Top 10 Predictions for 2011

Every year around this time all kinds of email forwards start floating around the internet.  I think I have seen this one for the past several years but can't be certain.  However it is true, and good to think about I hope you enjoy.  This was sent to me by a church member last week...

Top 10 Predictions for 2011

      1. The Bible will still have all the answers.
      2. Prayer will still be the most powerful thing on Earth..
      3. The Holy Spirit will still move.
      4. God will still honor the praises of His people.
      5. There will still be God-anointed preaching.
      6. There will still be singing of praise to God.
      7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.
      8. There will still be room at the Cross.
      9. Jesus will still love you.
    10. Jesus will still save the lost when they come to Him. 

Look for God's Plan in the New Year Acts 9:10-15

 I try to read different blogs from others each week.  One of my seminary professors (Bill Bryan) writes a weekly message for his church and I thought it would be good to share it with you all as well.  Bill is going to be one of the speakers at BOOST 2011 as well.  Boost will be on April 8-9 2011 so mark your calanders.  More Boost news to come soon!

Look for God's Plan in the New Year

Acts 9:10-15

Ananias is an often overlooked and underappreciated character in the Book of Acts. In Acts 9 where he plays an important role in the conversion of Saul. On the Damascus Road Saul had a miraculous encounter with the risen Christ that left him temporarily blind. This is where we pick up Ananias’ story in Acts 9:10-15, “^10 Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, ‘Ananias.’ And he said, ‘Here I am, Lord.’ ^11 So the Lord said to him, ‘Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. ^12 And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his^13 Then Ananias answered, ‘Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. ^14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.’ ^15 But the Lord said to him, ‘Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. . . .’”

The rest of the story of course is that Ananias went. Paul’s sight was restored; he was filled with the Holy Spirit and baptized. Paul became God’s Apostle to the Gentiles and the most prolific author of the NT. What if Ananias hadn’t done the hard thing God asked of him? Perhaps the Lord would have called on someone else, but Ananias would have missed a great blessing. How often do we feel like Ananias? God speaks to us about doing a hard thing—forgiving one who has hurt us; giving a tithe or offering; taking a place of leadership in our church; sharing our witness. Whatever hard thing God asks of you, respond like Ananias. Share your fears with the Lord, then do the hard thing in God’s power. Although Ananias is never mentioned again in scripture, I believe he received a blessing by doing the hard thing God asked of him. May you be similarly blessed in the coming new year as you look for God's plan even in the hard things he may call you to do with him for his glory.

I read a news story today about the top ten christian news stories of 2010.  I was shocked to see that at least 7 of the 10 were negative stories. A storng case could be made that 8 of the ten are negative.  Everything from Episcopal Church ordains first lesbian bishop, Pastor Terry Jones threatens to burn Quran, and Crystal Cathedral files Chapter 11 were in this top ten list. This made me ask 2 questions, what does this say about our world, and what does it say about us?
First what does it say about our world?  I believe Christians live in an ever increasing hostile world.  The news media craves all kinds of negative news, but negative news about Christians or the church seem to be the crown jewel for many these days. The world at large is not rooting for us but rather against us.  for most of history this has been the case, however in the past 200 years Americans in particular have not faced this kind of religious opposition.  However with church attendance falling across the board in America and with the rise of post-modern thought, and an ever increasing focus on materialism and ourselves, I expect that this problem will only continue to get worse.  The end game for our enemy is to strip God out of all meaningful areas of our lives.  This maybe prayer in school, in God we trust in our court rooms and on our money, or your front yard Christmas nativity scene, they want it gone.  The world at large is becoming increasingly negative about all things spiritual, in part due to the obsession with negative Christian news.  
But the larger question for me is what does this say about us? First is says that we are horrible marketers. We are allowing the world to define who we are as Christians.  We must become more proactive in stating our case, and marketing the great things that the church does, and stands for, so that the world at large might better understand us.  This also shows that individual believers and churches both need to really step it up when it comes to telling the world about Christ.  Christ is preached from hundreds of thousands of pulpits each weekend, however the gospel is rarely mentioned throughout the week by individual believers.  We need a revival of individual evangelism in America today.  This will no doubt lead to many coming to know Christ, but it will also lead to a more positive view of the Christian faith.  Churches need to become more proactive in their local media markets, to promote the positive things they do.  Many newspapers will run small public service articles for free.  There are millions of blogs churches can post their positive stories on.  Many small towns have local radio stations that will allow Pastors and other church leaders live air-time during the morning news.  We should not only advertise "come and see us this Sunday", but also "see what we did for you last week." Churches should put forth extra effort to promote the positive things Christ does through them. 
I hope that by the end of 2011 we will find that the top 10 Christian news stories include more positive things and fewer negative. 

