Life after Christmas

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Screen Shot 2017-12-28 at 12.12.36 AMWe’ve spent the past few weeks eating sweets, visiting with family, shopping, wrapping & exchanging gifts, on top of planning & executing what are likely the most complex services of the year. Now the hustle & bustle has come to a close of the year: what’s next? Well, the birth of Jesus changed everything, so we should expect our celebration of the holidays to change us, as well.

Life after Christmas is a life lived near to God. I remember as a teenager feeling utterly hopeless & alone, as though no one knew me or could want to know me. But Jesus was God-with-skin-On, born to the lowliest & most common. He didn’t see it as belittling to spend his first days in a feeding trough in a backwoods town which would’ve remained unknown if he hadn’t been born there. Emmanuel – literally “God with Us” – is not ashamed to live among us. God has come near, & it changed EVERYTHING! [Read more…]

Filed Under: Encouragement, Kingdom of God, Shannon, Theology Tagged With: , , ,

Countering FEAR with Fact

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“And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.” – Mark 10:32-34
 
Screen Shot 2020-10-15 at 11.40.35 AMOne of my favorite movies is a two-part French film series; Jean de Florette, & Manon des Sources – that translates as “John of the Flowers” & “Manon of the Springs”… they tell a powerful story of personal responsibility & how our actions impact not only ourselves, but the results move away from us in waves, impacting generations to come.
 
The story goes as such: Cesar Souberyran, years before – away to war – returns to find his love, Florette,  married and with child.  Heartbroken & cynical, he pours his energy into helping his only remaining relative – his Nephew, Ugolin – have the physical comforts he did not.  Through scheming, & even physical violence, his actions lead to an accident that ends of the life of Jean, Florette’s now grown son, and so Cesar & Ugolin take his land. This land has a naturally occurring Spring & they grow very wealthy growing Tulips for market. 
 
BASICALLY, a man loses the woman he loves, so as revenge he takes what he wants in return – her son’s property.  A few years later, however Ugolin is wealthy & wants to start a family, but falls in love with Jean’s only daughter, Manon, who – seeing the havok Ugolin & his uncle caused for her father, rejected his advances, resulting in Ugolin’s eventual heartbreak & suicide.  Towards the end of the second movie Cesar goes to a local convent to speak to an old friend from his youth.  Sitting together, discussing the “old days”, Cesar asks the nun about the now-deceased Florette, she realizes something tragic; “You never received her letter?  Oh no, this is tragic indeed.”  And Cesar learns for the first time that Jean, the man he murdered out of both jealousy & greed, to provide for his nephew – the results of which led to his nephew’s eventual suicide – Jean was HIS OWN SON.  In trying to take what was “his”, he destroyed everything in his wake – even his own son.
 
Let me tell you, the moment that fact is revealed it’s like the whole weight of everything Cesar has done comes crushing down on your shoulders – I literally wailed when this part of the story unfolded.  That one little truth changed EVERYTHING.  Not having the whole truth about his situation led him down a troubling, ultimately self-destructive path. 
 
It really helps having the BIG PICTURE.
 

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Filed Under: CrossPointe Worship, Encouragement, Shannon, Theology Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Philippians 4: what is Reel? Christians & the media

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It seems to me that, given the restrictions caused by Covid19, this topic has never been more relevant than it is now. Feeling trapped in our homes, we’re devouring any & all available entertainment at our fingertips: Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, Hulu, cable TV, & all sorts of ‘entertainment’ available on the web. I pray this message is a healthy reminder for us, because I’m likely going to step on everyone’s toes, my own included… [Read more…]

Filed Under: Creativity, CrossPointe Worship, Encouragement, Shannon, Theology Tagged With: , , , , ,

We, the Least: on Honor

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NO PARKINGIn light of recent national (& for my family, somewhat local events) I thought it important to re-publish this post. Honor comes a result of recognizing God’s image in everyone…

Have you ever spent time with someone & afterward just felt very happy to be you? You knew you were loved, no matter what, & your name was “safe” in their mouth? It’s true of all of us: when I like being me around you, I like you. This is the natural impact of a person of honor. Considering the sorts of people who were drawn to Jesus, & how many were, I think it’s fair to say that Jesus was a person of honor.  [Read more…]

Filed Under: Character, Encouragement, Kingdom of God, Resource, Shannon, Theology Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Man born Blind

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The book of Job says, “For affliction does not come from the dust, nor does trouble sprout from the ground, but man is born to trouble as (sure as) the sparks fly upward.” (Job 5:6-7) Evil, pain, and suffering are nothing new to any of us. 

Sometimes we’re tempted to look at it as a philosophical issue but a few years back I was struck by the truth of the matter: the problem of pain is an issue of the heart. Take C.S. Lewis as an example. Lewis wrote one of the greatest philosophical treatise on pain ever penned; The Problem of Pain. However, the content of his book brought little comfort in the midst of losing his wife, Joy, as any one having read A Grief Observed will attest. It is so harsh that it was originally published under a pseudonym so as to not ruin Lewis’ public persona. Those troubling pages document Lewis’s deep doubt, anger, fear, and bitterness – emotions most anyone in the same position would feel. Why? Didn’t he understand the issue? Was what he wrote in The Problem of Pain all wrong?  [Read more…]

Filed Under: CrossPointe Worship, Encouragement, Kingdom of God, Shannon, Theology Tagged With: , , , , ,