Christmas Light

      Many people realize that Jesus most likely was not born on December 25. It is more likely he was born in spring when their are new lambs and shepherds in the fields at night. It is too cold in the winter for the shepherds to keep the flocks in the field; they put them in pens or corrals instead. The church chose December 25 to celebrate Jesus' birth, but the date was not arbitrary. Some believe that the date December 25 was chosen because of some elaborate connection between creation, conception, and crucifixion, as seen in the "Catholic Answer". The first time we have recorded that Christmas was celebrated on December 25 was 336 AD during the reign of Emperor Constantine. A short time later Pope Julius 1 declared December 25 to be the official date. There are many different theories about the date chosen, of which none are earth shatteringly important. The one that makes the most since to me is that the Emperor Constantine had just declared the official religion of the Roman Empire was Christian with the Edict of Milan. The church was hard at work trying to convert the pagan citizens of Rome. When you are asking someone to change their lives, you have to walk a fine line about demanding too much, so you don't want to take away all their festivals and parties. One of the biggest festivals in Rome was the winter solstice or the mid-winter festival. The winter solstice is the date that has the longest night and the shortest day. In other words, it is when the darkness is the strongest and the light is the weakest. The church chose a few days after the solstice to celebrate the birth of Jesus. To me this seems most appropriate, for what the birth of Jesus heralded was a faith in God who pushes back the darkness. Jesus was the light of God born into the world. From that date the light gets stronger and the darkness gets weaker. Just as the days get longer and the nights get shorter. The Christmas light is Jesus, the incarnation of God. Jesus' ministry was all about pushing back the darkness, pushing back evil, in the world and in humanity. Jesus also acquainted us with God's great guiding light to help the lost find their way. So for me December 25 is the perfect date to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Merry Christmas. www.fcccarrollton.org

Christmas Is Coming

     Advent is defined as the arrival of a notable person, event, or thing. What could better fit this definition than the arrival of Jesus into the world? At Christmas we celebrate the birth of the incarnation of God, Jesus, born of Mary. Advent for the church is the expectant waiting and preparation to welcome Jesus into our hearts once again. It is not that we somehow lost Jesus since last year; it is more like an anniversary of one of the most profound moments in history. It is one of my favorite times of year when people are a little kinder, a little happier. People smile more and call out greetings more often. Laughter peals from the lips of children. People hum, whistle, and sing some of my favorite songs, the songs that tell the tale of Christmas.

 

     Hark the Herald Angels Sing of Joy to the World. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear above Oh Little Town of Bethlehem that Angels We Have Heard on High sang Gloria about The First Noel. While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night the baby Jesus was Away in a Manger. O Holy Night when the Infant Holy, Infant Lowly was born for Love Came Down at Christmas. Come thou Long Expected Jesus sang the Angels from the Realms of Glory. Do You Hear What I Hear then Go Tell It on a Mountain about what happened that Silent Night Once in Royal David's City. What Child is This? It is none other than The Sweet Little Jesus Boy. Mary Did You Know that Gabriel's Message would bring such Glory to God? There's a Song in the Air for Mary's Boy Child has been born. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel and change our lives forever.

 

Enjoy the true meaning of Christmas as together we approach the wondrous date. www.fcccarrollton.org

Generous Heart

       I believe that generosity is directly tied to gratitude. When you feel the warmth of God's love in your daily life, you know you are blessed. When you know you are blessed, you are grateful. As Thanksgiving approaches I am always reminded of all I have to be grateful for. Being blessed by God's love does not mean you are protected from all the bad things in the world. You still get sick, lose jobs, have loved ones die, lose your possessions. The difference is that as I face the trials of life I never feel alone. I live daily life in touch with that which goes beyond daily life. I live in relationship with the eternal, and this changes my perspective on the transient nature of most experiences. In having an eternal love relationship I feel overwhelmed with thankfulness. From this root of gratitude swells a desire to give back. Since God doesn't need anything from me, I turn a generous heart on God's world and the people within it. Since God loves all so should I. Since God generously blesses the world, I want to be a part of that flow of loving generosity. It just happens naturally; I don't even need to think about it. What I have I give -  sometimes it is my money or resources; sometimes it is my time, and sometimes it is the sharing of my natural gifts or skills. I share not because I have to but because I want to. I might even say I need to; it completes me. To be grateful to God and give nothing back leaves an incomplete circle. I have participated in receiving, I want to participate in giving. My heart swells with the need. If I kept all to myself I think I would explode. I'd set off a generosity bomb...not pretty. Thankfully opportunities to be generous are all around me. If I maintain awareness, someone who needs what I have to offer is always near by. It feels like this is what it means to be in partnership with God, to put a generous heart into action. www.fcccarrollton.org

Spiritual or Religous?

