The Four Days of Christmas: How One Pastor Copes With the Rush of Christmas

Last night it started.  We call it The Four Days of Christmas.   Four—not twelve?  I know it sounds odd.  Hear me out.

One of the nutty things we did in the early years of our family with four young children, was to try to cram too much Christmas into one Christmas Day.   The kids would get up early and tumble down the stairs head first.  They opened stockings.   By the time we got to the gifts, a numbness had already set in.  They were over-saturated.  When our cousins gathered for dinner, if they happened to bring gifts, I knew we were in trouble.   My kids were glassy eyed, over-stimulated and ungrateful.   The next day, we went through the morning after Christmas syndrome like everyone else, and we couldn’t believe how quickly the whole thing was over.

Of course, all this is complicated for a pastor’s family because you have to prepare a message and be at church on Christmas Eve.    Throw in multiple services on December 24th and there is no time for much of anything on that day but church.   For instance, this year we have four Christmas Eve services:  4.00, 5.30, 7.30 and 9.30.  For our family, it is even more complex still, because my wife is a violinist, and musicians play a lot in December—including Christmas Eve.

Granted. Most people don’t have to deal with ministry obligations like this.  But I am convinced that for those who do, there are wiser, more sane, ways to “do Christmas” than we typically do.   What we did was to stretch out Christmas to four days!

There is good precedent for this.  After all, in the history of the church Christmas is a season, not just a day.   The Feast of the Nativity of Jesus Christ, as the 25^th has been sometimes called, is part of the larger season of Christmastide, which for some last twelve days.  You’ve heard of The Twelve Days of Christmas, haven’t you?

So how did we cope with the rush of Christmas?   We stretched it out for four days.   We have a special dinner with just our family on the eve of Christmas Eve.  What we used to do on the evening of the 24^th we do now on the evening of December 23^rd.  Often we will watch a Christmas movie afterwards.   

The 24^th for our family is church day.  We encourage everyone to be active in services on Christmas Eve.   When they were younger, some  of the children sang.  These days, they sometimes do a public reading of Scripture.   But they all know mom and dad have lots of responsibilities that day.  We encourage them to participate as well.   This has the wonderful effect of putting the focus on Christ.

On Christmas Day, our kids get  their stockings only.   In the afternoon, we usually have dinner with grandparents and cousins. 

It is the day after Christmas, (known as Boxing Day in England) that we all open our presents.

Now, you may think that this is cruel and unusual punishment to children—i.e. that we do not allow them to open their gifts on Christmas Day.   Truth is, they got used to it quickly.  Now our kids prefer it this way.  They like that mom and dad have slowed Christmas down, without cutting church out, and actually have more time celebrating the holiday than we used to.

I’ll admit, for those who are not in ministry, this plan may sound rather strange.  But for those who are, you will recognize it not only as one person’s creative road out of Christmas chaos, but also as a wonderful way to distress the day.  It actually gives us more Christmas in Christmas.

True, it’s not The Twelve Days of Christmas, but it’s moving in the right direction. 

May I commend a similar creative wisdom to you if you find your Christmases too chaotic?

Christmas Notes to Copenhagen

This week the U.N. climate-change conference in Copenhagen comes to an end.   The world leaders have gathered to consider man-made threats to the climate and to commit to aggressive emission reduction targets in their resolve to fight global warming.

As the conference went on, demonstrations and debates seemed to intensify.  Some have wondered how accurate the science is behind global warming.  Others who are sure we are on the brink of disaster, want to take drastic action now.  Poor nations are wondering how much money rich nations will “pony up.”  Western nations wonder how much China, India and developing nations will go along.  Some on the left see this as an opportunity to bad mouth capitalism and enact vast transfers of wealth from the West to the developing world.  Some on the right see this as a pro-socialist movement to dramatically re-order the world economy.

According to a Fox News Poll this week, a majority of Americans believe global warming is happening (63%).  But fewer see it as a dire crisis (only 17%).  About half of Americans believe that global warming is a man made crisis.   Some think it is just a matter of normal weather patterns, while some think that global warming is caused by both climate patterns and people.

I have some opinions on this, but before I share them, I want to note how intrigued I am that conference participants are using Biblical language to describe what is going on.  Listen to them.  People are talking about salvation, redemption,  the coming great tribulation, and the end of the world.  Some climate scientists speak of the “grim truths” of climate change and warn that “the future of humanity lies in the balance.”  They call us to “wake up before it is too late” (turn or burn!).  They describe forbidding world scenarios of multiple global crises related to food, fuel, fresh water and finance, all influenced by climate change.

In an evangelistic-like speech, Prince Charles of Britain told world leaders at the summit that “we have seven years to save the world.”  Britain’s Prime Minister, Gordon Brown said that money will be the key to “saving the planet” from these catastrophic changes.  Thomas Hayden, writing in National Geographic’s, “State of the Earth 2010” says that because of all this it is our mission “to preserve and redeem our planet.”

