"Bah, Humbug!"

Yup, I just can't let this season pass without mentioning one of my favorite Christmas movies, "A Christmas Carol", based on the book by Charles Dickens.

Hollywood made a few versions, but I grew up watching the 1951 version with Alastair Sim playing the title role of Ebenezer Scrooge, so I'm partial to that one and consider it a "classic". 

The wonderful thing about the movie is that the the basic message of man's redemption not only remains intact, but is also highlighted in a way that undoubtedly would not be part of a modern day screenplay. I love how we rejoice in the conversion of an old, amoral curmudgeon ("Oh Spirit - can't you find some younger man to save?"), into one whose abundantly generous nature leads people to say that he epitomizes the spirit of Christmas. 

How perfectly does this illustrate God's desire to offer us His "Divine Exchange". He wants to take our wretched sin nature, and give us His Divine nature, in its place. He sent His Son to be born into time, so that we might be "born again" to live eternally with Him.

So, at this time of year, if you're tempted to give up on that loved one that rebuffs you with a "Bah, Humbug!" each time you try to speak to him about your new life in Christ, don't despair - if God can redeem Ebenezer Scrooge, He can redeem anyone - and He DOES! Thank You, Lord!!!

Maria McKiernan

Christmas Miracles

by Ken Platt

It's that time of year again when inevitably you see the commercials, pictures, and movies that stress the importance of making Christmas something special.  One of my favorites is "Christmas With the Kranks" where Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis make plans to go on a cruise since their daughter is over seas.  When their daughter surprises them and tells them she will be home they rush all over the place to make sure everything is just right for their daughter.  They try to get the perfect food- a Hickory Honey Ham- which ends up getting run over by a semi, meanwhile, Tim Allen steals a tree from a neighbors house all in the hope of making Christmas 'special.'
I am all for making Christmas special.  Renee and I have a tradition of making Cinnamon Buns on Christmas morning.  Some friends of ours invite us over on Christmas eve for a party which includes Crab Bisque from Cooper's Seafood in Scranton.  This is a tradition I love.

But I have to wonder...in the midst of our traditions and making Christmas special, are we missing it?

It is almost cliche to say keep 'Christ' in Christmas, yet many of the people who may say that are the people Jesus decried in Matthew 23.  We get frustrated and angry that they are taking down nativity scene's yet in our anger we say and do things which in no way represent the indwelling of the Holy Spirit which the birth of Jesus represents.
You see, the miracle of the birth of Christ was only the beginning.  A part of the story that ushered in a new era in the divine drama.  A birth which would ultimately lead to death, resurrection, and in-dwelling.  
I don't care how many nativity's they take down, or how many times they write X-mas, or if people say happy holidays, or whatever.

A follower of Christ is the true sign of Christmas. 

If you proclaim Christ and follow him-You are a Christmas miracle.

Live the miracle-act justly, love mercy, walk humbly.*

*Micah 6:8

Learning to Listen and Listening to Learn

by Jim Corbin

In the great American Wild West the title of ‘fastest gun’ was coveted. The greatest gunslinger could draw quicker than the eye could see (or so the stories say). For most, the life of a young and immature person is much like the fastest gun in the west: quick to speak and slow to listen. Young Christians are often characterized by an overflow of opinion followed by an unquenchable desire to be heard. They draw fast and unleash a fury of ammunition aimed at shooting down opposing ideas and the thoughts of those who seem to be far less informed about the things of God. For them, to listen simply provides more time to reload.

Many of us are like the gunslinger. Wherever we venture our six shooters are loaded and we are ready to use them quicker than the eye can see. We don’t learn much because we already know all we need to know about a deep relationship with the Lord and his people. What we may not know is, after all, just incidental. If people would just see things our way everything would fall into place. Listening remains a foreign concept.

In the Keel Life we can go deeper than this. Listen to Solomon’s words in Ecclesiastes 5:

Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.

