by chrisaiken | Dec 26, 2015 | Pastor's Reflections, Uncategorized
Yesterday was a different kind of Christmas for my family. Since 2004, Jodi have lived away from our “families” and served churches in New York and Florida. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are obviously significant seasons for us in ministry so we generally would depart on Christmas morning and drive all day to get back to South Carolina to celebrate the season with both families in a whirlwind tour of dinners, parties and presents. Now, as our family has gotten a bit older, our sons have “both family” situations of their own, so we decided to stay in Florida to hang out with our sons and daughter (some call her a daughter-in-law…but she’s just my daughter). This change allowed us to relax a little more. It allowed us to enjoy a family meal. We simply allowed ourselves to soak in the beauty of hte experience rather than rushing to the next engagement.
So, this morning, I look around and see a Christmas tree that has no presents beneath. Our normal “home organization” has been upended with decorations and Christmas celebration. So…my first impulse is to start putting things back to normal.
Now here is the thought/reflection that prompts me to sit still for a few minutes and click away at my keyboard:
Should we really want to get “back to normal?”
Normal was what we did before celebrating the birth of Christ. Normal was what defined the “autopilot” status of our lives. Normal was comfortable…but, then Christmas came.
If you simply read through the Gospels, you quickly realize that NOTHING went back to normal once Jesus came into or through a town. He caused a stir and you could not simply “un-cause” it and get back to normal.
The blind people that he healed could not simply “un-see” again. The sick that he healed could not simply return to their infirm state as if healing had never happened. Certainly there were (and will always be) some who powered through and jumped back into routine as if nothing happened…but weren’t they changed, if even just a little bit? Why go back to normal?
Sure…you (and we) will undecorate the homes in the coming days but decorations do not define normal. Gifts will be put away and junk food will be eradicated from our homes (I hope…since the longer it is here, the more aware I am that I need to go back to the gym). Yes, we will all have to return to our workplaces soon enough, but even this doesn’t define normal.
- If time with family affected you during this week, don’t go back to normal. Remember the preciousness of family connections and nurture them.
- If you caught a glimpse of the majesty of Jesus during the week’s celebration of Him and His birth, don’t go back to normal. Cultivate it.
- If you experienced the joy of generosity through giving, don’t go back to the normal narrative of striving to acquire more for yourself.
Instead, of going back to normal…press on! Move forward into a new and exciting adventure in zealous pursuit of the King’s purpose for your life. Don’t easily give up the beauty and the glory of that which you gained in these days as your normal was redefined.
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by chrisaiken | Dec 25, 2015 | Devotions, Pastor's Reflections
As I reflect this morning, long before the rest of the home is awake, my mind is carried back to the angelic announcement of God’s declared work: “There is now peace among men (Lk 2:14).” A Savior has been born. He made a humble entrace into the world but it was not a quiet entrance. God dispatched an angel to announce the new era…an era of peace.
We are nearly 2,000 years past that incredible night. Many look about and wonder,”Where is the peace?” Don’t miss the condition attached to the peace. See, God did not work for peace. He is not laboring for peace. He declared peace to be among men with whom He is well-pleased. In this we recognize a distinction that the Bible draws specifically for us. There is no peace experienced for those with whom God is not pleased. In fact there was never a promise of it. I am mindful of all those who yesterday and today sang carols about “Joy to the world” or “Peace on Earth,” yet peace is merely an elusive ideal that they strive to create or act as if they have obtained. For them…there is no peace, only the idea of peace. BUT…God declared Peace to be among men with whom He is pleased.
Honestly, God’s peace is something we should seek but not something we must strive for. Our “seeking” is directed toward God’s PLEASURE. His pleasure is in our experiencing His redeeming of our lives by returning to Him as our God and King. Apart from Him, there is no peace and there can be no peace as long as we are at enmity with Him.
