Some things are not so easy to vanish. There are too many stories of broken hearts and hurting lives. Many people would just as soon forget 2009 happened and are afraid to dare believe 2010 can be any better. Disappointment lands a staggering blow when hope is punched out. It’s not easy to simply put it all behind us like nothing happened and maintain a positive spirit or attitude that believes things will be better this year.

I was searching for something definitive for 2010 for myself. I wanted to ‘focus right’, find my ’sweet spot’ or my ‘center’ … you know the drill.

Then, there it was. I read it so many times that I couldn’t begin to count how often. "Then he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel saying, ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts." These are the words of Zechariah, chapter 4, verse 6 (if you don’t know the name, it’s one of the 66 books of the Bible … check out the contents for a page number). God told Zechariah that Zerubbabel needed to finalize building the temple that hadn’t been finished earlier…

… you know what it’s like to have unfinished projects because life happens and things get in the way of dreams and necessary things. It’s not the end of the world but it does shape things differently …

When God told Z what needed to happen he gave Z this incredible verse. The message is simple."Z, you need to finish the temple … but you can’t do it. You don’t have the skills, the resources, the money, the people. But I have those things, Z. You will do the work and I will resource the project!"

Before you go rushing into 2010 with all your plans, dreams and strategies stop for a moment and consider this. Are you setting out to follow what Peterson pens as God’s "unforced rhythms of grace"? (Matthew 11:28, The Message) Oftentimes we’re in a panic. Plans don’t work out and frustration sets in. A sense of direction and purpose is totally missing and we have no idea what we’re doing, why we’re doing it or why we’re here. We can’t figure out what’s happening to us or what do to about it.

Here’s what we do about.

Nothing.

Well, there is one thing. WAIT for God to show you the way through. That is so hard to do and probably the one missing things that often gets us in so much trouble.

Now, there are those things beyond our control … broken relationships, illnesses, mistakes made that we’re still paying for and so on. While we can’t control many such outcomes we can control how we’ll respond to them so that they don’t control us. The secret to responding right is knowing God is in the middle of the reality and, if trusted and sought, will work it all out.

So, as you move into 2010, listen to what another wise guy said once. His book among the 66 in the Bible is named after him — ISAIAH. He said in chapter 43:19, ""Behold, I will do something new, Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert."

That can be as much about correcting the challenges and situations of your life as it was about God doing something spectacular for his people, Israel.

So, move on … with your focus on going on God’s road.

Happy New Year!

Pastor D

Copper is an awesome guy. He loves everyone who shows up at the door. Meeting people for the first time brings on a greeting like he’s known you forever and you were away for several months and just got back! I’m not sure if the dog is wagging the tail or the tail is wagging the dog, he gets so excited when anyone comes in.

In terms of pecking order, I’m the master - the leader of the pack. I’ll sit reading a book and feel the eyes staring into me. Sometimes it’s so obvious I’ll raise the book to block him from making eye contact. If I look back at him the room comes alive and he frolics as if to say "I got him right where I want him!" Bring on the treats - or the walk - or the ride - he doesn’t care which. All he cares about is having my attention.

I’ll put a treat on the floor and speak the command "stay".  He obeys. To stay focused and not get side-tracked by the delicious alternative only two feet from him his eyes connect with mine and that’s where his gaze remains. I’m sure I could stay there for hours and he wouldn’t move until I released him and said "fetch".

There are a lot of distractions around us. Those distractions sometimes get our focus away from our relationship with God. I was challenged in my own reading this morning, "Every time circumstances press in on you say, ‘Speak Lord,’ and make time to listen." (Oswald Chambers)

Ouch.

God is so distant at times. I actually feel it. I miss him. What hurts most is my realizing he didn’t move - unless he could get closer. I have renewed interest in the words of Scripture that challenge me to "strip off every weight that slows {me} down, especially the sin that so easily hinders {my} progress." I want to "run with endurance the race that God has set before {me}. {I} do this by keeping {my} eyes on Jesus, on whom {my} faith depends from start to finish." Hebrews 12:1-2 (NLT)

I need to focus on him. Everything else is just doggy biscuits.

My wife walked in the specialty store looking for that special piece that was missing from our Nativity scene. She looked through the store but found nothing related to Nativity. Curious if she might have missed it in her browsing, Glenys asked the clerk if they had any Nativity scenes.

“Nativity what?”

“Nativity scenes.”

“I don’t know what a nativity scene is. What is it?”

“Well, it’s the Christmas characters – shepherds, wisemen, animals, baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph.”

“Oh ma’am, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not familiar with that at all.”

Glenys left the store somewhat bewildered. How can anyone not know what Nativity is? Assumption followers of Jesus make. This experience taught both of us never to assume people know.

Maybe you don’t know what Nativity is. It is the most fascinating story of how God changed our heart and restored our broken relationship with him; his love was that deep for us. If you need to know the story (believe me, you need to know the story) I’d be happy to share it with you.

For the rest of you, don’t assume everyone knows. Everyone doesn’t. Maybe God will lead you to share the Good News with someone this Christmas. It’s the best gift any of us can give anyone this Christmas.

There is the deeper issue that we need to explore and that is the extent to which Advent has become a personal experience. To what extent has Jesus personally come into our lives so that he is truly “The Reason for the Season”?

