A Fresh Start

It happened almost 100 years ago to one of Ohio’s finest. At around 5:30 in the evening on Dec. 10, 1914, a massive explosion erupted in West Orange, New Jersey. Ten buildings in Thomas Edison’s plant, were engulfed in flames. Between six and eight fire departments rushed to the scene, but the chemical-fueled inferno was too powerful to put out quickly. The damage exceeded $2 million ($23 million in today’s dollars), the buildings were insured for only ¼ million because they were made of concrete and were thought to be fireproof. Destroyed were many of Edison’s inventions, prototypes, notes, and history (would catch millions in today’s auctions), as well as factories, inventory, and offices. The next morning, Edison looked at the ruins and said, “There is great value in disaster. All our mistakes are burned up. Thank God we can start anew.” Edison was quoted in The New York Times as saying, “Although I am over 67 years old, I’ll start all over again tomorrow.” And he did. Came roaring back. After just three weeks, with a sizable loan from his friend Henry Ford, Edison got part of the plant up and running again. His employees worked double shifts and set to work producing more than ever. Edison and his team went on to make almost $10 million in revenue the following year. His kind of tragedy would give most people a heart attack or cause great sadness and despair when realizing they would have to start all over again at 67 years old. Yet, instead of wallowing in his own misfortune Edison looks at the catastrophe as a new beginning, a way to start fresh, unhindered by past mistakes. As we begin the New Year, rejoice with me that the God of mercy goes before us no matter what fire comes up in our life.
“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Isaiah 1:18

Opportunity

December 25th is Probably Not Jesus’ Birthday

I know this is a little late for the holiday, but I think it is worth noting…

Pastor Dave

J. Warner Wallace

I celebrate Christmas. Growing up as an atheist, December 25^th was about a lot of things, but not the birth of Jesus. For many centuries before the birth of Christ, December 25^th was similarly non-Christian. The present date for Christmas traces back to the 4^th Century. When Constantine declared Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire, he introduced the faith to a culture already deeply committed to the pagan worship of Roman gods. Christian leaders were in for a real challenge as they wrestled with prior cultural commitments to these gods. Pagan festivals and celebrations abounded throughout the year, celebrating and honoring Roman gods of one variety or another.

One of Rome’s biggest religious festivals occurred in the winter. The festival was called “Saturnalia”, and it was a celebration coinciding with the winter solstice. It occurred over a period of time corresponding to December 17^th – 24^th, ending on December 25^th. This date, declared by Emperor Aurelian in 274AD to be “Dies Natalis Invicti Solis” (“Day of the Birth of the Unconquered Sun”), was a celebration of the Roman god, Saturn. The winter solstice also occurred around this time, celebrated when the sun reached its most southerly declination (when the North Pole is tilted 23.5 degrees from the sun). This marked the beginning of a number of pre-Roman pagan festivals and Roman holidays.

It shouldn’t surprise us this important pre-Christian holiday season would eventually take a Christian form. As a strategic consequence of those who wished to advance the truth of the Gospel, or simply as a cultural inevitability, December 25^th became a Christian celebration. St. Augustine of Hippo (the early church theologian of the 4^th and 5^th Century), wrote about the newly adopted celebration, and said:

“We hold this day (December 25th) holy, not like the pagans because of the birth of the sun, but because of him who made it”

Christmas eventually grew to overtake a number of other cultural holidays across the world. As each culture has added its own bit of folklore to the tradition, it eventually became the holiday we know today. Many of our present traditions have little to do with the Bible story of the nativity, and little to do with the scriptural evidence. For this reason, many devout and sincere Christians believe celebrating Christmas is the equivalent of celebrating the ancient pagan mythologies and gods. Christians throughout the centuries have sometimes come to the same conclusion about Christmas. The holiday was slow to catch on in America and gain the acceptance of the first settlers to the colonies. In fact, the celebration of Christmas was even banned by law in Massachusetts in the colonial days of our forefathers. For many Christians (both historically and currently), there is great discomfort about the Christmas celebration and its connection to Rome, the early evolution of Catholicism and the inclusion of a number of non-Christian cultural elements. In spite of all this, I still celebrate the holiday without hesitation.

When we co-opt an ancient celebration, symbol or word and give it a new meaning, we abandon the first meaning in favor of the second. Several English words, for example, originally had a very different meaning than they do today. In fact, these words meant exactly the opposite of what they presently mean. The word brave, first meant “cowardice”. The word luxury first meant “a sinful self-indulgence”. Even the word nice first meant “stupid” or “foolish” in the 13^th Century! None of us hesitate to use these words, even though their original meaning was very different. We’re not committed to the origin or original meanings of these words. We embrace their contemporary meaning, and our knowledge (or ignorance) of past expressions does not invalidate what they mean to us today. These words are still useful and practical in our everyday lives.