       I finally decided to weigh in on the modern phenomena of people describing themselves as spiritual but not religious. Unfortunately "religious" has become a dirty word for the modern progressive. The term religious has been tied to conservative ritual or dogma. I define dogma as human thought given divine status it doesn't deserve. Their are many people who have been wounded by the dogma of the conservative or traditional church. They feel quite strongly about not giving the church power over their sense of being ever again. Who can blame them or judge them? Unfortunately many do. Religious people have given religion a bad name. However, not all religious people deserve the infamy. The wounded past church members and/or the never churched who still seek the divine presence place themselves on a path calling themselves spiritual but not religious. To answer the needs of the modern seekers, there are new spiritual leaders who do seminars, lectures, and group meetings, any kind of gathering, as long as it isn't called church. Because the church is where that nasty religious stuff happens. I've attended some of these gatherings and listened to some of these lectures. Interestingly enough they sound a lot like church to me. They don't use the traditional words but the meanings are similar. They don't do the old rituals but they have actions they repeat at each meeting that are becoming new rituals. They really are trying to reinvent the wheel.
       The truth is that all not churches are dogmatic; not all churches are judgmental. Not all churches will  wound the progressive soul. There are many churches that are very spiritual and religious in a non-harmful way. There are churches that are very open and accepting of  all people. Churches that create positive community and support for each other. Churches that reach out to the poor and oppressed. There are churches that respond to desperate needs in areas of disaster and war. I belong to one of those churches. We are a very spiritual people who reach out to the world and to each other. Our community does not draw a circle to exclude but creates a circle to include. This reminds me of the Edward Markum poem,                   They drew a circle that shut me out;
            Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
           But Love and I had the wit to win,
           We drew a circle that took them in.We are a denomination of accepting people and we are not the only ones. We are Disciples of Christ. I pastor a local church of the Disciples of Christ called First Christian Church. We are not about judgment; we are about loving God and each other. We are about loving all people, even people we disagree with. We are Christian and believe in God the three in one -- Parent, Jesus, and Holy Spirit. But we are not dogmatic about how each should believe. We believe God is big enough to individually tailor a relationship with each of us, creating a unique faith or belief for each person. Any one of our churches can have people from any spectrum of life and still be a cohesive community of spiritual seekers of the divine presence. Here you can be religious and spiritual or just spiritual. Here the terms have not  been damaged by misuse. We welcome you as you are!

Spirit of Grace

God's message to the world is all about grace. Grace is not about judgment or condemnation. Grace is all about love and acceptance. When one feels totally accepted there is no fear in the relationship. We can be totally honest in our relationship, no need for lying or subterfuge, for we have no need to hide anything. Who we are is totally known by God and God loves us completely. There is no hate in God. The amazing element of the spirit of grace is it makes us want to better ourselves. When we are put down or ridiculed, we run away from the pain or try to hide from our feared inadequacy. When we are loved and accepted, we are able to love our self as we are and what we can become. We live in hope of what we'll develop into rather than living in fear of failure. The world often wounds or criticizes; God heals and strengthens. The world puts us down; God lifts us up. If we follow God's role model, our behavior will achieve the same results with our children and in our other relationships. Live in the spirit of grace and achieve your fullness of being! www.fcccarrollton.org