Such talk is extraordinary for a culture that is turning away from a Christian world view.   They continue to use “the language of Zion” but in new ways so that salvation is no longer “of the Lord.”  Now, we are our own redeemers.  This is an odd twist on the old Westminster catechism question “Who is the redeemer of God’s elect?”  In Copenhagen, some are answering—“we are!”   In the catechism, the only redeemer is “the Lord Jesus Christ.”

May I remind you that the message of Christmas is that this broken world desperately does need a redeemer, but we are simply not up for the job.  We are too weak, too broken, too internally compromised to be our own saviors.   We desperately need help from heaven.  Which is why the coming of the promised Son of God at Bethlehem, and his promised second coming, is “good news of great joy.”

In saying this, I am not against those who want to take responsibility for building a cleaner environment and living in ways with less impact on the earth.  How can Christians be against that?   Don’t we have a Biblical duty to be stewards of the earth?  I am sometimes puzzled by Christians who dismiss the entire environmental movement as nuttiness.  To be sure, there is some nuttiness in this movement. It is on display in Copenhagen!  But the Bible is very clear in Genesis that we have a creation mandate to care for the earth. Adam and Eve, who represent us, are called to rule over the garden and take care of it (Genesis 2.15).  This is our God given home.   We are under assignment by the Creator himself to be earth-keepers.

Here is where the challenge comes.  There are now 6.8 billion people on the earth.   The human population has nearly quadrupled since the 1930s.  It will swell to 9 billion by mid century.   As population grows, so does the global economy.  People are hungering for more of everything.  This increases industry, trade and wealth.   It means more cars, factories, airplanes, mines and demands for energy.  It results in more pollution and emissions.  

How resilient is the earth and its atmosphere?  We are still finding out.  Is it far-fetched to think that man is having an influence on the climate?  I don’t think so.  Satellites show we are leaving an imprint on the landscape and waterscape.  As we pump more carbon-dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, it will also have an impact.   Bottom line:  it is good stewardship to think seriously about limiting emissions and building a clean power economy.  How fast we move on this is a question I leave to the politicians.

But while we should be supremely responsible in how we care for this world, make no mistake about it, we are not the world’s redeemers.   As time goes on, our planet will wear out.   In Romans 8, Scripture says that creation “groans” and waits to be liberated from its bondage to decay. It waits for the glorious freedom of its redemption.  But this redemption will not be brought about by us.  It will be brought about by God’s redeemer, Jesus Christ, and God’s promised work of a new heaven and earth (Isaiah 65.17; Revelation 21.1).  It is in this hope that we are saved.

I suspect many of those people in Copenhagen would lighten up a bit, if they stopped to consider that their big conference comes during the season of Advent and Christmas!

Insane Levels of Spending at Christmas

Imagine a family— it may be your family –who goes hog wild this Christmas.  Money is very tight, but you pull out the credit cards anyway and start spending to the max.   You want everyone to have a great Christmas and to get what they want, so you go on a spree.  You use up your small cash reserves.  Then you resort to credit cards and begin to run up huge debts.  You pull out your Visa Card and spend it to the limit.  You pull out your Discover Card and do the same.  You get another credit card offer in the mail from MasterCard, so you spend that out as well. You are intent on every one having a great Christmas NOW, but you are not thinking of the bills that are coming in January.

Many of us have been there, and have learned the lessons that a)  those bills have to be paid, b) it takes a long time to pay them off, c) January, February, March etc. are miserable because you live in the prison of debt, and d) this does not make good financial sense for the family.    While there is reasonable debt, this kind of debt is unreasonable.   Consequently, when you finally get out of this hole, you resolve never to go that deeply in debt again and to do Christmas differently.

Now, let’s change the circumstances.  Imagine a government—it may be our government –that goes hog wild spending as well.    But money is not tight, because its reserves are not backed by gold but by trust.   Besides, the government can print money.   This government wants to give many members of the family whatever they wants.  Plus it has new priorities and projects of its own.  So it spends and spends and spends.  Short term, many people are happy, but long term, the complications rise.   The bills are coming in January.

A strange economic irrationality has possessed the minds of many lawmakers and citizens.  Our congress is committing us to unprecedented levels of spending and debt accumulation.   Meanwhile, the  expectations of American citizens on what government can and should do has lost touch with reality.   We want more and more goods and services from government, but are unwilling to pay for them.   How will this be pulled off?   To pay for all these things, (let alone unfunded liabilities), the government must raise taxes, borrow, inflate the currency, or  do some combination of these three things. 

And boy are we spending and accumulating debt at an unprecedented rate.   The deficit for this year is 1.4 trillion.   Projected spending increases for this year represent the largest government expansion since 1952.  We are on a spree that shows no signs of slowing down.  

Along with that we are borrowing. We have a mounting national debt that we are dumping on to our children and grandchildren.  It is now at 12 trillion dollars.   Right now 3.5 trillion of this is foreign held national debt.  Current estimates, “all things being equal” (which they rarely are) are that this debt will grow  by another 9 trillion from 2009—2019.

All the while congress is not only proposing massive new programs, but is now considering raising the limit on the national credit card yet again!

According to the Congressional Record, “In six months, the president and congress have put the country on a course to spend more and accrue more debt than any president in history.   In fact, to take on more debt than all the other presidents in the history of the United States combined.”

