I have watched this twice now. I found it on Dave Fergusons blog and had to share it.

Christmas Traditions

Growing up Christmas was a big deal. Not as much for presents, although we got presents and we usually got what we wanted. Every year the JC Penney Christmas catalogue came out. My sister and my self would spend hours going through it and circling the things we wanted for Christmas.

Most of the pages we spent our time in were in the toy section. Sometimes we may venture over into the electronics section if we wanted a stereo system with an 8-track player.

Man, I am old. A lot of you have never experienced an 8 track player, much less a JC Penney Christmas catalogue.

But here is where we’re alike, there was not much time spent in the clothes section of the JC Penney catalogue, unless it was a jersey of my favorite team.

That was not the thing I remember most about Christmas. Of course I remember some of the toys I got, but I will never forget the family time together. At the time there were some things I hated, but would relive in a heartbeat if I could, like stringing pop corn and cranberries to decorate the tree. Or sticking whole cloves in an orange changing its look and texture, it did smell good though. I know all these ideas came from mom’s Christmas edition of Southern Living magazine.

I loved the baking that was done--fudge, butter and pecan cookies, orange blossoms, peanut butter balls (in Ohio they call them buckeyes and they don’t cover the whole ball with chocolate), applesauce cake and other seasonal snacks that filled the pantry. I remember giving it to people as gifts. The great thing about giving baked items as gifts is you usually got some back—fudge, butter and pecan cookies, peanut butter balls . . .

I loved going to Aunt Jesse’s house for Christmas Eve dinner. Uncle Frank sitting in the same chair, Garth joking around with us kids, the kids table at dinner time and Jesse’s homemade rolls—you can’t forget the rolls. The kids table was fun and you never graduated from it. When some of the older cousins had graduated and were even in college—they still had a place at the kids table. None of us really cared though because we were at Jesse’s for Christmas Eve. I think it was at Jesse’s I ate 13 deviled eggs—a Baker’s dozen.

Then there was Christmas morning. Getting up at 8 am to see what you got from Santa—It was really more like 4 am for me, I had to test all the stuff before everyone else. I remember dad coming down and telling me I had to go back to bed because I was waking everyone up playing toss-a-cross, a bean bag game of tic-tac-toe.

When we all were finally up we would make toast from fresh cinnamon bread Delores Crouch made for us every year. She was one of the few adult friends mom and dad had that I could call by their first name. That toast was soooo good.

Then came breakfast or brunch, it wasn’t much but it seem to never end. It consisted of ham biscuits. Virginia salt cured ham on what I would call more of a roll with butter wrapped in foil and baked until the butter had melted. Uncle Bill usually made it over by the time we were eating ham biscuits to check out the stuff we got and just hang out for the day.

Sometime during the day Lewis Barker, my best friend who lived across the street would come over to see what I got. Then I would go over to his house to see the stuff he got.

The greatest thing about Christmas was hanging out with family and friends. That is what I remember most. I do remember the food, but with food came family and friends something that makes the Christmas season Christmas.

We get to celebrate the birth of a relational God who brings people together. So when you are with friends and family over this holiday season remember it is just part of God’s plan to bring people together not just to celebrate Jesus but to enjoy the company of each other.

Merry Christmas!

Sinner Saved By Grace

I just changed my facebook religious view to: "Sinner Saved by Grace." I was eating lunch with a friend this afternoon and we talked about life, God and the church. She was describing how she went through the process of recording her religious view on facebook. "Christian" can mean so many things. It can turn the stomachs of some who are not followers and turn the nose up of some followers because of the elitism which exists in so many churches.

Everyone likes to use the phrase "Jesus follower" or "Christ follower" but that comes with a lot of pressure. None of us, not one will ever follow Jesus perfectly. We are going to mess up and the accountability that goes along with being a Jesus follower is to much for any body to achieve. I am not saying we shouldn't try to live like Jesus, I'm just saying you can't perfectly.

Since we're not perfect, since we are all sinners and need God's grace I decided to call it as it is--"Hi, my name is Scott and I am a 'sinner saved by grace.'" This statement means so much more to me. It is not a badge I wear proudly but without it I may not fully comprehend the love God has for me.

Here is what it says about me: 1) I am not perfect, 2) I deeply matter to God and 3) without Jesus I am nothing.

