The Birth of the Rebel Jesus

Here is a great Christmas song that I discovered this year. It really challenges you and makes you think. 

The Rebel Jesus

Check out this great post about this song: RETHINKING YOUTH MINISTRY: The Rebel Jesus

Merry Christmas, everyone! 

Christmas: Celebrating the Light of the World

This year as we have been leading up to Christmas, I have been pondering much about this season and the way we celebrate. I would like to share some of the thoughts that have been going through my mind and some of the feelings I have about this holiday and how I feel I should celebrate it.

 For many years now, I have been completely disenchanted and disgusted with the secular nature that this holiday has taken on. I have been appalled by the materialism and selfishness that the season brings out. You may say I am being a bit cynical and negative...that this season really does bring out the best in people, but in general I would have to say that you may be a bit deceived. Is there a real spirit of generosity in the gift giving of this season, or has it become a spirit of obligation, a quid pro quo of sorts? I am not saying that there aren't any really sincere and generous people who are focused on spreading the love and joy of Christ, but I think that if we look at society in general and examine ourselves closely, we will find that the secular, materialistic nature of the season has permeated even some of our own Christian homes and celebrations. Even, I have noticed it creep up on me and my family.

It is a wonderful and admirable thing to spend time with friends and family and give gifts to one another as a demonstration of our love for each other, but there are many things about Christmas that bother me. The thing that irritates me the most is Santa Clause!! I can not understand how Christians can give a man such significance at a time when we are supposed to be celebrating our Savior. I can not understand how Christians can propagate the lie that this man has supernatural powers and knows who has been good or bad. Talking about idol worship!! This is what our children are learning! So many children know about Santa, but have no idea about the birth of Jesus!! I don't understand why this doesn't throw up all kinds of red flags for believers! It has been a goal of mine each year to bring lessons and scriptures to our youth that shift their focus away from Santa Clause, presents, and other trappings of the season and onto the true source of celebration, Christ.

 Despite the trappings of Christmas, it's roots in the pagan celebration of the winter solstice, and the fact that we can be fairly certain that Jesus was not born at this time of year, I believe that this season is still a perfect time to reflect on the One True Light of the World descending to earth and to renew our hope in the second coming of our Savior and the peace that He promises to bring to our hearts. We may not know the true day of our Savior's birth, but the important thing is that we celebrate His humble birth and worship Him as the shepherds, the angels, and the Magi did.

 Some may think, "Well, if the celebration of Christmas has become so secular and if it came out of a pagan tradition, then why don't we just walk away from Christmas altogether and just remember Christ's birth throughout the year or at some other time of the year. Well, here is how I feel on the subject:

We should certainly worship Christ and acknowledge the miracle of His birth throughout the year, but there is a certain significance I find in celebrating the miracle of our Savior's birth in the season of winter and the end of the year. The pagan's celebrated the winter solstice in late December and worshiped the Sun God because the days began to get longer and the sun gave more light, but what they didn't realize is that there is One God who created all things and He is responsible for bringing light into our darkness. He created the sun and the moon to give us light, and He sent His Son to the earth in human form to bring light into our spiritual darkness! So as the sun shines longer giving us more light, we can celebrate the fact that the Creator of the universe sent us the Light of the World to take away our spiritual darkness.

¹ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ² The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

 ³ Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. ⁴ And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light "day" and the darkness "night."

   And evening passed and morning came, marking the first day.

 ¹⁴ Then God said, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them mark off the seasons, days, and years. ¹⁵ Let these lights in the sky shine down on the earth.” And that is what happened. ¹⁶ God made two great lights—the larger one to govern the day, and the smaller one to govern the night. He also made the stars. ¹⁷ God set these lights in the sky to light the earth, ¹⁸to govern the day and night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
 ¹⁹ And evening passed and morning came, marking the fourth day

                                                                          Genesis 1: 1-5; 14-19

  ²⁹ O Lord, you are my lamp. The Lord lights up my darkness.

                                                                           2 Samuel 22: 29

 ²² “He uncovers mysteries hidden in darkness; he brings light to the deepest gloom.

                                                                           Job 12: 22

 ⁹ For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see.

                                                                            Psalm 36: 9

 ³ Send out your light and your truth;
      let them guide me.
   Let them lead me to your holy mountain,
      to the place where you live.
 ⁴ There I will go to the altar of God,
      to God—the source of all my joy.
   I will praise you with my harp,
      O God, my God!