 ² Do not be quick with your mouth,
   do not be hasty in your heart
   to utter anything before God.
God is in heaven
   and you are on earth,
   so let your words be few.
³ A dream comes when there are many cares,
   and many words mark the speech of a fool.
It’s amazing what you hear when the noise of your own words is silenced. The Keel Life is where one ‘learns to listen and listens to learn.’

The Good Shepherd

Many of you are aware that we recently experienced another life-altering accident in our family - my son had to have his right leg amputated below the knee, due to malfunctioning equipment at his job. We are grateful to God that Brian is still with us, and grateful as well to our family and friends who kept us in prayer during this time of crisis.

I continue to be amazed at my son's attitude, because he has always been very sports minded, with skate/snowboarding, and surfing being among his favorites. Yet, one of the first statements he made to me after the accident (when he was finally able to talk), was - "You know mom, I've been thinking about a lot of things, and one of them was my walk with the Lord. It really wasn't what it should have been. This was a wake-up call for me, because I realize now that I'd rather limp into heaven with one leg, than march into hell with two!"

OK - so now that a proud mama has had a chance to "brag on" her son, let me share what that statement prompted me to think about this week.

Several years ago, I first heard a story by a renowned Christian author, Robert Boyd Munger, who wrote about an American traveling in Syria. This American became acquainted with a shepherd who was personally carrying and caring for a wounded sheep with a broken leg. When the shepherd was asked if the sheep had broken its leg by falling into a hole or meeting up with a predator, he replied: "No, I broke this sheep's leg myself - this was a wayward sheep. It would not stay with the flock, but instead would lead others astray. It would not allow me to come near it - so I had to break its leg so that it would allow me, day by day to care for it. Thus, it will get to know me personally as its shepherd, trust me as its guide, and keep with the flock." 1

My pastor at the time posed the question: "Could this be the reason we see so many pictures of Jesus carrying a sheep on His shoulders when he's portrayed as the Good Shepherd? Is He training a wayward sheep to become totally dependent on Him - or is He simply temporarily carrying one who had been wounded by some accident of life, as in the poem "Footprints"?

What do you think?

Either way, I'm certain that my son's accident was not a direct judgment from God as punishment for some "wayward behavior", but rather an intervention that prevented a worse outcome - as well as providing an opportunity for a "wake up call".

As for me, I continue to pray that my children do not provide me with any further "close calls" in order to reflect upon the truths of God's word!


Maria McKiernan

1 Robert Boyd Munger in Enclyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations by Paul Lee Tan

As Raw As It Gets

I try not to use clichés.  I blame it on Mr. Sullivan my 12^th Grade Shakespeare teacher.  We had weekly writing assignments, which we handed in each week and in my desperate attempt to be poetic I would regularly use a cliché, because it just sounded right.  My papers would come back with the same thing written in the column-“Please do not use clichés.”

It’s the unoriginality of it; they are sell-outs of truth that prevent us from using the brains God has gifted us with.  The definition of cliché is: an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, "played out."  Unfortunately this can happen all the time in our spiritual lives. 

There was a song written 7 years ago by John Mark McMillan called How He Loves.  Most people know this song because the David Crowder Band recently covered it.  It is an incredible testimony of God’s unwavering and overwhelming love for us.  I have heard both versions and even performed it myself with our music team.  I appreciate both versions written by two artists and two styles.  There is also one subtle difference within the two version, one lyric has been altered.

In McMillan’s original he writes:

“And heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss…”

In Crowder’s cover he writes:

“And heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss…”

This lyric is talking about the way in which the divine God meets the imperfect human and engages in a relationship that seeks to make man more in the image of the divine.  I will admit when I first heard McMillan’s lyric I was taken aback.  I was at a conference and the music team was leading us in this song (pre-Crowder) and when I got to this lyric I said to myself,  “Did that really just say what I think it said?”

When Crowder’s version came out I was relieved to hear they had changed the lyric to something a little easier to swallow.

Recently I have thought differently.  My different thinking comes from a deeper appreciation of McMillan and the message he is trying to send.  The message is rawness before God and about our relationship with God.