It seems to me that this Christmas would be a great time for us to seek Peace by returning to the One who declared peace to be among men with whom He is pleased. All of us have a past. We all have regrets. We all have a list of failures and a basket full of “I wish I hadn’t” statements. But just as God declared “peace among men” and changed all the world by introducing a NEW day…we can know a new day as well. Our past can rightly be placed in the past. Our regrets can be lost in the sea to be remembered no longer.
He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Micah 7:19.
Today, receive the free gift of God and experience “peace” that only heaven can bring and DID BRING…in a single instant when God declared “…and on earth, peace among men with whom He is pleased.”
Glory to God in the highest, and Merry Christmas from my family to yours.
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by chrisaiken | Dec 18, 2015 | Devotions, Pastor's Reflections
As a “Jesus” guy and a pastor, I love when people seek to honor God. I love when people pray about God’s will in a matter and embrace it. I love when people do not find the answer to their questions regarding His will easily…when they have to “wrestle” with it. (It builds character and confidence in our faith in God).
Sometimes though, because of our sin nature, we wrestle with “settled” matters. People will say to me, “I am praying about whether God wants me to share Jesus with my neighbor, go on a mission trip, or start tithing, etc. Friend…these are clearly declared in Scripture. There is no ambiguity to them. God speaks clearly from the pages of Scripture and the answer is as plain as it sounds. “[YOU] Go, and make disciples of all nations…, Matthew 28:18-20 (which necessarily includes your neighbor unless he is an alien from a galaxy far, far away).
Sometimes, these prayers for God’s will reveal themselves to be more self-serving than we make them seem. “I am praying pastor about getting a divorce.” [Insert contemplative “Hmmm” here]. “I am praying about having sex with my boyfriend.” “I am praying about whether I should forgive someone who hurt me.”
In these cases, I am not certain that what we are waiting on is God’s “revelation” to us as much as we are seeking to get God to affirm our ungodly heart’s desires. I WANT a divorce SO I am trying to find something that tells me it is ok or at least not a damning choice. I don’t want to forgive, so I am reading all of the imprecatory Psalms to find justification for not forgiving.
A couple of things I have learned in wrestling with God:
- We do not change God’s mind. God did not reveal His perfect will for us to “improve it” with our imperfect suggestions.
- We can always find one person to agree with us. Honestly, just because you found another “sin nature person” who once had your bad idea and wrote about how he thought it was ok…won’t help you before the throne of God when you plead your case.
- God’s will is not always easy. It WARS against our self-deterministic will. We want to please us…and God created us for His pleasure. These two truths are often in CONFLICT.
- God’s will is better than ours. We see a situation with limited clarity. God sees perfectly. We are pursuing a limited objective. God is working the affairs of an eternal Kingdom. And He is GOOD.
- When we trust God’s will, He fights for us. An old leadership principle is that if you want to get folks to give their heart toward a goal, make sure it is their goal. (Now I am not suggesting a form of manipulation aimed at God; however, I am saying that if we are on His agenda, He brings the arsenal of heaven to bear on bringing His will to pass).
Where, pastor, do I find God’s will? Simply stated…it is a journey of discovery but it should ALWAYS begin in His Word and be bathed in much prayer and earnest seeking. God’s will is never contrary to God’s Word.
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by chrisaiken | Dec 6, 2015 | Devotions, Pastor's Reflections, Uncategorized
Simeon took the baby, Jesus, into his arms, “and blessed God…for my eyes have seen Your Salvation, which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light of revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.” (Luke 2:28-32).
Salvation is all glorious and rightly serves as the subject of great praise toward God. Other than Easter (perhaps), there is no season where we are more “in tune” with the glory of God in His Salvation!
The Gospel is glorious! It is the revelation that God sees and knows and is merciful! He sees our offense, knows our condition, and is merciful in providing a perfect sustitute to stand in our place to absorb the wrath for our rebellion against His holy and glorious purpose. What an amazing story!
