Christmas time is here

Every year Christmas seems to creep up on you sooner and sooner. As soon as Halloween candy and costumes are taken off the shelves of Wal-Mart, Santa and his reindeer take over. The stores start to send out ads with flashy gimmicks to get the buyers in their stores before the ever too soon looming deadline comes crashing in on them. Hundreds even thousands of dollars, along with hours of worry are spent trying to find the best most acceptable presents for family, friends and people that we don’t even like. For the families who actually took off their Christmas lights, its time to compete with the Joneses and put up five thousand sparkling bulbs along with a fat man and elves on top of their house. It seems like we always lose Christ in this. He disappears right until the very end when we go to church and read the Christmas story on Christmas day. But what did Christmas really start with? It never started Santa, a red shiny nose, and a talking snow- man. No, it started Christ, with the divine Jesus stepping down so low in to the womb of Mary so that he could be the infleshment of God. 

While it is not even December most of have already made it through it Black Friday and probably have most of our Christmas shopping done. But have we spent any time yet contemplating why we are buying these presents? Christ birth.  I am pretty sure Mary spent a lot of time dwelling upon this upcoming event.  How was this going to change her world? How was this going to change her world? What would he look like? How could this actually be the son of God growing inside her? I don't doubt that she had just as many questions considering the incarnation of God that was her son Jesus. Yet, I also believe that she grew to have one of the greatest understandings of who he was. And isn't that what Christmas is about? Understanding God so we could be reconciled to Him. It had to be done through a baby, born of a virgin, who was fully man and fully God. Giving us the chance to have earthly reconciliation with God through understanding the relationship of man and God, seen through this precious incarnation of God. 

Remember why we are celebrating Christmas. How did it change the world? How has it changed your world?

Loving you, 

Liz

Drunk Magicians

       I spent this past weekend in Lexington, KY at the National Missionary Convention. Like I expected I went to great classes, saw many friends, heard great preaching, and staid in a nice hotel among thousands of Christians. Yet, the thing that stood out to me most was something I was not expecting.

       I was about to go on a walk down town with three of our high school kids when we were stopped out of Starbucks. A middle aged man gently grabbed my hand and stood to talk to us. He leaned in to our faces allowing our eyes to take in the lines a hard life had drawn upon his face, and for our nostrils to sting with the stench of alcohol pouring from his mouth. He introduced himself as Floyd and raised his shirt to show the leftovers from many surgeries and pointed to his wife who just had a hip replacement. He said that he wasn't asking for money, but that if his magic tricks impressed us he wouldn't turn down a dollar or two. I turned to the three kids and their faces were glued to me, looking for the cue to excuse ourselves and bolt. While this didn't surprise me, it made me stay. We watched his magic tricks figuring a few of them out. The kids started to look for any cash that might have but I knew more was supposed to happen. I told Floyd that I had cash but that I wanted to pray with him before I handed it over. He and Caroline were more than eager for this. I wrapped my arm around Caroline and our prayer circle formed. Nothing special happened during that prayer, It was merely two drunks, a college student, and three high school students praying what we have all prayed before. 

       It was after we walked away that I truly saw the affects this prayer had. We rejoined our group and they talked about how that could have been a scam and their heartfelt prayer might have been a practiced line. All I and the kids could answer was "maybe".  It really bothered me the rest of the night how our group made up of ministers and ministry students only saw the scam in Floyd and Caroline. They might have been a scam but I know that God used that encounter. Floyd and Caroline might have blown the money on booze, they might be amused by our prayers but someone was changed. I and these high school kids did what we were supposed to do and gained so much from it. We allowed God to use a possible scam as training for our futures.

          While I care about Floyd and Caroline I don't care about how they used the money, for I gained so much from giving to them. We need to start putting aside our doubt and be open to sharing the love of Christ. We need to be willing to under go a scam in order to give physically and spiritually to those who are in need. We need to be willing to pray with a drunk magician so that he might truly pray to God.