Profundity

So I've been working my brain over the past few weeks trying to come up with something profound to say about Christmas this year. The lack of a post up until now is indicative of my lack of inspiration. I think I've been a little overwhelmed by the commercialism for some reason -- more so than in the past. It's also been disheartening to here "it's the worst Christmas shopping season on record" over and over in the media.

Then it dawned on me this morning... The profound is to be discovered in simplicity -- looking once again at the root cause of this season we now celebrate. I've known this. I've known it well. But somehow, I still overlook it.

God, in order to reconnect with people, came to earth as a man. Simple.

Jesus, that man, lived among us, teaching us, showing us the heart of God. Simple.

Because He caused such a stir, the rulers of the time decided it would be better to get rid of Him. Simple.

Because He is God, the grave couldn't hold Him. Simple.

The simplicity of the account has been a stumbling point for many over the years. It doesn't jive with the thinking of many who continue to look for the Messiah, one who they think should be a mighty military/governmental figure in the tradition of man.

No, to look at the story of Jesus as the Messiah, one quickly realizes that it's much simpler than we would make it.

The complexity is then found behind the physical evidence. To look at the surface elements, it seems a straightforward plot. But what was His real reason for becoming one of us?

The story stretches back to the creation of man and woman. From the time sin entered the world, there was need of a Saviour. Thousands of years were spent making sacrifices, attempting to wipe away guilt. But that only carried us so far.

The one sacrifice that would suffice was that of God providing Himself as the sacrifice. This one, simple, profound act changed the course of history. Nay, eternity.

May your Christmas be filled with the simple and the profound.

O Come...

You never write, you never call...

To those of you who keep up with us via this blog - my apologies. The past couple of months have been so slam-packed with stuff, that to be quite honest, I didn't even really think about blogging.

A couple of months ago, I (Gary) finally got myself on Facebook. It's a remarkable world. I've connected with people from High School, college and adult life, who I never thought I would find. It's kind of easy to get sucked in to the Facebook vortex, so I have to pace myself and dedicate only small bits of time here and there to perusing, finding old friends and new, and catching up with what's happening in their worlds.

Just to let you know what's been happening lately:

- Our support level is still on the increase

- Our car died, so we had to replace it

- Molly turned 21!

- We made a trip to Columbus, GA to visit one of our supporting churches, Calvary Chapel Columbus. Had a great time visiting with Pastor Mark and his family, leading worship, reconnecting with old friends and gaining some new friends.

We're gearing up for Christmas, planning for Thanksgiving with our family and friends, working on our church's website and raising support.

Keep us in your prayers and let us know how we may be praying for you!

Success in the face of adversity

One of my mantras over the years to encourage people has been, "Don't focus on your circumstances; focus on the Lord." I must admit that it has always been far easier to say than to do. We want to feel in control, don't we?

We have been at this support raising thing for some time now. For those of you just joining us, we have been somewhat in maintenance mode for a couple of years, taking trips to Ireland to get our ministry started.

So right about the time we decide it's time to focus our efforts on raising the remainder of our monthly financial support to enable us to move to Ireland and continue our work full-time, the economy sinks to an all-time low. "Consumer confidence" is suffering, previously elastic products and services (those that are in demand, no matter the price, such as cable TV, etc.) are suddenly being considered luxuries, charitable giving is down by up to 25%. Everyone is holding their breath to see what the results of and reaction to the upcoming election will be.

Here's the kicker. We've seen a greater increase in our support level in the past three months than we have seen since we started the process. This tells us a couple of things...

1 - There are still people who place their confidence in the Lord over confidence in their circumstances.

2 - God must be in it. This must be His timing.

I believe in miracles and I believe we are witnessing one right before our eyes!

The truth hurts...

I have to thank our good friend and colleague, Phil Kingsley for this quote from comedian / satirist, Mort Sahl, which seems sooo apropos right now:

"There were four million people in the American Colonies and we had Jefferson and Franklin.

Now we have over 200 million and the two top guys are Clinton and Dole. What can you draw from this?

Darwin was wrong!"

This should be interesting...

You know how it is returning to a former school or place of work and the mix of emotions it stirs? You tend to become nostalgic, yet it often seems like you are seeing this once familiar place through someone else's eyes.

I resigned from Calvary Chapel Gulf Breeze 4 years ago. It doesn't seem it's been that long and at the same time it seems an eternity. So much has happened in the ensuing years and now we find ourselves preparing to move overseas for the next chapter in our lives.

This weekend marks 25 years of ministry for Calvary Chapel. We were there 15 of those years. Beth and I were invited by Pastor John to join in a homecoming celebration Sunday morning and share a song with the congregation. We are having a hard time deciding which of two songs we should do. May have to flip a coin.

I'm really looking forward to it, although I know it will also be rather strange. Pastor John is a gifted teacher and it will be good to hear him again. It will be great to see old friends and to lead them in a worship song. At the same time there will be a large percentage of the congregation who will have no idea who we are.

Should be a really good experience overall, but it is going to be quite interesting...