Freedom

        The 4th of July will soon be upon us when we celebrate our nation's freedom. Our ancestors fought against England to preserve personal rights and freedoms. Freedom of religion was one of the many guarantees our people fought to create and preserve. Freedom of religion should still be something we fight to preserve in our country. If we try to legislate our personal beliefs or in other ways try to pressure others to accept our religious point of view, are we not eradicating the very freedom for which we fought? It is either freedom of religion for all or none. We cannot say you are free to practice your religion any way you want just as long as it agrees with mine. Freedom of religion is also freedom from religion. I am a Biblically based believer in Christianity--I am a Christian. However, I am aware that this is still is a very broad statement. They are those who can make the same statement from the far left to the far right of theology. I would love for our nation to have strong Christian ethics. With Catholicism, Orthodoxy, and some 33,000-40,000 other protestant denominations , whose standard should be used? We can teach and preach and share our faith to our heart's content, but when we try to manipulate the law of our nation through legislature and lawsuits to fit our particular brand of faith, we have stepped over the boundary. We become religious oppressors. We would like people to believe just like us, but that is unlikely to happen. We humans are very independent sorts. If we try to force people to believe like us, then we are taking away their religious freedom.
         God gave humanity free will. God gives us guidance on how to best live through scripture and through God's spiritual presence, accessed through prayer. However, God does not force God's will upon us. Perhaps that is a good role model for us as we continue to stand for freedom of religion as our ancestors did who helped shape this country. Happy 4th of July, Happy Day of Independence, Happy Freedom!  www.fcccarrollton.org

Indefatigable Love

         God's love never quits, never gets tired, never gives up. God is love and is pouring God's self on us all the time. It is easy to feel God's blessings when all is going well with our lives. Yet many people miss the blessings of God's love in their lives simply through inattention. Some people are just unobservant, like a friend I see a couple of times a week who just noticed I shaved off my beard two months ago. Life is passing people by and they don't even notice. Others miss the truth of what is going on around them because of perceptual blindness. They believe they are the creator and sustainer of their wonderful life and thus are blind to any exterior support. They miss out on the fact that God rejoices with them in times of joy and success. God, who is love, helped create that positive result in your life and finds joy in watching you enjoy your gift. Awareness of this God-joy enhances the experience for both of us.
              When things go bad in our life, or at least from our perceptual bias, this is normally when we miss God. We call out for help. We ignored guidance that may have prevented our perceived downfall and yet call out with all our might when the inevitable occurs. We may have had little to do with our bad moment but instead be experiencing the ripple effect of the free will of others. Perhaps we simply stumbled into one of the random pitfalls of life. I have no doubt that if we had allowed ourselves to be guided by God, many of these disastrous experiences could have been avoided, but probably not all.
            When things are hard, we have a tendency to think God has either done this to us or allowed it to happen in order to test us or punish us or discipline us or to force guidance upon us. God does not force God's self upon us, for God believes in free will -- God created it. God's love never quits, never ends. God does not do bad things to us to test us or guide us; that is not love. God does at times allow us to reap the consequences of our own actions. God, in untiring love, is there with us in the midst of even the worst situations.  God, in love, does try to help us make the most out of a bad situation. Sometimes a bad situation opens the door for a new direction in our lives. However, God did not create the bad situation. It is difficult to see and feel God when things are bad, but God is there loving us continually. It is often easier to see when we look back on our life than it is in the midst of the experience. Allow God to pick you up. Allow God to embrace you. Allow yourself to experience God's love even in the midst of hard times, and you will find the times more bearable and shorter in duration, even if just in your perception.
            In good times and bad times God is always with us. When we are happy God rejoices with us; when we are sad God commiserates with us. God's love is empathic. God's love never tires or quits. It never goes away, even for a little while. We are never separated from God's love. Watch for it, be aware, and be surprised! www.fcccarrollton.org

No More Rules

          
            It seems like a lot of people have the erroneous concept that  Christianity is all about following a lot of rules. Many believe that to be a Christian you have to sign up for doing this and not doing that - a standardized set of rules handed down from God to humanity through the church. In truth, historically the church tried to control its congregants through lists of ethical and moral standards. This church dogma was for the most part well intentioned. The church wanted us to avoid falling out of relationship with God and thought these rules would keep us out of trouble. The problem with these sets of standards is they don't fit. People are not standardized. What each of us needs to avoid is that which separates us from God. All of us unique human beings have different weaknesses, different issues that can get between us and God. Therefore, there is no one standard that fits all people. As in any relationship, the standards are unique to the individuals and the situations in which they find themselves. God handed down very few commandments - love God and love one another. The ten commandments and all other laws are encapsulated within these simple two.
               During a lifetime of considering how best to live and love God and others, I have discovered what it takes for me to be involved in these love relationships and have developed my own personal standards for living. There are things I need to avoid and there are things I need to do in order to keep my life on the right path. However, to try and apply my personal standards to someone else would be absurd. We are all different and our relationships with God and others will also be different. To try to force the world to follow my life rules makes no sense. What is right for me is not necessarily right for anyone else. For the church to try to force human dogma on all people with the threat of damnation if anyone wavers is a sin in itself. Forced dogma separates people from each other and makes people believe God has turned God's back on the individual who believes differently than the church. The dogmatic church breaks the two great commandments of loving God and each other by driving a divisive wedge between us. To quote the Rev. Phil Snider, "I believe in the separation of Church and hate." We need to stop being so concerned with who is in and who is out and follow the role model of inclusivity lived out by Jesus as He revealed God to us. www.fcccarrollton.org

