Advent- Christmas Food

 

During Advent I want to take four non-sacred aspects of Christmastime and look at how we can use them to point ourselves and our families to Christ.  We will look at Christmas lights, Christmas trees, Christmas food and Christmas presents.  Hopefully, these four things will train your eyes to remember Jesus well.

Growing up my favorites were the peanut butter cookies with the Hershey Kisses in the middle.  Sometimes my mom put those Branch's star chocolates in the middle.  They tasted best fresh out of the oven, but I would eat them whenever I could.  

My wife likes the traditional Christmas cookies that you decorate yourself.  We take food coloring and make frosting and use sprinkles to decorate our snowmen, bells, stockings and Santa hats.  We even have a cookie cutter that's in the shape of the state of Iowa.  I find it hard to not just eat them instead of placing them on the wax paper to dry.

Then there's the drinks.  Eggnog comes in too small of a container.  I wouldn't mind buying a gallon for myself at the store.  My mom, some years, makes hot wassail, which is awesome.  And our tradition before opening presents is drinking sparking grape juice, or pretend wine as Joshua calls it.

Christmas Eve after church was soup night when I was younger.  I can still smell the house upon returning from Christmas Eve service, if I close my eyes.  At my wife's side I've become partial to Swedish meatballs on or around Christmas.

What are some of the Christmas tastes and smells you love?

"Then they asked Him, 'What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe in you?  What will you do?  Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from Heaven to eat.'
Jesus said to them, 'I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from Heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from Heaven.  For the bread of God is He who comes down from Heaven and gives life to the world.'
'Sir,' they said, 'from now on give us this bread.'
Then Jesus declared, 'I am the bread of life.  He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirst."  John 6:30-35

As we feast on the Christmastime foods, may we remember that Jesus is the Bread of Life.  That He is the satisfying drink.

"Taste and see that the LORD is good;" Psalm 34:8a

Jesus invites us during Advent, and all year, to experience Him; to taste and see.  Jesus will be found metaphorically fulfilling and pleasing.  Jesus will be found far better than even those peanut butter blossom cookies.  He will be more fulfilling than gallons upon gallons of eggnog.  Jesus is the One our spiritual tastebuds have been searching for and what our spiritual stomachs need more than anything else.

"While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to His disciples, saying, 'Take and eat; this is my body.'
Then He took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you.  This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." Luke 26:26-28

As we enjoy the tastes and delicious smells of this holiday may we not forget to taste and see that the LORD is good.  May we go to the Bread of Life even as we enjoy our aunt's homemade bread.  As we drink our pretend, or real, wine may we remember the sacrifice of the God-Man's birthday we are celebrating.  

If you have kids use these treats to teach them about Jesus... you will have their attention.  And when you eat and drink do it all to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31) today.

Advent- Christmas Tree

 During Advent I want to take four non-sacred aspects of Christmastime and look at how we can use them to point ourselves and our families to Christ.  We will look at Christmas lights, Christmas trees, Christmas food and Christmas presents.  Hopefully, these four things will train your eyes to remember Jesus well.

My wife insists upon having a real Christmas tree.  She loves the look and the smell of the tree in our living room.  I like it too, but I could easily be persuaded to buy an artificial tree rather than purchasing a $60 tree every year.  That said, the real tree is better.

Besides, the tradition of the real tree has been cemented.  Our oldest adores the tree and everything about it.  

Don't get me wrong, I love our Christmas tree, just not as much as Christine does.  The real tree is her tradition.  My tradition is having mostly original ornaments rather than glass balls.  I love all the "Baby's Firsts" and preschool project ornaments.  The hokier the better for me.  Part of this is that the balls remind me of divorce.  When my parents split, one of them got the family ornaments and the other bought glass balls.  But the main reason I love the original ornaments, from the Hallmark to the hokey, is that each one has a story.  Decorating the tree with Joshua and Anna is a kinetic story time where they learn our family history.

We have an angel (from a thrift shop) atop our tree.  We have this and not a star because as a very young boy I was adamant that the wise men and the star aren't supposed to be there until after Christmas.  Even the nativity set was assembled with the wise men still on the way.

Our tree is lovely to me.  Our tree tells a story, but can it tell a better story than the history of the Matt Ray family.

If you grew up in the Southern Baptist Church, like I did, you know what special music is.  Special music was that portion of the service when a group or soloist sang to the congregation.  My Mimi often sang the song "He Grew the Tree" by Barbara Mandrell.

I loved to hear my grandma sing of God's sovereignty and foreknowledge and planning.  The song's chorus says, "He grew the tree He knew would be used to make the old rugged cross."  Then it says, "Nothing took His life, with love He gave it.  He was crucified on a tree that He created.  With great love for man, God gave with His plan.  He grew the tree so that we might go free."