The Nobodies of Christmas

The Nobodies of Christmas
by: Ray Hollenbach

When important people come to town, everyone one knows it. NBA stadiums sell out months before LaBron or Kobe show up for game time. When Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson do a personal appearance, hundreds of screaming fans will show up hours ahead of time. When the President visits your city, you can be sure the mayor will meet him at the airport, and schoolchildren will be there to give the First Lady flowers.

The Christmas story shows us that God does things differently. You might even call His way sneaky. The most important person in the history of the world snuck into town late one night and definitely did not stay in a five-star hotel. Actually, Jesus was smuggled into Bethlehem through the womb of a teenage girl, who gave birth in a barn. That’s different.

We all know the story of Christmas: the baby, the barn, the shepherds, and magi. Hidden inside that familiar story is the surprising revelation that God’s way is to ignore the bigshots and use nobodies instead. Just count the nobodies:

Mary was a teenage girl from a small town. In Bible times, women were not important people, and teenagers were even lower on the scale. Mix in her pre-martial pregnancy, and you’ve got a real nobody on your hands. Mary was God’s choice. She conceived the baby Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. God considered her somebody important and gave her a pretty tough assignment!

Joseph was a nobody, too. He was just a working man. He was faced with a choice between trusting God or protecting his small-town reputation. But reputations belong to important people, and most of the important people were in Jerusalem. Joseph said yes to shame, yes to love, and yes to God, so God chose Joseph to act as a foster-father to the Savior of the world.

Shepherds are not important people, just the opposite: second-shift schmucks who work outdoors. Back in that day, watching sheep was not exactly a rock-star kind of gig. Yet they were the first guests invited to the celebration; they saw the skies ripped open and heard the song of heaven. In just one winter night, these social misfits witnessed more of God's glory than all the priests in Jerusalem.

The Magi: They were nothing more than rich pagan astrologers. It didn’t matter if they had money; they were foreigners. Foreigners have the wrong religion, the wrong clothes, and the wrong sacred books--yet the Father invited these rich pagan astrologers, strangers in Israel, to celebrate the birth of the King. 

Elizabeth & Zechariah were a kindly old couple engaged in harmless religious activity. They are the kind of people society ignores--unless they are driving too slow on the highway. This childless couple found themselves unexpectedly drafted to care for and raise the greatest prophet of the Old Testament tradition--and the forerunner to the Messiah.

Anna & Simeon: Alone and elderly, they were two people almost completely invisible in Jerusalem. Invisible to everyone except the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God had been whispering to them for decades that they would witness the most important event in human history. Even after they held the baby Jesus that day in the Temple, the world would have considered them people at the margins of society, yet Simeon and Anna were in on God's secret plan decades before the rest of the world knew what was going on. 

The secret message inside the Christmas story? God invites the nobodies. And when God invites you to the table, He provides everything you need. The powerful people, the beautiful people, and the cool kids might not make it to the celebration. They’re welcome, but they might be too busy building their own kingdoms. Meanwhile, God’s kingdom is filling up with the people no one notices.

This season, if you are a nobody—rejoice! You are not far from the Kingdom of God.

