Merry Christmas

Two young boys were spending the night at their grandparents the week before Christmas. At bedtime, the two boys knelt beside their beds to say their prayers when the youngest one began praying at the top of his lungs. "I PRAY FOR A NEW BICYCLE..." "I PRAY FOR A NEW NINTENDO..." "I PRAY FOR A NEW IPOD..." His older brother leaned over and nudged the younger brother and said, "Why are you shouting your prayers? God isn't deaf." To which the little brother replied, "No, but Grandma is!" From: cybersalt.org/cleanlaugh

I hope you have had a wonderful Christmas and warm holiday season. God blesses us each day with both grace and opportunities. His grace is overwhelming in that the gift of salvation is given with such abundance and love. Each day we are reminded of our sin and weakness, and yet if we look to Him we also see His mercy and providence. The opportunities are also abundant, each day we meet people that need to be loved, encouraged, helped, and forgiven. When we meet these people we are given an opportunity to share the love and grace that has been given to us. Take the opportunity and share in the ministry of God’s grace. It is truly a gift to be loved by God. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

ps.  I will be in Florida for Christmas enjoying the hollidays the way they were intended; with palm trees and sunny weather!

Think like Toys R US

Martin Luther wrote, “Christ is the kind of person who is not ashamed of sinners—in fact, he even puts them in his family tree! Now if the Lord does that here, so ought we to despise no one … but put ourselves right in the middle of the fight for sinners and help them.”


I think we all agree with Martin Luther’s quote. Jesus came to this earth to save sinners, and He did it by aggressively inserting himself into our world. Jesus knew that the best way to reach sinners was to bring God’s love to them, to reach out to the hopeless and give them hope. The business world understands that if you want to reach people with your products, you can’t wait till they come to you, you must go to them if you want to be successful. Please read the following article from Mae Anderson:

“Toys "R" Us will be reaching out to you soon. Due to the economic downturn and tough competition, the toy chain has started to change their strategy. Specifically, in 2010 Toys "R" Us plans to "invade" shopping malls around the country by opening 600 express stores and hiring 10,000 part-time seasonal employees. Rather than waiting for customers to come to their traditional stores, they are finding ways to reach out. It's all part of their big vision to share their products with the world. According to CEO Gerald Storch, "We've been very aggressive [about reaching people] during the economic downturn, and this is another aggressive action." Spurred on by last year's success, they're not asking, "How can we survive this year?" Instead, they're trying to make an impact by asking, "How big can we make this?" It's an impressive display of creative, visionary thinking about how to reach people where they're at.”

In life, business, and in church we are never successful when we sit and wait for people to come to us. That is why the great commission doesn’t say “Sit and wait for the world to come to you”, instead it says “Go into all the world”. As a new year begins, let us commit to follow the example of Jesus by reaching out to sinners and sharing with them the truth, love, and grace of God. Merry Christmas & Get - R Done!

A Place for Prayer

In Matthew 21 Jesus entered into the Temple, there he witnessed religious people acting like worldly people. In the story Jesus entered the Temple to find the Pharisees filling the court of the Gentiles into a place of money exchange tables and consumerism. Jesus saw all of this and got angry. He kicked over the tables and drove them out with a whip he made. When Jesus did that, he quoted Isaiah 56:7.

“7 these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” Isaiah 56:7 NIV

That part of the Temple was designed for Gentiles to come and learn about God. It was meant to be a place that they could connect to Him in prayer. Yet there was no room for the outsider, there was no place for prayer, because they were too focused on making money and keeping up with the world. I’m terrified by this story because I can relate to the Pharisees. So much of my life has been about keeping up with the world, that I have not allowed this temple (my life) to be a place of prayer or a place that is welcoming to outsiders. It is time to give the Temple (our lives) back to God. Jesus took the blame for sin, not that we could keep on being worldly and sinful; He took the blame so that we could be restored into a Temple of prayer and holiness.

Babies Change Everything!



Abby & Jack at Lamberts Restaurant in Sikeston, Mo 

 When Abby was born, a friend of mine made a very prophetic and true statement; he said everything in your life has changed. I said “I know”. He said, “no you don’t. Not just your schedule and activities will change, but who you are will continue to change. Your love for that child will change you, and transform you.” My friend was right; every day I am reminded that my life has changed, that things are different now, not because of one but two babies have come into my life. I’m not talking about little changes like stepping on Lego’s, waiting in car rider lines, cleaning weird carpet stains, going to choir concerts, or soccer games. With the arrival of children I have learned patience, forgiveness, love, and responsibility. Children can change us for the better.  Two thousand years ago a baby arrived and did just that for whole world. When Jesus came to this earth, He changed it forever, because of Him our world will never be the same again. He grew into a man, into a healer, a teacher, and a savior. As He walked on this earth, Jesus demanded that we would change our ways and become more like Him and less like the world. When Jesus met people, He changed them forever. In a few weeks, many people will celebrate the birth of Christ. When Jesus came to this earth, He came to connect us back to God. At Christmas & New Years, many people evaluate who they are and where they are going in life. That is not a bad idea. Jesus came to this earth to restore us into holy and blameless people who make room for those who are in need; we should use this time to recommit to the changed life He has called us to.