Merry Christmas!

One of my favorite Christmas stories is about a family who purchased a nativity set at a local store. When they got home, they discovered they had two figurines of baby Jesus. Obviously when it was wrapped at the store, someone had mistakenly given them an extra Jesus. The mother quickly realized this meant someone would purchase a nativity set that was missing the baby Jesus. So she sent her husband back to the store to put up a cardboard sign that said, “Missing Jesus? Call ________.” Each time the phone rang the mother just knew it was someone calling for the missing baby Jesus. But no one called. Then on Christmas Eve the call she was waiting for finally came. But it wasn’t from someone who was missing the baby Jesus from a nativity set. The call came from someone who was just missing Jesus. And that Christmas Eve, the family who had two baby Jesus figurines spent their evening feeding, clothing, and loving a mother and two children who thought they were all alone in the world.

I can’t even imagine a Christmas without Jesus. So on this Christmas Day, as we conclude our annual “Twelve Days of Christmas” devotions, I want to wish you a Merry Christmas where Jesus is present in every thought, in every word, and in every deed.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. (Colossians 1:15-16)

Merry Christmas!

Jesus cares,

Pastor Chris

The Blessing of Giving

Christmas is the season of giving. No one would dispute that. And while many people might wish they had more so they could give more, one Pennsylvania man reminds us that it’s not how much you have, it’s how you handle it.

The Associated Press reports in a story dated December 8, 2008, about a tiny church in western Pennsylvania which inherited more than $2 million from a farmer who lived in a mobile home. John Ferguson, a 71-year-old farmer who attended Hopewell United Methodist Church near the town of Black Lick, left his entire estate to the church. Ferguson died in January 2007, but the gift has been in probate since then. The church has just 80 members. Hopewell’s pastor Jason McQueen said that a panel from the congregation will choose projects to be funded annually from the income generated by Ferguson’s estate.

How would a Pennsylvania farmer who lived in a mobile home save $2 million? The story doesn’t give any specifics, but my best guess takes me to the words of Proverbs 13:11, Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow. (NIV) Amid all the stories of foolishness and greed dominating the news, a fact which has landed our country in the middle of a historic economic crisis, isn’t it refreshing there are still people with common sense and generous hearts who live out the words of Jesus? These are quoted in Acts 20:35, It is more blessed to give than to receive. (NIV)

I hope that your Christmas is filled with the blessing of giving this year. But more than that, I hope your life is filled with the blessing of obeying God’s Word about being a good steward of all that He has entrusted to you.


Jesus cares,

Pastor Chris

Gift Cards

One of the most common questions you hear this time of year is, “Have you gotten all your Christmas shopping done?” It’s an easy conversation starter and an easy way to make small talk with someone you don’t really know.

Undoubtedly many of us have “gift cards” or “gift certificates” on our Christmas shopping list. I know that Sandy and I do. You can give someone a gift card to a department store, a restaurant, hotels, gas stations, golf courses (Did you catch that last one?), etc. Gift cards are great! But I never thought I would see a gift card used the way that was described in a recent Washington Times article that said, “Indiana residents in need of a quick stocking stuffer this holiday season have an unusual option: Planned Parenthood gift certificates. The group’s Hoosier state chapter on Wednesday began selling gift certificates redeemable at any of its 35 facilities for any service provided - from basic health screenings to birth control to abortions.” Betty Cockrum, the president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood of Indiana, was reported as saying, “The gift-certificate program is the first of its kind by any of Planned Parenthood’s 99 affiliates nationwide.”

Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY, said, “Planned Parenthood claims that it is doing this in the name of women’s health. A gift certificate for health services might be a thoughtful and meaningful, if unusual, gift. But Planned Parenthood is the nation’s largest abortion provider, performing multiple thousands of abortions nationwide each year. The organization also receives hundreds of millions of dollars in income from performing these abortions. Abortion is a big business, and Planned Parenthood is the market leader.”

The Los Angeles Times corroborated Dr. Mohler’s comments by reporting that the Indiana chapter of Planned Parenthood performs about 5,000 abortions each year. If you go to the Indiana group’s website (which I did), you’ll see that you can purchase gift certificates online in $25, $50, $75 and $100 increments. They say you can use the certificates for a basic health exam for $58. So, why would someone need $100 gift certificates unless you were using them for an abortion?

According to The Washington Times, “Planned Parenthood affiliates operate more than 880 centers nationwide.” Ms. Cockrum said, “While it’s too early to judge the program’s success, she plans to offer the certificates year-round.”

