Waiting Room

How do you spend the time when you have to wait? I am thankful that I don’t have to spend very much time in a doctor’s waiting room; but I will admit that when I’ve had to wait for my turn, I have been fascinated by how differently people pass the time.

Some folks seem content to just sit there until their name is called. Others park themselves in front of a television. Some people pull a book or magazine out of their bag and resume their reading. There are usually stacks of magazines lying around for those who didn’t plan ahead. A few folks bring work from home or the office. There are usually a couple of folks who have a friend or family member with them and they spend the time in conversation.

No matter what activity they are using to occupy their time; every time someone comes to the door to call for the next patient, all of them stop what they are doing, look up and listen for their name. No one wants to miss their turn. Each one hopes this is their opportunity to move closer to keeping their appointment.

Advent is a season of waiting. When you have an appointment to see the doctor, it’s pretty clear what you are waiting for. With Advent it’s a little more ambiguous. Are you waiting to see what will be under the tree on Christmas morning? Are you waiting to impress your friends and family with lavish decorations and a sumptuous feast? Or are you waiting for something else?

While Advent begins our season of preparation to celebrate the birth of the Christ child, it also serves as a time to recall that we are still waiting for the triumphant return of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus assured his followers that he would return to establish his kingdom. Jesus also urged them to live in eager anticipation of his return. Jesus did not want anyone to miss out, so he urged them all to stay alert.

There are a lot of different ways you might spend this season of Advent. Some of you may choose to spend time in silence listening for God’s voice. Some may choose to read passages from the Bible that speak of God’s plan and purposes for the world. You may find the writings of others who lead you to discover the deep truths of God.

However you choose to spend this time of waiting, I pray that you will make room in your life to focus on the hope we have in Christ. May this be a season when you hear God call your name. May you realize your opportunity to move closer to God.

Who’s in Charge?

Most people manage life pretty well as long as most things happen the way they expect them to. The alarm clock works. There is cream for the coffee. The car starts. Even if the traffic into work is not what you would prefer, after a while you get used to it and find ways to make the most of the ride.

Even the slightest variation can throw you off, though. If the power goes off for a few minutes during the night . . . . If someone puts an empty carton back in the fridge . . . . If all you hear is a “click, click, click” when you turn the key in the ignition . . . . If there’s a fender bender (even if you’re not involved in the actual collision), it can leave you feel out of control.

Now if something really significant and unexpected happens, it calls on a whole new set of coping skills. Unfortunately, it seems that these kinds of events are occurring more frequently each day. World markets fluctuate wildly making it difficult, if not impossible, to feel confident about saving for the future. Political leaders—at home and abroad—seem intent on placing blame than on fixing the problems governments face. Even the weather seems to have become more unpredictable.

On a more personal level, “downsizing” and “underemployment” are terms that feel much more threatening now than they did a couple of years ago. You find yourself at the funeral home much more often than you would have expected. As people make accusations and raise questions about the behavior of venerable public figures, you find yourself asking, “Who can I trust?”

It is exactly in the midst of this kind of uncertainty that it is important to recall who is in charge of your life—and your destiny. The people who were living in Ephesus in the first century were experiencing greater and greater uncertainty. In the midst of their anxiety, Paul prays that they will remember “the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him,” and “the authority of Christ”—who is “far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come” (cf. Ephesians 1:19-21).

The world can seem mighty scary at times. The uncertainty can threaten to disable us. As we gather as a community of faith, let us join with Paul and pray for one another, “that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.”

Preparing for Thanksgiving

The flood of catalogs has already started. Most retailers have completed the transition from orange and black to red and green. Several online merchants are featuring countdown clocks to “Black Friday.” In the midst of all the voices calling you to start your Christmas shopping early this year, it could be easy to shortchange your celebration of Thanksgiving.

If your “cash flow” is feeling more like a “cash trickle,” you may even be wondering what you have to be thankful for. With so many voices encouraging you to spend your way to a “happy holidays,” you may have a growing sense of dread as December approaches. That’s even more of a reason to make a decision now to make sure that Thanksgiving is more than just the start of the shopping season for you and your family.