The only remaining way to balance the numbers then will be by inflation (where more dollars are printed but they are worth less) and raising taxes.   True, inflation has been used in the past, and some times taxes need to go up.  BUT, and this is a very big BUT, at the current spending rates, we are talking about major inflation and taxation down the road.  

My mother’s parents left Germany in the 1920s because the Weimar government let spending go unchecked and inflation became insane.  It became so bad that it eventually took wheelbarrows of money to pay for a loaf of bread.   I am not saying that will happen here, but this historical memory is deeply embedded into our family psyche.  The best economies can fail and currencies can be devalued.

The taxation that will be needed to pay the bills could have all kinds of ramifications as well.  But one huge ramification will be that Americans have less money to give to charitable causes (like churches and ministries) because of the extra financial pressures and incentives the government is talking about taking away from major givers.

Our economic house is not in order.   Remember that our word “economy” comes from the Greek word oikonomos.   Originally the word meant “one who manages the household.”   As the word developed, its meaning expanded to mean “the management of the financial resources of the community or state.”   I contend, (non-economist layman that I am), that things were not in good shape under our former president, and now they appear to be getting worse under our new president. 

With regard to the current health care debate, while I am in favor of numerous health care reforms, I am skeptical of proposals that add both unpredictable and massive levels of  spending.   I have written my representatives to let them know.

This month, watch congress.  Don’t tune out or be lulled by Christmas so that you do not pay  attention.  Call your congressman and tell them that the current levels of spending make no sense.   Hold  them accountable.  After all, they are politicians.   For each call they receive, they calculate that  a certain number of voters feel the same but did not call.

Very important decisions are being made.  Speaking out on this and other important issues in our democracy is essential.  Especially now.   Why?  Because January is coming.

Living in an ER World—Even During Christmas

It happens every Christmas season.   I  anticipate a wonderful, joy filled season.  I am decking the halls, attending too many parties, buying gifts, anticipating celebrations with my family.  Then, like an intruder it comes.  I get a call that someone has been in a terrible accident.  A child  has died.   Someone is diagnosed with a serious illness.   A  family experiences heartache.   A parent dies.   For pastors, such emergencies seem to find us like heat seeking missiles!    

Sometimes, when the news comes, we are all tempted to ask—why is this ruining my Christmas?!   Whatever happened to “have a holly, jolly Christmas?”

This past Fall, I’ve made three visits to the Emergency Room, not for pastoral visitation either.  I’ve made two visits as a parent and one for myself.   I’m getting to know these people by name!   Having a high school athlete who goes out for football and basketball, has its joys, but also its hazards—like falls, sprains and dislocations.   Life has its hazards too.  I was in for a bloody nose that wouldn’t stop.

The ER is a fascinating place to be.   There are some hours where the traffic is slow.  At other times the place is a zoo.   On one occasion, there were so many people there that they put “no room in the inn” signs on the emergency bays.   Okay, there were no signs, but all the bays were full, and they brought cots out for the overflow crowd like us.    It was amazing.  A mom brought her young boy in with unexplainable stomach pains.   Some people were sick with…..who knows what.  One person waiting for treatment threw up in front of us.   Another guy was holding his ear, with blood everywhere.  Another person had been shot.  Another was involved in some kind of domestic violence. 

Being a regular visitor at ER, I am now extremely thankful for the doctors and aids who work there.   The ones we met were so dedicated.  Even when they were shorthanded, they dutifully checked to see which people needed the most urgent care,  and then eventually got to the rest of us.

When we are shopping at the malls,  driving through the suburbs, or opening Christmas cards, we are tempted to think that everything in the world is basically fine.   A Friday night visit to ER will quickly strip the veneer off of that view of the world.   Such visits remind us that our world is badly broken.  The emergency room is a fitting metaphor for life.  We live in an 911 world. 

You can have one of two reactions to hardship that comes at Christmas time.   On the one hand, you can get angry, and think “this is ruining my Christmas….why does this have to happen to me……and where is God in all this anyway?”  This is the reaction of many of us, if we are honest.   Sometimes we let our anger grow into bitterness and cynicism.  

But there is another, dare I say, more Christmasy way to respond to this.   And by Christmasy, I don’t mean sentimental and filled with holiday cheer.    Another way to respond to the mess of our broken world is to realize that this Emergency Room stuff actually confirms the message of Christmas.  It confirms  that the world is desperately out of joint and needs a savior.  The brokenness is so bad that we cannot fix it ourselves.  With all our biotech and engineering prowess, we remain helpless.   We desperately need God to break in and help us in our emergency condition.

Friend, that is exactly what the Bible says happened in that first Christmas.   God broke into an ER world by sending his son to save us.  

The Bible says that this world’s brokenness can be traced back long ago, when humanity originally sinned against God.  This sin entered our hearts and then fractured and spoiled everything.  It brought forth brokenness in our relationship with God, with each other, with men and women, with nature, and even within ourselves.  