We won’t use this time to discourse about Christ being lost in Christmas. He is not lost! He is very much alive in the hearts of people who love Him! Christmas hampers, band caroling and candle-light worship are just a few evidences that Jesus is very active in our world! He lives in and through the lives of practical service that his servants provide every day of their lives. For many, many people, Christmas doesn’t awaken around mid November through to Christmas Day and then go back to hibernate in its cave until next year. We see Christmas lived out 365 days every year at KCC! We can provide an exhaustive list of ways Christmas has blessed the Pilgrim home again and again.

Our story is not the only story. There are repeated stories of such spirit –visits on a regular basis in Courts, Prisons, Hospitals, Retirement Homes and private h omes; Funeral Teas, social events and public worship; letters, cards and calls. We can continue listing examples of the spirit of Christmas lived out every day at KCC.

We want to invite you to be part of that energy and that experience! The additional information included with this letter highlights some of those opportunities as we move into Advent and Christmas celebration. We encourage you to take time to join us so you can experience God’s light and love in the darkness of your world. 

Some of the best words to conclude with are those recorded by Saint John in Chapter 1 verse 14 as recorded in The Message:

JOIN US THIS FESTIVE SEASON! GO TO OUR EVENTS CALENDAR FOR DETAILS OF UPCOMING COMMUNITY OPTIONS OR CALL US FOR MORE DETAILS! WE WOULD LOVE TO HAVE YOU JOIN US!

 A friend of mine sent me this story. He found it through a websource. I am not posting it with any acknowledge of the validity of the details. The story is certainly dated as you’ll read. However, whether true or factual, the story makes an important point about life. Are you an Einstein or Graham?

I have my own burning bones. It is the matter of the church being the church. My spirit has become very restless and a certain Bible passage keeps whispering in my ears, or more like whispering in my heart.

I just completed my Master’s studies in leadership. My major project centered around the same issue so this nagging has been really alive for me since 2006. Here’s the passage:

 ¹⁸Jesus came and told his disciples, "I have been given complete authority in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. ²⁰Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."  (Matthew chapter 28, verses 18-20, New Living Translation)

The problem is, I’m not convinced we have the stomach to make the Commission happen. We talk the talk; we seem to be really interested. What we don’t seem to understand is the change that is inevitable to live the dream and most of us cannot accept change. I noticed on Facebook there is an effort to have people join the 5,000,000 people club who want the old Facebook back. Are we really ready for change in significant ways when it’s hard for us to change houses, move to other cities or adapt to new schools and jobs or even get use to "doing church" differently? Some change is inconsequential while other changes are life-altering. We can be sure that to get serious about being disciples of Jesus and disciping others toward Jesus, it falls in the category of mega, life-altering change.

I conclude with an exerpt from my major project. 

"At this juncture of my life journey, I am moving toward a quarter of a century as a pastor. I see repeated cases of congregational churches struggling to contextualize their faith with cultural relevance. They hold most religious organizations suspect as self-serving and do not believe they have much to offer with life’s challenges and circumstance. It is crucial that the church reemphasize its value in the mainstream 21^st century fluid world. The church needs to awaken to the realization it has something very significant to offer people facing personal crisis, national threats and shifting values. For this to materialize, the Church needs to evaluate its history where it can learn invaluable lessons and be aggressive in becoming the church of today that communities need.

"The Church must understand its value and place in the 21^st century. The problem is not that the Church does not have a place in society. Society needs the Church more than ever in its history because of a barrage of options and half-truths or diluted truths offered on the buffet table of religious plurality. The problem is the Church’s struggle to be relevant, and failure to understand how to be relevant. The Church also struggles with will power. We say we desire to see people changed by the gospel but cannot seem to get past the desire to practice and exercise the will to adapt to see change come about. We often say we want people to know Christ and join our churches. When we take the test, we find we are far too complacent at the expense and risk of ‘corrupting’ the ‘holy cows’ we clutch tightly."

 As I leave these words with you, search your heart and determine if you can handle the truth.

Are you ready to take the dive?

 I am.

As I follow the Amercian elections, I saw a web coverage for the McCain-Palin camp. A woman was captured in the picture wearing a t-shirt that declared she was a gun-tottin’ Christian for Palin. I don’t have anything to say about the political realites around the American campaign. My concern is the spiritual ramifications of how we declare ourselves Christians. Sometimes, quite frankly, I prefer to distance myself from using the word Christian because there’s a whole lot of negative reaction to it. I am more inclined to agree with futurist and author, Leonard Sweet that it is safer to describe myself as a follower of Jesus. It clears up a lot of misconception.

My point is to encourage caution in how we promote and push our faith. While too many of us may be far more silent about faith than we should be, there are others who are extremists in their declarations and give the rest of us a bad rap. When we should be building bridges and strengthening relationships with non-christians (or non-followers of Jesus) we spend most of our energy trying to help people understand that all of us don’t adopt a position of being "gun-tottin’" or left-wing Christians that people are afraid of and not sure what to do with.

The Bible has something to say about all this. It says, "if you are asked about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. But you must do this in a gentle and respectful way." (1 Peter 3:15-16, NLT) Good answer. Balanced. Unobtrusive. Respects the boundaries, space; but still has an opportunity to have something to say.

Go out and witness. Jesus told us our responsibility as the Church is to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20). But he warns in 1 Peter 3 that tact goes a long way in helping the messge (and messenger) be received.