Day 1

December 1st. Let the count down begin. Since the music and decorations have been out in some stores since Halloween, the coming of Christmas may seem, shall we say, anti-climactic?!? I held out until after Thanksgiving -- no music, no lights, no stopping to see Santa. Now, today, bring it on! The decorations are all hung, the music at the house is all Christmas music, and the bedtime stories are centered around this great and glorious day that will be here before we know it and yet will seem like it is taking forever in coming.

We started a tradition a few years ago with our Nativity scene at home; We tuck the baby Jesus in a box (with another manger scene painted on it) and the poor baby waits until bedtime on Christmas eve to make his appearance. The wee babe even made the road trip to the grandparent's house one year as Kristyn couldn't bear to leave Him home and in the box until we got back. It drives my kids crazy that Jesus has to stay in that little box for the better part of the month, and they can't wait to let Him out.

It's funny how so many of us are like that; we love Christmas, we are all about the warm fuzzy feelings caused by the songs, lights, snow, traditions, spiked eggnog...seems like there are a lot of people who do opposite of us at this time of year. They are all about Jesus for a month or so, and even make the trip to church on Christmas eve to make the season complete. Then, come 25 December or shortly thereafter, Jesus goes back in the box until next year. Maybe this year, as we prepare to celebrate the coming of our Lord, we might consider the boxes we put Him in the rest of the year, and how we might be if we were willing to let Him out a bit more often.

The church in the news...

I read the Star Tribune (Minneapolis/St. Paul) headlines every day as a way of keeping up on the world. They have had a few church related stories of late...hit the link to read one in particular.

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/faith/19020569.html?location_refer=Most%20Viewed:Faith%20+%20Values

Interesting...I suppose one way to grow the church, up giving, and keep people around is to raise gas prices. I love the bike rack idea, though.

I am completely amazed (still) at the passion surrounding all things church -- comments on both sides of the fence, some all for the church, some completely and outright hateful of it. Religion truly does polarize us.

My hope is that people will still come this summer, not because they can't afford to drive anywhere, but because they find, see, and hangout with Jesus there.

There is something about the name...

I’m back after 2 weeks in Minnesota getting my head stretched, my preconceptions blown up, and my perspective shifted around. Something kinda profound happened during my first week…

I am taking a Gospels class – learning about them, how to teach and preach them, how to read them to understand a bit more about Jesus and what He was trying to say. The first day was heavy stuff – 8 hours of lecture gets that way, ya know? I found my heart starting to beat a bit faster the more we talked about Jesus. Day 2, the professor started in again and this time, every time he said “Jesus”, I couldn’t stop a smile from creeping across my face. Used to be, when I spent a summer at Ingham Lake Bible Camp, everything someone said Jesus the same thing happened. It took me right back to that summer, when all I lived for was Him, and every mention of the name brought joy right to the surface. My Gospels class did the same thing – I was overwhelmed with the immensity of who Jesus is, and joyful at the depth of His words, His teaching, and His love for us as His brothers and sisters. It lingers still today, as I type…Jesus…what a beautiful thing it is to hear the name.

Imagine if every time our kids heard the name Jesus, they smiled. Imagine if every time you heard the name, you smiled. How different would life be, our world be…that is something to aspire to!

where is Jesus?

we were out of town a few weeks ago. ate breakfast at a place that had a gift shop. they had the 'where's waldo?' books, only in miniature version. i introduced my kids to waldo a while ago -- when i was in high school, my friends and i would spend hours dorking around in stores that had these books looking for waldo, wendy, his dog, and the wizard whitebeard. (there is a glimpse into my formative years, friends. it explains the geeky side...) anyway, my kids dig waldo. and those books are hard enough in real size; shrink them by over half, and well, my eyes were crossing w/ the effort to see detail.

had a kid in chapel this morning at church ask me, 'where is Jesus? is He up in the sky?' as we were launching into a song...now there is a deep question from a 4 year old. funny how they ask the right questions, ya know? we spend time worrying about what we are doing at church, being concerned about peripheral details, and missing the focus on Jesus sometimes. but little guy's question is spot on...where is Jesus? for us, where is Jesus moving? what is He doing in our midst? what is He pointing the spotlight on? where should we be gravitating to in effort to be closer to Him, aiding and carrying out the calling He's laying down?

sometimes the church feels a bit like the waldo books -- he's in there, but we gotta focus on finding him thru all the clutter and distracting stuff that catches our eye. same thing with Jesus -- He's here. but sometimes we gotta fight thru the distractions to find and focus on Him...