It was into this kind of a world, that God entered.   Long ago, God gave us the first declaration of good news in Genesis 3.15 where he promised that someday the seed of the woman would crush the serpent’s head.  That’s the Bible’s way of saying there will be a reversal of all this brokenness.  It will be reversed through the coming of God’s promised messiah—the Christ.  

When he was born in Bethlehem, the angel said his name will be called Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.   He is Immanuel, which means—God with us.  We are not alone!

If there is any time of the year where we should be honest about our troubles it is Christmas.  I contend that Christmas doesn’t even make sense until we bravely face up to the fact that we live in an ER world.   Only when we do, will the joyful news of God’s redemptive visit hit us like the stunning, fantastic news that it is.

In Praise of Blogging: My One Year Anniversary as a Blogger

Today is my one year anniversary of blogging.   Since last November 27^th, I have posted about every other week.  I’ve had some 6000 hits on my blog—which is small compared to the big bloggers, but respectable for my first year. 

Blogging is an outlet for those who love to write.   It is a vehicle to clarify my own thinking.  And it can be a ministry to others.

Blogging is typically the province of the young.   Not surprisingly, I started blogging through the encouragement of one of the students I was mentoring at Denver Seminary.   I could not have started without the technical help of David Strunk and the encouragement of Zac Hicks.   I was mystified by the blogosphere.  But these guys have been great in showing me what it is about, and how to understand and use different emerging technologies for kingdom purposes. 

What I discovered after one year of blogging?
First I have discovered that blogging is far more effective than writing the traditional printed column in a church newsletter.   It is much more accessible to a wider audience.   It is a tool that lets me speak to things beyond what I do in the pulpit as a pastor.   Plus, it offers a mechanism for instant feedback and interaction. 

Second, I’ve discovered that blogging reaches a much more diverse audience than my own congregation.   I am thankful for the easy links to the website of Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church.  But a blog goes far beyond the church audience.  Through Facebook and Twitter,  I find that I have extended family members who read it (some who are committed Christians, some who are not).  I have friends from every season of my life who look at it.  I have friends on other continents who read it (i.e. Africa, Europe).  And I have people who are just doing a Google Search on a particular subject who stumbled upon it and who now read it.  This is truly amazing.   This diversity of my readership makes blog creation much more challenging and fun.

Third, I think it is important to keep posting blogs on a consistent basis with quality posts.   This takes work.  It means I am constantly reading and thinking about things.  Just as I have a long list of sermon and sermon series ideas.  I have a long list of blog ideas.  

I try to write every week now.  Believe it or not, of all the blogs out there, there are only 100,000 that have been updated every 14 days.   About 66% of all blogs have not been updated in two months.   And, there are many one day wonders—blogs that start with great flourish and then are quickly abandoned.

While my blog address is www.DonSweeting.wordpress.com, the title of my blog is THE CHIEF END OF MAN.   This little potent phrase comes from the first question and answer in The Westminster Shorter Catechism.  The Shorter Catechism is part of a confessional statement of Presbyterian Christians that was written in the 17^th century.    It began by asking perhaps the most important question that could ever be asked.   What is the chief end (i.e. purpose) of man (i.e. human life)?   It replies—“the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.”    

That reminder tells us that we are made not randomly, but for a purpose.   We were made for him.   There is a God shaped space in our hearts that can only be filled and satisfied when we return to God and put him first in our lives.   True and lasting joy is found in him alone.

As Augustine once said, Lord, “you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.”   Consequently, the chief end of my blog is to glorify God through reflection on theology, worship, culture, history and the church.   The subjects I have written on cover the gamut from Michael Jackson to John Calvin, from the NBA to the persecuted church.

Still learning:  Help!
This one year anniversary is also a great place to admit that I am still learning how to blog effectively.  There are some things about blogging that I have not yet figured out—like  how to get a blog subscription tab (RSS feed) at the top of your page that actually works.   Also, I do not understand how to make a blog more high profile on Google, so that when people search on a topic, your post comes up early.   If you have figured any of these things out, let me know.   

Meanwhile……to misquote philosopher Rene Descartes……”I think, therefore I blog!”

The Manhattan Declaration: Defending The Sanctity of Life, Traditional Marriage and Religious Freedom

This past week an historic statement was released by a group of church leaders called  THE MANHATTAN DECLARATION:  A CALL OF CHRISTIAN CONSCIENCE.   It is a bold statement of first principles across  ecclesial lines—Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox –bearing a common witness to core values that are under assault in our culture and must be defended.  You can find it on the web at www.ManhattanDeclaration.org.  I urge you to read it and sign it.

My former boss, Charles Colson, who helped initiate this declaration, calls it “one of the most important documents produced by the American church….in my lifetime.”  

The statement is meant to be both a wake-up call to the church, and a message to government authorities, that we will not stand by passively as religious freedoms are under assault.

The Manhattan Declaration begins by reminding readers that for 2000 years Christians have born witness to the truths of their faith.  This witness has taken various forms—proclamation, seeking justice, resisting tyranny, serving the poor, and speaking for the oppressed and suffering.    While the scope of Christian moral concern goes way beyond the scope of the Manhattan Declaration, this statement focuses on three  areas of traditional morality that are under assault in the West—the sanctity of life, traditional marriage and religious liberty.   

