Let every heart prepare Him room

  We tend to give the innkeeper in the Christmas story a hard time. After all, he turned away the Son of God and it resulted in Jesus being born in a dirty stable. But he had no idea who he had turned away, and it would most likely have happened the same way no matter who was in charge of the inn that night. Motel 6 was full, and the light was turned off. I would imagine Mary and Joseph were both a bit dirty and smelly from their journey and didn't stand out at all. Had he known who this baby was about to be born, I am sure he would have asked someone to give up their room... but he didn't know.

  And yet we vilify him for not making room for the Savior of the world.

  But are we any better than he? If you think about it, we are in fact worse than he was. He didn't know who Jesus was, and we do. How many of us truly make room for Him during this season that is supposed to be all about Him? We sing songs about Him, go to Christmas events centered around Him....yet do we truly make room for Him during the season of His birth? Do we make Him THE reason for the season?

  And do we make room for Him the rest of the year? This busyness and hustle and bustle of the Christmas season isn't just a Christmas thing. We are too busy every day of the year. Does it do any good to "let every heart prepare Him room" in December, if we don't give Him His place January through November? Are we taking enough time on a daily basis to make room in our day and our lives for this Jesus the innkeeper had no room for?

If we aren't taking time out of our day to pray, read our Bible, and focus on Him; then we are no better than the innkeeper. We may not be saying the words "no room", but by our inaction and lack of spiritual disciplines; we may as well have a sign on our heart saying "no room".

  Sometimes I am afraid that with all of our modern technology and drive through lifestyles we live, we are trying to do drive through/fast food Christianity. This serving Jesus is a daily walk that takes time and focus. We can't just put Him in a drawer or closet and pull Him out when we need Him. It is a 24/7, making Him the center and reason for every day, not just the reason for the season.

 Yes, we need to make room for Him during the busy Christmas season.....after all, it is all about Him. However, we can't just attempt to have our hearts prepare Him room only during Christmas.  If we are to give Him His rightful place and serve Him in the way He should be served, we must prepare Him room every day, and all day.

The ordinary King

  Bill and Gloria Gaither wrote a song back in the early 80's titled "Ordinary Baby." The idea of the song is that Jesus came as just an ordinary baby, yet He was far from ordinary. I was listening to the song yesterday and the first verse really stuck out to me:

He was just an ordinary baby, 
That’s the way He planned it, maybe
Anything but common would have kept Him apart
From the children that He came to rescue, 
Limited to some elite few;
When He was the only Child who asked to be born. 

  It is beyond our finite minds to comprehend why God would send His Son to this earth for us in the first place. To do so in such a way as He did is even further beyond the scope of our understanding. To have the King of everything lying in a manger is not at all how we would have written the story. We would have had Him lying in the best baby bed money could buy, and being born in a palace; not in a stable surrounded by filth and smelly animals.

  But had He been born in the way that a true King should be born, what then of the shepherds and other common people? There is no way they would have been allowed in a palace to see a newborn King, or any King. But since He was born in a stable, they just walked in with no palace guards to stop them. These shepherds had been in the field with sheep and had to have been rather smelly, yet no one told them they had to clean up and wear fancy clothes before they could see this newborn King. And these common shepherds, the first people to hear the announcement of Jesus birth and among the first to see Him, left to never be the same again.

  Not much has changed in two thousand years. This same Jesus who had dirty, smelly shepherds come before Him welcomes anyone to come to Him today. We too can come to this same King with all of our sin, our dirt and filth; and He will not turn us away. Most of us could never get in to see the rulers of any country, unless we had connections. If we somehow managed to gain an audience with one of these rulers, we would look our best and make sure we showered and smelled our best. If we showed up smelly and dirty, we would be turned away or at least told to make ourselves more presentable.

  But Jesus came in a lowly way and in a lowly place so He would not be kept apart from the ones He came to save. He will never turn us away, and if we encounter Him; we will never be the same again.

Remembering Thanksgiving, Week #4

  This month has flown by - this YEAR has flown by, and it is hard to believe tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day..... and it is Thanksgiving Day, not Turkey Day.

  I unfortunately have to work, but my boss was agreeable to my working half the day because due to parts of the hospital being closed on holidays and not many people coming in; I won't be needed the second half of the day. Sure, it would be nice to have the whole day off, but I God willing; I will be home in time for the noon Thanksgiving meal.

