Some Christmas Wisdom

Matthew 2:1-11

“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, ‘Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews?  We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.’  When King Herod heard this he was disturbed and all Jerusalem with him… After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.  When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.  On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him.  Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, and of incense, and of myrrh.”

I think it’s wonderful that God in His providence included the story of the wise men in the Scripture. Their voyage from the Far East provides a great example to us during the days of Christmas.

My Thankfulness for The Brook

With Thanksgiving in mind, here is my Top Ten List of things I feel most grateful for at The Brook!

1. God is Here

From the Bible we learn that there are many characteristics of God at work within a group of people, but the two primary outcomes that give evidence of the Holy Spirit are love and transformation.  When I look at The Brook, I see genuine Christian love and I witness how God is changing lives in truly amazing ways. Without God doing his work here, we are nothing. Thank you Father for your presence in and through our church... and for blessing us with your mighty work!

What is Man?

Just a couple of weeks ago on October 14, Felix Baumgartner achieved something no one had ever done before. He sky jumped from the earth’s stratosphere some 24 miles high to eventually parachute to the ground. It was simply awe-inspiring to watch. If you haven’t seen it- you need to! (http://www.redbullstratos.com/)

After jumping from 128,100 feet from the Red Bull Stratos capsule, Felix broke the speed of sound after 34 seconds of free fall, ultimately accelerating to as high as 833.9 mph, or Mach 1.24.

A Little Giving, A Lot of Heart

One of the principles that all of must learn as Christians is to walk by faith. In 2 Corinthians 5:7 Paul says, “We live by faith, not by sight”. Faith is the one thing God desires in us all. As it says in Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Our faith proves our trust in God, and our Father in heaven desires that His children actually believe that He will provide for any and every need in our lives.

This of course includes our finances. With respect to our money, most of us are much more comfortable making decisions based upon what can be seen and reasoned. Nothing wrong with reason. God has given us a mind to use, and he expects us to be prudent and wise with it.

The Concept of New Testament Love

Below is an excerpt from a paper I wrote during my doctoral program. It's a bit formal, but I believe it seeks to communicate the amazing idea of Agape love- a love that is supreme and that originated in the heart of God himself. Before Christ this kind of love was not well understood. Jesus epitomized what it meant to love supremely and I think this post will encourage you to understand the profound nature of God's love, and the kind of love He seeks that we express to one another. Enjoy!

The Power of Integrity

Let me tell you about one 7-year-old baseball player whose integrity landed him in the pages of Sports Illustrated a few years ago. At a T-ball game in Wellington, Florida, first baseman Tanner Munsey fielded a ground ball and tried to tag a runner going from first base to second. The umpire, Laura Benson, called the runner out, but Tanner immediately approached her and said, "Ma'am, I didn't tag the runner." Benson awarded the runner second base and Tanner's coach gave him the game ball for his honesty.

Vision- Beginning to End

George Barna once described vision as, “A clear mental image of a preferable future imparted by God to his chosen servants, and based upon an accurate understanding of God, self and circumstances.” It’s a mouthful, but as I’ve compared this definition to the Bible, I’ve seen it to be true.

One of the greatest privileges and responsibilities a leader has is to discern God's vision for the people he leads. Vision, however, is often misunderstood and unfortunately, many Christian leaders take cues from the world and corporate America. They visualize accomplishing great things for God and then become convinced that their dreams are God's vision. Remember, God is not a cosmic genie to serve our wants. He never promised to finance OUR dreams. Instead, we should be people who receive vision from God, not ask God to bless our plans. Nehemiah's example is a powerful one and illustrates the proper process for receiving vision.

Character: The Humas OS

I transitioned into adulthood during the personal computing boom. Early in college I typed papers on a typewriter (remember those?), but by the time I reached seminary PC’s were coming of age. I remember the first personal computer on which I worked. I was in awe of its capabilities even in the earliest stages of the computing revolution.

One term ushered in among many by the new technological age was the term software. In high school I worked in a hardware store so I keenly understood the concept of hardware. The monitor, keyboard and mouse I am using now to create and manipulate this text are the hardware of the computer. Alternatively, the operating system (OS) is the primary software of the computer and includes the collection of instructions and code installed on it. The OS is unseen, operates behind the tactile dimensions of the hardware and allows the actual capabilities of the computer to manifest.

Faith is...

Hebrews 11:1 states that “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” The writer of Hebrews goes on to give examples of this definition of faith in chapter 11. People like Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Rahab, etc. are not commended in this passage because they knew God and acknowledged his power. Rather, there was one thing they all had in common. These faithful ones were celebrated because they DID something that actualized their faith. In other words, there came a point in life where they acted upon their trust in God. They took a step forward, believing God had called them, and trusted him for the material, emotional and spiritual resources needed to see their calling through to the end.

Form vs. Function

The book Pagan Christianity: Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices (BarnaBooks,2008) by Frank Viola and George Barna makes for interesting discussion about the things we do in church. The book states that “a great deal of what we Christiansdo for Sunday morning church did not come from Jesus Christ, the apostles, or the Scriptures. Nor did it come from Judaism.” Viola traces many of the church’s methods to pagan roots.

New Church Structure Coming Soon...

With the soon coming changes to our church's leadership structure, I think it would be good to remind our church family of the spiritual and relational values behind the structure that are likely even more important than the structure itself. Thankfully, these principles are at the very heart of the way our leaders relate to one another and the decisions we make.