Christmas

Matthew 2:1-3

“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.’ When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.”

It often amazes me how we can miss the things that are directly under our noses. I can’t even hazard a guess at the number of times I have asked my wife where something was, only to have her reach out and grab it from right under my nose. Sheepishly, I will thank her and then walk away shaking my head in disbelief. Berating myself I might wonder, “How could I not see that?”

Two thousand years ago, angels appeared to shepherds, declaring a miraculous birth. The shepherds declared it to the people they met, after finding all the angels described. In Jerusalem, Simeon and Anna are both drawn to the miraculous child. Then Anna declares to all who seek that Messiah has finally come. Yet, two years later, when wise men arrive, the King and his leaders still haven’t heard the good news.

Watchful Shepherds were made aware of their deliverer. The watchful man, who clung to his promise, found salvation. The watchful woman, who made prayer her life, found her messiah, and the watchful wise men found their king.

It is amazing the things you’ll find when you are keeping a watchful eye, but miss, when you’re mind is on something else. King Herod and all his leaders were focused on maintaining power and authority. They missed one of the greatest events in history, that took place in the shadow of their palace, because their focus was on something else.

My prayer for you this Christmas is that your focus will be drawn to a simple stable, a gentle baby, The King, born in Bethlehem.

Merry Christmas

Ken, Carla & Family

Disqualified

It is a word that rings to the inner core of our being. It sends shockwaves to our soul and rocks our confidence to its very foundation. “Disqualified.”

People are disqualified every day in our society. The couple sitting before the loan officer anxiously awaiting the verdict, crumbles from disappointment as they hear, “I’m sorry, but you have been disqualified.” The athlete preparing to compete stops short of entering the field when his coach pulls him aside to say, “I’m sorry, but the drug test has come back, you have been disqualified from competition.”

Disqualification comes because of our past. A poor decision, a moment of weakness, a simple mistake, the cause is irrelevant, the result is the same. “Disqualified.”

It is a word that the enemy whispers in our ear after every stumble or mistake in our Christian walk. “You call yourself a Christian?” the voice whispers. “How can God use you now after you just did that?” The guilt and condemnation follow and then lastly, the resignation… “Disqualified.”

It feels as though God Himself has turned His face away. In your depression you can’t blame Him. “If I were God, I would turn and leave as well,” you lament. You have failed. How can God trust you again? Trust is based on experience. How can God ever trust you again if your track record is filled with such blemishes and mistakes?

I can think of one man in particular who must have felt this intensely. I can imagine him screaming over the roaring wind and pounding waves as his hands dug into the mast of the tossing ship. “I am a prophet of the Lord God of Heaven. This storm has come upon us because I have disobeyed and run from Him. You must cast me overboard, or all of you will perish.”
As the crew hoisted him over the edge and the rolling crashing sea swallowed him in its roar, I can imagine Jonah’s thoughts: “Disqualified. My failures and sin have made me a detriment to others, and a risk to innocent lives. My ministry is over, my life is over… disqualified.”

I can’t imagine what it must have been like to awake inside the great fish. Believing perhaps he was in hell, only to realize he was very much alive. God wasn’t finished. God had sent the mighty fish. “Of course, my sin was so great I deserve this slow agonizing death,” he thought.
But as the seconds turned to minutes and the minutes to hours, Jonah began to realize his death was not God’s ultimate plan. In desperate need, fervent prayers are uttered and for three days fervent prayers flowed from the depth of the sea.

Finally, Jonah found himself squinting in the blinding sun as waves washed upon the shore around him. His hands clawed into the sandy shore as he fought his way to dry land. Exhausted, he collapsed on the sand. “Nineveh, I must go to Nineveh.”

I want to believe that fishermen or some person walking beside the water saw Jonah vomited from the sea. Peppering Jonah with questions, I am sure they would have asked again and again, “You were where? Are you sure?”

By the time Jonah would have reached his destination, Nineveh would have known his story. Soon they knew his message. Those drawn by morbid curiosity that came to see the man vomited from a fish were soon turned to repentance by his powerful message. Within days, one hundred twenty thousand people turned to the Lord and were saved.

God could have chosen any prophet in His arsenal to be His messenger to Nineveh, but He purposely chose Jonah. Knowing full well that Jonah would disobey, God chose him. God knew Jonah’s mistake would make him uniquely usable to bring deliverance to a city. God couldn’t use this one, he wouldn’t have run. God couldn’t have used the other because he wouldn’t have repented. No, only Jonah would do.

What man will use to disqualify you from service, God will use as credentials for your next assignment.

Jonah ran from God, but God used his repentance to win a city. Peter denied Christ three times, but God used his repentance to spread the gospel. Paul of Tarsus attacked the early church, killed Steven and had many placed in jail, but God used his repentance to teach millions about forgiveness, mercy and life.

Every day someone stumbles. Every day someone makes a mistake. What we must realize is that God is not surprised by our mistakes. He knew we would make our mistakes before He assigned us our mission. Just as God had already positioned a fish at the moment of Jonah’s mistake, so God already has a plan to use your mistake for His glory.

All that is required is for us to fall to our knees and cry out as many before us have done: “Lord, forgive me. Make right my heart, and straight my path. Cleanse my heart, and purify my desires.”

Your failings and your mistakes are not what will disqualify you and stop you from accomplishing your mission. Your refusal to repent and refusal to accept His forgiveness will. Stand up! Stand up! There is value in you still. Your ministry is not over. Your life is not in vain.

Like Jonah, it is time to stand upon the shore of a washed up life, and begin the trip that will lead us to our greatest victory.

Confessions

I have a confession to make. Now, I will warn you, this confession might make some of you look at me in shock, while others might consider what I am about to tell you a major sin.

I have been feeding and caring for a cat.

Well, to be completely honest, it has been a kitten, but anyone who has known me for any length of time knows my complete distaste for all things cat. “Kittens,” you have heard me say, “might be cute, but they grow into cats.”

Why would I have such a strong dislike for cats? I’m allergic. As a boy, I suffered severe allergies and cats were one of the worst. Merely entering a house that contained a cat would cause my sinuses to close, my lungs to struggle, and if the cat touched me, I would break out into hives. Cats got under my skin, and I hated the way I felt around them. It wasn’t long until I decided anything that made me so miserable could have no redeeming quality. Thus began my longstanding zero tolerance policy toward cats.

However, something changed this past year. Many of you will remember my newsletters from the beginning of the year concerning our unwanted rodent house guests. If not, you can read the articles by clicking here. What was not mentioned in those articles was that only a few months prior, as a part of my zero-tolerance policy, I had the cat living under the house removed.

It wasn’t until after I fought “the battle of the rodent intruders” that I realized the folly of my policy. The cat had kept the intruders at bay. My fear of allergies caused me to drive the cat away even though it had never come near me, caused a single breathing problem or one itchy hive. But because the cat had the potential to get under my skin, I drove this vital member of my household away.

Sometimes, I think we do the same thing in church. We all know those people who have that personality, who can so easily get under our skin. It’s as though they give us mental and emotional hives. It’s not that they are bad people; it’s just a personality clash… a social allergy.

At first we avoid the allergen, giving it as wide a berth as possible. We tell our friends about our allergic reactions. We might even decide that anything that makes us so miserable must have no redeeming quality. Eventually our aloof or discouraging behavior drives it from the house.

But have we, for cause of a social allergy, driven away that which has a vital place in the church?

“For the body is not one member, but many [and] God has
placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.”
1 Corinthians 12:14,18

I have decided that though this new cat can just as easily get under my skin, I’m not going to drive him away. Though we’ll never be best friends, he’ll always be welcome.