Just About New Year

Merry ‘day after’ Christmas!

Only six days until the New Year:

Good News!
· Fresh start
· Endless possibilities
· Hopeful future
· New Life

Bad News!
· Time elapses
· Responsibility continues
· Opportunities pass
· Reality hits

With this in mind, I hope you will take the next few days to PLAN FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH this next year. For your convenience (though growth is never convenient) I have listed some web sites that allow you to subscribe to a daily Bible reading plan that can be e-mailed to you and three sites where you can subscribe to devotional commentaries to be e-mailed. I hope this helps each of us GET INTO THE WORD every day!

Daily Bible Reading Plans

http://www.esv.org/biblereadingplans

http://www.bibleplan.org/

http://www.bibleinayear.org/

Daily Devotional Plans

http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/

http://www.walkthru.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pubsEdevos

http://www.ewordtoday.com/

5 Things to remember in the New Year (thanks to Dave Barry)

1. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

2. Never lick a steak knife.

3. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above-average drivers.

4. Nobody is normal.

5. Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.

When people frustrate you…..it could be worse!

My fear…..

A pastor dies and is waiting in line at the Pearly Gates. Ahead of him is a guy who's dressed in sunglasses, a loud shirt, leather jacket and jeans.

Saint Peter addresses him, "Who are you, so that I may know whether or not to admit you into the Kingdom of Heaven?" The guy replies, "I'm Joe Cohen, taxi driver, from New York.” Saint Peter consults his list. He smiles and says to the taxi driver, “Take this silken robe and golden staff and enter the Kingdom of Heaven."

Now it's the pastors turn. He stands erect and booms out, "I am the Right Reverend Joseph Snow, pastor of Calvary Church for the last forty-three years." Saint Peter consults his list. He says to the pastor, "Take this cotton robe and wooden staff and enter the Kingdom of Heaven." "Just a minute," says the pastor. "That man was a taxi driver. Why does he get a silken robe and golden staff?" "Results," shrugged Saint Peter..........."While you preached, people slept. When he drove, people prayed."

Wishing you a year filled with meaningful results!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas is only six days away. There are a lot of things I like about Christmas:

· I like to be reminded of the many details surrounding the birth of Jesus

· I like watching the girls' excitement

· I like listening to Christmas music

· I like Christmas movies (Christmas Shoes for perspective, The Nativity for memory and anything with Tim Allen in it for laughs)

· I like food

· I like football

· I like Christmas celebrations at church…..which is something we will be having this Sunday morning at New Life. We have an AWESOME day planned that you will not want to miss complete with festive decorations, musical surprises and a focus on Jesus. We will also have a dinner for everyone immediately following the service.

· I like the time for reflection and planning….which is something else that I plan to do over the next several weeks. Heading into the month of January, I am planning to take several weeks off from the pulpit to focus in on how we can best fulfill the mission and vision of New Life as we begin to put down roots in the downtown communities.

· I like snow – I like beaches as well, but Lake Jacomo just doesn’t cut it this time of year

· I like Christmas lights

· I like traditions (we have carried on the tradition of fonduing)

· I like how Sophie always tells me what my gift is (slippers)

· I like getting Christmas (brag) letters and pictures

· I like hearing all the different theories about our Christmas traditions (i.e. Santa Claus, candy canes, Christmas trees)

· I like you if you made it this far into my weekly letter :)

I close with one of my favorite Christmas poems:

Christmas Bells

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till, ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The Carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
‘There is no peace on earth,’ I said;
‘For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!’

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
‘God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men!”

And thus it ends for another week….Of peace on earth good-will to men (and women)!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Kudos

In the spirit of the Christmas season, the plan for the e-mail this week is to give away some KUDOS.

Kudos to those of you who have been brave enough to cross socio-economical lines of distinction:

· New Life has chosen to meet downtown in a deliberate attempt to reach the wealthy (whatever that means), poor (whatever that means) and everyone in between

· This has opened opportunities to connect the homeless with the affluent, urban core with the suburban and the selfish with the generous

· The result of this connection if often uneasiness for everyone

· And that is the point

Kudos to those of you who have been brave enough to cross generational lines of distinction:

· New Life has made a deliberate attempt to reach kids, teens and twenty-somethings to very mature-somethings

· This attempt has created a tension for all ages when it comes to evaluating others by external measures

· We have been forced to look deeper than the outside appearance into the heart (Matthew 23:27)

· Sometimes the heart that looks the darkest is our own

Kudos to those of you who have been brave enough to think outside the box of fear and doubt:

· New Life is not about individual comfort

· New Life does not value uniformity

· New Life does not always make sense

· New Life is a journey not a destination

Kudos to those of you soaking in God’s grace:

· There is relief from the stress of being good enough

· There is hope beyond our present situation

· Every need is met

· You are complete

I am looking forward to looking closely at the topic of church leadership from 1 Peter 5:1-5 on Sunday. The verses give us guidance for the health of the body, clarity for casting vision and making decisions and an individual challenge for each member.

A Puppy Locked in the Bathroom

Yesterday we had an emergency at our house and it involved a puppy—surprise, surprise. I was diligently working on my sermon when Leigh-Ann called to let me know that Oreo was locked in the bathroom. Immediately, I assumed that it was not that big of a deal and that they should be able to get in easily.

I began to coach Leigh-Ann over the phone about how to get into the door. This did not work…..it’s kind of like trying to teach your wife how to golf or play tennis. I admit, I got frustrated and asked her to put Alexa on the phone….I mean, it couldn’t be that difficult. After a few minutes with her I realized this was not a project that could be accomplished remotely. They were in a hurry to get the splint on Brownie’s broken leg changed (another story for another e-mail) so they took off and I went home to rescue the puppy.

Very few people know this about me, but I have a knack for breaking in through locked doors. For some reason, this is not something I have identified on any spiritual gifts tests and I don’t keep this on my resume; however it does come in handy when someone needs help getting into their house or car. And no, I don’t have anything I need to disclose about my past.

The lock was actually a little more difficult than I anticipated, but I did get it open. Oreo was very happy to get out of the bathroom and I was very happy to put him in his little kennel and head back to the office to continue my sermon study.

Several minutes later, Leigh-Ann called to let me know everything went well at the vet and that a funny thing happened in the van. They were listening to the radio and Sophie heard “when the darkness closes in Lord”.... and she thought it said “When the bathroom locks him in Lord”...and she said, "Mom! This song is about Oreo being locked in the bathroom! How did they know about that?!?!?"

What I love about this little misunderstanding is that it is chock full of faith and hope. Children have much to teach us adults about simply trusting that God is going to provide for every need: physically, emotionally and spiritually. This Sunday, get ready to look at life from a different perspective. Though it is natural to resist suffering and difficulties, Peter is calling each of us to the opposite. We will suffer and we have the opportunity to not simply survive, but we can actually thrive in difficult times…..if you want a head start for the service you can read the text from 1 Peter 4:12-19. I hope to see you Sunday!