This time of year it is very easy to make plans for almost every day of the month of December. Most of us have family events, sporting events, kid's school events, church events, etc. It get to be the busiest time of the year in fact. Day after day we run from one item on the to-do list to another.
In the busyness it will be very easy to forget the real meaning of Christmas. We plan for all of the events, we plan all of the meals, we plan the presents, but do we plan to make sure God is at the center of everything we, especially this time of year?
As all of us plan our ways through this advent season, I wanted to just throw out a reminder to make sure you plan time for God in your day-to-day events. Without Him at the center of all you do, you'd easily get the plan wrong and forget the true meaning of Christmas.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Crossed Signals
I don’t know about you, but I’m really confused. As far as I can remember the TV companies have been telling us how much better our lives will be with bigger and bigger TV screens. They’ve made them thinner, wall mountable, and even 3D in today’s market. Then, all of a sudden these same companies start to try and sell us on these hand-held TVs! Is anyone else confused?
This is a lot like what many Christians do in the world. They go to church and say and do all the right things. Then, they go to work, ball games, and other events and act like Christ isn’t a part of their lives at all. There is no wonder non-believers don’t have a clear understanding of God. He isn’t shown in people’s day-to-day lives!
I understand that there may be reasons why a smaller hand-held TV may be nice to have, but I can’t understand why a true believer can’t live the life that they say they believe. Are you crossing the signals you give out to others in the world?
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Leadership
Two weeks ago Americans went to vote, and although I’ve already covered that topic a bit, it did get me to thinking about a movie that I’ve enjoyed for years, "The American President". Michael Douglas as President Andrew Shepherd and Michael J. Fox as one of his staff people named Lewis Rothchild. They are in a limo on the way to an event discussing the President’s re-election campaign and the character attacks that the President is under from his challenger. The following statement is made by Lewis:
Lewis Rothschild: You have a deeper love of this country than any man I've ever known. And I want to know what it says to you that in the past seven weeks, 59% of Americans have begun to question your patriotism.
President Andrew Shepherd: Look, if the people want to listen to-...
Lewis Rothschild: They don't have a choice! Bob Rumson is the only one doing the talking! People want leadership, Mr. President, and in the absence of genuine leadership, they'll listen to anyone who steps up to the microphone. They want leadership. They're so thirsty for it they'll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there's no water, they'll drink the sand.
President Andrew Shepherd: Lewis, we've had presidents who were beloved, who couldn't find a coherent sentence with two hands and a flashlight. People don't drink the sand because they're thirsty. They drink the sand because they don't know the difference.
I think the biggest part of that exchange is what I’ve highlighted above in italics. Think about this in the context of Christianity and the world today. Why is the world in the state that it’s in? Why are the children of today becoming more and more lost? I say that a lot of it is because we as Christians are not giving them a choice. The people of the world are seeking leadership. Yet, those speaking the loudest to them are the evil forces of the world instead of us Christians! We’re not speaking loudly enough for the lost to hear!
How do we fix that? As we’ve been saying at church, it’s not going to be through programs. It’s not going to happen in the building that we have either. It happens where the people are each and every day. You have to not just be Christians on Sundays but all week long, in every dealing you have. It doesn’t matter if the person you are talking with is a Christian or not, you shouldn’t change. You have to be a Christian every moment of every day and demonstrate that to the world. You have to go out and make an effort and step up to that microphone and declare to the world that He is the Way, He is the Truth, and He is the Life.
My question today: Are you willing to lead?
Lewis Rothschild: You have a deeper love of this country than any man I've ever known. And I want to know what it says to you that in the past seven weeks, 59% of Americans have begun to question your patriotism.
President Andrew Shepherd: Look, if the people want to listen to-...
Lewis Rothschild: They don't have a choice! Bob Rumson is the only one doing the talking! People want leadership, Mr. President, and in the absence of genuine leadership, they'll listen to anyone who steps up to the microphone. They want leadership. They're so thirsty for it they'll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there's no water, they'll drink the sand.
President Andrew Shepherd: Lewis, we've had presidents who were beloved, who couldn't find a coherent sentence with two hands and a flashlight. People don't drink the sand because they're thirsty. They drink the sand because they don't know the difference.