Sanctity of Life          
The first part of the Manhattan Declaration focuses on challenges to the sanctity of life.   It notes there is a growing belief in our culture that the lives of the imperfect, immature and inconvenient are discardable.   In the face of this, the Declaration affirms  the dignify of every human as a creature made in the image of God prepossessing inherent rights of equal dignity and life.

In our nation,  the lives of the unborn, the disabled and the elderly are severely threatened.  The current administration is staffed by those who want to make abortions legal at any stage of fetal development and at tax payers expense.   It favors  the expansion of embryonic research including tax payer funding of so called therapeutic cloning.

Around the world, there are on-going genocides, ethnic cleansings, exploitation of vulnerable laborers, increased sexual slavery, abandonment of the aged, and persecution of believers of all faiths.    In the face of this, this declaration embraces a consistent ethic of love and life for all humans in  all circumstances.

Traditional Marriage
The second and longest part of the Manhattan Declaration focuses on the threats to marriage.  It affirms marriage as a life-long union of man and woman, ordained by God from creation.  It is the most basic institution of society—the first institution on which all others have their foundation.  And yet we are ignoring it on the one hand—through easy divorce, infidelity, promiscuity,  to the point where today 40% of all children are born out of wedlock.  On the other hand, we are now attempting to redefine marriage to accommodate fashionable ideologies that will ultimately be destructive of our society.   This Declaration rightly states that where marriage culture begins to erode, social pathologies of every sort quickly show up.

Religious Liberty
The third and final part of the Manhattan Declaration addresses the issue of religious freedom and notes that growing assault on religious  liberty.  There are more efforts to weaken conscience clauses in order to compel persons of faith to compromise their deepest convictions.    More and more businesses and religious institutions are being forced to comply with activities they judge to be deeply immoral.  Christian organizations are  losing tax exempt status for refusing to buy into homosexual marriage.  And more and more efforts are being made to curb religious expression.  

The Declaration says,  “Because we honor justice and the common good, we will not comply with any edict that purports to compel our institutions to participate in abortions, embryo-destructive research, assisted suicide, and euthanasia, or any other anti-life act;  nor will we bend to any rule purporting to force us to bless immoral sexual partnerships, treat them as marriages or the equivalent, or refrain from proclaiming the truth, as we know it, about morality and immorality and marriage and family.  We will fully and ungrudgingly “render to Caesar what is Caesar’s.”  But under no circumstances will we render to Caesar what is Gods.” 

I believe that The Manhattan Declaration is a prophetic document.  It rightly urges us to bear common witness to the gospel and to those core values reflected in Scripture that are under assault in our culture.  I urge you to read it, reflect on it, sign it, and let it move you to speak and act in defense of these truths, and as a witness to the God who made us.

Mealtime Prayers of Thanksgiving: Getting Out of Your Rut

Kids often ask great questions that help us think through our rituals.  Like….“daddy, why do we stand at baseball games to sing the national anthem?”  Or, “dad, why can’t we wear hats at the table?”  Or,  let’s focus on this last one–“daddy, why do we pray before we eat?” 

I give them two answers.  First, because of Scriptural commands to be thankful.  Second, because of Biblical examples.

The Bible commends an attitude of thanksgiving for all God’s good gifts.   It is as old as the Hebrew Scriptures.   In Deuteronomy 8.10, Moses commanded Israel to not forget the Lord and  not take his blessings for granted. “When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God.”  It is so easy to forget, isn’t it?

In the New Testament, we find the same thing.  Consider Paul’s words to Timothy.    Some people forbid others  ^“to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth.  For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,  because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer,” (1Timothy 4.3-5).

Or how about 1 Thessalonians 5.16-18.  “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Along with this, we have lots of Biblical examples of thanking God before we eat.   Jesus gave thanks before he fed the 5,000 in Matthew 14.19. He looked to heaven, gave thanks and then broke the loaves.  He did the same thing before feeding the 4000 in Matthew 15.36.  Likewise, in the upper room, he prayed before he broke bread with the disciples (Matthew 26.27), just as Paul prayed before sharing a meal with fellow passengers on a storm tossed ship (Acts 27.35).

While no single text teaches you must pray before every meal—there is a pattern of thankfulness that should guide us, especially when so many people go hungry in this world.

The bigger question for us, is not—should we pray, but WHAT should we pray?  If your family is like mine, we so easily get into a rut. We thoughtlessly pray prayers like “Dear Lord, thankyoufor thisfoodblessittoourbodiesinJesusname. Amen.” (all in one breath),  or other such prayers which border on using God’s name in vain, i.e. “for bacon, eggs and buttered toast, praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.” OR “Good Lord, bless these sinners as they eat their dinners, etc..”

Of course, nothing substitutes for joyful, spontaneous, thoughtful prayers of thanks.  But seeing we can get in ruts, (even in our spontaneous prayers), I did  a little searching for famous mealtime prayers, which may help you with your rut as it has helped us with ours.   We have even tried to memorize some of these.  Pick one or two, and get your family to memorize them–even the ones in a different language.