For another example, consider the cross. In Roman times, the cross was an ugly, brutal instrument of death. The outskirts of large cities were often landscaped with crosses lining the roads to the city. Criminals were brutally executed on these crosses and displayed publicly. The message of the cross was clear. It was a symbol of the power, authority and bloody brutality of the Empire. The cross was filled with meaning in the days before Jesus. But that changed after the resurrection, as Christianity adopted the cross as a new kind of symbol. For Christians, the cross demonstrates the gift of Jesus who died to provide eternal life for all those who believe. For us, the cross symbolizes the sacrifice God made for our sin. The cross has a new meaning we ascribe as believers, superseding the old symbolism of the Roman Empire. The cross is now our symbol of the grace, mercy and gift of God.

That’s what Christmas is for my family. It’s our symbol of the grace, mercy and gift of God. The prior ancient meanings of the holiday don’t matter to me. Hey, as a guy who was saved in 1997, the meaning I gave the holiday in 1996 doesn’t matter either! Christmas now has a new meaning for our family, and this new connotation has power and practical use in our daily lives. So, if your family celebrates Christmas and a Christian holiday, enjoy it, even though it’s probably not Jesus’ real birthday.

This Baby

25 Questions For Mary

By Max Lucado, “God Came Near”

1. What was it like watching him pray?

2. How did he respond when he saw other kids giggling during the service at the synagogue?

3. When he saw a rainbow, did he ever mention a flood?

4. Did you ever feel awkward teaching him how he created the world?

5. When he saw a lamb being led to the slaughter, did he act differently?

6. Did you ever see him with a distant look on his face as if he were listening to someone you couldn’t hear?

7. How did he act at funerals?

8. Did the thought ever occur to you that the God to whom you were praying was asleep under your own roof?

9. Did you ever try to count the stars with him….and succeed?

10. Did he ever come home with a black eye?

11. How did he act when he got his first haircut?

12. Did he have any friend by the name of Judas?

13. Did he do well in school?

14. Did you ever scold him?

15. Did he ever have to ask a question about Scripture?

16. What do you think he thought when he saw a prostitute offering to the highest bidder the body he made?

17. Did he ever get angry when someone was dishonest with him?

18. Did you ever catch him pensively looking at the flesh on his own arm while holding a clod of dirt?

19. Did he ever wake up afraid?

20. Who was his best friend?

21. When someone referred to Satan, how did he act?

22. Did you ever accidentally call him Father?

23. What did he and his cousin John talk about as kids?

24. Did his brothers and sisters understand what was happening?

25. Did you ever think, That’s God eating my soup?

A Christmas Thank You to all our Vets

Chaplains Needed!

Chaplain Positions

This weekend thousands of men and women will not attend religious services at home. Instead, they choose to defend the freedoms of Americans, including the First Amendment which preserves our religious freedoms.

They need your help.

The Air Force Reserve is looking for qualified clergy to serve as chaplains. We are also looking for qualified seminary students to train as chaplain candidates.

The Air Force Reserve Chaplain Corps exists to ensure the free exercise of religion. We are a diverse community of faiths serving a pluralistic population while remaining true to our own faith traditions. We train chaplains and chaplain assistants to provide ministry to airmen and their families.

In order to respond effectively to national and international emergencies, the Air Force Reserve must maintain a high level of readiness at all times. Ministry that makes a difference requires us to be current on all training and to maintain a sense of urgency.

Your Air Force Reserve ministry will enhance your civilian ministry by:

• Providing quality leadership training at no cost to your faith group
• Equipping you to serve a diverse community
• Offering health, dental and life insurance benefits at nominal cost

Your civilian ministry will complement your Air Force Reserve ministry by:

• Sharing your education and experience with us
• Adding your ministry insights and perspective

• Chaplain

  The Air Force Reserve Chaplain Corps exists to ensure the free exercise of religion. Chaplains provide ministry to reservists and their families,…

  Read more

• Chaplain Candidate

  The Air Force Reserve Chaplain Candidate Program is an opportunity for seminary and other professional religious school students to evaluate their…

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• Chaplain Assistant

  The Chaplain Service renders spiritual care and ethical leadership to military members and their families.