I have made a conscious decision about this title change. When someone tells me they are a Christian, I am going to try to correct them by saying, "You mean a sinner saved by grace, so am I!" (While putting my hand above my head looking for acceptance with a high five).

You see I think we have missed the chance to truly share the hope of the gospel by labeling ourselves Christians. The word Christian is used three times in the New Testament and twice it is used by those who are not followers to describe someone who imitates Jesus. The third time it was used in context of suffering. It was mostly used by the outside world to describe someone they saw as a follower.

Paul never used it to describe himself, but he often referred to himself as a sinner, not only a sinner, but the worst of sinners. Then he talked about grace. There is so much authenticity when we first see ourselves as sinners. It makes us not better than the world, but like the world when it comes to our condition before God. There is not a difference between me and the pagan on the other side of town when it comes to the penalty I deserve because of my sin.

The difference comes when I realize 1) I am not perfect, 2) I deeply matter to God and 3) without Jesus I am nothing.

That is the message the world needs to hear. They don't need to know that I am a Christian, they need to know I am like them and the only difference is that I understand those three things about myself. And because of that I am not just a sinner, "I am a sinner saved by grace."

Should We Be On Mission?

I was sent an article to read about the missional church by a friend on facebook (read article here).

Below is one of the responses I read on the facebook article:

"I admire those who devote their LIVES to missions and evangelism. However, I am not one of them and that does not set well with my Southern Bapt church. When I read Matt 28 and Luke 24, I see Christ speaking to the eleven, not me. My place ...in the body is more geared toward praise and worship, or taking care of the church building, or visiting sick members...common purposes. I wasn't meant for noble ones, and I'm okay with that. Don't get me wrong, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. I will give a reason for why I believe to anyone WILLING to hear. I think I would be labeled a hyper Calvinist."

Here are some thoughts:

1) Matthew 28 and Luke 24 is Jesus speaking only to the eleven? What other passages would we have to consider only for the eleven. John 13-16 come to mind right off the top of my head. Jesus is teaching the disciples during the Last Supper and then on his way to the garden to be arrested. He talks to them about being a servant, loving one another, trusting God, being led by the Spirit and some other things. I guess we would have to eliminate those teachings as well.

2) There is nothing wrong with leading worship, visiting the sick and other noble causes, they are Biblical. But taking care of the building? Where were we told to do that as followers of Jesus?

3) I believe the guy is not ashamed of the gospel, I think? I mean I believe he would share something with someone wanting to know more about Jesus, but I wonder if it could be considered the gospel (the good news). It would probably be some hyped up denominational sales pitch about grace, but for me it would be hard to believe coming from someone who is not sold out to the gospel themselves.

4) I do however understand where the guy is coming from, he says it in his response. He said "I think I would be labeled a hyper Calvinist." I thought our goal was to be labeled followers of Jesus, not any other man. This explains why the guy would not follow the words of Jesus, because he trusts the words of another man above the words of "The" Man.

What can we learn from this? We learn that we must be careful who we place our trust in because whether it is intentional or not the truth will be revealed. I don't think for a moment that this guy does not think he loves Jesus, I just think his understanding of Jesus is somewhat cloudy.

It is a battle we all have to fight everyday as we grow closer to Jesus.

It Happened (continued)

I will try to get through this post without losing my focus. Although, the two post relate to each other very well.

I met a guy Thursday morning at Starbucks for coffee. While we were there we talked about God and the kingdom. We talked about how to live as kingdom people where we are at the time. We really had a good discussion about God stuff.

He got up to leave and I was going to stay and check my email. As soon as he got up a guy approached. I was wearing a tee-shirt from my trip to Zimbabwe last fall. The front of it says, "Acts 29." He asked me, "What's with the shirt. There's not an Acts 29." Obviously he knew his Bible. Most people who carry the Christian cup (to understand the cup thing, read the previous post) don't realize there is no Acts 29, its a Hezekiah 3 type of thing.

I explained to him that it means the story continues, the Acts of disciples should not have stopped in Acts 28. We still have a purpose in God's kingdom today. He told me he had seen that image before. I explained there was a church planting group called Acts 29. He was familiar with it because he had seen it on the Internet.

