Cover to Cover

Whew!  The Holidays are almost over and I’m still trying to catch my breath.  What a time of year it it… the hustling… the bustling… the gift giving… the gift receiving… and the gift returning!  Ha ha.  I hope you got just what you wanted for Christmas this year and, more importantly, I hope you were able to give just what you wanted this year.  What’s the greatest gift you received?  I’ll tell you that one of the greatest gifts we have ever received has been the gift of God’s Word.  As I sit this morning and stare at the Bible on my desk I think about how I so often take it for granted.  Here I have the complete revelation of God before me… his introduction of himself to me… his love letter to me telling of his undying love for me… his strategy guidebook to playing the game of life… his instruction manual and map for my life… I am again awestruck to have received such an incredible and awesome gift!!

 

I am beginning a new challenge THIS week… and I am asking every member at Washington Street to join me in reading through the Bible from “cover to cover” in 2009.  I’ve been talking about it a little bit from the pulpit and this Sunday I will explain a bit more.  I will be preaching in January a short “mini-series” designed to be an encouraging “primer” for our study together through the rest of the year, but January 1^st is Thursday, so let’s get started!  Here’s what we are encouraging everyone to do:

·        Pick up a “From Cover to Cover” Reading Schedule from the bulletin board in the church auditorium, from the church office, or from the church website

·        Sign up on the bulletin board or from the website & commit to read thru it with me

·        Sit down with your favorite Bible in the translation of your choice & start reading!

 

Most days will cover between three and four chapters.  We are beginning in Genesis and reading straight through to Revelation.  Won’t you join us?  What a super blessing this will be to the whole church all year long!

 

New Year’s blessings,

Jim

Merry Christmas from the Blacks!

The annual taking of the Christmas card picture is usually nothing short of torture at our house... but this year it went really well.  As we wish all of you a very Merry Christmas here are a few Christmas memories we share with you.  And YES... I didn't say Happy Holidays!  Merry Christmas!

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A Grown Up Christmas List

A Christmas Note from Our Family to Yours…

I cannot believe that it is time once again for the annual "Christmas Letter."  It has been something of a tradition in our church for those of us who serve as ministers to pause and reflect on the year and to write a “Christmas note” to everyone.  I cannot believe the year has already passed… it has gone by so quickly.  What a year it has been!

 

My family still counts it a tremendous blessing to be a part of this wonderful church family.  You have blessed us FAR beyond any way we have served you.  Your friendships have held us up, your encouragement has lifted us up and your commitment to the Lord and his work has spurred us on.  It has been a great year for our family.  God has blessed in so many ways.  Andy is in third grade and played football for Riverside this year.  While I wasn’t’ so sure I wanted to encourage football so young, I found that I couldn’t hold him back… he thoroughly enjoyed it and after his first touchdown has decided to go pro when he is old enough for the draft.  David, likewise, has become quite the football fanatic despite being too young to play “officially”.  He is loving first grade, becoming quite the prolific reader and can tell you all the stats & scores for the College and pro football season so far.  Michael, our youngest and loudest, loves running… throwing… diving… falling… tumbling and crashing, though not necessarily in that order.  He started school this year and absolutely loves “Pre-Kindergarten”!  With all of the boys in school now, Celeste has gone back to full time work as Riverside’s PE teacher.  Most every day you’ll find her keeping the kids at school active, playing fair and running out some of their energy around the gym!  The teachers love her… and most of the kids!  It has been a busy year for us and now looking back, I’m not sure where all the time has gone… but it has been a great one!  Thank you for being one of the special people in our lives who have made it so!

 

A “Grown-up” Christmas List

If you’re looking for the ‘perfect’ Christmas gift to give that special preacher in your life this year,  (Hint Hint!)… this is what would REALLY make him happy! 

• Buy Christmas gifts for a family in need this year… I have enough ties and really don’t like them anyway.


• Donate some food to our food pantry… I’m really fat enough.


• Donate some money to our Honduras Fund to help us make another trip next summer


• Purchase a table & chairs for the church in Honduras ($65) by sending the money in to the church office with a note for that purpose


• Make a donation to a local charity… Hands of Mercy Outreach Center, Children’s Advocacy Center, The Child Development Center, Riverside Christian Academy or to our Benevolence ministry here.


• Donate to our building fund

RCA Bible Class

I talk a whole lot from the pulpit and in my Bible classes about my RCA class and how special the kids are to me.  For those of you who don't know, I have been teaching a Bible class down at Riverside Christian Academy in the mornings for the last 3 1/2 years.  I can't believe the time has just flown by!  It's really a lot of fun!  For the last couple of years I have been teaching Seniors... about to graduate... about to set off on their own.  It's a great time to talk with them about important things that really matter to them and we have a great time doing it.

If you've ever wondered what I do down there... I just thought I'd let you know that I have been posting this semester's curriculum on this blog.  You can look at all of the handouts/ study guides and the syllabus by clicking on the "RCA Class" tab above.  I try to keep this site updated for my students so that they can access the study guides if (and WHEN) they lose the copy I give them in class.  For now, I'm keeping the exams to myself... but if anyone would like a copy of one to take at home, let me know.  I might be able to hook you up... but you'll have to let me grade you on it!