Sung Scottish Prayer      The Old 100^th (Psalm)
[to the tune of the Doxology]
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow,     
Praise Him all creatures here below,
Praise Him above, ye heavenly Host,              
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 

All creatures that on earth do dwell,                              
Sing, to the Lord, with cheerful voice.
Him serve with mirth, his praise forth tell,     
Come ye before Him, and rejoice. 

The Lord ye know is God, indeed,   
Without our aid He did us make.
We are His flock, He doth us feed,                  
And, for His sheep He doth us take. Amen 

Scottish                The Selkirk Grace by Robert Burns
Traditional                                                            
Some hae meat and canna eat,                        
And some would eat that want it;                    
But we hae meat, and we can eat,                   
Sae let the Lord be thankit.                                

Translation
Some have meat and cannot eat;
Some cannot eat that want it:
But we have meat and we can eat;
So let the Lord be thanked. 

German Mealtime prayer
German                                                 
Alles das wir haben,                           
Alles ist gegaben.                                
Es kommt, O Gott, von dir                  
Wir danken dir dafuer.                       

Translation
All that we have,
Is all a gift.
It comes, O God, from you;
We thank you for it. 

Spanish Table Prayer
Spanish                                 
Cristo, pan de vida,                             
Ven y bendice esta comida.  Amen  

Translation
Christ, the bread of life,
Come and bless this food.  Amen 

Lutheran Mealtime Prayer
Come Lord Jesus be our guest, and let thy gifts to us be blessed.
Like manna in the desert given, the Bread of life, sent down from Heaven. 

Anglican Prayer                (Church of England)
Dear Lord, thank you for this food.   Bless the hands that prepared it.  Bless it to our use and us to your service,
And make us ever mindful of the needs of others.   Through Christ our Lord we pray. Amen. 

Jewish
Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us with Thy commandments and brought forth this food from the earth. Amen

Fort Hood, Islam and Jesus

Our media elite habitually underestimate the power of religion and the power and consequences of ideas in modern life.   It has been absolutely fascinating to watch the media response to the deadly shooting rampage at Fort Hood.   With the facts slowly trickling out, some are beginning to revise their assessment of what actually happened and why.

In that shooting, Army psychiatrist Nidal Hassan fired over 100 shots, killing 13 and wounding 29.  Early on, many were reluctant to tie his violent outrage to his Muslim faith.   Now, he is being charged by a military court with thirteen counts of premeditated murder.   His pro-Islamic, anti American views before the shooting are becoming more well known.   His attempts to communicate with a jihadists imam who encouraged Muslims to kill US troops is now known.  His shout of “Allahu akbar” (Allah is the greatest), the jihadist battle cry, as he opened fire on the soldiers, now appears to have been an earnest and deadly terrorist shout.

Many in the media wanted to quickly dismiss any connection between Hasan’s Islamic faith and his action.  Some were calling him “a nut case.”  Others said “he snapped.”  Still others blamed it on stress. Some said his shooting was the tragic byproduct of two wars.   Despite the fairly obvious clues, many kept telling us that we don’t and can’t know his motives.

Well…..that was then.   It is looking like we do know what his motives were.  So what do we do with this?  And why this strange disbelief, especially in an age of terrorism, that his faith had anything to do with the shooting?  For that matter, why does our government increasingly take this view point (e.g. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano tells us that we should not use the phrase “Islamic terrorism,” but refer to it as “man caused disasters.”) The best explanations, I suspect, is that our culture is driven by three deeply held ideas which we are unwilling to give up but are being tested.

Three Deeply Held Cultural Beliefs That Are Being Tested

First, many hold to the idea that all religions are the same, so why would we want to criticize one.  That would mean we might have to commend another (which no one wants to do).   Yet to anyone who looks carefully at the claims of the major religions, let alone the claims of Christianity and Islam, this idea is so patently misinformed.   There are huge differences between the two faiths (their views of God/Trinity, Jesus and salvation, for starters). 

Second, many hold to the idea that there is no true or false religion.   In the current post modern climate, we don’t take the issue of truth seriously.   So we try to tolerate every idea, except ideas that claim to be true.  The extreme multiculturalism of the day is unwilling to weigh the merits and claims of Christianity or Islam.   And yet, the Bible presents Jesus as the way, the truth and the life.   The implication being, that religions like Islam, are NOT the way the truth and the life, but rather are false paths, and dare we add, demonic deceptions, to keep us from the path to life.  This is not to say there is no truth, or good in Islamic belief or culture.  It is to say that it’s a road that leads to spiritual darkness and destruction.  

Third, many hold to the idea that Islam is essentially a religion of peace.   There is a liberal assumption at work in our culture behind this, that people are basically good, and no one would really intentionally do evil things.  So, in Hasan’s case, we have to medicalize our assessment of his actions—so we say, he was a sick man, and ignore any evidence to the contrary.

While many Muslims are peaceful and productive citizens, I for one, am not convinced of Islam’s essential peacefulness.  Only when you submit to Islam, for that is what the word means, do you get peace.   But outside of submission, there can be no deep peace for the infidel.