It is good to remember that the first celebrations of Thanksgiving in this country were observed in conditions that were much less than ideal. The colonists who were trying to establish a settlement at Plymouth had seen many of their friends and members of their families pass away due to the harsh conditions. Even with a better harvest that summer, they may not have had enough to feed everyone if the Wampanoag Native Americans had not helped them out.

When David moved the Ark into the city of Jerusalem, he appointed priests whose primary job was to lead the people in giving thanks to God. That first day David gave them a new song to teach the people. It begins, “Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done” (1 Chronicles 16:8).

While Jeremiah was still confined for disturbing the peace, God reassured him that the day would come when God’s people would be restored. And when that happened God told Jeremiah, “The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will be heard again, along with the joyous songs of people bringing thanksgiving offerings to the Lord. They will sing, ‘Give thanks to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, for the Lord is good. His faithful love endures forever!’” (Jeremiah 33:11).

It is from prison that Paul writes to the Colossians, “and whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father” (Colossians 3:17).

You can begin to prepare now to make this season of Thanksgiving a celebration that acknowledges God’s unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for all—especially for you!

May this holiday be a blessing to you and your household.

Celebrating Our Hope

You have been waiting for this for weeks. You have been planning what you will wear, thinking about who else will be there, and hoping –hoping it will live up to all your expectations. You wonder how your anticipation could be any more intense as you ride the last few miles in the car.

Now that you are parked you see all the other folks who have come to be a part of this great event. Even people you don’t know look familiar because they are wearing the same colors you are. It’s great to be part of a winning team.

You look up ahead toward the stadium and you see people coming from every direction. They are streaming into the stadium. There is a party atmosphere. People are greeting one another. Cheers break out spontaneously. The air is electric. You find yourself walking faster and faster. You want to be in place to watch the team take the field.

As exciting as it can be to go to a football game, I imagine it is just a pale shadow of the experience that awaits those who have lived as faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. While Jesus assured his disciples they would be welcomed into his Father’s kingdom, there would be a place for them at the great banquet, and that they would receive a reward for their obedience to his commands; the vision that John shares of the great multitude standing before the throne stirs a sense of excitement within me that is nearly impossible to contain.

Read from the Book of Revelation 7:9-17. Can you picture this crowd gathering? Can you sense their joy? Can you hear their voices as they sing?

Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength belong to our God forever and ever! Amen.

It is an exhilarating scene!

As people gather for worship this Sunday, many will take time to remember those who have “fought the good fight . . . , finished the race . . . , kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). They will gather to give thanks for their lives and the hope that sustained them.

Let your worship renew your hope so that you may “run with endurance the race God has set before us” (Hebrews 12:1). Let it refresh your vision of the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. Let it strengthen your resolve to faithfully follow your Savior all your days.

The Great Recovery

Our economy is in bad shape. The problem is not just limited to the United States. Indeed, things look quite bleak in Europe; and the rest of the world is struggling with widespread poverty—in many places the result of widespread corruption and debt.

If you are discouraged every time you hear politicians arguing around the solutions, let me ask you to consider watching Dave Ramsey’s The Great Recovery Kickoff Event (www.TheGreatRecovery.com). This may be the biggest call for managing money according to Biblical principles our country has ever seen.

The Great Recovery is a movement to change our country and economy one person at a time. Dave says we can’t depend on the government to fix our problems, and as Christians our hope should be in God. God’s principles for managing money work. The Great Recovery movement starts with you—as you learn and apply God’s principles of stewardship to your life.

Dave raises the question, “What would happen if people started following God’s way for managing money?” What if people got out of debt, saved more, gave more? Their lives would change! What would happen if communities did the same? Communities and cities would change! What would happen if the movement spread throughout our country? Our economy would change! The change starts with you and me and the way we manage God’s money as faithful stewards.