As I was talking with my good friend Jeremy we began talking about this particular lyric.  An “unforeseen kiss” is nice.  It is a sweet little surprise that might make us smile, it may even contain some passion but it is not mind blowing, is it?

But this other lyric is raw.  It emits a raw passion that is unmistakable, undeniably, and beautifully confrontational with the receiver! 

This is what we need to be pursuing with God;  A rawness which makes us rediscover the reckless love God has for us and to express it to him in new ways.  You see, God is not afraid to hear of all the terrible things we have done, to take those burdens on himself so he can give us life. 

We have gotten so used to proper language with a God created the passion, which lives inside of us.  Why shouldn’t we bite down and honestly express everything our heart needs to say to God instead of neatly packaging it into a little prayer we say before bed, meal, whatever.

Our journey with Christ should never become a cliché, where we lean on pithy sayings instead of the raw truth God reveals in our hearts through the salvation we receive through Jesus.

So be more raw, and know deeper passion.

"Not now daddy is busy"

    If you are a parent you know that kids have a way of asking for things at the most inopportune times. I recently found myself saying to my kids "not now daddy is busy". In church last week we talked about how God is our father and how we are his children and I realized that God never says to us "not now daddy is busy". 
    God is always there for us. Even with all the big problems going on in this world God is never to busy for us. God is always there to listen, to comfort, to love us. God is always there. Psalm 139:7-10 " where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from you presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast." 
    Even when we are facing a problem in our life God is there. God will never leave us or forsake us. Psalm 23:4 says "even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." God doesn't just lead us into these valleys of our life he walks us through them and is always with us.  Don't be afraid to talk to God he is our loving father and is never to busy for any of us.

                                                                                                                              chris sherman

“The Secret of the Vine”

I have the world’s worst green thumb. OK, maybe it’s not the world’s worst, but I have been told that I might as well call it a “black thumb”!

I have killed any number of beautiful Mother’s Day plants over the years, as well as plants that I have volunteered to “care” for while their owners were on vacation (all I did was water them, as per instructions, honest)! Those loyal friends now insist that I wear a pair of gloves when approaching their (replacement) plants.

So in 1993, when my beloved grandma (who had been living with us for years) died, I decided to put her favorite plant in the basement (one step closer to the garbage), so that I would not be responsible for another “death” in the family.

Much to my surprise, I discovered the plant three months later – yup, not only had I forgotten to throw it away before I killed it, but it had somehow managed to stay alive despite my neglect! Well, just barely that is. It certainly was in need of some attention, so I decided at this point; why not try to save it – what have I got to lose? I invested in some Miracle-Gro products, added a good dose of fertilizing prayer, and, Voilá! It actually sprang back to life! Of course, I did learn later that this particular plant, a philodendron, is practically indestructible – finally – a plant for me!!!

Fast forward thirteen plus years, and my still thriving philodendron suddenly suffers a break in one of its branches. At this point, all I’ve done for years is water it once a week, so I figured – no problem, I’ll just put the broken branch into some water, and it will grow roots, then I’ll have TWO hardy plants! But, try as I might, the branch did not thrive. Was the old “curse of the black thumb” striking again, or what?!

The title of this blog, “The Secret of the Vine” is a take-off on Bruce Wilkinson’s “Secrets of the Vine”, in which he shares some insights on prayer. But, I am referring simply to the passage in the gospel of John, chapter 15 verse 4, where Jesus says, “Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me.” (Emphasis mine.)

Jesus goes on in the following verses to reinforce the idea that our need for Him is so critical that even if we were born with ten green thumbs (well, you get the idea), we STILL couldn’t thrive spiritually (or otherwise), without Him!

So, I think that perhaps I’ve been provided with a little reminder of the Savior’s desire to keep me grafted into Him. You see, even though I thought that all the branch needed was water, there were SO many more nutrients provided by the vine that were necessary to its survival.

Who knew? JESUS!!! Now, are you THRIVING, or just SURVIVING?!

Maria McKiernan