Earlier this year, during our Think Biblically series I shared the following truths from the Scriptures about abortion:

1. Life begins in the womb.
2. This life is the special object of God’s loving care.
3. Unplanned and ill-timed pregnancies can lead to amazing things (That was certainly the case for Mary and Joseph).
4. God’s redeeming grace covers all our sin.

While I can certainly understand and even applaud the use of a gift card for basic health exams, it makes my heart heavy to think that someone could use a gift card for an abortion. It’s sad to think that at the time of year we celebrate the birth of one child who changed the world, we can also make it so convenient to end the life of so many others. Note: Special thanks to Barry Cameron at Crossroads Christian Church, Grand Prairie, TX (www.crossroadschristian.net) for some of the information contained in this article.

Jesus cares,

Pastor Chris

Carry each other's burdens

This past weekend I took a break from the pulpit as Sandy and I traveled to Mount Vernon, Illinois, to visit our friends Jamie and Tammy Allen. Jamie was my college roommate and is the Senior Pastor of the Central Christian Church in Mount Vernon. We had a great visit and were able to attend church with them for the first time.

A little over a year ago Jamie was diagnosed with prostrate cancer. His subsequent surgery and follow-up could not have gone better. He found out recently, however, that he was going to need to begin several weeks of radiation therapy. His doctor assured him that he was going to continue to have a good outcome from all of this, but the news was difficult to take. So this holiday weekend seemed like the perfect time to just go and be together. And I’m so glad I did. We spent our time talking, laughing, and remembering and I was reminded of the truth that sometimes the most powerful ministry we can be involved in is just being present.

In Galatians 6:2 Paul writes, Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. (NIV) That word “burdens” simply refers to the things that sometimes become too much for us to handle on our own. Sometimes the best way to help someone handle the burdens of life is just to let them know that they aren’t alone. Sometimes our presence gives the people we love the strength and resolve they need to face the future.

I remember several years ago when I was ministering in Oklahoma I was particularly burdened by a funeral I was going to lead. A young man who lived next door to his mother and father had taken his life. He had been that son who never seemed to find his way in life and faced one trial after another. This was devastating to his parents, especially his father, who at the time was dealing with his own terminal cancer. I spent a lot of time with them leading up to the funeral and at times the father would just cry uncontrollably and question God about all that had happened. The night before the funeral we had an elders’ meeting at the church, and I shared with those men how difficult this was and how burdened I felt. The next day when I got up to lead the funeral, I looked out at the audience and saw every one of them present. They didn’t know the family, but together they took time away from their work to simply come and be present to let me know I wasn’t alone. That’s something I will never forget.

There are ministry opportunities that take place center stage, in the spotlight for everyone to see. I’m very familiar with those moments. But the visibility of those moments doesn’t necessarily make them the most powerful or important. Sometimes the most significant ministry takes place in the back, in the crowd, and out of the spotlight. And those are moments that all of us can be a part of.

Jesus cares,

Pastor Chris

Make a Commitment

This coming weekend will mark the conclusion of our When a Man Loves a Woman series from Song of Solomon. And while I’ve been blessed by the different things that I have read and studied over the past several weeks, some of my biggest blessings have come in the different comments, cards, and e-mails I have received from many of you.

The Bible teaches us that marriage was designed by God…that it was a part of His “very good” creation. And yet the truth is many marriage relationships, for Christians and non-Christians alike, are less than fulfilling. While Song of Solomon has given us some very good and very practical instructions for experiencing a lifetime of marital love, there are some other practical things we can do.

1. Make a commitment to spiritual growth. A successful marriage requires wisdom and maturity in the lives of both spouses. The kind of wisdom and maturity I’m talking about comes when you are growing in your faith. If I want to be the kind of husband God desires, then I need to overcome things like pride and selfishness, and I need to grow in humility and service. As I mature in Christ, I will mature as a husband.
2. Make a commitment to pray. One of the best ways to bless your spouse and bless your marriage is to find the time to pray together. Every strong marriage has a deep well of intimacy, and intimacy happens when you pray together.
3. Make a commitment to be faithful. Unfaithfulness can be eliminated when you make a commitment to only think passionately about your husband or your wife. The world might say that sexual fantasies involving other people are okay, but Jesus doesn’t say that (Matthew 5:28). And making this commitment today can guard your every tomorrow.
4. Make a commitment to communicate. Proverbs 13:17, in The Living Bible says, Reliable communication permits progress. A few years ago Newsweek released a story that said, “The average couple talks to each other alone four minutes a day.” They also wrote, “The average couple spends 47 hours a week in front of the television.” It’s easy to slip into the pattern of only talking about who’s dropping off or picking up the kids or here’s my meeting schedule this week. That’s valuable information, but that’s not the kind of communication needed in a great marriage. A marriage relationship needs the kind of communication that is focused on the needs of each spouse.
5. Make a commitment to trust and to forgive. The Bible teaches us in James 1:13 that we can always trust that God is not associated with evil. We need to have that same trust with our husband or wife. I Corinthians 13:5 tells us one of the characteristics of love is that it “keeps no record of wrongs.” We need to have that kind of love for our husband and wife. I know that no one is perfect and that there are times, even in the best marriages, where you can be hurt and disappointed. But that doesn’t minimize our need to think, expect, and give the best.
   