Islam’s origins and its writings justify religious violence.   For 1000 years, from Mohammed to the decline of the Ottoman Empire, Islam was an expansionist force, spreading as much by sword as conversion from the Pyrenees to the Philippines.   With the decline of world wide communism, we have seen militant Islam on the rise.   As of 2007, the majority of the top terrorist organizations identified by the US State Department are Islamicist.    Of those nations that severely persecute Christians, the majority are also Islamic.

What Do We Do With This?

There are two temptations we can easily fall for as we assess Fort Hood.   The first is to respond naively and say that Islam has nothing to do with modern terrorism.   Of course, this is factually false.  The second temptation, is to respond to the Fort Hood shootings by concluding that all Muslims are terrorists and un-American.   But this is clearly false as well.    Many of the 6 million Muslims who live in this country are loyal Americans and have contributed to our society. 

The Fort Hood tragedy should be a wake up call to Christians.   On the one hand, it should remind us that ideas and religions do have consequences.   These two faiths are not the same and lead in very different directions.   It is cultural stupidity to become neutral about all faith or to run from Christian truth as the West is currently doing.

On the other hand, this shooting should also remind Christians of the relevance of the gospel and the opportunity we have to share this treasure with others—including our Muslim neighbors.   I believe there is a longing in the hearts of many Muslims for someone like Jesus.   I have a hunch that many will be more drawn to the Prince of Peace, who strapped a cross on to his back, than a terrorist who straps explosives on to his back.  The sheer destructiveness of Islamic violence does not make many Muslims proud. 

But not only that, remember that Islam is primarily a religion of law.  Its obligations become a heavy burden.   There is a longing in many hearts for good news of grace which can be found in Christ alone.   Perhaps that is why so many Muslims in America  (some 20,000 a year, by some estimates) are coming to faith in Christ these days.  (It is easier to reach Muslims in America with the gospel than it is in their native lands).

It would be a shame if the Fort Hood incident made us more naïve about Islam, or more hardened to Muslims.   Instead, let this incident prompt us to be more ready to engage Muslims with good news that can really liberate people and bring joy to their souls.

While You Were Sipping Your Latte: Worshipping with the Persecuted Church

“the noble army of martyrs praise thee.”  Te Deum Laudamas, an Early Christian hymn of praise, AD 387

We in the West are casual worshippers.  So it has been up to this point.  We get up on Sunday and have a range of churches we may attend.   On the way to church, we may stop for our favorite latte at Starbucks, unless we already have a coffee shop which serves our favorite brew on the church campus. We attend our worship in air conditioned sanctuaries, in buildings that are going wireless.  We have high tech sound boards, and digital images on the screens.  We sit in padded chairs or pews. We worry about parking spaces.  We gripe if the sermon goes long, or the services lasts beyond 12 noon.  Then afterwards, we might stop at a great restaurant for a Sunday brunch, or go for healthier fare at Panera.  In a word, we have it easy.

Not so with many parts of the Christian family around the world.  While you were sipping your latte, many were suffering for their faith.   How many?   A recent study done by Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary concluded that on average about 171,000 Christians worldwide are martyred for their faith each year now.   That comes to about 465 a day, or 20 while you were relaxing in your padded pew. 

One of the mind clearing exercises I do before going to church on Sunday is to get the latest reports on the persecuted church for this week.  My favorite site for information is International Christian Concern’s.   Here are a few of the headlines from a recent week:

• Muslim extremists decapitate seven Christians in Somalia
• Egyptian Muslim convert to Christianity face death threats
• Anti-Christian violence in Orissa, India
• Church run school attacked in Gauarat:  chapel desecrated, principal beaten
• Two Christian converts imprisoned in Iraq
• Christians targeted by country’s military in Burma. 

And these are just the reports we know about.   Many go unreported.   According to International Christian Concern, the ten countries which persecute Christians most are:  North Korea, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, India, China, Pakistan, Iran, Eritrea, and Vietnam.   Open Doors ministries says there are 74 nations where Christians face the reality of persecution or martyrdom.

It is a fact that the great age of persecution is not long past in the days of the Roman Empire, but is our own age.

We should not be surprised at this.  There has always been a cost of discipleship.   Jesus predicted it in John 15 and 16.  He said, “if the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.” (15.18).  

Why does it happen?  Sometimes it comes because of our doctrine—the gospel of Christ crucified is folly to the intellectually proud and a stumbling block to the self-righteous.  Sometimes it comes because of our ethics—we believe in timeless truth and morals that come from God.  A self-indulgent culture finds this unacceptable.    John Stott once wrote that “persecution is simply the clash between irreconcilable value systems. (Sermon on the Mount, p. 53).

When I enter a Sunday with the suffering church in my mind and heart, it changes the way I worship and preach.  It clarifies my mind.  It tells me that we have family who are suffering that

we can’t forget to pray for.   It reminds me that there is a cost to following Jesus.  It warns me that the peace we enjoy today is not to be taken for granted.   It sobers me that this is no time for casual worship.  And just perhaps, it is preparing us with examples of Christian courage for the days ahead in the West.