Reaching Out to Unbelievers at Christmas

Reaching Out to Unbelievers at Christmas
By: Dr. R. Larry Moyer

Many times as I travel this time of year, people ask the question, “How can I use Christmas to reach out to unbelievers?” The answer I give them is simpler than they are probably expecting. I believe the answer is in two words—think non-Christians. In other words, it doesn’t begin with what you do, but it begins with the way you think. We have an expression today that goes, “Out of sight—out of mind.” I think it’s also possible to say, “Out of mind—out of sight.” If you do not have them on your mind, you won’t have them within view over the holidays. Regardless of what you do and what you participate in, think non-Christians. Once you do that, you’ll be surprised how many ideas come to your mind.
For example, cards are often sent to family and friends, most of whom are believers because of relationships at church, etc. But why not think of five to ten non-Christians you may not be that close to but who would appreciate a card from you? If appropriate, you can include a tract, but I believe there are also times when it’s not appropriate. A warm personal handwritten greeting simply lets them know you care. That warm greeting may open up a door for the gospel later. In each situation, you have to ascertain what’s best. A tract may be enclosed in one card where it may not be in another.
If you’re going to the mall, why not take an unbeliever with you and even offer to buy their lunch? That kind of giving spirit over the holidays is different than just getting a package from beneath the tree and has such a tangible way of saying, “I value your friendship.”
If you’re thinking of a loved one who is a believer who lost a member of their family this year, your concern and attention as you go through the first holiday season would mean a lot. But who do you know that’s an unbeliever who suffered a similar kind of loss? Why not reach out to them as well? The holiday may be even harder for them than it is for a believing family because they do not have the hope in Christ that you have.
I trust you see what I mean. By simply “thinking non-Christians,” you’ll be surprised by all the ideas that come to your mind whereby you can reach out to unbelievers. As you go forth, ask God for wisdom, direction, and boldness. He’ll give you all three.

John 1:14

John 1:14 ESV   And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

This is indeed an incredible biblical text, it's one of the most concise descriptions of Christ's incarnation that we find in Scripture. I love how it begins “and the Word became flesh” how incredible that God himself would come and join humanity as a person? The verse doesn't end there. Instead it says “he dwelt among us.” For 33 years he walked with humanity on planet Earth. Jesus Christ really did dwell among us. He was God in the flesh, yet he chose to walk a mile in our shoes. The author of the text goes on to express that he was an eyewitness when he says “we have seen his glory.” And even though we have not seen his glory in the same way that the author of this text has, we do continue to see miracles each day of our life. We see his glory and the moon and the stars, and the blue sky, green grass, the birth of a child, or the salvation of one lost soul. His glory still surrounds us to this very day and we have seen it with our own eyes. The author says he is "the ONLY SON FROM THE FATHER” And he is full of grace and truth. This is indeed an incredible passage of Scripture to reflect upon during the Christmas season. This morning as I read this passage from The Living Lamp devotional I could not help but take time to pray and thank God that he became flesh among us, has allowed me to see his glory, and  thank him for being full of grace and truth and for being the one and only son of God who saved me from my sins.

Lucy—The Runaway Dog

Some of you may know that we have a dog in our family named Lucy. She is a miniature white poodle who at times can be a handful but is generally a great dog. Yesterday afternoon at some point she slipped out the front door without anyone noticing and disappeared. Several hours later I received a text from my wife, who had been frantically calling, whistling, and looking for Lucy. It was almost dark and the temperature was dropping and we both knew it was going to be a long cold night for Lucy if she was still on the street. After I got home I spent some time walking through the neighborhood and later driving around the neighborhood continuing the search for our runaway dog. It had become apparent that she was gone and Abby and I both came to grips with the fact that we may never see Lucy again.

This morning we woke up and decided to call the local pound to see if anyone had brought Lucy in. Abby was unable to locate a number so she called the police department and they informed us that they would have to get back to us later. About an hour passed before we received a call from the Pleasanton Police Department and discovered that LUCY HAD BEEN FOUND! It turns out she was right down the street just around the corner at an extremely nice gentleman’s house. Phil had seen Lucy the previous evening chasing a cat near his home. Phil had lovingly taken Lucy into his home for the night. But he did more than just take her into his home he had put a new collar on her, he’d given her a new doggie toy, and he even let her sleep in his bed for the night. Phil had no idea who’s dog it was but he assumed that it belonged to one of his neighbors and he decided to take it in.

This morning as we sat down to eat breakfast (before we found Lucy) we opened up The Living Lamp and the promise and the challenge both spoke to our hearts. The promise for today came from Matthew 6:27-30 which basically says who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life. God asks why do you worry it does no good at all, instead he encourages us to have faith. The promise is that if we have faith, God will come through. Then the challenge for today came from the book of John chapter 15 verse 17 it read “love each other. This is what I am commanding you to do.” Don’t you find it amazing how God’s word speaks to you each and every day you decide to read it? Not only did the promise for today bring encouragement to our hearts and remind us not to worry about things we had no control over, but we also saw the challenge come to life as well. Everyone knows that the golden rule is to love your neighbor as yourself and God’s Word clearly commands us time and time again to love each other. I’m so glad that we have a neighbor like Phil who, despite not knowing whose dog it was, decided to go out of his way at his own expense to care for Lucy the runaway dog. What are you worried about today? Why are you worried about it? Who can you love, what can you do to bless someone today?