The final blog of 2016

I want to wrap up my 2016 blogs by speaking about something that, until recently, I didn’t really know; I had a vague inkling but I couldn’t articulate it before now.  That would be this: whenever you are in a storm of life, there is a propensity to focus on the pain, heartache, and agony you find yourself in.  I think this is natural and understandable.  But the danger of this mindset is that it effectively blinds you to all of the good gifts that God has graced you with.

My eyes were opened to this notion through the words of Ravi Zacharias.  Ravi speaks about this in his fantastic book “The Grand Weaver” (a book that I would highly recommend to you, by the way; just the introduction is worth the price of the book).  He puts it this way:

“More and more when something terrible happens, we declare “That’s life!” – as though disappointment and heartache declare the sum total of this existence.  We miss the roses and see only the thorns.  We take for granted the warmth of the sun and get depressed by the frequency of the rain or the snow.  We ignore the sounds of life in a nursery because we are preoccupied with the sounds of sirens responding to an emergency.”

I deeply resonated with those words.  Because of the acute pain of my dad passing away 17 months ago, and the aftermath of this event that still affects me to this day, I have a tendency to be "preoccupied with the sounds of sirens" as Ravi Zacharias put it.  Like it or not, I know pain.  But, the truth is, there are also delights, enjoyments, and blessings in my life.  Ravi's words presented me with this challenge: don’t let the suffering of life desensitize and numb me to the gifts of life.  I grant you that this perspective is a difficult one to balance, but it’s one of the things I’m going to focus on cultivating.

In the spirit of contemplating the good things in my life, I wanted to conclude by thanking you for taking the time to read my thoughts.  I painstakingly pour my heart and soul into these blogs.  It’s such a blessing to know that you are reading this content.  Thank you so much!  If it is the Lord’s will, I’ll share with you again in 2017.  Until then, as my dad used to say, “God bless!  Keep your hand in His hand, and keep on keeping on.”

Kevin

Even in heartache, "I have a hope"

I want to highlight a phrase from my dad’s prayer that I shared last time.  He said, “This is the hardest season for many people, because of their circumstances.”  He’s right.  Speaking for myself, this time of year is tough because it reminds me afresh that my dad is no longer with us.  While I’m certainly glad that Dad gets to enjoy eternal bliss in Heaven, he is missed here.  The grief continues.

I am now acutely aware of instances of loss.  Because of the news, social media, or simple word of mouth, I hear about events of loss seemingly every day.  For some, this is their first Christmas without their parent, spouse, child, sibling, best friend, or grandparent.  You can’t see it, but these people are essentially walking around with a hole in their heart.

And then, of course, there is the pain, heartache, and anguish that many are feeling that may not involve a loved one passing away, but suffering is still an inescapable fact of their life, nevertheless.  Some are dealing with deteriorating health, job loss, slander, escalating family conflict, or broken dreams.  Furthermore, to quote from my dad’s prayer again, there’s also the “lonely, and the brokenhearted.”  For so many, this is not a time of fun and games.

    

However, there is hope.  I was recently listening to a Christmas CD by the group Selah.  In a song entitled simply “Joy”, the group says to God, “You gave us reason to see past the pain of today; we celebrate.”  That reason is Jesus Christ.  A line came to my mind from a song that I sang years ago at a church: “I have a hope, and my hope has a Name.”  It’s true!  No matter what the suffering, Jesus is the reason to celebrate this season.

This Christmas, despite the pain and heartache, I celebrate Jesus Christ.  I celebrate how Jesus was born to die on a cross for my sin and your sin.  I celebrate how Jesus obtained salvation, forgiveness, and reconciliation with God.  As one Christmas song puts it, “Hark! The herald angel sing, glory to the newborn King…God and sinners reconciled.”  There is no greater gift than to remember afresh that, because of Jesus, I have a right relationship with God.

I know this blog is longer than usual, but I cannot end without expressing one last thought.  Someone may assume that because Jesus died on the cross for all of humanity (this is true), all of humanity is therefore in a right relationship with God (this is false).  No, Jesus’ offer of reconciliation with God is available for anyone and everyone, but you have to take it, as you would take any gift.  John 1:12 says, “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed on his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”  If you’ve never taken this important step, please do it today; what better time to do so than this Christmas season?