First semester has been a re-cap of the new testament from somewhat of a theological standpoint.  We've looked at Jesus' parables, his miracles, his major teachings and at how he described himself to the people.  We've focused on the church these last few weeks... looking at images of the church, conversion stories in Acts and at the practices that define God's people- baptism & Lord's Supper.  Maybe you'll find it interesting... its been a great semester!  Next semester we're going to turn and focus on "Finding Our Way"... and at the unique way God is preparing each one of us for service in his Kingdom.  I'll be posting that info in the coming weeks!

How to Play the Game of LIFE

Jesus told his followers that he came to bring LIFE... LIFE abundant, LIFE complete, LIFE full and LIFE eternal!  Check out John 10:10 this week... one of my favorite verses in all the Bible.  Life can also, however, be a real bear!  The stuff that this world has to throw at us can really get us down.  It can complicate life.  It can confuse life.  And it can make life hard to bare at times.  Have you ever been knocked down in the "game of life"?  Have other players lapped you around the board?  Have they built more hotels than you and sent you to jail 'without passing go'?  LIFE is the game we are all in and the hard-knocks of life affect every one of us.  Beginning this Sunday we are going to be taking a look at LIFE... at the life the world has to throw at us AND the LIFE that God has come to restore unto us.  It will be a series of lessons in simple and practical Christian living.  How does God call us out of the "rat-race" of living in this world and in to the eternal LIFE of Kingdom living?  That is the question for all of us who call ourselves Christians and struggle to balance the priorities of LIFE in this game we all must play.

religious right RIP??

This is from a friend's blog that I think gets this just right!  Having finished our "Faith & Politics" series, I think this article says what I have been trying to.

Religious Right R.I.P.

Cal Thomas gets it right...

When Barack Obama takes the oath of office on Jan. 20, 2009, he will do so in the 30th anniversary year of the founding of the so-called Religious Right. Born in 1979 and midwifed by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, the Religious Right was a reincarnation of previous religious-social movements that sought moral improvement through legislation and court rulings. Those earlier movements — from abolition (successful) to Prohibition (unsuccessful) — had mixed results.

Social movements that relied mainly on political power to enforce a conservative moral code weren’t anywhere near as successful as those that focused on changing hearts. The four religious revivals, from the First Great Awakening in the 1730s and 1740s to the Fourth Great Awakening in the late 1960s and early ’70s, which touched America and instantly transformed millions of Americans (and American culture as a result), are testimony to that.Thirty years of trying to use government to stop abortion, preserve opposite-sex marriage, improve television and movie content and transform culture into the conservative Evangelical image has failed. The question now becomes: should conservative Christians redouble their efforts, contributing more millions to radio and TV preachers and activists, or would they be wise to try something else?

 

I opt for trying something else.

Too many conservative Evangelicals have put too much faith in the power of government to transform culture. The futility inherent in such misplaced faith can be demonstrated by asking these activists a simple question: Does the secular left, when it holds power, persuade conservatives to live by their standards? Of course they do not. Why, then, would conservative Evangelicals expect people who do not share their worldview and view of God to accept their beliefs when they control government?

Too many conservative Evangelicals mistake political power for influence. Politicians who struggle with imposing a moral code on themselves are unlikely to succeed in their attempts to impose it on others. What is the answer, then, for conservative Evangelicals who are rightly concerned about the corrosion of culture, the indifference to the value of human life and the living arrangements of same- and opposite-sex couples?

The answer depends on the response to another question: do conservative Evangelicals want to feel good, or do they want to adopt a strategy that actually produces results? Clearly partisan politics have not achieved their objectives. Do they think they can succeed by committing themselves to 30 more years of the same?

If results are what conservative Evangelicals want, they already have a model. It is contained in the life and commands of Jesus of Nazareth. Suppose millions of conservative Evangelicals engaged in an old and proven type of radical behavior. Suppose they followed the admonition of Jesus to “love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit those in prison and care for widows and orphans,” not as ends, as so many liberals do by using government, but as a means of demonstrating God’s love for the whole person in order that people might seek Him?

Such a strategy could be more “transformational” than electing a new president, even the first president of color. But in order to succeed, such a strategy would not be led by charismatic figures, who would raise lots of money, be interviewed on Sunday talk shows, author books and make gobs of money.

Scripture teaches that God’s power (if that is what conservative Evangelicals want and not their puny attempts at grabbing earthly power) is made perfect in weakness. He speaks of the tiny mustard seed, the seemingly worthless widow’s mite, of taking the last place at the table and the humbling of one’s self, the washing of feet and similar acts and attitudes; the still, small voice. How did conservative Evangelicals miss this and instead settle for a lesser power, which in reality is no power at all? When did they settle for an inferior “kingdom”?

Evangelicals are at a junction. They can take the path that will lead them to more futility and ineffective attempts to reform culture through government, or they can embrace the far more powerful methods outlined by the One they claim to follow. By following His example, they will decrease, but He will increase. They will get no credit, but they will see results. If conservative Evangelicals choose obscurity and seek to glorify God, they will get much of what they hope for, but can never achieve, in and through politics.

a post-election funny

Just thought I'd share a good funny on this post-election day. 

My middle son, David, who is six, has been very interested in the campaign and election yesterday.  I made them go to bed last night before many of the returns had started coming in... much to their disappointment.  They all wanted to know who was going to be the next President.  So, when I went in to wake them up this morning the first words out of David's mouth (even before peaking out from under the covers) was, "Who won the election?"  I told him, "Well, son, like I told you last night it looks like its going to be Obama."  He immediately responded... "What was the score?"