observing

i'm sitting here watching megan open her birthday presents from my mom and dad a few days early. i'll be gone on her birthday proper and we both feel like staying up late. you know, one of the things i really love about megan, one of the things that makes her special, is how good she is at receiving gifts. she loves to get a good gift, and my mom is really good at figuring out good gifts for her. she's easy to shop for in that regard, she's fun to shop for, because she really gets into the gifts you get her. that's one of the things i love about her.

its funny what kids get into

It sure is funny what kids are interested in. You know, my kids love all the gifts they got. They do. Esther loves the little box she got. The girls have really taken to the stuffed animals from Uncle Bob. Eli does really love his Megablok military set, especially the battleship. But the truth is, for Eli at least, probably his favorite gift would be a big roomful of cushions and a couch to turn into a mountain. Plus, maybe a couple of blankets to make into the waterfalls. Oh, and a new thing happened today - one blanket became "lava" and the other was a layer of "volcanic ash and pumice." I love my son. Its funny what kids get in to.

Anonymous Emails

As a pastor I talk a lot - sermons, stories, you name it. It is an occupational hazard that with all that talking, I'm prone to confuse, concern, even offend. Sometimes, of course, I also humor. When you add to this that my personality is prone to speak first and think later, this problem is compounded. I'd like everyone (in my church, is who I have in mind, but I suppose it would apply to anyone who reads this blog, too) to know that I am always open to talking - to answering questions, addressing concerns, even apologizing (where necessary). I really value your feedback and input. I do. I mean it.

Recently someone sent me an anonymous email where they spelled out some concerns. I appreciate them coming to me and I'd like to talk to them. But anonymous emails are very limited in what can be addressed.

I'm convinced that the best path to understanding, in keeping with Matthew 18:15 and following, is to engage in up-front dialog, preferably face to face. I know, from experience, that this can sometimes seem, even be, uncomfortable, but I've learned that it is the best way to arrive at good resolution and/or reconciliation.

So, if ever you have any questions or concerns or whatever, please do talk to me. And if you did write that anonymous email that I spoke of, know that I've heard your concerns and I would love to talk to you more in person.

New Years Party Haps

Hey! If you're looking for something to do this New Years, just wanted to let you know about a couple of opportunities some friends of mine in the ROVC are hosting. The first is a New Years' Eve party in Roseville, probably starting around 7ish. The other is a New Years' Day Bowl Games Party in Madison Heights, starting sometime in the afternoon when the bowl games kick in (there'll be two TV's on two levels going on - those who don't love football are also welcome!). If you'd like to know more about either party, drop me a line.

Irony

So I'm watching Sunday Night Football tonight and this pretty cool Gatorade commercial comes on, about clutch players and plays and all that - Peyton Manning, Dwayne Wade, etc.  Check out the website here.  besides the came work, one of the things that's interesting is the song.  it has played in several films, including the closing scene to "First Knight."  I always liked the song and so I decided to harness the power of the internet to find it.  Turns out some other guy wasting away his Sunday night had the same thought and his question to Yahoo! led me to the answer.  The song is called "Carmina Burana (O Fortunata)."  Here's the irony: this commercial promoting all these famous, big-money-making players chose as their theme music a song that is all about the fickleness of fortune and wealth, as well as the lifestyle of that usually attends it.  Check out the wiki on it.  Now that's rich.

guess what i'm reading ...

An Advanced Readers' Copy of Jesus Brand(tm) Spirituality: He Wants His Religion Back, the soon-to-be bestseller by my friend Ken Wilson. I'm excited. It is good. I hope you'll enjoy it too. That is, as soon as it comes out!

Special Offering Sunday

FYI, everyone of the ROVC, we didn't end up doing our Special Offering this past Sunday, so we will be doing so this Sunday. The money we collect will be shared with others in need around town and around the world, through our Benevolence and Missions Funds. Won't be there this Sunday, but still want to help? You can still serve. Just send a check in to the church, memo: Benevolence or Missions. Thank you for your support.

Warming Shelter

Our friends at First Baptist have a need. First Baptist Royal Oak, in partnership with First Baptist Ferndale, is hosting a Warming Shelter for the homeless from Tuesday, January 1st through Saturday, January 12th. It'll be at First Baptist Ferndale (Pinecrest & Nine Mile).

For those who might be interested, they have some openings for assistance. In particular, they need help from 5-7AM any day, to help wake up guests and prepare them for the day. They also have slots for overnight chaperones from January 6th to 12th. They could also use help in the evening from 8-11PM on the 6th, 7th, 11th and 12th.

The First Baptist Royal Oak Warming Shelter coordinator will be in our Cafe following the service on Sunday the 23rd and 30th signing up anyone interested in volunteering.