On week four of Thanksgiving month, I am thankful for:

1) Work, since I am speaking of it. I wish it was closer, I wish I got paid more, and I wish I didn't have to work major holidays...... but I like my job. I have some great coworkers. It could be much worse, and I could be unemployed..... so I am very thankful for my job.

2) My health. Working in the waiting room of the emergency department, I see it all. There are a lot of people with serious and recurring health issues, and often they are younger than I am. Other than my need to lose weight, I am in good physical health; and hope to stay that way and improve on it this coming year.

3) My fellow travelers on the road I walk. Mine is not an easy struggle. It can be daunting and lonely to look at a future as a single guy in a world of couples who don't understand me.... but God has brought several people into my life via Facebook, conferences, and other ways who walk the same road I walk, who have the same struggles I have...... and they are a tremendous encouragement and help to me. I thank God for them and hope I am somehow a blessing and encouragement to them also.

4) Christmas. It is just around the corner, and once the Thanksgiving leftovers are put away; it will begin: the rush towards Christmas. I love the season  and am thankful for it. I am thankful for the sense of peace and goodwill that still hovers in the air, the times spent with family, getting and giving gifts, and what it is all about: the birth of Jesus. We would have no hope without that first Christmas, and I am oh so thankful for it.

Keeping Christmas

 

The next to the last line in the famous Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens say of Ebeneezer Scrooge : "and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge."

 Christmas is fast approaching, and I have been thinking about that: keeping Christmas. I had a conversation, or more like a debate/argument with my liberal coworker a while back. He likes to make outrageous statements and start an argument. (Yeah, you, Rich!) This time he informed me that Christmas is a pagan holiday and its traditions are based on pagan things. I disagreed and he brought up how so many celebrate Christmas and what it means to so many. I came back with "well that isn't how I view it and celebrate it. To me, it is the birth of Jesus."

  That conversation has had me thinking as Christmas is rushing toward us at the speed of light, or it so it seems. If anyone should keep Christmas, it should be we who bear His name..... and we should keep it better and differently than the world does. But do we?

  Is it enough to put out a Nativity scene, avoid Santa talk and decorations, go to all of the Christmas services at church...... even the circus they call the children's Christmas program?

 Do we make Christmas too much about US, and not enough about HIM?

 I love Christmas: Being with family, giving gifts, getting gifts (hey, I am human), the music, the decorations, the different attitudes and spirit that seems to be present at that time of year. But do I keep Christmas any differently than people who don't know Jesus as their Lord and Savior?

  We like to harp about the commercialization of Christmas, but what do we do to battle the commercialization in our homes and hearts? In all of the hustle and bustle of family Christmases, parties, Christmas cantatas and caroling and all of the other many things of the season.......are we really keeping Christmas as the time set aside to observe the greatest night in the history of mankind: the time when God became a baby? The night that set the plan of redemption in motion?

 As we gaze at our Nativity scenes, do we see the shadow of a cross on the baby in the manger? Do we take time to truly honor the Reason for the season, or do we tend to forget about Him in our rush to get to the best Christmas sales and wrap our gifts for each other?

  I have spoken and even blogged about Keeping Christ in Christmas, and I want to do that. I want this year to keep Christmas as I never have, even if the difference is all inside. It is the day we set aside to observe the night that Emmanuel became a reality: God with us. It is the night salvation entered the world for whosoever believes. It is the night that God became a baby so He could grow up and die on a cross for the sins of the world.

  Indeed, those who claim Jesus as their Lord and Savior should keep Christmas, and keep it better than those in the world. We know what it is all about.

Remembering Thanksgiving, Week #3

 I've had a rough couple of days and have been playing the "why me?" game with myself. Then today, I had good and bad happen, and the good came out of the bad in the form of an answered prayer. It is something I have been praying about for a month or so, and I had my doubts it would happen....... but it did. As I have been feeling thankful about it the rest of the day, it reminded me that is not all I have to be thankful for. It also reminded me that I should do my weekly post. So here is what I am thankful for in this third week of the month of Thanksgiving:

1) Answered - and unanswered prayers. It is so easy when God doesn't answer,  or doesn't seem to answer prayers to forget the ones that He has answered. I have heard of people writing prayers down and putting them in a jar, then taking them out at the end of the year and seeing how many God answered. That may be a good idea.

And I don't think we give God enough credit for not answering some prayers that would not have been the right thing for us.

