When God announced the birth of Jesus to the world, he didn’t send Jesus to CNN or ABC News, but sent the angelic host of Heaven to a common field outside Bethlehem. And the people he chose as his spokesmen were unpolished, sweaty, uncouth shepherds. The gospel writer Luke makes sure we know that the shepherds didn’t waste time gazing into the Bethlehem sky, but they “made haste,” to quote the King James Version (Luke 2:16). And wouldn’t you? They couldn’t keep this message to themselves. They abandoned all pretenses and bolted into Bethlehem, sheep and all, to find the Messiah. Imagine the sight they must have been, knocking on doors, waking up the locals, shouting the good news that the long-awaited Messiah had finally come. They didn’t simply marvel at the message. They believed it, and it changed their direction.

A temptation for us, this Christmas, is to simply get full of “the feels,” the warm sentimentality of this season, and miss the good news at the heart of the holiday: Christ has come into the world to save you and to save me. The angel told the shepherds that this good news was “for you.” It was personal.

I like how Kent Hughes puts it in his commentary on Luke: “The truth is, even if Christ were born in Bethlehem a thousand times but not within you, you would be eternally lost. The Christ who was born into the world must be born in your heart. Religious sentiment, even at Christmastime, without the living Christ is a yellow brick road to darkness.”

The shepherds left their fields and became the most unlikely of messengers. John Calvin says of them, “Though God had, at his command, many honorable and distinguished witnesses, he passed by them, and chose shepherds, persons of humble rank, and of no account among men.”

God is on the move, building his church around the world, mostly through people you will never hear of: folks without significant Twitter followings, with no official titles, and of whom the world is mostly unworthy.

Are you among them? Go tell it on the mountain, the Christmas hymn urges us, that Jesus Christ is born!

~ Daniel Darling

Merry Christmas!

In the midst of life’s difficulties, we have a redeeming gift from the Christmas story. One of the greatest gifts God has given us in Jesus is the gift of peace. The song “Silent Night” speaks of “Heavenly Peace.” This is exactly what we need at Christmas – Divine Peace to settle our souls and remind us of a comfort and strength available to all of us who call on His name…

“These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:25-27)

This Christmas we all can call out to Jesus and receive the peace that passes all human intellect and understanding. Jesus knows us completely and loves us with an everlasting love. His peace is truly the greatest gift for the troubled heart!

~ Kirk Henderson

“Yesterday our pastor… spoke to us about the Grand Canyon. Over 80% of its visitors spend an average of 15 minutes at the rim. They don’t camp overnight on the canyon trail or take the trek down to the Colorado River that made the canyon. They come, they look, and they return to their cars. Then, the rest of their lives they tell people about their 15 minutes on the rim! They never went deeper. They never took an adventure. They never got a close-up look at the river that made it all. 80% of them! They just got back in their cars and went back to normal. What a powerful illustration of dead religion! We come to the edge of the River of Christ and in 15 minutes say the salvation prayer. Then for the rest of our lives we go and tell people about our 15 minutes. We never go deeper or further into the heart and purposes of the Lord. In what particular way is Jesus calling you off the safe bank of your life into the wild and powerful river of his purpose? Be inspired! Read Ezekiel 47. Let 2020 be the year you got off the bank forever! The River is calling you!”

~ Bill Buckley

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.” ~ Melody Beattie

“If you concentrate on finding whatever is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul.” ~ Harold Kushner

“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”

Colossians 2:6-7

The Christmas message is that ‘on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.’ Isaiah 9:2, Matthew 4:16. Notice that it doesn’t say from the world a light has sprung, but upon the world a light has dawned. Light has come from outside-we cannot procure it ourselves.

On our own, we struggle to find our way. But thank God He has sent us a Light – not of ourselves, but intentionally for us, to show us clearly what real life is all about. It is about giving ourselves to and living daily in that Light – the Light of the World! May we not settle for the dim satisfactions of this culture, but dwell in the joy of knowing Immanuel – God with us!

~ Based on ideas from Timothy Keller

Scrolling through Twitter and Facebook this morning, it’s interesting to note what people are thankful for, and what keeps a lot of them from being thankful at all. It occurs to me that to be thankful, there has to be somebody to be thankful TO… it doesn’t make sense to say thanks unless somebody gives you something or does something for you. But in order to do this, we must recognize who it is that is blessing us. Most days, the stuff of life crowds out our ability to recognize what’s really happening in our lives under the surface. So it takes a measure of discipline to pause, get some clarity and respond accordingly. For the next couple of days, allow yourself the opportunity to see what’s important, not what’s necessarily urgent. The fun, the activities, the responsibilities and the demands will be there when you get back to them. And when you do, hopefully the foundation of thankfulness you cultivate will help you deal with those things better. Our lives are a gift that is meant to be meaningful. Our days are blessings given to us not by happenstance, but purposefully by our Creator, Who every day loves us more than we can possibly fathom – until we see Him face to face. Taking time now to know Him and His blessings is a precursor to a much greater reality then. “Blessed be the name of the Lord; He gives and takes away; my heart will choose to say Lord, blessed be your name.” Have a great time of thanks this weekend!