I think the biggest part of that exchange is what I’ve highlighted above in italics. Think about this in the context of Christianity and the world today. Why is the world in the state that it’s in? Why are the children of today becoming more and more lost? I say that a lot of it is because we as Christians are not giving them a choice. The people of the world are seeking leadership. Yet, those speaking the loudest to them are the evil forces of the world instead of us Christians! We’re not speaking loudly enough for the lost to hear!
How do we fix that? As we’ve been saying at church, it’s not going to be through programs. It’s not going to happen in the building that we have either. It happens where the people are each and every day. You have to not just be Christians on Sundays but all week long, in every dealing you have. It doesn’t matter if the person you are talking with is a Christian or not, you shouldn’t change. You have to be a Christian every moment of every day and demonstrate that to the world. You have to go out and make an effort and step up to that microphone and declare to the world that He is the Way, He is the Truth, and He is the Life.
My question today: Are you willing to lead?
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
The Team, The Team, The Team!
As most of you know, I’m a big University of Michigan fan. As a big fan, I subscribe to many e-mails from the school. One of those e-mails comes right after every home football game and contains the intro video used by the team as they run onto the field during introductions. The big theme of this year’s intro videos is a very well-known pregame speech called "The Team". Every game they show video of players, coaches, fans, etc. doing parts of that speech along with team video from previous games. It’s this video that gave me the idea for this week’s Mo-Mentum.
Quite often we think that the Christian life is all about what we are doing ourselves. Yet, it’s the entire body (team) that is most important. It’s about every one of us doing our part for the team to function completely and for that team to accomplish the victory. A sports saying is that a team is only as strong as its weakest links, and so none of us should be that weak link.
My question today: Are you a weak link? Do you know your part, and are you doing your best to help the team? When you aren’t doing what you can for Christ, you are letting down your teammates and making it harder for all of us to win. It’s about the team, the team, the team. Every one of us are players in the game of life doing our part for the head coach Jesus. We should be striving every day to make the team stronger by growing in our abilities and recruiting others to the team. Are you on the field, or are you a bench warmer? Get in the game today. It’s about the team.
Quite often we think that the Christian life is all about what we are doing ourselves. Yet, it’s the entire body (team) that is most important. It’s about every one of us doing our part for the team to function completely and for that team to accomplish the victory. A sports saying is that a team is only as strong as its weakest links, and so none of us should be that weak link.
My question today: Are you a weak link? Do you know your part, and are you doing your best to help the team? When you aren’t doing what you can for Christ, you are letting down your teammates and making it harder for all of us to win. It’s about the team, the team, the team. Every one of us are players in the game of life doing our part for the head coach Jesus. We should be striving every day to make the team stronger by growing in our abilities and recruiting others to the team. Are you on the field, or are you a bench warmer? Get in the game today. It’s about the team.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Choice
Every day we are faced with choices that we all have to make. The first one every day is whether or not we get up when the alarm sounds. We then continue on through the day with hundreds of choices, often about very trivial things such as how much cream and sugar to put in out coffee, which pen to use, etc. Yet, there are also larger choices that we have to make. When driving we have to decide whether to turn in front of a car coming down the street, or maybe we should wait and let it go by first.
Even larger choices come in the area of faith. Do you decide to be a part of the Kingdom? Do you talk to that neighbor and lead them into a personal relationship with Christ? Do you trust God enough to answer your prayers, or do you think that you know better than He does?
On this Election Day, I’m not going to tell you which choices to make. You know better than anyone else where you stand on all of the issues. You know who you think are the best persons for all the jobs, and I’m not going to sway you in those matters. Instead, all I ask that when it comes to the election, you pray before you vote, and trust that God knows which choices are best. Of all the choices you make every day, the most important choice you have is to follow Him, and making sure that God is a part of all of the choices you make, even on Election Day.
Even larger choices come in the area of faith. Do you decide to be a part of the Kingdom? Do you talk to that neighbor and lead them into a personal relationship with Christ? Do you trust God enough to answer your prayers, or do you think that you know better than He does?
On this Election Day, I’m not going to tell you which choices to make. You know better than anyone else where you stand on all of the issues. You know who you think are the best persons for all the jobs, and I’m not going to sway you in those matters. Instead, all I ask that when it comes to the election, you pray before you vote, and trust that God knows which choices are best. Of all the choices you make every day, the most important choice you have is to follow Him, and making sure that God is a part of all of the choices you make, even on Election Day.
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