Kevin 

Christmas prayer

Just as I did at Thanksgiving, I want to share a prayer that my dad gave on the radio.  It is a tremendous blessing to have this prayer in my possession (this particular prayer blew me away, so get ready).  It is also a blessing to be able to share it with you.  The legacy of my dad’s life, as I see it, is his faith in God.  May these words inspire us to live a life of faith and trust in the God of the universe, as he did.  By the way, this content was originally delivered back in 2005.

 

“Father in Heaven, we bow at Your feet and give You honor, praise, and adoration.  Today, as we celebrate Christmas, the birth of Christ, we bless Your name and give You praise, as You are the reason for this season.

Just as the shepherds were thrilled at the Christ child’s arrival, we cannot help but long for the time when Jesus will come again and You’ll receive us unto Yourself, where we’ll worship and serve You, eternally.

Today, Father, as You are aware, many people are hurting.  We know that this is the hardest season for many people, because of their circumstances.  Lord, we pray that You will be the lifter of their heads, help them to somehow see beyond their circumstances and rejoice in You today.  Comfort, heal, and bring forgiveness where it’s needed, Father.  

God, we thank You for embracing the widow or widower today, the lonely, and the heartbroken, and for making Your presence real to them, in the midst of a trying time.

We pray for families that are gathering together.  Even in the midst of celebrating Christmas, trouble and tension may come to the forefront.  Please help them to be at peace.  Help them to rejoice in the differences of the way in which You made people and families; to embrace those differences, and not let them be a stumbling block.  Help people to hold their peace and to put a guard at their lips, as You have instructed in Your Word.

God, again, we rejoice in the birth of Jesus.  Thank You that He came to Earth as a baby, to be our sacrifice, and that through Him we might have eternal life.  We worship and celebrate the birth of Your Son.

It’s in the strong, precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ we pray, amen.”

"What child is this?" (part 2)

Let me just pick up right where I left off last time.  I want to begin with a fascinating verse from Isaiah 52.  Isaiah 52 speaks of what the text calls a servant.  In verse 14, we read that this servant’s appearance will be “disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness.”  This is describing the excruciating punishment that Jesus endured.  Jesus was flogged, beaten, and crucified on a cross.  Many criticized Mel Gibson’s depiction of Jesus’ suffering in “The Passion of the Christ”.  They asserted that it was too violent.  But Gibson insisted that it actually wasn’t violent enough.  Isaiah 52:14 confirms his claim.

In Isaiah 53, we continue to read of the servant’s suffering.  “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.  We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (verses 5-6).  Once again, this is a prophetic description that was written centuries before the prophesied One ever arrived on the scene.  Yet, it’s a clear picture of the love that Jesus has for mankind.

Back in April of 2011, I wrote a blog about a comic book storyline from 1993 where Superman fought a powerful villain named Doomsday.  Doomsday had no conscience, heart, or restraint.  Such a monster would have destroyed countless lives had it not been for Superman’s heroic intervention.  Ultimately, Superman delivered a finishing blow to the villain; Doomsday was defeated, but in the process, Superman also passed away.

 

In his book “Who Needs a Superhero? Finding Virtue, Vice, and What’s Holy in the Comics” H. Michael Brewer writes, “Behind the slumped figure of the dead Superman, an upright piece of broken lumber juts from the wreckage.  The tattered cape of the Man of Steel hangs on the board and flutters in the wind.  In my eyes, that heaven-reaching timber casts the shadow of the cross over the scene.  [To see Superman] dying to rescue Metropolis points our hearts toward the true Savior who died for the world.”

What child is this?  This is the foretold servant who was born to die.  We celebrate the birth of the Christ every Christmas because this child grew up, and He died a brutal, excruciating, horrible death to pay for the penalty of mankind’s sin.  Once again, Isaiah 53:6 reads, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray…and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”  Adrian Rogers once wrote, “At the cross, sin was not overlooked.  Sin was atoned and paid for.  God’s greatest righteousness confronted man’s greatest wickedness, and righteousness won!  Peace was attained through the blood of the cross.  Thank God for the cross!  Thank God for Jesus!”

My heart is full as I conclude this blog.  In the words of that Christmas song “what child is this” I want to “haste, haste, to bring Him laud, the babe, the Son of Mary.”  You see, I am nothing more than a sinner saved by grace.  “Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe.  Sin had left a crimson stain; He washed it white as snow,” says the old hymn.  What bliss to know that my sin is forgiven, pardoned, and cleansed!  There is no greater peace, joy, and happiness than have a friendship and fellowship with God.  This relationship began when I put my faith and trust in Jesus when I was six years old, and it will continue forever, even after my Earthly existence has ended and I am in the presence of Jesus in Heaven.