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Air Force Reserve @AirForceReserve.com

I Heard the Bells On Christmas Day

Justin Taylor explains the origins of the song:

The lyrics originate from the poem “Christmas Bells” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, written on Christmas day in 1863. But the original was not a feel-good song but one born in grief. Longfellow’s wife had died in a fire in 1860. And on December 1, 1863, the widower received the news that his eldest son, 19-year-old Charley, had been nearly paralyzed by a gunshot wound fighting for the Union in the Civil War. It was with that background that he penned this poem about the dissonance between the Christmas bells, the singing of “peace on earth,” and the world around him of injustice and violence—ending with the hope for eschatological peace.

A sobering poem with a haunting, but hopeful melody. May the Prince of Peace reign on earth far as the curse is found.

This Ain’t your Momma’s America

Some interesting thoughts about reaching our generation for Christ, by a guest blogger…

Pastor Dave

The societal change in North America, and Western Europe, in the last generation has been remarkable.

Secularism has been on the rise. Church attendance has been down. And whatever optimism we may have about the rebirth of spirituality among the rising generation, this is not the society of yesteryear. We live in an increasingly post-Christian milieu, and there is a growing sense in healthy evangelical congregations that we can’t just keep doing things the way we’ve always done them.

Not everything needs to be rethought, but some of the methods with which we’ve been most comfortable need serious and careful evaluation in light of our quickly evolving context. And according to pastor and author Jonathan Dodson, one of the areas that most needs our attention is evangelism.

The Believable Gospel

What if we thought about evangelism not only as opening our mouths, but also opening our ears? What if we thought hard not only about what we claim, but what questions we ask? What if we not only told nonbelievers what we believe, but probed what they believe?

And what if we were willing not only to have a five-minute conversation on the street corner, but give our time and energy selflessly to develop the relationship, ask careful questions, listen intently, patiently address their obstacles to the gospel, and walk with them through life?

If we did, we’d be much better prepared for being part of the mission to North America in the twenty-first century.

Reaching “Resistant” Peoples

Before planting City Life Church in Austin, Dodson spent time “on the mission field” in Southeast Asia, in Burma, Laos, and Thailand. When he came to Texas, he sought to bring the same missionary mindset to a people who spoke his language and shared his cultural familiarities, but had a vastly different worldview.

Following in the wake of Western Europe, the United States and Canada have become vastly more secular, and we’re realizing that the Great Commission is no longer something we can outsource to the missions department. The Commission is for disciplemaking at home and abroad. It is domestic and international. Every Christian is sent by God and can engage their city with a missionary perspective, even when we don’t need to learn a new language and culture.

In the post-Christian moment, Dodson calls attention to pockets of “resistant peoples,” and wants to ask the hard questions about what it means to engage them with the gospel, and not just parrot the same old lines or throw our hands up. There may be political, cultural, theological, or ethnic reasons they’re rejecting the gospel. They may equate being a Christian with being Republican, or being anti-environmental — two misconceptions which are easy to work through, if we only know the issues.

In this new episode of Theology Refresh, Dodson, author of the new book Unbelievable Gospel, provides a fresh take on mission in a post-Christian context, where evangelism is typically a community project.

This is a 14-minute episode, so I hope you take time to watch it.

 

Pearl Harbor Day

As a young sailor, I was stationed at an ammunition depot across the Lock from Pearl Harbor. On that base I had access to the mountain pass that the Japanese came through as they mounted the surprise attack on December 7, 1941. At that time there was a large cross erected marking the spot. One could see the open Pacific Ocean on one side and Pearl Harbor on the other. Many times I stood there and put myself in the shoes of those who experienced the horror of that lazy Sunday morning.

I visited the Arizona Memorial on several occasions and felt awe in realizing that it was the final resting place of 1,102 of the 2,402 who lost their lives on that day of infamy. One could still see oil leaking from the sunken ship into the harbor as if it were weeping for those entombed in its hull.

On this Pearl Harbor Day, I recognize the challenge of evil on that day and the generation who stood up against it. Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Benediction for Pearl Harbor Day

Eternal Father,

As we close this service of remembrance, let us have an overwhelming sense of Your favor upon this land. With the conviction of faith, help us to see that Your mercy is still available to those who call upon You.

God, bless our nation, keep us safe in 2013, deliver us from evil. Bless our President and Commander-in-Chief with wisdom to lead, strength to persevere, and readiness to seek your face. Guard and guide those who protect our nation: our Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.

Shower our World War 2 vets with assurance of your presence as they face their final battle, let them find peace through Your amazing grace. Now Lord, bless us and keep us, make your face to shine upon us and be gracious to us .Lord, Lift up Your countenance upon us and give us peace. In Jesus Name,

Amen