This Sunday is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.    Before you sip your latte, take some time to remember and to pray for those who suffer for the name of Christ.  It will change the way you worship.

To learn more about the persecuted church visit the web sites of Voice of the Martyrs (www.vom.org), International Christian Concern (www.persecutedchurch.org),  or Open Doors International (www.,gospelcome.net/od).

Why Celebrate Reformation Sunday?

Reformation Sunday is the Sunday in October closest to October 31^st.    On October 31, 1517, in Wittenberg, Germany, a brilliant and brave German monk posted 95 serious grievances he had with the existing church. He did so out of a love for Christ and the gospel.  It is from this event that we usually date the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.

The monk’s name was Martin Luther. He and many others called the church back to the distinctives of Biblical Christianity:   such as Scripture alone—as our supreme authority under Christ (verses the supremacy of church, experience, reason, or  tradition), Christ alone (as mediator between God and man), grace alone (God alone is ultimately responsible for our salvation), justification by faith alone (we cannot earn our way to God’s favor—we must trust in Christ), and to God alone be the glory (all that we do must be for the glory of God).

Luther was not alone in this mission.  This year especially, we remember not just Luther, but also John Calvin.  If Luther was the father of the Reformation, Calvin was its greatest theologian and pastor.   Some have called him the most important Protestant theologian of all time.   This year is the 500^th anniversary of Calvin’s birth. 

But on Reformation Sunday, we don’t celebrate these individuals, for they were flawed saints who would not want all this attention.   Rather, we celebrate their passion to see the church reformed by the Word of God.  

Of course, in celebrating our Reformation heritage, we don’t forget the faithful Christian witness that extended in the early and medieval church.    We need to remember the witness of other great Christians like Augustine, Ambrose, Anselm , Bernard, Chrysostom, Patrick, Pascal, Wycliffe and many others.  We give thanks for the achievements of those centuries—the gathering of the Scriptures, early Bible translation, bold Christian witness, early apologetics, the discoveries of faith seeking understanding, pioneering missionary work in pagan Europe, the formation of great creeds, the challenge of how to live in persecution, in chaos and in victory.   

But in the late 15th^th century the Western Church was in trouble.   God used men like Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, Knox and Cranmer to bring great reform to the Western Church.

The Reformation has sometimes been called one of the greatest revivals since Pentecost.   While nothing compares with Pentecost, pause and think about what was recovered in the 16^th century by the Reformers.   They recovered the gospel, they attempted to make the Word of God central again, the sought to bring simplicity back to worship and church life, they sped up the work of Bible translation, and they rediscovered the notion of common calling.  

One of the watch words of the reformation was Ad fonts.  It is a Latin expression which means “to the sources” (lit. “to the fountain”).  In the mouths of the Reformers it meant—back to the gospel, back to the Scriptures, and ultimately back to Christ.

Listen to two passages from Calvin’s early writings: To his preface to the translation of the Bible by Pierre-Robert Olivétan (1535) Calvin gives the characteristic title: To all those who love Christ and his gospel, and then continues: “Without the gospel everything is useless and vain; without the gospel we are not Christians; without the gospel all riches is poverty, all wisdom, folly before God; strength is weakness, and all the justice of man is under the condemnation of God. But by the knowledge of the gospel we are made children of God, brothers of Jesus Christ, fellow townsmen with the saints, citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, heirs of God with Jesus Christ, by whom the poor are made rich, the weak strong, the fools wise, the sinners justified, the desolate comforted, the doubting sure, and slaves free. The gospel is the Word of life.“  And in his reply to Cardinal Jacobus Sadoletus (1539) he emphasizes our total dependence on Jesus Christ: “As all humankind are, in the sight of God, lost sinners, we hold that Christ is their only righteousness, since by his obedience he has wiped off our transgressions, by his sacrifice appeased the divine anger, by his blood washed away our stains, by his cross borne our curse, and by his death made satisfaction for us. We maintain that in this way humans are reconciled in Christ to God the Father, by no merit of their own, by no value of works, but by gratuitous mercy.”

The reason many of us pause to look back on Reformation Sunday, is because the church in our day desperately needs revival and reformation.  There is much straying from the Scriptures.    On the one hand, many in the old main line Protestant churches have for some time denied sola Scriptura (the supreme authority of the Bible under Christ).   Evidence of this shift is becoming abundantly clear.   The Episcopal Church in America and now the Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) have allowed openly homosexual clergy and agreed to bless gay unions.

On the other hand, all is not well with Evangelicals Protestants.  For many of our so called “Bible believing churches” simple do not take the Bible seriously.  Consider the Biblical content of standard fare preaching in our churches.   And what has happened to reading the Bible in our worship services?    I suspect that there is more Scripture read in local Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches than in 90% of evangelical churches.

Reformation Day is a reminder each year to come back to the Word.  Why?  Because churches, like people, live and thrive by the Word of God.   Jesus said, “man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord”  (Matthew 4.4).  

This is a great occasion to call our churches……..back to the sources.