Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

I cannot believe that this time has rolled around once again… time for our annual “Christmas Letter” to all of you.  This final bulletin before Christmas always sneaks up on me, but I SO appreciate the opportunity to write up a little “end-of-the-year” note.

This year has been an incredibly blessed one at Washington Street!  We ended 2012 with an emotional “note-burning” dinner as this congregation made final payment on our building which had consumed so much of our time, attention and financial resources throughout the previous seven years.  With that behind us, we faced 2013 with a renewed focus and a new energy to take on whatever God wanted for us!  I truly believed… as I continue to believe that “Greater Things are Yet to Come!”

In May our prayers were answered and we welcomed Wes and Stephanie Collum to our church family.  Wes got off to an incredible start as our new Youth & Family Minister… hitting the ground running with a jam-packed schedule that kept our young people busy with camps, retreats and, most importantly, service opportunities.  He and Stephanie have been a tremendous blessing to Washington Street and they are a joy to work alongside in the ministry here.  Our church family has grown as we welcomed twenty seven new members place membership and witnessed what will be seven baptisms this year!

As I look back and reflect over this past year, I think of so many who have left us.  This year we have seen the passing of many beloved church family members here at Washington Street.  My heart goes out to each and every one of you who have lost a dear loved one this year.  Their absence is felt especially at this time of year.

At our house, things are busy as usual.  Andy and David are playing on the Middle School Basketball team for Riverside Christian Academy and having a great season.  Michael is about to start his basketball season in RCA’s “Jr. Pro” program.  They are 13, 11 and 9 respectively… which still blows my mind!  Daniel, our precocious 3 year old, runs the household giving orders to his brothers (which they usually follow) and is full of life… and energy!  This year marks the twelfth anniversary of our coming to Washington Street (December 2^nd of 2001 was my first Sunday here!) … and we celebrated 18 years of marriage AND ministry in July!  I thank Celeste profusely for hanging in there!

One change that has affected both our family and our church family has been Celeste taking on additional responsibilities here at church as our new Children’s program director.  She coordinated a Children’s Christmas party on Sunday that was a great success and she is looking forward to greatly expanding this incredible ministry to the kids of the congregation.  This means our schedule and daily routine have changed just a bit and we are still getting used to it and figuring things out.

We continue to be so blessed to be a part of this church family.  There is no way that we could send every one of you, our family, the traditional “Christmas Card” so let me take this opportunity to say to every one reading these words, “Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year!”  We sincerely pray that the holidays will be filled with joy and laughter… with good times and great memories!  May God bless you.

-Jim, Celeste, Andy, David, Michael & Daniel

Why I love Riverside Christian Academy

People choose schools for different reasons... some for the opportunities to play sports... some for the opportunity to excel in academics.  But there are other reasons, too!  The following essay by one of my senior girls at RCA illustrates why I love Riverside Christian Academy and why I'm so proud not only to send my kids there, but also to teach Bible there.  This was written as a part of a senior paper, the final project required for graduation from RCA.  It is supposed to be a "Philosophy of life" kind of paper.  Here's what she wrote:

May 12, 2001

    “How God has changed me through RCA”

 I thank God that He directed my path to Riverside Christian Academy! I believe that I have truly been changed   by it and that it has truly altered my future.  First I will discuss my SHAPE. 

Spiritual gifts. My first would (from the studies) be compassion. I feel deeply sorry for people even if I don’t know them. My mother says I have "sucker" written across my forehead when it comes to homeless people. Steven has had to forbid me for picking up sad looking hitch hikers.  I used to have wet dog/cat food in my trunk so I could give poor starving animal’s food.

   My second would be Mercy; I can easily look over the faults in people and see the good in them. This tends to get me in a bad position when I really care for some one who is really self-destructive. When I come home upset about something some one has done to me and tells mom it seems like I always get over it before she does.