 ⁵ Why am I discouraged?
      Why is my heart so sad?
   I will put my hope in God!
      I will praise him again—
      my Savior and my God!

                                                                   Psalm 43: 3-5

 ¹² I will fulfill my vows to you, O God,
      and will offer a sacrifice of thanks for your help.
 ¹³ For you have rescued me from death;
      you have kept my feet from slipping.
   So now I can walk in your presence, O God,
      in your life-giving light.

                                                                   Psalm 56: 12-13

 ¹³ For the Lord has chosen Jerusalem;
      he has desired it for his home.
 ¹⁴ “This is my resting place forever,” he said.
      “I will live here, for this is the home I desired.
 ¹⁵ I will bless this city and make it prosperous;
      I will satisfy its poor with food.
 ¹⁶ I will clothe its priests with godliness;
      its faithful servants will sing for joy.
 ¹⁷ Here I will increase the power of David;
      my anointed one will be a light for my people.
 ¹⁸ I will clothe his enemies with shame,
      but he will be a glorious king.”

                                                                 Psalm 132: 13-18

 ⁷ As for me, I look to the Lord for help.
      I wait confidently for God to save me,
      and my God will certainly hear me.
 ⁸ Do not gloat over me, my enemies!
      For though I fall, I will rise again.
   Though I sit in darkness,
      the Lord will be my light.
 ⁹ I will be patient as the Lord punishes me,
      for I have sinned against him.
   But after that, he will take up my case
      and give me justice for all I have suffered from my enemies.
   The Lord will bring me into the light,
      and I will see his righteousness.

                                                                  Micah 7:7-9

 ⁷⁸ Because of God’s tender mercy,
      the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us,
 ⁷⁹ to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
      and to guide us to the path of peace.”

                                                                    Luke 1: 78-79

The Lord is our Light! Isn't that amazing and wonderful and worth celebrating! He came to us during the darkest moments of history, and He still shows up in our darkest moments of deep despair! He shines His light into our hearts and gives us peace and joy despite our circumstances!! This is what we celebrate during this season of Advent and on Christmas Day!

 ¹ In the beginning the Word already existed.
      The Word was with God,
      and the Word was God.
 ² He existed in the beginning with God.
 ³ God created everything through him,
      and nothing was created except through him.
 ⁴ The Word gave life to everything that was created,
      and his life brought light to everyone.
 ⁵ The light shines in the darkness,
      and the darkness can never extinguish it.

 ⁶ God sent a man, John the Baptist, ⁷ to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. ⁸ John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. ⁹ The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

 ¹⁰ He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. ¹¹ He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. ¹² But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. ¹³ They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

 ¹⁴ So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

                                                                                        John 1: 1-14

advent [ˈædvɛnt -vənt]

n

an arrival or coming, esp one which is awaited

[from Latin adventus, from advenīre, from ad- to + venīre to come]

                                                                   
Tomorrow, Christmas Day, marks the end of the liturgical season of Advent, and while Mr. The King and I are not very liturgical or tradition focused, we love to celebrate the seasons of Advent and Lent because of the renewed focus they bring to our lives. These "church seasons" seem to turn our focus away from the external commercialism of the holidays to a more internal reflection and awakening of the spirit to the things and ways of the Lord.

I admit that this year has seemed a bit dark and dismal, and it was really difficult to be focused on Christ this season. However, as we celebrated the weeks of Advent, my heart began to see clearly just what a miracle it was that Christ came to us. In week one, we focused on hope and the prophets, and I learned to expect Him to show up and keep His promise, to yearn for His spirit in my heart and for His return to earth to make all things right. In the second week, we focused on preparation and the angels announcements to Mary and Joseph, as well as the story of John the Baptist's birth and ministry of "preparing the way," I learned to prepare my heart for the work that the Lord is doing and is going to do in my life. In week three, we focused on the joy of Christ's impending arrival, the joy that Mary felt that God would chose a lowly girl like herself to bear the Savior, the joy that the shepherd's must have felt about being included in the birthday of a King! During that week, I learned to look to the Lord as the source of all joy and not let people or circumstances steal that joy from me! Finally, in the fourth week, we celebrated the love of God, and the awesome wonder of Him sending His Son to earth at such at time and in such a way as he did...and I learned that I can rest in His love and that my heart can find perfect peace in Him!!