Kevin         

"What child is this?" (part 1)

One of the popular Christmas songs asks this question: “What child is this?”  One line for that song is, “What child is this, who laid to rest, on Mary’s lap, is sleeping?”  What child is this?  It’s a vital question.  Who is this Jesus?  Why do we stop and contemplate His arrival into this world every December?  I want to delve into this question.

A great resource for us when pondering this issue is the prophetic book of Isaiah.  Thousands of years before Jesus ever arrived on the scene Isaiah presented us a picture of who Jesus was going to be, and what He was going to do.  For example, Isaiah 7:14 says, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin shall be with child and will give birth to a son and will call Him Immanuel.”  Jesus is the only one in human history to ever be born from a virgin.  Cynics try to disprove this amazing prophecy; they claim that “virgin” simply means a young maiden.  But think about it: why would a young maiden giving birth to a son be “a sign” from God?  That doesn’t make sense.  In Matthew 1, the author states unequivocally that Jesus’ birth is the fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14.

But there’s more.  In Isaiah 7:15 we read that this coming One, this person that will be born from the womb of a virgin, He will actually “reject the wrong and choose the right”.  This is a stunning representation of Jesus Christ.  Jesus is sinless.  No one else can honestly claim that he “rejects the wrong and chooses the right”.  I certainly would never make that claim.  But Jesus can and did.  In John 8:46, He said, “Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?  If I am telling you the truth, why don’t you believe me?”

There’s a second text in Isaiah that I want to look at today.  In Isaiah 9, we read, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders.  And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (verse 6).  Once again, this was written centuries before Jesus’ arrival on Earth, and yet we see Jesus clearly in these words.

I wish I could camp out on this verse; it is a rich, deep passage.  In fact, I could probably spend the whole month of December on this verse alone, but for today, let me underscore one phrase in particular: note that Isaiah predicts that this One who will come will be called “Mighty God”.  

Read the gospel accounts and it’s quite clear that Jesus isn’t just a mortal man; He is also God.  I could give several examples, but consider an episode in Mark 4.  One night Jesus and the disciples were in a boat and a fierce storm overtakes them.  The disciples freak out, but Jesus gets up and He actually commands the storm to stop, it obeys and there is an immediate calm.  No ordinary man could do such a miracle; only God Himself!  Once again, cynics try to disprove it, but Jesus really is “Mighty God”.  

       

What child is this?  To sum it up for today, Jesus is not just another religious leader or popular teacher; on the contrary, Jesus is the sinless God-man, unlike everyone else in history, He entered the Earth through the womb of a virgin.  This miraculous event was predicted thousands of years before by the prophet Isaiah. It was God's sign to all mankind.

To be continued!

Kevin

Are you in a storm of life?

If you are still looking for a Christmas gift, I would like to recommend Tim Tebow’s new book “Shaken” to you.  The subtitle is “Discovering Your True Identity in the Midst of Life’s Storms.”  As I said in the last blog, storms are an inevitable part of life, Christian or not.  In this book, Tebow candidly speaks of the storms of his life, and how God sustained him through it.  Let me give you a quote to whet your appetite:

“One day, according to the world, I’m on top of my game, adored, praised, and respected.  And the next, I’m at the bottom of the heap, cut, criticized, and torn down.  You know what I’ve learned in the process?  How important it is not to allow either the highs or the lows in life determine who you are.”

 

A little later in the same chapter, he says, “While many know about my career highs, few know about the lows.  Like having to learn that God’s plans are better and bigger than mine, feeling torn about the future, and working through my dreams being shattered after being cut from three NFL teams.  I admit, writing this book hasn’t been easy.  It was tough to relive some painful memories.  But I’ll say that in those places of doubt and even darkness, I’ve realized that who I am has nothing to do with wins or losses, applause, or negative criticism.  It has to do with whose I am.  Knowing this I can live out what the king of ancient Israel wrote in Psalm 16:8:

I have set the Lord continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”

In the endorsement section of this book, Judah Smith, a pastor, writes, “Whether or not you’ve followed Tim’s career, Shaken speaks to something we’ve all had to deal with – trusting God when the plans for our lives don’t work out as we expected.  Tim shares his journey from the Broncos to the Jets to the Patriots and beyond with refreshing honesty.”  I hope you will consider adding this book to your collection.

Kevin    

"Tis the season to be jolly"?