Harry Potter, Hot Coals, and Peace With Muslims

A friend of mine is listening to the Harry Potter series on CD. He commented on something he's noticed about Harry - he isn't very forgiving with his enemies. Compare Harry's attitude towards Draco Malfoy to Gandalf's posture towards Gollum.

We started talking about this in reference to the sermon I preached this last Sunday on Romans 12:17-21, "Giving Gifts to Your Enemies." I take it for granted that one of the key signs of the Kingdom of God is love for enemies. This is what Jesus did for us, isn't it? So, this Christmas, let's consider giving gifts not only to those we know and love, but also to our enemies. My text for this sermon was one that tripped me up for a long time. "If your enemy is hungry, give me food to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; and in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head." This verse confuses a lot of people. We know that it must have something to do with being kind to our enemies, but the part about the burning coals trips us up. How can heaping burning coals on someone's head ever be even remotely construed as an act of kindness? The typical commentary answer doesn't help too much - they talk about how your act of kindness will produce "burning shame" in your enemy, thus, apparently, bringing him or her around. Maybe ... but shaming someone into contrition hardly seems like an act of love, even when done with grace. I heard another explanation that fits much better and that seems to have the side benefit of connecting the proverb to an actual historical context. In the ancient world, and in many parts of the world today, each family has a fire that they keep burning all day long. At night, the fire is allowed to die down low to hot coals, but they never let it go completely out. With hot coals you can easily reignite your fire in the morning. But if the fire goes out, all that's left is ash, and when the family wakes up in the morning, they'll have to restart their fire before being able to cook or clean or anything. Having no hot coals for your fire is to be in a place of need. So imagine that your enemy, through negligence or circumstance, let's their fire go out. They come to you hungry and thirsty. Not only are you to provide them food and drink, but you give them hot coals to restart their fire (which were carried in a basket or such overhead). So, Paul is saying, we're to bless our enemies at their point of need. In doing so, we'll be demonstrating the Kingdom. This is the heart of Christmas.

Of course this has all kinds of application for our everyday lives. We all have people who frustrate us. And it is these very people that we can bless right at the point of their need - and that need is often connected to that point of frustration. (As an aside, let me mention that one important prior step is to make sure that we're not being an enemy ourselves. In my experience, the people we experience as our "enemies" are often times people to whom we may be acting as an "enemy" ourselves. To practice this is, as Jesus taught, to take the plank out of own eye before trying to help our sister remove her speck of dust.)

There's one another meaningful point of application that I can think of related to this. Many people in America have come to associate "enemy" with Muslims and Islam. You may not know it, but Islamic leaders from all around the world have extended an offer of peace to leaders throughout the Christian world. You can find a copy of their open letter here. It is over 20 pages, with roughly 15 pages of text (the rest being addressees, signatories and notes). They ground their offer of peace in three things: 1) 55% of the world's population is either Muslim or Christian and so the world will know no peace until we can be at peace; 2) their perception in a shared theology of the "unity of God;" 3) the fact that both Christianity and Islam share fundamental convictions in the two greatest commandments: to love God and love neighbor. I was very interested to learn of this letter.

I'm all for peace between Muslims and Christians. I think it would be a great gift to live in peace with our Muslim neighbors. But I disagree somewhat with the reasons why. First, I don't believe that Christians and Muslims share a similar belief in the "unity of God." The Muslim conception of the Unity of God denies the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ. There can be no Trinity in the Muslim understanding of God's unity, and so for us, as Christians, to commit to adhering to the Muslim understanding of God's unity is to seriously erode our fundamental understanding of who we know Jesus to be. Second, while I think it is wonderful that both the Bible and Koran teach love for God and love for neighbor, I think this similarity is an inadequate foundation for peace. Here's why: this understanding of peace only works for groups that hold things in common - what about Christians and Hindus, who don't share these same fundamental convictions, should we not be at peace with them? Of course we should! Here's why: because the foundation for peace doesn't come from without but from within.

As Christians, we pursue peace not because we have things in common with other people, but rather we pursue peace because of Jesus. The gospel is its own reason for peace. Peace is part of our gospel story, part of our family history. Jesus was willing to die at the hands of his enemies. Jesus died for those who despised him. Jesus died for the purpose of peace - so that enemies (mainly us and God, but also other enemies) might be reconciled.

So we can live at peace with Muslims, as much as it is possible with us, not so much because we share things in common with them, but because we share Jesus' heart and his way of life. And to do this would be to gift our neighbors with grace at their point of need.

Though the Snow Drifts Build ...

We'll still be gathering for church.  That's right, we'll still be there if you want to come.  See you then!

Five Great Alternative Christmas Gift Ideas

Hey, so let's say you're wanting to give your pastor a Christmas gift, but then you think to yourself, "Does he really need another pair of stylish Eurojeans?"  No, probably not.  So why not get a gift for someone else in his name?  The same could maybe be said for all kinds of people on your Christmas list this year.  Or why not start a new family tradition and give a gift to someone in need instead of giving a gift to each other?