"The reason the Father loves me is that I lay down my life... only to take it up again.  No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord." John 10:17-18a

This Christmastime as you look at your tree, real or artificial, remember that He grew the tree He knew would be used to make the old rugged cross.  The lively and bright green tree of Christmas becomes the deadly wood shrouded in darkness at midday on Good Friday.

Let your tree point you to the cross during Advent today.

Advent- Christmas Lights

 During Advent I want to take four non-sacred aspects of Christmastime and look at how we can use them to point ourselves and our families to Christ.  We will look at Christmas lights, Christmas trees, Christmas food and Christmas presents.  Hopefully, these four things will train your eyes to remember Jesus well.

"Kids, let's go drive around and look at the lights."
"Yes!"

This is something we do quite regularly during Christmastime.  In fact, the radio station I work for encourages people to go out on Thursday nights to look at the lights while continuous Christmas music is played.  So, we pile in the car and explore different neighborhoods in our beloved hometown.  The kids love pointing out all the different lights they see.

Our favorite house is 103 Eliasen Avenue in Waverly.  The Wiechmann family, each year, synchs their many lights to music on a radio frequency to raise money for St. Jude's Children's Hospital.  Waverly Lights is a a fun tradition.

When our family is with my in-laws we go to see Rotary Lights.  Each Christmastime the LaCrosse Rotary Club collects donations for the food bank and roughly 160,000 visitors gaze at over 3,000,000 lights in amazing displays throughout the park.

Christmas lights are part of our tradition.  We have them in our house and on our house.  We love to look at them.  As night comes sooner and lasts longer we get more opportunities to look at electric lights.  Some say this tradition has pagan roots, like many Christmastime traditions.  Perhaps that's true, but what do Christmas lights tell us about Christmas?

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.
Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.  In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it." John 1:1-5 (emphasis mine).

"When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, 'I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." John 8:12 (emphasis mine).

As we drive around looking at the lights, let us see the Light of the World.  Let us show our kids the beautiful lights in the dark night and let's point them to the Light that shines in the darkness.  Let us gaze at the beauty of coordinated electric light while pondering the Light of Life that shocked our dead self to eternal life.

Let's train our eyes and minds to take every sight and every thought of light captive this Advent.  Let's take the non-sacred Christmastime tradition of Christmas lights and use it to set our hearts and minds on the Holy One, the Light of the World today.

Fried Chicken Thanksgiving

 Last year on Thanksgiving we stayed home.  We had a single friend come to our house for the feast that Christine made.  It was Christine's first time making the traditional meal and she enjoyed it, and so did we.  Last year was not our traditional Thanksgiving, but it was good.

This year was supposed to be different.  We were back on the holiday schedule.  This year we were to be with Christine's parents for Thanksgiving and mine for Christmas.  We were going to leave Wednesday afternoon and stay until Saturday.  The kids were going to see their grandparents and aunt and uncle.  Aunt Becca and Uncle Mike were going to see Gideon for the first time.

Then Tuesday Joshua tested positive for COVID-19.  Our plans were wrecked.  It was even too late to get a turkey thawed for Thanksgiving.

So, here we are again.  Another COVID Thanksgiving, this time with fried chicken.

We're disappointed.  This isn't the holiday we expected or wanted, but there are lots of reasons to be thankful.  I asked Joshua Tuesday afternoon if we could still be thankful even without grandma and grandpa and turkey.  He said, "Yes!"

Here are Joshua's reasons to be thankful:
"I am thankful for: God, my house, pizza, books, myself, Daddy, Mommy, Anna, Gideon, my family, everyone, cookies, mashed potatoes (likely not true), walls, words and letters, and our clock.

Anna's reason to be thankful:
"I am thankful for: Gideon, the moon and mashed potatoes."

This isn't the Thanksgiving we planned but it's what we got.  We'd rather be with extended family now anticipating pies and turkey tomorrow.  We'd rather be playing board games and talking with family with drink in hand by the fireplace.  I'd rather not have another Thanksgiving like this, but I am aware at how much I am blessed.  My problems are silly compared to most people currently living on this planet and are ridiculous compared to most people who have ever lived on this earth.  I am blessed materially far beyond the wildest dreams of most kings in the grand scope of history.

Most importantly, I'm blessed spiritually infinitely beyond measure.  I was an enemy of God and now I am His child (Romans 5).  I was responsible for the sin for which Jesus suffered and died and yet He is not ashamed to call me His brother (Hebrews 2:11).  I am a joint heir with Jesus instead of kindling for Hell's fire.