Then he asked me if I was familiar with Frances Chan. This guy was obviously someone who did not just carry a cup. So I asked him the obvious question, "Do you go to church?" I know better than to go right for that question but I wanted to know where he got his coffee.

He looked in the air, trying to decide how he wanted to answer the question. He said, "I don't." Then he went on to explain why, "There are a lot of people who call themselves Christians that are going to hell." What he was saying is there are a lot of people who just like to carry the cup.

It happened, in Starbucks I met a person I keep reading about. Someone who is disenfranchised with the church. About 30 minutes later I packed up my stuff and headed out the door. The guy was coming down the sidewalk. He stopped me again and asked me my name. He also asked me what church I was with and wanted to know where it was. He did tell me he was a member of a church but he did not want to talk bad about it because he is good friends with the pastor.

He did end our conversation by telling me "Frances Chan has it right you know." We are only told to do two things: Follow Jesus and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and to teach them everything Jesus has taught us (the great commision).

It happened, I met a person who doesn't just carry the cup. I met a guy who knows what it means to be on mission for Jesus. You know where he drinks his coffee? Jesus.

Where do you drink yours?

It Happened

I met someone for coffee yesterday in Starbucks. Yes, I said coffee. For those who don't know I am not much of a coffee drinker, but I always wanted to carry a Starbucks cup like a lot of the trendy world does. It is more of a status symbol or your club card. I am in now because I found something I like or at least can tolerate.

I am not proud of my usual but I have manned up and do get an extra shot of espresso. I am sure you want to know the manly drink I prefer. It is a "Triple Skinny (because I am trying to lose some weight) Carmel Latte." There I said it. I guess I will have to post another manly question on Facebook. But if you want it you will have to take it from me (if getting physical over a latte is even possible). It doesn't matter what I drink, I am in the club, I carry the cup to prove it.

Sounds like our Christian life doesn't it. We can carry a Bible, go to church and even have a Jesus fish on the back of our car but nobody really knows who we are on the inside. We can promote ourselves on the outside and still have a lot of crap on the inside. I mean nobody knows what I am drinking when they see me carry a Starbucks cup unless of course you are one of those ice coffee kind of people. I just never could see John Wayne out on the range or in a fox hole drinking ice coffee. Is ice and coffee really suppose to go together?

So it happened, I am kind of drinking coffee now. But that is not what I really wanted to blog about, but this one is getting to long so . . . I will have to continue tomorrow.

But think about it, if you are a follower of Jesus, are you really following him or are you just carrying the cup?

Costly Grace

I have been wanting to read "The Cost of Discipleship" by Dietrich Bonhoeffer for a long time. His first chapter is called "Costly Grace." I love reading about God's grace but I have to admit this time it is making me a little uncomfortable. I know it has because I have brought it up in discussions twice in the last two days and I am even going to teach on it Sunday.

His point is that there are two types of grace the church teaches. Cheap grace which is taught mostly he says "is the deadly enemy of the church." Cheap grace requires nothing from the one receiving grace. He says "Cheap Grace means the justification of sin without the justification of the sinner."

I have noticed lately followers of Jesus want to justify their sin without accountability. When held accountable they play the judgement card and say, "you don't understand." They call for grace but they want it at a discount. What I mean is they want the benefits of grace but don't want it to cost them anything.

The problem is that many churches and church leaders today teach this type of grace. The messages are designed to make people feel good about themselves with little or no accountability. This may be the reason so many church leaders are now evaluating the churches they lead and finding out they have done a poor job of discipling followers of Jesus. Bonhoeffer makes the point that "Cheap Grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate."

This is the grace we like. This is the grace that is a bargain because there is little or no cost.

Costly grace on the other hand is something we don't want think about. The reason is this grace cost us something. It calls for accountability and sacrifice. In some places in the world this grace can even cost people their lives.

Jesus teaches this type of grace. He tells the rich young ruler to sell everything he owns and give it to the poor and then he will have treasures in heaven. He tells those who want to follow him things like, "If you follow me, remember I don't know where I am going to sleep tonight" or "If you follow me you will have to leave your family." He even warns his disciples on the night he was arrested that they should expect persecution and even death.

So the question I want to ask is "How costly is your grace?"

Remember Grace is costly, it should cost us something considering it cost God is one and only Son.