Dave is asking people to join the movement by taking a pledge and then sharing it with others. Here is the pledge:

This great nation can recover. I believe it will happen from the bottom up, one family at a time. I commit to make sure my family is equipped to do our part by educating ourselves on God’s way of handling money, living responsibly, saving for the future and giving to others.

We have several families who are currently enrolled in Financial Peace University. They are learning more about God’s principles for managing their money. Many of them are already celebrating victories they are experiencing as they apply these principles to their households. Let me encourage you to find out where you can enroll in this powerful 13-week course so that you can begin applying God's principles to your household.

Jeremiah spoke to a people who were experiencing a total collapse of their society. This was the message he received from God: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (29:11).

May we continue to put our trust in God’s plans so that we will enjoy God’s future.

A Particular Type of Community

In spite of the persistent myth of the “self-made man,” no one accomplishes success without a lot of help. Even in areas where it seems that the endeavor is particularly dependent on the talent and determination of an individual—like writing, for instance; without someone to harvest the timber, manufacture the paper, stock and sell the necessary supplies, etc., an author’s work would go entirely unnoticed.

While growing in spiritual maturity does require a personal commitment, it is practically impossible to become a real spiritual champion without being connected to a vital community of believers. You may ask, “What makes a community of believers vital?”

People find it difficult, if not painful, to participate in a community where they do not feel accepted. It is important that those who are exploring what it means to be fully-devoted followers of Christ know that they are accepted—just the way they are.

At the same time, a community of believers who are growing spiritual champions will clearly communicate that there is much to learn. They will be organized to instruct whoever wants to become a skilled steward of the “mysteries of God.”

There is much to learn, and sometimes the lessons seem particularly difficult. That is the reason it is also important for a vital community of believers to be a community of encouragers. Whether folks are making slow progress or fast, they are much more likely to stick with the process, if others are cheering them on.

At times, encouragement is not enough. That is when members of a vital community know to come alongside someone who is struggling and offer support. People can accomplish great things when they know there is someone who will back them up—or hold them up—when they need it.

In a world that often settles for second best, a community that calls people to reach higher standards often sees remarkable results. Left to our own evaluation of our performance, we can fool ourselves into believing that we are better than we are. A community that holds its members accountable to God’s standards—with grace and love—helps its members experience true progress in their spiritual development.

In a world in which moral anarchy is increasingly the norm, let us renew our commitment to be a community that connects emotionally and spiritually with those who are growing in the faith.

Exceeding Expectations

Whenever someone recommends a restaurant to a friend, they may anticipate questions about the food: the taste, the temperature, the amount, and the presentation. They may be asked about the ambiance: lighting, seating, decorations, and the level of noise. They should most definitely be prepared to answer questions about the quality of the service.

Businesses that thrive know that providing service that exceeds their customers’ expectations is key to repeat business and profitability. Nothing promotes positive “word of mouth” like satisfied customers; and satisfied customers are those who feel like their needs have been recognized and met to their satisfaction or beyond.

A lot of people, who go to church on a regular basis, go with the assumption that they are the customers. They are at church on Sunday morning to consume religious goods and services. The truth is that it is unhealthy to get in the routine of attending church events and taking spiritual resources from those activities while failing to give away whatever they have received.

As George Barna puts it, “The Christian faith is not meant to be hoarded but shared. Our faith is founded on the notion of expressing love in real ways, not simply discussing it as an intellectual concept.” Or evaluating the quality of the events they attend.

The call to Christ is the call to serve. Spiritual champions know that they are not the “customer.” Jesus told his followers, “Even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others” (Matthew 20:28). Disciples are the “servants;” others are the “customers.” Consequently, one of the best ways to develop your faith is to serve others in practical ways.

It is crucial to the life of the church for all of us to consider how we are helping our young people develop the habit of service. Are you inviting young people to join you as you help those around you? Are you helping them recognize situations and circumstances where they could provide real assistance? Are you encouraging them to identify their spiritual gifts and claim them as resources to use as they serve others?

Spiritual champions are those who demonstrate a lifelong practice of helping others. Let us do all we can to instill such a mind-set and lifestyle in those who are coming to faith in our congregations.