A Christmas Paradigm Shift

You know why most of us like Christmas? I think part of the reason is because the season gives us a reason to splurge on ourselves! We give with the expectation of receiving in return.

Think about it: what do children do? Make a list of things THEY want and give it to Santa. You know what this does? It breeds disappointment with high expectations when the child does NOT get what is on the list. 

So how can Christians like you and I be counter-cultural and biblical since the Bible teaches self-denial NOT self-esteem or self-fulfillment apart from Christ?

My wife and I didn’t do the list thing this year. Instead, we made a list of people we could give TO. We also listed things from our home we could sacrificially give away to needy families we know. Not our worse things, but some of our better and best things that we are still using!

We want our children to be givers not consumers. Self-less rather than selfish. Don’t you want your children to be like Jesus Who gave without an expectation of return? I do. Otherwise, I’m just bringing up children who are going to be consumed by consumerism and just like this world rather than like Jesus Christ.

Was Jesus a consumer or a giver? Can you imagine Jesus making a Christmas list of His wants to mail to Santa? Ridiculous thought yet we are to be LIKE HIM.

Make your children’s expectations low this year by teaching them to be like King Solomon when he prayed in I Kings 3 for wisdom – not for himself – but so that he could serve the Lord by serving His children better!!! This prayer was inspired by God, the great Giver of all good gifts according to James 1:17: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.“ - The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 (Jas 1:17). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

Let’s give this Christmas with no expectation of receiving! Let’s be like our Father of lights and be a light that realizes it’s much better to give than to receive! Let’s glorify the Lord and not get caught up in a secular season that has made it all about SELF rather than about Jesus HIMSELF.

-Mark (wanting to shift our thinking from self to Christ, especially during Christmas!)

P.S. We say, “Jesus is the reason for the season” but we sing about Santa, reindeer, mistletoe, snow, and all the stuff we get in this life that is temporary. Let’s set our minds on things above (Col.3:1-3), especially now during Christmas!

Thankful: doesn’t come from us…

Remember back when you were young…  An adult blessed you with something, maybe your favorite toy, a good book, or some clothes.  What were the first words out of your mouth?  WOW, COOL, NEAT….  For most of us, it wouldn’t be hard for you to imagine what your parents words were to you… WHAT DID YOU SAY?  “Uh thank you…”  We aren’t taught how to be selfish.  We become prodigys of that nature all by ourselves.  As I grow older, I still find myself having to battle against being focused only on me.

What is the solution?

The Bible says that every good and perfect gift is from the LORD.  As you celebrate Thanksgiving this week with your loved ones, ask the LORD to reignite your heart of Thankfulness.  Spend the day thanking Him for all the amazing blesssings in your life.  Take time out to remember, if you are thankful, it’s only because of Him.

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. Colossians 2:6-7

-Jason

 

A god of lightning bolts! Ouch!

Some people, even Christians, understand that God is sovereign, all-powerful, and strong but that’s all they understand about God. They miss that He is a God of love (I John 4:8) to us as revealed in the Bible.

These people mistakenly believe God to be a god of lightning bolts – ready to strike them down whenever they do something wrong. It’s a half-truth because God is just and there ARE consequences to sinful choices! For those who are NOT in Christ, they will experience the wrath of God at the Judgment Day. In the meantime, it is the goodness of God that leads to repentance according to Romans 2:4 - therefore, He is even being good to those who are not yet saved by the blood of Christ.

However, not so for us who are committed followers of Christ, trusting in Him alone for eternal life! We will NEVER see the wrath of God! That wrath was poured out on Jesus on the cross! He bore our wrath so that we might bear His righteousness!

What a gift!

So, do I see a god of lightning bolts anymore? No, not now that I am saved by His grace through faith in Jesus Christ!

Now, through biblical counseling, I can share this GOOD news with others every day!

-Mark (thankful for our God of love Who IS LOVE)

Wrong Question

People ask: “Why does a good God allow suffering, pain, sorrow, and death?”

Voddie Baucum says that’s a wrong question and he’s right! Man’s sin brought all of these consequences upon mankind – it’s a result of man’s disobedience. It’s wrong because it starts with man and not our Holy God. Man is not the source or starting point for truth! God is.

The correct question starts with a Holy God and asks: “Why didn’t a Holy, Righteous God kill me in my sleep last night due to all of my sinful, disobedient thoughts, words, and actions yesterday, the day before, and for all of the years of my life before now?”

God is holy. We are to be holy like Him by the power of the Holy Spirit and the blood of Christ that redeems us (Lev. 17:11). But we still struggle with the presence of sin.

God is good. God is gracious. God is patient. God is long-suffering with us who continue to choose sin and self over our Holy King. God is love (I John 4:8).

Ask Him the right questions so you can get the right answers!

-Mark (thankful the right answer is always “Jesus!”)

1 > 3

I got to play dodgeball at church recently. The format was 3 on 3 and it was fun!

What I learned in that experience was that 1 is greater than 3. Let me explain.

One team won because it played together as ONE. The other team lost because it played as 3 individual players and not as a united team.

1 > 3

It’s the same at Truth in Love Ministries! We know that being united in Christ as two individuals in a biblical counseling session is greater than counseling alone. We do TEAM counseling. In fact, nearly everything we do is in teams of two. When we are united, we find strength in numbers that allows us to defeat our opponent: Satan and the lies of this world’s system.

One is always greater than any number when that ONE is Christ Jesus!

-Mark (teaming together with committed Christians to do the work of biblical counseling and watching God win as He always does!)

Was Jesus’ mother Mary sinless?

This might seem like a controversial issue but let’s see what Mary herself said in Luke 1:46 (which is commonly called “The Magnificat”):

And Mary said,“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…” **

I stopped with the words “my Savior” for a reason. Mary says that God is her SAVIOR. Why would she need a Savior? Only sinners need a Savior.

She needs a Savior because she is NOT without sin. She confesses God is the Savior of her sins in this one little statement. We all need God’s grace from our sins and Mary recognizes her need of His grace, too.

In her own words, Mary admits her sin and need for a Savior. The Lord is her Savior Who saves her from her sin!

Seems pretty simple to me, that is IF you believe the Bible.

Jesus had only one perfect Parent – God the Heavenly Father Who divinely overshadowed Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was born of a virgin and Mary is greatly to be respected though she was not a perfect, sinless person and therefore has no intercessory power. “There is one God and one mediator between man and God – the Man, Christ Jesus” according to I Timothy 2:5.

There is only One perfect, sinless Person – the Lord Jesus Christ.

-Mark (blown away at the answers we find when we look in the pages of the Bible)

**The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 (electronic ed.) Good News Publishers: Wheaton.

God is everywhere…. Join in the fun…

Missed writing over the last few months!  Hope everyone is doing well!  Had a few minutes here in a coffe shop/tech trap and thought I would share a few cool pics I’ve run across in the last day or two. Please don’t read this blog and get fired up thinking I’m some type of mystic who looks for God outside of His revealed Word.  I just enjoy collecting tags that point people to God! I have found that these pictures are a great conversation starter in getting people to share about their faith….

Visit the 2 links below to see 90+ car tags that point to God…

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/album.php?aid=6550&id=1374134634

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/album.php?aid=22919&id=1374134634

 

Please feel free to join in the Scavenger Hunt of finding God’s Word in unique places!  Make sure to send me a picture of anything you find and the story behind finding it. Be it car tags, church signs, t-shirts, let your creativity flow and together let’s shout forth the praises of OUR GREAT GOD!

And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.” ISAIAH 6:3

 

 

GOD IS REAL!

HE IS!

 

-Jason  (Thankful to be a child of the KING!)