 Heart. Well I am sure that everyone in the school by now knows that I love art. That is one thing I think I am just naturally good at. One thing most people probably don’t know is that I love animals too! I thought through most of my childhood I was going to be a vet. I probably still would be if it hadn’t been for Mrs. Jones’ biology classes to be honest.  Now I think I will be an art teacher.

 Abilities. Art and I and socially gifted. My mom says I have evil gifts to get my way because I pull the dumb blonde’ act a little to well but I think she is just a sucker. Just Kidding

 Personality. I am a giving person. I make my mom mad some times because some times I will just give away every thing I have in my pockets if some one needs it. She was really mad when I gave my whole paycheck to one of the girls at McDonald’s because she was about to lose her house and her husband go to jail. Everyone laughs at me because I will throw all my change on the ground at Wal-Mart. There is a really old Poor man that looks for change out there every morning.

 Experiences. Well I have quite I few to go by really. The first would be the divorce of my Parents when I was 6. This really affected my mother and this is when we really stopped going to church I think. I guess I kind of had to sort of grow up at a young age. My dad was in an out at the age of 7/8 and he married Kim. I remember this is when I really started to act out. When I was 12, I was accepted in to Barbazon and I think that’s when my opinion of girls really went down the toilet. I really started to get that nasty little attitude like you see off mean girls. When I got in to Riverside I could see a huge difference in my life. I cleaned up my mouth and I started to get a little better with the grades. A year into Riverside my father’s drug addiction was at an all time high and I had to tell him I wasn’t going to talk to him any more until he cleaned it up. That was a hard time in my life. He still hasn’t cleaned it up though. When I got baptized, I really turned it around.

  Riverside has had such a profound difference on my life I don’t like to think what I would have been if I hadn’t gone. Every friend I used to have at my old house that I still talk to has fallen in to drugs and sex. That scares me. I have done so many things through RCA. Spiritual Emphasis Day is some thing the impresses me every year. Mrs. K got me in to going to church. She is the reason my whole family goes now.  We went to pack peaches. When the chorus went to go sing at the nursing homes, that really helped.  Just hearing chapel ever morning is good for us. If I didn’t go to Riverside I don’t know if I would have a Christian boy friend or a Christian relationship. Now I go to his church.  The Mission trip we went on last summer will be with me for the rest of my life. There's a difference here and the there, but their faith is so strong!  The pastor is coming up here for the summer and I am really excited!  The area we stayed at was kind of "dodgy". It was a bad part of town. We went door knocking and we spread the word of God. It was real rewarding and at times scary. I also help run Vacation Bible School every summer and that are always of fun. I get to paint all the murals and posters for the booths and activities!

 Through all these experiences I have learned so much about God.  First would be that he is way to big for us to ever comprehend! I love looking at the stars and thinking that God is billions beyond that. He created the heavens and the earth just because he love us. If that doesn’t stir you then you need to check your self.  I love knowing that nothing is an accident and that everything in life is there for some reason.  When I get stuck in traffic or my car breaks down it helps me to have that kind of mind set “ this must have happened for a reason”. It makes me look at trails not with hate or despair but a challenge to show Gods grace!

 The love and grace of God has given me a purpose in life, no longer do I wander aimlessly but I strive for a goal, work for the cause. The thought that the creator of the universe would care anything about me blows my mine, and that he gave his one and only son to take my place is beyond me. It feels me with a sort of fear ans awe I guess is the right word. That God would love me that much when I can’t think of a single person I would be willing my son to die for.  Without Riverside's influence in my life I don’t know if I every would have found these things that give me such peace now.

 I feel that I was kinda picked from my old life and put in this one and I am so happy for the chance. I can’t wait to see what God has for me and to take up his challenges.

A Christmas Message from our house to yours!

[caption id="attachment_475" align="alignright" width="225" caption="Merry Christmas!"][/caption]

     Wow… it seems like only a little while ago that I sat down to write our annual “Christmas letter.” This has been something of a tradition for me now for a number of years, but I can’t believe how fast this last one has flown by! Looking back and thinking on all of the things we have done and all of the ways God has blessed us… I can’t imagine now how we squeezed it all in… in what seems like such a short period of time. God has been good to us once again this year and for that we are so thankful!