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” Colossians 4:2

     The wonderful privilege of life in Christ is that we are blessed to walk with Jesus in prayer. Don’t think of it as a disciplined requirement, but as a constant conversation with our Father – an “as I go about” partnership with God where we discuss every situation, with our eyes open for what He is doing around us. We’ve got to fight against distractions, busyness, and a hardened heart.  When we do, we don’t look for the things that we don’t have, but marvel at the blessings we do have. Not counting the provisions we think were missed, but observing those we’ve been given. We notice the many ways that God is watchful over us.  We will see small and large blessings, protections, and provisions that He has given us. And the impulsive response of our heart will be to offer thanks.  When someone does something for us, we thank that person. How much more should we thank God? His hand is constantly upon our lives, looking after, and caring for us. Take some time out to spend thanking Him during this Thanksgiving break. And look to develop a lifestyle of constant prayer and thankfulness throughout the year!

“Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace, be still!’ And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, ‘Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?’ ” (Mark 4:39-40)

I have found that Jesus is rarely early when He shows up. His timing is perfect. He’s usually there at the darkest hour – that moment of crisis. But He’s there. Now, He didn’t cause the storm, nor does He want the storm to overtake us. But He is absolutely present during our every storm. And His purpose in the midst of the storm is not to harm us, punish us, or teach us a severe lesson. No, His goal is the strengthening of our faith. That’s the purpose storms serve. They bring us to that place of putting our faith in action. What will we now do with what we know?

Jesus can speak peace to every storm. But I believe He had hopes that His men would have been able to, by faith, speak to that storm themselves. But God is patient with us, and the present assignment is just one of many we will encounter in our lifetime. There will certainly be more storms ahead – greater assignments – new opportunities for ministry, personal growth, serving, and blessing. I know that this storm is a test of our faith. We can grow and become stronger. That’s the ultimate result of the storms of life if we respond appropriately.

~ Kirk Henderson

“And He was saying to them all, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.’ “ (Luke 9:23, 24)

Denying ourselves is probably not the first prayer we pray in our times with God. But we are missing such a blessed and needed part of our Christian walk when we ignore this powerful passage of scripture.

The only life truly worth living in this world is one surrendered to Jesus. Our greatest dreams and life purpose will only come to pass as we are established and anchored in the Christ life. The Christ life is surrendering ourselves to His purpose, plan, and agenda for us. It means allowing Him to take all of our dreams and desires, and align them with His desires for us.

Yes, there is suffering in crucifying our flesh – walking away from unhealthy emotional entanglements, fleshy habits that don’t glorify God, relationships that are not pleasing to Him. But taking up the cross is also about moving forward towards the call of God, intentionally embracing that which He has chosen for us over that which we might have chosen for ourselves.

~ Kirk Henderson

Every Christian who wants to live for Jesus will go through dark seasons of life. We dread such times, and long for the pain of darkness to be finished. I think most of us would feel that way. But something deeply redemptive happens during these times…

“I will bless the LORD who has given me counsel; My heart also instructs me in the night seasons. I have set the LORD always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.” (‭‭Psalms‬ ‭16:7-8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬)

It is during times of suffering and darkness that God reveals Himself to us in ways that are very significant. There are lessons we learn in a season of darkness and night that become etched in our spirit.

When God revealed the ten commandments, Moses responded to the people…

“And Moses said to the people, ‘Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.’ So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was.” (‭‭Exodus‬ ‭20:20-21‬ ‭NKJV‬‬)

I can only imagine how fearful it must have been to experience the thunder, lightning, and smoke coming from the mountain – an awesome display of God shaking and disrupting the natural order of things to bring His commandments to the people. In fact, God said, “You see how I have talked to you from heaven.” He got their attention and brought His word.

But I love Moses’ response to this fearful event. He drew near to the thick darkness, because God was present there! The people stayed far off, but Moses threw himself into the dark place! Because there was no question that God was among them, speaking to them, correcting them, and bringing His word to interrupt their business as usual.

What I see from these passages is that we get a new and fresh glimpse of God’s intentions and thoughts when we find ourselves in a night season. If we draw close, we will be forever changed. If we resist, become stubborn or prideful, we miss the moment.

My prayer is for God to speak to us clearly, reveal Himself, and allow us to see Him in those dark places. He hasn’t gone anywhere.

~ Kirk Henderson