, when the deal goes through, when the doctor says, “You don’t have cancer,” when the kids are doing well, when the church is growing and your friends are glad to see you; if that’s the only time you give thanks then our faith is extremely shallow.  If we are not “rejoicing always”, “praying continually” and being “thankful in all circumstances”;  then our faith is shallow, even if we are quoting Scripture, serving, and tithing.  

How do we give thanks when our hearts are broken? How do we give thanks when we are confused? How do we give thanks when we are angry at what sin has done in the world?  I came upon an amazing list this past week addressing the issue of  “Thanksgivings”.  We will focus on this list on Sunday.  In the midst of all we can give thanks because of these truths:

God is sovereign.
Nothing happens by chance.
God causes all things to work together for good for his children.
That hard times reveal our weakness, break our pride, and show us our total need for God.
That God has triumphed over sin and death through his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
That God uses the worst that happens to promote our spiritual growth.
That God is faithful even when we are faithless.
That God’s Word will be vindicated.
That God’s promises are true.
That evil will not reign forever.
That heaven is real.


At the beginning of the message on Sunday, Shawn shared a video clip challenging our gratitude in compairison to those who face incredible hardships.  We were all moved by the video.  Then came the real challenge.  Would we still feel as grateful if the clip showed a compairison of our lives to that of the wealthy? Ouch.  If our gratitude is only valid when compared to what someone else has or experiences, it is shallow gratitude and will fail us when our circumstances change.



Shawn also gave us each this incredible list of things we can be grateful for regardless of our circumstances. This is worth meditating on whether you are celebrating Thanksgiving this weekend or not.

We can all be thankful and joyful when there are no health, money or relationship issues. God calls us to be thankful and joyful in all circumstances.  “All”.  How is this possible? Thanksgiving and joy comes from the following truths:

That God is sovereign.

That nothing happens by chance.

That God causes all things to work together for good for his children.

That hard times reveal our weakness, breaks our pride, and shows us our total need for God.

That God has triumphed over sin and death through his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

That God uses the worst that happens to promote our spiritual growth.

That God is faithful even when we are faithless.

That God’s Word will be vindicated.

That God’s promises are true.

That evil will not reign forever.

That heaven is real.

That this world is not the “real” world.

That when we are weak, he is strong.

That his grace is sufficient for every situation.

That nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

That our salvation rests on God and not on us.

That there is no pit so deep that the love of God is not deeper still.

That the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from every sin.

That God delights to save sinners.

That the Lord can soften the hardest heart.

That there are no impossible cases with God.

That even when we feel alone, we are never alone.

That our Father will not test us beyond what we can bear.

That the Holy Spirit abides with us always.

That the Lord Jesus feels our pain.

That the Holy Spirit prays for us when we are too weak to pray for ourselves.

That the Lord Jesus intercedes for us so that we are finally saved.

That God uses everything and wastes nothing.

That our doubts cannot cancel God’s work in us.

That someday we will be conformed to the image of Christ.

That God is faithful to finish his work in us.

That our hardships equip us to minister to others.

That we are invited to come boldly to the throne of grace.

That God’s plan far exceeds our puny imagination.

That weeping endures for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

That we are still God’s children even when our faith falters.

That while we suffer outwardly, we are being renewed inwardly.

That our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal weight of glory.

“Thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live” (MSG).

I like that phrase “no matter what happens” 

because it perfectly describes life in a fallen world.

Thank you Pastor Shawn for your love for God and for people.
God has gifted you to be a blessing to so many.

Don't come empty-handed

As a church we are going through The Story, which is a novelized version of the Bible. It contains NIV Biblical text in chronological order with some transitions to connect the accounts into one magnificent story. It does leave out some of the Biblical text, so I have been trying to read the full account as I prepare to lead and support in my small group studies.

As I read the accounts of God giving the Law to Moses, a line jumped out at me.

Ex 23:15 “No one is to appear before me empty-handed.”

I didn't quite know what to make of that, as we often say in Christian circles that we have nothing to offer God. I decided to go on, but 11 chapters later, there it was again!

Ex 34:20 “No one is to appear before me empty-handed.”

It jumped out at me and almost clobbered me on the head. God was clearly trying to get my attention. I still didn't know what to do with the verse, so I prayed about it. And, as usual for me, God answered me with Scripture.

We have looked at this before. Jesus shares parables to help us understand a spiritual truth.

(Lk 14:28-34) “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

The verses in Exodus still apply today. Just as a king surrenders to the stronger king, with no conditions, we are to come to God surrendering everything. God wants me to challenge the Christian notion that we come to Jesus empty-handed. Rather than with empty hands, Jesus calls us to come to Him with absolutely everything we have and everything we are. We are to hold nothing back, not a habit, not a relationship, not a house, not a job, not anything! We are to bring everything to God, or He doesn't want us to come at all.

No one is to appear before God empty-handed. Is that how you have come to Christ – offering nothing? Take time today to meditate on the Scripture above and come before God offering everything. It will transform your relationship with God, and He in turn, will transform your life!

Father, there is some truth to the idea that we come before you with nothing to offer. You do not need anything we have. You prefer to use the weak rather than those with strengths, because Your power shines through our weaknesses. However, You spoke to me very clearly through Your Word. No one is to appear before You empty-handed. Although You do not need what we offer You, we need to give it up. Whatever we hang onto in this life holds us back from knowing You and serving You fully. Please help each one of us to recognize what we are holding onto today. Give us the desire and the conviction to offer it up to You today. We praise You and worship You, for You are holy and righteous and loving and compassionate. We fall to our knees in wonder and amazement that You want a relationship with us! You want a deep intimate relationship with each person reading this. Thank you that You are not a distant God, but rather our Father. In the name of You Son, Jesus, Amen

Depression Talk

I have been working, fasting and praying to put together a talk on depression for our Ladies' Breakfast.  Well, the breakfast was today, and God blessed many people through what I was able to share.  My written version of the talk is much longer than a regular post, so I am going to send you to a link. Please share it with others who may benefit.

Depression Talk Nov 3, 2012