Last night, I was with a newer friend from the neighborhood and with a brand new friend from Belarus. We were at a neighborhood pub and they got me all inspired. I sat across from two young men in their mid-twenties who are devoting themselves to youth, for Christ. Josh works with "inner-city" kids in Denver for Young Life, and Phoenix the Belarusian is a multilingual young man devoting his work toward young lives in Eastern Europe. By the way, is "inner-city" derogatory to inner city kids and their families? Is my kid an "inner-city" kid?
So Phoenix, a bright and talkative dude with a very European accent had a lot of great comments and questions. He asked me why I hadn't yet been to Europe and why wouldn't I visit Belarus, learn Russian for a year and teach English camps in the capital city Minsk to reach their "inner-city" kids. I didn't really have an answer to any of his questions. But it was Phoenix's comment on Christmas in America that caught me most by surprise. He said Christmas in the States is a much bigger deal than it is back home. I thought, is that because we market Christmas in our homes, stores and media so well? And because we have so many churches in the US? And because tomorrow night's Christmas Eve services across the country will honor Jesus' birth as we sing Silent Night? (Silent Night is a weird song. Phoenix didn't say so but I think so. I don't think the night was silent when Jesus was born. The baby, the new parents and all the bewildered animals could not have made for a silent night. How could it have been a silent night, all calm and bright? It wasn't silent or calm when our baby Elliot was born. There was yelling and crying from all of us and I cannot image a baby, tender and mild and sleeping in heavenly peace on the first night, as the song implies. It took our boy months to find sleep in heavenly peace. I believe Jesus was crying most of the night in that stable and there was not a silent night for months. The song and the season have been marketed very, very well.)
I imagine African Christmas, similar to East Europe, has not been hit by the marketing people just yet. My friend Lauren bothered to mess with my Christmas this week by referring me to a blog of a girl named Katie from Brentwood, Tennessee. Katie left Brentwood a few years back to visit Uganda. She now has a few kids, she is not married and she is still in Uganda. See her blog at http://www.kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/. She is now a young mother to her fourteen kids (not a typo). You should take a couple hours and read through her writings, her blog is infinitely better than mine. She has given up just about everything in her former life to love the unloved in her new life in Africa. The Bible encourages believers to look after the fatherless so Katie is actually taking the Bible literally. Correction, the Bible commands us to care for the orphan and the widow. She must be crazy. And she really truly believes God and his Word. What am I supposed to do with crazy Katie's story? And what will her African Christmas be like this year? Is she teaching all 14 of those kids the story of God coming to earth to take on flesh, crying like a baby on that first, not-so-silent, night and is she telling them about his ministry as Jesus, about his criminal death on a cross and his resurrection? She probably is. Can't she just bombard her kids with gifts, tell them about Santa and have good old family time sharing a few gallons of egg nog with everyone?
Now when I consider what Christmas looks like in Africa, what does Christmas look like in Denver, in my home and in my heart?
For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Matthew 16:25
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
dying dads part 1
Dad's dad died in the ocean in 1958. My dad had not reached his first birthday.
Grandpa Ron perished and he never saw his young wife or two kids again.
I spent very little of my youth pondering the impact of young Ron's death and his absence from his family. Ron is gone and I have been very accustomed to it. I do not and my dad never will know anything different.
Dad never had a dad.
For much of my life this was a very unemotional concept for me. I was born without a paternal Grandpa and I rarely questioned the layers and layers of consequences of this fact. This sounds insane, but I did not consider other outcomes and what it would have meant for our family if Grandpa Ron had landed his plane on the aircraft carrier successfully that night in 1958.
Likewise, I regularly do not consider what it would have meant for mankind if God had not dwelled on earth in a man named Jesus. I have spent very little of my life pondering the scenario, "what if Jesus-God had not come to earth to die for mankind?"
When I was born in 1983, Jesus had already died for my sins and I have been very accustomed to it. I do not know anything different.
Jesus lived perfectly, claimed deity and he died violently.
God dwelt in a perfect man and he died for those who believe. Often today, this is still a very unemotional concept for me. I was born with direct access to God through the Holy Spirit by Jesus Christ's death and resurrection though I rarely question the layers and layers of consequences of this fact. And what about how much God gave up to dwell in a man? God took the form of an embryo, a fetus and then a crying, helpless baby.
2 Corinthians 8:9 says, He became poor so we by his poverty might be rich. Christ took on poverty that we might inherit the kingdom of heaven.
This is insane.
Consider how it would change the story had Jesus not come and what it would have meant for you and for mankind if God decided he would not send to earth his son to be crucified. The consequence would be far greater than half the world not celebrating Christmas this week. The depth of our hypothetical despair is unfathomable.
As a young father myself I have begun processing these consequences from my new perspective. I will expand on this new perspective next time.
Dad's dad died in the ocean in 1958. That means a lot to my family.
God's son died on the cross to save me from my wickedness and enabled God to restore relationship with his fallen creation. This means a lot to humanity. Belief in Jesus' deity, his death and his resurrection changes everything for the believer.
It didn't have to be that way. But it is. And it is good news. It is the gospel.
A friend stated last week the Lord has many lovers of his crown but few lovers of his cross.
The everlasting Father has a crown we ought bow to and a cross we ought carry.
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6
Amen
Grandpa Ron perished and he never saw his young wife or two kids again.
I spent very little of my youth pondering the impact of young Ron's death and his absence from his family. Ron is gone and I have been very accustomed to it. I do not and my dad never will know anything different.
Dad never had a dad.
For much of my life this was a very unemotional concept for me. I was born without a paternal Grandpa and I rarely questioned the layers and layers of consequences of this fact. This sounds insane, but I did not consider other outcomes and what it would have meant for our family if Grandpa Ron had landed his plane on the aircraft carrier successfully that night in 1958.
Likewise, I regularly do not consider what it would have meant for mankind if God had not dwelled on earth in a man named Jesus. I have spent very little of my life pondering the scenario, "what if Jesus-God had not come to earth to die for mankind?"
When I was born in 1983, Jesus had already died for my sins and I have been very accustomed to it. I do not know anything different.
Jesus lived perfectly, claimed deity and he died violently.
God dwelt in a perfect man and he died for those who believe. Often today, this is still a very unemotional concept for me. I was born with direct access to God through the Holy Spirit by Jesus Christ's death and resurrection though I rarely question the layers and layers of consequences of this fact. And what about how much God gave up to dwell in a man? God took the form of an embryo, a fetus and then a crying, helpless baby.
2 Corinthians 8:9 says, He became poor so we by his poverty might be rich. Christ took on poverty that we might inherit the kingdom of heaven.
This is insane.
Consider how it would change the story had Jesus not come and what it would have meant for you and for mankind if God decided he would not send to earth his son to be crucified. The consequence would be far greater than half the world not celebrating Christmas this week. The depth of our hypothetical despair is unfathomable.
As a young father myself I have begun processing these consequences from my new perspective. I will expand on this new perspective next time.
Dad's dad died in the ocean in 1958. That means a lot to my family.
God's son died on the cross to save me from my wickedness and enabled God to restore relationship with his fallen creation. This means a lot to humanity. Belief in Jesus' deity, his death and his resurrection changes everything for the believer.
It didn't have to be that way. But it is. And it is good news. It is the gospel.
A friend stated last week the Lord has many lovers of his crown but few lovers of his cross.
The everlasting Father has a crown we ought bow to and a cross we ought carry.
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6
Amen
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)