     The kids are growing up fast! It sounds like such a cliche, but it's SO true.  I can’t believe Andy is already in the 4th grade. I learned it’s quite a step up from 3rd. Friends had been warning us about the big 4th grade project, the Tennessee State Notebook, ever since he started school at Riverside and boy, were they right! What a project! We all learned a lot… and I mean ALL of us. It was “all hands on deck” to get it finished and we were all thankful to complete it. IF we can make it through the rest of 4th grade, 5th should be a “cinch”, right? David is in the 2nd grade and absolutely loves to go to school. He was sick last week and actually moped around the house complaining about not getting to go to school. He did NOT get this from me! Michael loves making friends and thoroughly enjoys just about everything he does, including “Mrs. Christy’s” Kindergarten class. He absolutely lives life to the full, as most of you know. You can usually hear him coming and you certainly know when he has arrived. After having all three of the boys over the years, Mrs. Christy is probably thinking of retiring. I’m convinced Kindergarten teachers should get combat pay.

     The boys certainly keep us busy. All three played baseball over the summer and so most nights you could find us at the ball park. This Fall, Andy decided to hang up his football jersey for the time being (I didn’t argue) while David and Michael filled up our time with their soccer games and practices. Now, David and Andy are gearing up for Jr. Pro basketball… a first for us, so we’ll see how it goes. Celeste continues to enjoy teaching at Riverside. She took on more Bible classes this year plus a Health & Wellness class. The middle school girls love her. I can’t believe that I just started my 9th year as pulpit minister at Washington Street. I continue to be thankful (and a little amazed) that the folks still put up with me and still let me speak to them every week. They have enriched our lives in so many ways.  I am just as excited about our future at Washington Street as ever!    

Speaking of growth… in case you hadn’t heard (or noticed) we are looking forward to a little more growth of our own in the coming year. For those of you keeping score, it looks like #4 will be arriving sometime in mid April. This reaffirms my theological theory that God indeed has a sense of humor! I’m sure having a new baby at home won’t shake things up too terribly much. In fact, we’re having quite the “baby boom” at church this next year and we’re looking forward to ours having a great group of kids to grow up with. As we look anxiously to a new year, we sincerely pray God’s richest blessings on all of you for a happy and healthy 2010. Oh, and by the way, in case you were wondering, the doctors have told us it’s a…  BOY!!! 
(is anybody really surprised?)

On Job...

My brain has been a little scattered here lately (okay, more so than usual).  I'm in the middle of preparing Sunday's sermon on the story of Esther... a great and uplifting story, but my mind is already jumping ahead to Job which will come next week.  I just finished reading through Job again in my 'cover to cover' reading and I'm again struck by the central theme of the book:  How can a loving God allow the innocent to suffer?

It's an age-old question, which is why the story of Job is probably the oldest one in Scripture.  Mankind has been wrestling with this one for a long time.  If God is all-powerful (as Scripture claims) and CAN stop suffering, then why doesn't he?  Is he just cruel?  If God is all-good (as Scripture claims) and does nothing, does that mean that he is powerless to do anything about it?  I can't accept that.  Don't we believe that he both CAN and WOULD prefer for the innocent NOT to suffer?  Then how do you explain drunk drivers robbing children of their daddies?  How do you explain children starving to death in poverty-stricken Rwanda?  It's a conundrum to be sure.  What were your thoughts as you read through Job?  What is God's answer to him?  What were his friends telling him?

I can't help but think about the crowd that I'll look at on the Sunday when I bring the message from Job.  There are so many hurting families and individuals right now in our church family.  Some of them are much like Job, having lost so much in recent months.  I'm not sure what I will be able to say to them that might help.  My fear is that I'll come across like one of Job's friends, with empty words and unhelpful advice.  One thing is for sure after reading Job... I'm a lot more cautious in trying to speak for God!  What would you say?

Any thoughts...?