I am so thankful.  I have to remind myself of that.  My memory is so short and I'm extremely near-sighted when life doesn't fit my plan.  I need Thanksgiving to help me remember my many reasons to be full of gratitude and not a bad attitude. 

Happy Thanksgiving!  Feast, remember and count your many blessings today.

Rejoice Not

 It was April, 2010 and we were just about to enter the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls for a concert featuring Casting Crowns.  I was escorting the high school students to the correct entrance when my fellow leader Becky said, "Amber has been in a really bad car accident and has been air lifted to Iowa City."

We decided to not mention it to the kids so they could enjoy the concert because they couldn't do anything and we didn't really know anything.

Meanwhile, I was in a bit of shock.  I couldn't focus on the concert.  The only song I remember hearing was "Praise You in This Storm", to which I replied in my head, "Shut up, Casting Crowns! Not now."

My thoughts were partially on Amber.  I thought of her and her family, but then I was comforted knowing that if she died, her eternity was secure.  She knew and loved Jesus, of that I was sure.  My mind went to the urgency of getting the unsaved and unsure kids in the youth group to know and love Him before they were the ones being air lifted.

That night one girl's name came into my mind and I can't tell you exactly why.  I believe God placed her name in my mind and I became burdened to see her proclaim Jesus as Savior and live for Him.  

(Amber did survive through miracle after miracle and now she's a wonderful woman, wife, foster mom, disciple and teacher)

So, I had this student on my mind.  Then, I don't remember how, we got it set up to meet weekly and study the Bible at the local coffee shop.  God had answered one of my prayers.

We met and met and met.  I watched her grow slowly yet surely.  I helped her navigate problems in her life and felt as though I was making the difference God impressed upon my heart to make.

Then one night after midnight I got a call.  This student was hysterical and inebriated.  So, I went to her house to find her and three others there without adult supervision.  Looooooooong story short... I took multiple sets of keys away, I took a knife away, I helped her sober up and stay safe.  It was a youth leader's unheralded late night duty fulfilled.

A few days later I told her we needed to meet to talk about what had transpired.  We did and she could not have cared less.  She refused to recognize her sin, her depraved actions, her dangerous behavior and her problem.  I felt as though I was beating my head against a brick wall.  She just kept saying, "I don't know why you think this is a big deal."  She, looking back, was simply a stubborn kid, but I was hurt because I wanted something more for her than she wanted for herself.

I called my pastor.  We met in his car outside the Spring Waverly Horse Sale.  I wept big, fat tears in his car as I described my godly burden for this student and my inability to help her.  I was frustrated to the max and I couldn't understand how I crumbled over this one soul and he was shepherding so many more.

Pastor Jim took me to a passage that saved my ministry life.

In the book of Luke, Jesus sent out 72 people to minister and they had massive success.  Jesus' response to them upon their return was odd and life saving for me.

"The seventy-two returned with joy and said, 'Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.'
He replied, 'I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.  I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.  However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in Heaven." Luke 10:17-20

Verse 20 saved my sanity.  I would not be involved in youth ministry still without it.  I would not be a foster parent without it.  I would not be a sane parent without it.  Pastor Jim dropped a gem in my lap that afternoon that has kept me keeping on.

See, our joy must never be rooted in success.  The young girl from this story is a woman of whom I am proud of today.  She didn't stay stubborn through this teenage crisis.  But that's not where I found joy.  I learned that to stay sane in ministry I had to keep my central joy my salvation.  I had to remember the wonderful, unexplainably wonderful, joy that comes from knowing my name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life.

Friends, in ministry and in all of life we will have success and we will have seemingly fruitless labor.  Rejoice not that you win or lose some battles.  Rejoice that your name is written in Heaven.  Jesus knew there would be days when the demons didn't flee.  He knew there would be days when the crowd would turn to Him in the thousands after Peter's first sermon and that Paul would be stoned by the crowd after one of his.  The outcomes of our work aren't where we root our joy.  Our salvation is.

Should we cheer when we get wins?  Absolutely.  Should our joy be anchored to success?  Absolutely not.  

Let your chief joy be your own salvation today.

A Forgotten Hymn for the Family

 On Sunday mornings our church has a parenting class that is going through a series of videos by Paul David Tripp.  The class has been incredibly helpful to Christine and I. (I would recommend you join us at 8:30 Sunday mornings at Grace Baptist Church.)

Now, I have read Paul David Tripp's book Parenting and really enjoyed it, but this video series and the conversations with other parents is so helpful.  We're already employing his five questions to ask to get to the heart of our kids' issue when addressing a problem and it's working well with our four year old.