How Can You Not Believe?

         Many people ask me, "How can you believe in a God who allows such terrible things to happen?" "How can you believe in a God who lets people starve, children die, and disease run rampant?" I believe that God has given us free will. With free will comes the responsibility for what happens in our lives and in the world. What we experience is almost always directly related to our own actions or the ripple effect of others' acting out their free will. How can God let people starve? The question should rather be, how can we? When we either pollute or allow the pollution of our air, water, and earth, is it any surprise that there is disease? When we allow our food sources to become corrupted, are we surprised that there are consequences? When we try to genetically modify the plants and animals that we eat, adding hormones and antibiotics to our meats, is it any wonder that cancer is growing exponentially? How can God kill our children and us? The better question is how can we? Greed has led to shortcuts and short-term thinking, and these actions are having dire consequences for our planet and its people. We have placed our own economic success above the well-being of our own children. We've undervalued education. We have not protected our own children from abuse; children suffer because of our actions or lack thereof. The one who created  the universe and us understands how we can best live in harmony with the earth and each other. However, if we choose not to follow the guidance given, how can we blame the one who showed us the way? These enactments of our free will put the blame for the state of the earth firmly upon our own shoulders. We cannot blame God for what we have done.
        I turn from the chaotic world that we have created and look deeply into its original state. I look at the wonder of the variety of creatures, the different colors and types, each unique and yet somehow connected. I see the complexity of the ecosystems, the interdependence of all life, and I know this universe had a creator. I look at the complexity of  human beings, and I know that this design was no accident. People ask me how can I believe in God, and I look around me and answer how can we not? www.fcccarrollton.org

More than Worm Food

      I might get attacked for sacrilege but I would love to change one word in the classic "Amazing Grace "by John Newton from the line which says, "that saved a wretch like me,"  and one in  Isaac Watts hymn “Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed,” the line which says, “Would He devote that sacred head for such a worm as I?”   I would like to change the words "wretch" and "worm" to "child". Our spiritual growth is more about maturing in our relationship with God than it is moving from wretchedness to acceptance. I don't believe God ever thought of us as wretches. God did not create us to be wretches but to be God's children participating in a love relationship with God in the midst of the beauty of creation. When we do something wrong, we do not become a wretched sinner --  we are still a beloved child who has done something wrong. God hates sin but still loves the sinner.
     Neither are we born a wretch or a worm.  Dr. Karen McClintock, author of "Shame - less Lives and Grace - full Congregations" talks about the wrongness of "Worm Theology". Worm theology tells us that the more shame I experience the more glory Jesus receives when He saves me. The lower my self-esteem, the worse I feel about myself, the more likely God is to have mercy on me. Even conservative Dr. James Dobson is quoted as saying about Worm Theology,  “That teaching,” writes Dobson of worm theology, “did not come from Scripture.” The triune God -- Parent, Jesus, and Holy Spirit has  more than enough glory as they are. They do not need to define me as a shameful worm in order to build a glory ego. God does not desire or need me to feel shame. God loves me and when I am hurting myself God wants to stop me. When I have sin in my life, God wants to cure me. But God never shames me. God does not label me a bad child. Instead God says you are my beloved child, and I want to separate you from the badness that is harming you. "Worm Theology" takes away our intrinsic value as a human being. We find ourselves living in shame, thinking, "How can God or anyone else love someone like me?" I ask, "How can a loving God create us to live as worms?" We are not worthless worms or wretches; we are children of God loved so much that God sacrificed God's Self to save us from our potential demise.
     I hope you are enjoying  reading my blog and sharing it with others. I am enjoying reading the progressive group of bloggers on "Patheos." I don't agree with everything they write but it is stimulating. I am a pastor at First Christian Church in Carrollton, TX, www.fcccarrollton.org and a member of the Disciples of Christ denomination.