2) Sundays. And that is the day, not the cold ice cream treat. I don't understand people who don't want to cease from unnecessary work and activities and just rest and go to church. Come on, a day God says not to work...... who wants to go against that?

I've had to work some Sundays in my life, and hate to do so. Sundays to me are church, a good Sunday dinner with family, a nap or walk, and more church in the evening. It is nice to put aside the unnecessary things for the day and relax and be in church.

3) Books and my love of reading. I have never felt I excelled at much in life, but I did excel at reading. I can remember reading above my level in my younger grades of school, and once I caught the love of reading; it never left. I still enjoy reading, and it has taken me many places I will never be physically able to go, and helped me learn a lot I would never have otherwise known.

4) Music. I love music. I rarely am in the car without a CD playing. And I am thankful for good music. As a teenager, I discovered Southern Gospel music and have listened to it ever since. I was never tempted to get into the heavy metal, rock, rap, or other kinds of music so many young people get into. I have never even had much desire for country music, though there is a small percentage of it that is worth listening to.

Over the years, my music tastes have spread out to include some praise and worship and some CCM music, but I still mainly listen to good old Southern Gospel. Music has been an important part of my life and has moved me, cheered me, convicted me, and brought me closer to God.

I am also thankful I learned to play the piano and have the ability to make music for my own entertainment. I wish I could play better, but it is good enough for me.

My last conversation with Shirley

   Due to something that happened to a family member of a volunteer at the hospital last week, something came to my mind that I had forgotten, or someone came to my mind. I remembered Shirley.

  As I thought back over the years to when I knew here, I found it difficult to put a time frame on when it happened. If I figure correctly, it must have been about 20 years ago.

  I was working in the bakery of Das Dutch Hause in Columbiana, Ohio.... for the second of three times I worked there. That is when I met Shirley. She was probably in her late 40's or early 50's and worked in the kitchen. There are some people who when you meet, you just hit it off and can tell they can take a joke...... and Shirley was one of those people. I had to go through the kitchen fairly often, so I ran onto her there or in the break room, or even outside throwing trash in the dumpster. And every time, we'd rag on each other. We'd joke, toss insults and other teasing remarks at the other, and always walk away laughing. She was a funny lady.

  I'll never forget the last time I saw her, or the conversation I had with her. She was sitting in the break room when I walked through, and I said hi and asked her how she was doing. She told me she had been having  bad headaches the last couple of days, but was good other than that. I remarked "I can't see why, you don't have anything in there." She laughed, made a funny remark, and I went on my way.

  I had a couple of days off, and came back a couple of days later to find out that Shirley was gone. Those headaches she had been having for a couple of days? Those weren't normal headaches, and she was dead before I came back to work.

  And I felt like a jerk. Here the woman was dying, though no one knew.... including her, and I came off with a funny remark about her head being empty. I can still remember telling my little sister how I felt, and she had some wise words. She knew Shirley, and knew what our relationship was like, and she said even if Shirley had known, she would have laughed and taken it because that is how we talked to each other. And maybe so.

  But all of these years later, it has come back to me. I don't know if Shirley was a Christian. I am pretty sure she wasn't...... and I never talked about Jesus to her. I didn't know she'd die unexpectedly, but should that matter? Shouldn't we talk about Jesus to everyone?

  We never know when we may have a last conversation with someone. Life is uncertain, and none of us know when our last day will come. We are not guaranteed tomorrow, yet we live as if we and everyone around us are going to live on this earth forever. We should make the most of every moment, and let everyone we meet know who we serve and that there is hope in Jesus Christ for them and the whole world.

Random thoughts on red cups, abused women, and more

 

 This isn't one of my attempted well thought out blog posts, but are just some random thoughts from Facebook posts, news stories, conversations, etc. that have come to mind.

1) Red cups: the drummed up controversy over Starbucks and their red cups. I think much ado has been made about nothing, and Christians are making fools of  themselves who are outraged and boycotting. Want to boycott? How about boycotting them every day for their pro-gay stance and their anti-Christian stance. But red cups with no winter design..... really??

2) Hillary Clinton has made herself the champion of abused women and say that every abused woman deserves to be heard and believed.... unless of course Hillary's husband is the guilty party.

3) It is pathetic how the media is treating Ben Carson. We conservatives were called racist for bringing true concerns about Obama out and for not voting for him because of his policies, yet they are doing far worse to Carson, and it is OK since he is a conservative and must be destroyed at any cost. Evidently not all black lives matter after all.