In February of next year, Sandy and I will have been married for 27 years. Ours has not always been a perfect marriage, but it’s been a marriage where some fundamental commitments have always been present. And those commitments were made from the heart. As a result we have seen and experienced God’s blessing.

Thanks for all the kind words related to When a Man Loves a Woman. You are blessing me, and you are a blessing to serve.

Jesus cares,

Pastor Chris

Welcome to my blog

Welcome to my blog. Now that’s a sentence I didn’t see coming. For those of you who were on my e-mail list, I hope you can make the transition from receiving to logging on and reading. We made this change so that I can write what I’m feeling when I’m feeling it and so that you can log on to our web site and have another option for finding out what’s going on.

When I was a boy growing up in Oklahoma, I went to church every week. I went to Sunday school, Sunday morning worship, Sunday night youth group, Sunday night church, and Wednesday night Bible study (wow – that sounds like a lot!). I didn’t go to a big church. The truth is I have no real idea how many people attended my home church. That’s just not something that ever entered my mind. But I have a very good memory of who attended my church.

I remember Mary Bonawit who always had a smile on her face and who had a heart for foreign missions. She was instrumental in helping Vijay and Pushpa Lall get the support they needed to start the Mid-India Christian Mission (several years later one of their sons would found the Central India Christian Mission, and Mount Pleasant Christian Church would become his living-link in the states).

I remember Maurice and Margaret Oakes. Maurice was always around the church willing to do whatever work or service was needed. One time we had a youth campout on the property behind our building, and when some other boys (not me) in one of the tents would simply not be quiet and go to sleep, he threw a bucket of water on them (that was old-school church discipline).

I remember Bill and Jane Beard, who always let us come over to their house for swim parties. And I remember Mrs. Suttle, who, during the brief time my dad attended church, used to call him “Willie Tom” (his name was William Thomas). I could go on and on.

Now, all of the people I have just mentioned were adults when I was a child. But I knew them because we were a multi-generational church. We didn’t have a separate worship service for students or young adults or senior citizens. We all worshiped together in the same service at the same time. I consider that a blessing. Some people might not think that’s practical or the best approach in a church like Mount Pleasant and that’s okay. But just the other day Mary Smith stopped me in the main lobby and told me a story about how one of the children in her Sunday school class talked to her about how he heard Pastor Chris talking about how God doesn’t want us to worry. A little later I got an e-mail from Bruce Humphrey, our Senior High Pastor, telling me about a Sunday night Collision service where he became aware of one of the students talking to God about how Pastor Chris said we should trust God and not worry. A few days later our middle school Pastor Mike Sheley told me how our 5th and 6th graders “lit up” when they attended the main worship on the weekend we talked about contentment from Philippians 4:10-13. That’s what they had just studied and would continue to study once Sunday morning “56” resumed.

I would have never known any of the people I mentioned earlier if I never attended church with them. And while I can’t tell you that I listened to and learned from every sermon I heard when I was a child, I listened enough to learn about a loving God and a seeking Savior and a plan of salvation. And as I got older, I listened enough to understand what it meant to answer the call to what we used to call full-time Christian service.

I love our Children’s Ministry and our Student Ministry. I love the special and specific services and opportunities we offer them here at Mount Pleasant. I think every parent should have their children participate. But I also love standing on the platform at 10:45 and seeing teenagers in front of me. I’m not naïve or arrogant enough to think that they hear everything that I say, but I certainly believe the Holy Spirit, who is the spirit of truth, can speak to their hearts in that moment and change their lives forever. So I believe in multi-generational worship. And I believe in creating the kind of worship environment where we can be connected and learn from each other as we focus our attention on God and God alone.

Pastor Chris