That was my Advent Journey this year. I didn't learn the lessons perfectly, and my eyes were not always focused on Christ, but I feel that I have truly experienced the Lord this season. It has been a bittersweet ride, but I truly feel like I can wake up in the morning and celebrate the Light of the World coming to our world and to my life!

Isaiah 9: 1-7

Hope in the Messiah

 ^1 [a]Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory. ^2 [b] The people who walk in darkness
      will see a great light.
   For those who live in a land of deep darkness,^[c]
      a light will shine.
 ³ You will enlarge the nation of Israel,
      and its people will rejoice.
   They will rejoice before you
      as people rejoice at the harvest
      and like warriors dividing the plunder.
 ⁴ For you will break the yoke of their slavery
      and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders.
   You will break the oppressor’s rod,
      just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian.
 ⁵ The boots of the warrior
      and the uniforms bloodstained by war
   will all be burned.
      They will be fuel for the fire.
 ⁶ For a child is born to us,
      a son is given to us.
   The government will rest on his shoulders.
      And he will be called:
   Wonderful Counselor,Mighty God,
      Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
 ⁷ His government and its peace
      will never end.
   He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David
      for all eternity.
   The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
      will make this happen!

The Week Before Christmas

Twas the week before Christmas and all through the house

There was chaos and clutter and an annoying, destructive mouse

No stockings were hung, no tree brightly lit

and I was so anxious that I threw a frantic fit

Why? Tell me why must Christmas be this way?

Instead of a joyous celebration, it's become a high stress day.

O how I wish for some peace, joy, and love

And quiet time to meditate on blessings from above

Well, maybe it's not over, and maybe all is not lost

If I can just refocus on the gift of greatest cost

O precious Savior come and speak Your peace to my weary soul

And teach me not take my eyes off of the worthy goal

So, when my heart cries out within me and I feel that I have failed

Please remind me gently that Your love has prevailed

Speak Your true love to my heart and calm my stress and fear

And show me through a tiny babe that You are ever near.

What I want for Christmas is perfectly described in this song!

Eternal Gifts

Leigh Nash

Listen to the song here

Santa knows what I want for Christmas
but Jesus knows what I need
it can't be purchased wrapped up and placed
under an ephod tree

I need patience, kindness - virtues like these
to bend on my knee at the manger

Santa may bring these that last for a year
but eternal gifts come from the Savior

some days come where I'm plain selfish
I can't think of no one but me
then I think of all that I'm blessed with
and how it's always best to give than to receive

I need faithfulness, love, generosity
to open my home to a stranger

Santa may bring things that last for a year
but eternal gifts come from the Savior

I need patience, kindness, generosity
to bend on my knee at the manger

Santa may bring things that last for a year
but eternal gifts come from the Savior

Santa knows what I want for Christmas
but Jesus knows what I need

Blessings: A KINGdom Encounters Update

It has been a little while since we have updated the blog, and there are tons of things we would like to post about. However, time has just slipped by us so fast. Even though, I am no longer working full-time, I have still been so busy with church, our Cub Scout Pack, and the many home responsibilities that have piled up from years of living life at breakneck speed!!

As of this very moment, we have half of our outdoor Christmas decorations up and NONE of the indoor decorations. I am really beginning to feel as if all the decorations are not worth the time and effort involved in getting them out and putting them up. Christmas is really not about the decorations anyhow.

Within the next week or so, I plan to do a post on the Advent season and what Christmas really means to me. I hope that it will be a post that encourages everyone to move past the trappings of the season and get to the heart of the matter... worshiping the King. I hope to continue to share the blessings that God has given me, just as I tried to do during the weeks leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday.

Over the past few months, it has been a real blessing to be able to spend more time with my family and friends and deepen my relationships with others as I continue to deepen my relationship with the Lord. It has been especially wonderful to be able to spend some quality time with my husband! We have come through so much this year and God is teaching us many many things. Before the year is over, I intend to share some details and pictures regarding our 5th Anniversary Vow Renewal Ceremony that was held back in August and share with you some wonderful memories from the past 5 years of marriage.

Another blessing in my life right now has been the opportunities I have had spend time with my brother and his precious girlfriend. They have both enriched our lives in so many ways with their infectious joy and passion for worship. I want to share a video of them singing a song that they wrote together. It is a sweet song with a double meaning. I hope you enjoy it!

Rich For Always