4) Although I am not on the Starbucks red cup crazy train, I do feel any store that doesn't allow their employees to say "Merry Christmas" and avoids all uses of "Christmas" in their Christmas sales should be boycotted........ and no, not a big scene, but just don't shop there. Someone said today that the advertising doesn't bother them if Christmas is left out..... but it should bother us. It is all part of the "let's not offend atheists and Muslims, but we can offend Christians" movement.

5) I think it is sad that most couples jump in bed so fast before the relationship develops. As a Christian, I believe all should wait til marriage for that anyway, but people are missing out on the simple joys of hand holding, talking about hopes and dreams. Sex becomes the focus of the relationship..... at least for the guy.

6) I love Sundays. People who don't want to sit back and take it easy, avoid unnecessary work and activities are really missing out. Come on, a day God says not to work...... who wants to go against that?!

7) Why do people care so much about the relationships of celebrities? I don't care who Blake Shelton is with now and weary of seeing it on my Facebook feed.

8) Benjy, my 11 year old "middle" nephew recently made my day. I was playing Mario Karts with them on my Wii U and he told me I was "the best uncle in the world." I thanked him, and he said "no other uncle would buy a Wii for his nieces and nephews to play." I told him I am sure there are others who have, and he said there aren't many. He's my new favorite.......

9) I have felt this tremendous sense lately that I am not living up to my full potential in life. That there is more for me than what I am doing. I feel trapped, and like I am just spinning my wheels and not going anywhere. How to get to where I need to be and doing what I should be doing, I have no idea...... other than to keep praying.

10) Lately I have been thinking about the people in my life outside of my family. The people I work with, the people I attend church with, the people who work at stores I frequent often enough that they know me by name....... OK - bookstores, that is where the employees know me by name.... :) - anyway, I have been thinking: If I had been born in some other state far away and never moved to Ohio, I wouldn't know any of them. The circles of acquaintance and friendship would consist of totally different people than they consist of now. Maybe God places the people in our lives, and it isn't just happenstance.

11) The attempted sex change by Bruce Jenner should never have been the news story it has been and still is...... and the conservative media is as much to blame as the liberal for posting so many news stories about this misguided and confused guy who does not deserve celebrity status, but pity.

12) I am not sure I like Devotionals or any other kind of book that is written from the viewpoint of God and has what He is supposedly saying. i.e. Jesus Calling. If you want to read what Jesus really said, read the Bible.

13) Some people only comment on my Facebook posts when they disagree with me.

14) In hindsight, maybe it was rude of me to laugh when the nurse suggested this morning that I sign up for Obamacare..........

15) I think our Americanized Christianity is far from the Christianity Jesus wants for us.

16) Isn't it kind of weird - and vain -  for guys to post shirtless pictures of themselves on social media?

17) There was a post on Facebook jokingly asking what Scripture verse someone could post with their newest selfie. "Vanity, all is vanity" is the one that came to my mind,

18) Relevant magazine posted an article about a man who is a Christian and produces horror movies. Has our Americanized Christianity become so weak and accepting of anything Hollywood throws at us that we not only have no problem with Christians watching horror movies, but also with Christians producing horror movies?

19) There is true racism in our country. I am not denying that, but there is so much false accusations of racism that it is like the boy who cried wolf. When real racism happens, the average American is just going to assume it is another attempt to find it where it doesn't exist.

20) I really need to find a job where I don't have to work major holidays. This year will be the second year in a row that I work both Christmas and Thanksgiving...... and I am very down and depressed about it already.

21) It shouldn't amaze me, but it it does amaze me that anyone with a shred of intelligence can think Hillary Clinton would make a good president, and it also amazes me that so many Americans have no problem with her lying, which has been proven, and the web of corruption that surrounds her.

22) If people didn't date around so much before marriage, maybe more marriages would stay together. If you're used to jumping ship in dating relationships every time things get stale or tough, what makes you think marriage would be any different?

23) Christians should not support or vote for any candidate who supports  the "right" to kill babies, much less have that as part of their very political platform.

24) Many people claim God is neither Democrat or Republican. That is probably true, but I do know He is 100% pro-life, which most Democrats are not.

25) Some day we are all going to stand before God, We won't wish that we had watched more movies, watched more football games, or other things we do to waste time. We will wish we had done more for God.