Why Live If We Are Just Going to Die?

Why should we live if we are just going to die? This is right up there with why make your bed if you are just going to mess it up again or clean your house if it is just going to get dirty again? Why bother to enjoy a steak if it is just going to be eaten up? While it is true that we live until we die there is much to experience while living. It's choosing to look at the positive instead of the negative. Certainly someday we will all die, but we're not dead yet. So why live in fear of death rather than living in celebration of life. Each day is a new adventure; any number of wondrous things can happen in any given day especially if you are open to it. There is so much that life has to give, so much that we can grasp if we are willing. You can wake up  each day and say today I may die or today I am alive. The choice is completely ours – - it is one of the wonderful things about living.
 As much as I enjoy life, I too would wonder about the purpose of life if this was all there was, but I believe there is oh so much more. I believe this life is a gift. We enjoy the gift, but it also prepares us for what is yet to come. Yes, I believe there is life after death; it is part of my belief in God. I believe that death is just a transition between this life and the next. Death is neither something to fear nor something to rush into, but simply to accept when the time is right. Death is like a chrysalis or cocoon. As the caterpillar enters the cocoon and exits a butterfly, so we too change through death - - a physical being into a spiritual being. I have no idea what this next life will be like, but because I trust in God's love I do not fear it; I look forward to it. If God poured so much into this short life we live here on earth, the amazingly complex creation, how much more will God put into that which will last for eternity.

But back to this life again, how can we hope to enjoy eternity if we get bored with just 100 years? There is no doubt that God's presence will fill life with so much meaning in the afterlife, but God is already doing that now. God's loving gifts are offered in the here and now, not just in what is yet to come. We have the capacity to enjoy our lives no matter in what condition we find ourselves. Certainly there will be times of difficulty, sometimes great tragedies, and yet even in these moments we can achieve our full potential of living. In fact I wonder if fully living this life is one of the things that helps us move more smoothly into the next. If you have this perspective of living from this life into the afterlife, then there is no longer the question why live if we are just going to die? It's more like why go to school if you're just going to graduate? Enjoy the great gift of life, fully live, celebrate! First Christian Church, www.fcccarrollton.org

Light on the Hill

        There is a lot of confusion as to what the church is actually. Every one will have a different definition. The church is not actually a place; it is a gathering of people. The church is not really the house of God, for God lives everywhere. We do not have to reach beyond ourselves to find God because the contact point for God is within our own selves. I believe each of us is born with an internal connecting place with God; it is our soul. To remain unconnected to God is to have an unrealized soul. The church is a gathering of people who are all seeking  a relationship with God. The church is a learning place where we pray, study, sing, and commune with God and each other. The church is a family, the all inclusive positive image of family. We, as church members, support each other, love each other, and help each other. We motivate and inspire each other. We encourage each other towards positive growth. Without growth there is stagnation, and stagnation is dying while living. The church is where someone can go to feel safe not judged. The church is an embodiment of God's love, visible for all to see -- a light on the hill.
           The church is actually the authority on very little. It is a mistake to think the church has the answers to all questions. Church dogma comes from humans not from God. The church is a place where we can ask questions freely not fearfully. We seek the answers together; we try to find the distinct truth for each individual, different answers for different people. God has the answers, and we seek God's guidance together. There are some questions for which we do not yet know the answers. We do our best not to speak for God but to let God speak for God's own self. The church, being a gathering of people, is imperfect. We are accepted and loved by God in spite of our imperfections. Don't go to  a church gathering and expect to find perfect people. We are doing our best to live our faith every day -- to love God and each other. But there are times when we fall short. God's loving grace wraps us in love anyway, and we try to do the same for each other in our own imperfect ways. To paraphrase a Billy Sunday quote, "Being part of a church does not save you or make you  a perfect Christian any more than sleeping in a garage would make you a car." We depend on God, and God does not disappoint. This is at least what I believe the church should be and what we aim for at First Christian Church, www.fcccarrollton.org