Today my mind was on my kids and how to raise them in a Christian home.  I was thinking how glad I am that my kids were dedicated in a local church that is dedicated to helping us raise them and, quite frankly, raise us in the Lord.

As I was in the pew during Sunday service I sat instead of standing during songs because I was holding my sleeping baby.  We don't use hymnals at church anymore but we still have hymnals in the racks.  My four year old opened it to pretend as though he was reading the song we were singing.  He just so happened to flip open to a hymn that I had never heard before.  I glanced at the lyrics and was engrossed in the beautiful words.  I came home and looked up the hymn on YouTube and thought I should share the lyrics and song with you, too.  I hope you are encouraged by this wonderful, prayerful song today.

"A Christian Home" by Barbara B. Hart

O give us homes built firm upon the Savior,

Where Christ is Head, and Counselor and Guide;

Where every child is taught His love and favor

And gives his heart to Christ, the crucified:

How sweet to know that tho' his footsteps waver

His faithful Lord is walking by his side!

O give us homes with godly fathers, mothers,

Who always place their hope and trust in Him;

Whose tender patience turmoil never bothers,

Whose calm and courage trouble cannot dim;

A home where each finds joy in serving others,

And love still shines, tho' days be dark and dim.

O give us homes where Christ is Lord and Master,

The Bible read, the precious hymns still sung;

Where prayer comes first in peace or in disaster,

And praise is natural speech to ev'ry tongue;

Where mountains move before a faith that's vaster,

And Christ sufficient is for old and young.

O Lord, our God, our homes are Thine forever!

We trust to Thee their problems, toil, and care;

Their bonds of love no enemy can sever

If Thou art always Lord and Master there;

Be Thou the center of our least endeavor:

Be Thou our Guest, our hearts and homes to share.

The Surprising Glory of Eyebrows

 Since March 11, 2020 I have gained a new appreciation for face-to-face communication.

On March 11th COVID-19 went from being something over there to something here.  We remember hearing about 14 days to flatten the curve.  We remember President Trump telling us to stay home for the good of our nation.  We remember Dr. Fauci becoming a household name.  On March 11th we watched sporting events cancel and it hit home to us.

It wasn't 14 days.  The social distancing and mass isolation lasted longer, and that's by no means a political statement.  The things we used to do in person we did over something we called ZOOM.  We had meetings through e-mail.  We spent much more time than we dreamed not doing real face-to-face communication.

In that time our vitriol online has only gotten worse.  We're a meaner people online today than we were on March 10th, 2020.  We type things with Facebook muscles that we would never say face-to-face.

I say all this not to say the COVID-19 mitigation measures were too much.  This isn't some attempt at making masks sound anti-Biblical.  I'm not saying that at all.  What I want is more real communication.  I want us not to abandon face-to-face communication as a primary means of living and communing as we progress beyond this pandemic.

"I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink.  Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete." 2 John 12

The Apostle John ended his second epistle like this.  He, who had just written inspired Words of God, says that face-to-face communication was preferable to writing a longer letter.

Let that sink in: He had just written infallible, Holy Spirit inspired words and he finishes by extolling face-to-face communication!

If face-to-face communication is better for the Apostle John, then perhaps you should schedule a coffee date rather than penning that e-mail.  If this form of conversing is so valuable, then perhaps you should debate that controversial subject on the couch and not on Twitter.

Since last Wednesday 2 John 12 has been on my mind and since last Wednesday I have been thinking about eyebrows.

Eyebrows are amazing and so stinking odd.  Think about it.  You have two (or one for us unibrowers) lines of hair on the middle of your face.  Right in the middle of your face.  Why?  Perhaps to keep sweat from dripping in our eyes, but I think God also gave them to us for communication.  

Draw a face on a sheet of paper, but add no eyebrows.  Now draw downward pointed eyebrows.  What is the face?  Angry.  Draw two raised brows: surprised.  Pencil in one raised eyebrow and one in normal position: confused.  At the dinner table move your eyebrows with your little kids and see if they can guess your emotions.  Just think of all the communication that comes just from these two strips of weirdly placed hair.  Ever see someone without eyebrows who hadn't painted them on yet?  It's disconcerting and confusing and I think that's because our brains feel unable to read that person's emotions.

And you could do that exercise with several parts of your face, shoulders, hands, feet, wobbling knees and more.  We know that our bodies were made, in part, to be communication devices.  Don't waste this.

Before you comment on this, I'm not saying you can't write.  I just wrote this.  I'm not against audio-only communication.  I work in radio.  What I am saying is that before we shoot off an e-mail, type a Facebook comment or record a voicemail, we should ask if we should be like John and save it for face-to-face conversation.

Think before you write and speak and remember the God-given value of face-to-face communication today.