We should not think though that the Gospel is “glorified” by all who know the story. It is CONVICTING toward many because it demands that a man admit his offense toward God. The Gospel demands that a man admit his hopelessness. The Gospel demands that a man admit the very wickedness in his heart that renders him utterly and completely unfit for Holy God! We have disqualified ourselves from even approaching the throne of God. We are unfit to to even see Him!
This is too much for many to admit. They will not yield to the revelation of God and admit their unholy estate…and for them…there is no way out. For them then…the Gospel is the “burr” under the saddle of life. The Gospel is the deeply embedded splinter in their foot. The Gospel, for them, is not good news but a resounding chorus of doom.
It does not have to be that way…but if you choose…then this is the way it is and the way it will be. In the passage we read, the glory of God was a comfort because Simeon was “looking for” the consolation of His people. He was anticipating and waiting for the revelation of God’s Salvation. For others…such as Herod…the coming of the Messiah (a rival king) represented doom! This Messiah was an enemy to conquer!
Yes, we celebrate “Peace on Earth” at this time of year but there is only “peace” toward those who are faithful toward Holy God! If God is not pleased in our faithfulness toward Him…the coming of the Messiah (whether the first time in a manger or the Second time on a White Horse to establish the rule of His Kingdom) is not peaceful but dreadful! The birth of Jesus does not bring peace in this case; rather, the birth of Jesus initiates a countdown timer that we anticipate but only God sees…a countdown to the day when all stand before Him and He judges all rebellion and rules as King!
If we have not yielded to the revelation of God…the revelation declaring that we are helpless to change our hopeless estate, then we should not confuse ourselves by thinking that this is PEACE. We should immediately fall to the ground before a Holy God who came to die in our place, that we might have PEACE as it was intended with the One True God who reigns. Apart from such a response…there is no peace.
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by chrisaiken | Dec 3, 2015 | missional, Pastor's Reflections, Uncategorized
Thinking about a conversation this week with a man as I was sharing HIS Story with him. The man, we will call Bob, lives here in Pensacola for over 50 years now minus a few years away in early adulthood. As we discussed his story, he shared that he was Cathoic but doesn’t attend any more. He had married a protestant woman and they never really fit in the Catholic church again. He said that he attended a non-denom church with her a few times through the years but whenever he did, they were “bashing Catholics.”
Here is the interesting point for me…This man did not remember what these churches were FOR, only what they said they were against. He did not know the differences in doctrinal beliefs. he did not know why they held to their beliefs in the Gospel. He only knew they were against Catholics.
Here is what else is interesting…Bob was already out of the Catholic Church…but now he felt compelled to defend it. The efforts of these chruches actually pushed him closer to the Cathoic church. His position as a “Catholic” was now more galvanized.
I don’t imagine that any of the churches or their pastors intended to galvanize this man’s Catholic allegiances. I don’t suspect they wanted him to become resistent to the gospel or to withdraw from attending any church. I suspect their desires were, in fact, the opposite; however, if we focus on what we are against rather than what we are for…we should not be surprised at the unintended but anticipated outcome.
I shared truth with Bob. We discussed the similarities of the faith and had a cordial discussion. We have a little room now for future follow-up but it will be tough sledding. I pray for Bob…but I also pray for us, those with a mandate to share the Gospel (which is all of His people):
- That we would be wise stewards of opportunities to speak of our King.
- That we would be bold and kind at the same time.
- That we would share truth in love. If either is lacking, the “gospel enterprise” is deterred.
- That we would speak. Frankly Bob meets 4-5 believers a week as customers. He seemed surprised that one (me) would actually invite him to attend a church event in the coming days since he is most definitely a “Catholic,” and I am not. [I invited him to come to my Christmas Eve Service and told him I would not be offended if he did not wear a tie if he was not offended that I would not be wearing my robe :)].
- Finally, that we would repent of majoring on minors when all eternity hangs in the balance.
Your thoughts are welcomed. What would you do differently? How might you handle “Bob’s” experience?
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