Skip to main content

Guts!

When is the last time that you sang several Christmas carols in front of your own house at the top of your lungs? If you are like me you might answer, "NEVER!" Would that be embarrassing or what? We talk a lot about getting the Gospel out and yet to think about doing something so simple as singing Christmas carols makes us shrink with terror.


Just yesterday the kids who will be singing in our Kids Cantata on Saturday at the resthome had an "in neighborhood" practice. The houses in the neighborhood are tiny and there were 20 kids so the practice was held in Michelle's garage. To help the little ones get over their embarrassment Alexandre told me that he was going to have them sing in FRONT of Michelle's house. After about a half an hour of practice he announced his plan. There was a scream of the above mentioned terror. But, out they went. They sang the whole Cantata with narration for the surrounding neighbors. Their singing would sound like shouting to many of you because their little voices have not been fine tuned. But the message was clear and the neighborhood was touched.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Caught up to Paradise - 2 Corinthians 12

Residing in Michigan for over half my life, I had heard about Paradise. Because Paradise is a small town in the Upper Peninsula, you may have never visited there in your life, but you knew it existed. It was WAY up there next to Tahquamenon Falls and nothing else. Where's Tahquamenon Falls? Next to Paradise and nothing else. It's a long way from home.  Why all of the talk about Paradise? Because Paul talks about it in 2 Corinthians 12. There was this guy who had been caught up to Paradise. Not in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, but into the REAL Paradise. While there, he'd heard things that he was unable to repeat. What on earth was this? Who was this guy? Here's what was going on. Paul defended his position of Apostleship in chapter eleven and gave the Corinthians an idea of what Apostleship looked like in chapter twelve. It came with great wonders, like seeing or instead hearing unimaginable things. But, too, that position came with a terrible cost. God gave Paul a &q

What to get God for Christmas

Jesus left perfect surroundings, relationships and glory to be born into squalor. He was homeless before birth. His father was a carpenter in a culture where carpentry was a despised trade. His, mother though young and giving birth to her firstborn, had no attendant nurses, helpers or friends. Rather than a pristine hospital, birth was given in the filthy stench of a stable. Romantic? Hardly. This sacrifice brought a life of hardship. Why? Why this odd story? Obedience. God's gift to humanity was His son. Jesus' gift was obedience to the Father. He paid the greatest price. Not because we are special but because he loves His Father. His gift was the perfect gift. Our Father wants obedience for Christmas and every other day for that matter. In Brazil Christmas is becoming commercialized. A phenomenon familiar for years in the United States tickles a growing economy. There is little time for meditation on God's Gift. There are no chestnuts roasting or Jack Frost nippin

Stop Trusting

Isaiah 2:22 says Isaiah 2:22 Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of? The Prophet is saying that we shouldn't put our trust in humankind because they are so finite. They are not like God, who is infinite. People are fickle. They change their minds. They love you and then hate you in moments.  God invites us to trust him completely with everything that we have. He doesn't show himself to us physically or as a spirit. He demands that we have faith. However, he also gives us the faith to trust him.  The universe shouts "Creator!" and yet we often ignore the proclamation. This ignorance does not make God's creation any less a physical demonstration of his grandeur. God's boundless being becomes more amazing in his presence within us. How can the infinite God dwell in the mortals he commands us not to trust?  Jesus said, "with man it is impossible but with God, all things are possible."