Here are five great sources for finding literally hundreds of gift ideas:

1.  International Justice Mission gift list.

2.  World Relief - Advent Conspiracy Catalog of Hope. (click on catalog of hope)

3.  Food For The Hungry gift ideas.

4.  Samaritan's Purse gift catalog.

5.  World Vision gift catalog.

ROVC Advent News

A few items of note this Advent Season for all my friends at the Royal Oak Vineyard Church.

1. This coming Sunday (the 16th): as I mentioned this past Sunday, we will be taking a special offering this Sunday, in response to my sermon. This offering will be used to "contribute to the needs of the saints" through our benevolence and missions funds. I wanted to give a heads up so that you're not taken by surprise. If you'd like to give, but won't be there, you can mail a check (or drop it off on a later Sunday) made out to ROVC, memo: Benevolence or Missions. Our benevolence fund supports those with specific financial needs in and around our community, while our missions fund helps support our Kingdom ministry around the world.

2. This past Sunday: wasn't it great?! In particular, our sermon featured one of our members sharing his testimony of what happened when he committed to really giving his life as a gift to Jesus - the freedom he found and how he's now wanting to help others too. As one leader remarked to me, "This is a real turning point for our church. We're not going to be fake; we're going to take following Jesus seriously." If you'd like a copy of the sermon on CD (it is not yet up on the web), they are now available for $1. We will be doing this with future sermons, too.

3. Christmas Eve Gathering: this year we'll be celebrating the coming of Jesus with our friends from First Baptist. What a way to round out the year! The service will be 5:30-6:30PM (with childcare for 4 and under). A Christmas Cookie and Punch reception will follow - so even if you're unfortunate enough to have to work a full day that day, you can hopefully still make it. This will be a festive and family-friendly service with loads of opportunity for participation from the community.

Oh, and be on the lookout for our own Shannyn Caldwell, who tells me she's scheduled on Fox 2 News to be singing carols with her carolers this Christmas morning.

And, finally, please let me also say what a privilege it is to serve alongside you all. Truly Jesus has blessed me richly to partner in ministry with you all.

Peace, and Merry Christmas,
Jim

The Top 5 Reasons I've Let My Hair Grow Long

Everyone wonders, so here they are:
5. Megan wanted me to change my hairstyle, and she likes it.
4. I had had the same basic haircut/style for 15 of 17 years, the other two years being that my head was shaved. I mean, come on people, that's half my life! It was time for a change.
3. I have a little bit of a stubborn rebel contrarian in me that likes to defy expectations.
2. Megan wanted me to change my hairsytle and she likes it.
1. It is easy to let it grow long. This is the same #1 reason why I shaved my head. I hated having to get a hair cut every three or so weeks - too much time, too much money, too much hassle. Now I don't have to mess with that. I just put some put some "product" in my hair each morning, after washing it, and muss it up a bit, and I'm good. I only need a haircut every several months and I go to my sister for this and it is a nice time to catch up. A win-win all around!

Praise Report from SleepyLand

Well, friends, there's good news in the War on Sleeplessness. Eden, for probably the first time since she was about four months old, has "slept through the night" for four nights in a row. This last night she fought it a bit, but she did end up sleeping it out. Praise God! There is hope ahead of regular nights of sleep.

"And they shall train for war no more ... "

This past Sunday marked the first Sunday of Advent and the Christmas season. (Of course, in our culture, christmas begins the day after Thanksgiving, but that's a whole other story. If you're interested, ask me about my sermon I preached on it this week.) One of the way our church participates in the Advent season is we have a scripture reading and reflection, along with a prayer and the lighting of a candle. In this way our community joins with the larger Church in their expectant longing for the coming of Jesus to visit his people.
Our scripture reading this week was from Isaiah 2:2-5,

"In the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains and will be raised up above the hills, and all the nations will stream to it. And many peoples will come and say, 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us concerning his ways, and that we may walk in his paths.' For the law will go forth from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he will judge between the nations, and will render decisions for many peoples. And they will hammer their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and they will train for war no more. Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of the Lord."

I love this passage. And I was reminded afresh of a calling of mine as a servant of the gospel. I went to West Point. I love West Point. I grew there and was molded there, in fundamental ways, into who I am today. And at West Point I learned war. I trained for war. Yet, I serve a King (part of) whose vision for our world is one in which there is no more need to train for war. I labor and strive for this vision. I recognize that in the frailty of our times there will be an ongoing need for West Point and war. It saddens me, but I know it is true. Christians can learn from the courage of the men and women who risk all for others.

And yet, this Advent season, I'm reminded again of how part of my calling is to work for a day when West Point is put out of business. "May they train for war no more." Come, Lord Jesus.

Going to church follow-up ...

check out this great collection of photos that gets at the point I was trying to make in my earlier blog entry