TRANSFORMING YOUR WORLD

Seasons Greetings, Saints!
The gospel accounts of the birth of our Lord Jesus are simply fascinating. For some they are too strange to be believable. How can someone be born to a virgin? That defies logic, physics and biology. But then again, what is there that God can't do? If you can believe that God created the universe, then why couldn't He defy the physics and biology He created to save His highest creation on earth, humans? Atheists, agnostics and some theologians share the same skepticism about the circumstances surrounding the birth of Christ. If all humans exist because of the sexual union between a man and woman, or at least male sperm fertilizing a female egg, then how could Jesus be an exception to that? May I offer at least one alternative thought? The Apostle Paul in Romans 3:23 says that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." We are essentially born in sin because of the sin choice of the first humans. The "seed" of sin is passed on from generation to generation. No one escapes. Since sin is a violation of the relationship God desires to have with us, then sin must have righteous judgment. God, who is holy, will have relationship only with that which is also holy. Sin made us unholy. Joseph was a good man but not sinless. Mary likewise was a good and blessed woman but not sinless. "All have sinned......" If the seed of a man who is not perfect were to fertilize the seed of a woman not perfect, you produce just another sinner incapable of saving themselves. If Jesus was a product of the seed of Joseph, he may have been a good man, but a man also in need of salvation. The Gospel of John chapter one refers to Jesus as the Word of God that became flesh (John 1:14). Mary gave Him his humanity; He was born of a woman. As the Word of God He could not bleed, feel physical pain and suffer as humans know suffering. To become the "Sacrificial Lamb" He had to become as we are yet without sin. Through Mary he gained His humanity, but her egg fertilized by the Holy Spirit gave Him His divinity. As a result Jesus became 100% God and 100% human all in one. He therefore became the perfect redeemer. He could take our sins because He had no sin of His own for which He had to pay. Through one man, Adam, we all were plunged into sin, but because of the one man, Christ Jesus, all are redeemed who accept His salvation and receive Him as Lord. While this defies human logic, it also makes perfect sense. God in His great love came to us in Christ. We sinned and therefore deserve the judgement to be eternally separated from God, but God so loved the world that Jesus received our punishment upon Himself so that the requirements of God's law is met and we can be united with God forever. Wow! How great is that? This is why we celebrate the birth of Jesus. Had He not come we would still be lost with no hope of peace and salvation. Christmas is not a secular holiday as is claimed. Without Christ what is being celebrated? Gifts? The stores would be happy. Good feelings? Feeling good about what? Office parties and trees and lights for what if not for Christ? Instead of good feelings for the holidays, how about "Joy to the World the Lord has come, Let Earth receive her King!"

TRANSFORMING YOUR WORLD

Time. What an incredibly interesting phenomenon. Your senses can't discern it. You can't hear, smell, taste, see or touch it. It has no life, no spirit and yet governs all that we do in one way or the other. We see its affect in the aging process. We divide it up into categories. Seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades, centuries, generations, etc. In fact an Olympic athlete may win the hundred yard dash by 1/100th of a second. Some nations of the world may use a different measure for time as in counting years. For some it is 2008 but for others it is 5000-something. We use three broad categories in which we make reference to time, the past, present and future. The past can never be reclaimed or relived, the present is the exact moment and the future is only an non-experienced possibility not yet made manifest. The only past we really know is our own personal past we have experienced. All other past events are taught us by someone else. The past will often influence our present and perhaps our future. But we cannot live in the past. We have the exact current moment and a hope for future possibilities. We cannot, with all our human knowledge and accomplishments, control the future. We can prepare for it, we can influence it and in some sense shape it, but we cannot control it. Time submits to no one except God who alone controls it. Time, which is temporal, must yield to God who is eternal. While we cannot control time, God through His wisdom and grace grants us the ability to not allow time to rule us. We can make it a useful tool and advocate, or we can make time our adversary. Since we cannot return to the past, we can take the lessons of the past and use them to strengthen us and makes us wiser as we move into the future. To not learn those lessons can cause our future to be no better, and perhaps worse than the past. To have that brighter future may mean that there are things in our past that we will need to let go of for good. These may be things, or even people or situations that have become dear to us or even security for us. But to get to where God wants us to achieve, and to get what God wants us to have, we sometimes have to "Let go and let God." Though time is fleeting, based primarily on the earth's daily rotation on its axis and annual revolution around the sun, it is clear, time waits for no one. The writer of Ecclesiastes declares that there is a time (season) for everything under the sun, including a time to be born, a time to live, a time to die. By God's grace, use your time wisely. We have but a few fleeting moments and then comes eternity. Learn from your past, take hold of your future as you live out God's plan and not time's plan for your life.

TRANSFORMING YOUR WORLD

Seasons Greetings?
Is it me or does it at least seem like the Advent season (the season leading up to Christmas) can be an especially difficult season? Often we hear of deaths, tragedies, layoffs, unable to find employment, and now with a bad economy many being forced out of their homes. 'tis the season to be jolly? I have discovered over the course of my life that this "joyful" season can be especially hurtful, depressing and at least uncertain. Of course there is the added expectation of buying everyone gifts and going to Christmas dinner parties and office secret pals and bosses or staff to buy for. Oh, and by the way your paycheck (if you have one) has not increased and expenses are higher and ...... oh yeah, its cold in most places, cloudy and.... Enough! All of this in preparation for the celebrating of the birth of our Lord Jesus the Christ. Still searching for a reason to celebrate in your home? Still searching for that joyful, jolly spirit? Yes! there is reason to rejoice because Christ has come. Can you imagine if there was no hope of salvation, no forgiveness of sin, no promise of provision, no divine purpose and plan for your life? Perhaps this season can be difficult because many in America have forgotten about Christ. He is often only allowed to participate in this season, designed to honor Him, as a Point of Sale advertisement to get the consumer to buy products. In most other ways He is excluded. Turn to Christ, America! Jesus is not a Republican although some have tried to use Him for their campaigns. He is not a Democrat nor has all Democrats rejected Him. No one owns Him and He plays no favorites. He is Lord and Lord of all. When He died, He died for all and desires that no one perish for eternity. He gives us the chance to receive His salvation which He paid for in His own blood because of His great love for us. Perhaps this season often seems difficult because trial often precedes triumph. Before Jesus began His ministry He was lead by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness (wild-erness), a wild, challenging place where He fasted (did not eat) for forty days and then was severely tested by Satan himself. But when that season was over, Jesus who up until then had never performed a miracle or healed the sick came out of the wilderness with great power (Luke 4). Trial before triumph. Or, how about the Hebrews freed from Egyptian slavery spending forty years in the wilderness before crossing into the Promised Land? You get the point. So in spite of how bleak the economic forecast and regardless of the personal difficulties you may be facing...rejoice! God has not forsaken you but may be simply preparing you for His promise for you. Christ has come, the Holy Spirit fills, guides, provides and protects and Christ is coming again to reclaim those who have received Him. Yes, 'tis the season to be jolly, now and always!