After what I said my last blog, I can practically hear the cynic saying, “I’ve heard this God pitch before.  If I become a Christian all my problems will magically go away.  I’ll live a life of ease, comfort, prosperity, abundance, and pleasure, right?”  The short answer is no.  But let me elaborate.

In John 16, Jesus is speaking His final words to His disciples before He gives His life on the cross of Calvary.  The disciples are the men who spent extensive time with Jesus.  If anyone was going to get some sort of preferential treatment, it would be them.  Well, check out verse 33 of John 16; Jesus says, “In this world, you will have tribulation.”  Notice that Jesus didn’t say, “In this world, you will have wealth, riches, and healing, if you name it and claim it.”  He didn’t say, “In this world, you’ll have “Your Best Life Now”” (to quote a book title from a popular but erroneous church leader).”  No, Jesus said to His closest followers, in no uncertain terms, “In this world, you will have tribulation.”

If you’ve decided to commence a relationship with Jesus Christ, that's wonderful; praise God. But don’t be misled or deceived; just because you made this important choice, it does not exempt you from pain, suffering, and trouble.  The Bible says, “It rains on the just and the unjust.”  Life on this planet is filled with tribulation, pain, and heartache.  For example, the Lord, in His mysterious will, chose to take my dad home to Heaven much sooner than I ever expected.  So this time of the year is a bittersweet time for me.

Of course, I know I’m not the only one suffering; life is difficult for many others as well.  Some are dealing with rebellious children, a rocky marriage, intense financial struggles, betrayal, false accusations, or health crises.  I’m not ignorant of the distresses of life, believe me.  For many, “’tis the season to be jolly” is a remote thought!  Painful circumstances such as these won’t be magically avoided just because you are a Christian.  However, the believer does have some advantages that the non-believer doesn’t have.  Let me highlight an important one today:  

The last sermon that my dad heard on Earth was delivered by a guy named Brad Ellgen. At one point, Brad made a statement that, at the time, I had no idea how apropos it was going to be to me.  He said that people always declare that God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.  But no one ever fleshes out what that “wonderful plan” is.  This plan is not to win the lottery and have all your ailments healed; rather, God’s plan is to always to be with the Christian, no matter what intense difficulties may come.  “That’s God’s plan for our life,” he stated.  “Not that we will be spared pain, not that we will spared hardship, but that God will be with us.”  “In this world,” Jesus said to His devoted followers, “You will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome with the world.”

Kevin         

The all-knowing, omniscient...Santa Claus?

It has always seemed rather odd to me that there is a song about Santa Claus with this lyric: “He sees you when you’re sleeping; he knows when you’re awake.  He knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake!”  The song I’m referencing is called “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”.  The implication is that Santa is some sort of all-knowing being.  Such a notion is, of course, preposterous.  But I want you to think about this assertion with me for a moment anyway. 

If such an idea were true, it’s interesting how people seem to intuitively know that they haven’t been good; they have only warranted a lump of coal in their stocking.  This was recently evidenced to me when I was shopping at a retail store.  Two Christmas shirts caught my attention; they are humorous, but also illuminating.  One said, “Dear Santa, I can explain.”  Another read: “Dear Santa, define good.”  Rather than parading their own goodness, they are offering excuses.  I think it’s an accurate assessment of the human heart.  

The fact of the matter is this: even though Santa Claus isn’t an all-knowing omniscient deity, the God of the universe has perfect knowledge of everyone.  In Psalm 139, the writer says to God, “You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.  You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.”  God knows.  And, make no mistake about it: He sees that we are not “good for goodness sake.”  He sees that we fail, falter, and sin.  "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

A few months before my dad passed away, he had the opportunity to interview Greg Grandchamp on the radio regarding his book “In Pursuit of Truth”.  Check out this excerpt from that book:

“In the eye of the Lord, none are good, not even one.  All are deserving the wrath of God.  But more importantly, by believing you are exempted from Christ’s redemption, you completely cheapen, and even dismiss, the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.  I know the thoughts: “Thanks, Jesus.  Appreciate the attempt…but nobody can forgive me, and no sacrifice will ever be enough.”  However, He already knows precisely who are you and what you’ve done.  And He sacrificed [Himself] anyway because He loves you.”  Amen to that!

Later on in the book, Grandchamp writes, “Christianity is a person.  It is a relationship with that person…our sin has caused a cavernous gap, one that we cannot – in our own effort – cross.  Christ is the bridge that reconciles us with God.  All we need to do is choose it.”  It’s my prayer that, if you’ve never done that, you would do it today.

Kevin