O come all ye faithful

O Come, all ye faithful....We sang these words all season. Or at least tried to. I am quite certain that I could have let the song spill forth from my mouth out of rote and tradition, but I don't believe in singing words that are not true of me, so I really had to soul search before I could sing these words. I really struggled with them. I am not sure I can be labeled faithful...so do I get to come? But now, I have come to the conclusion that they are words that should be our New Year's resolution.
I started with the word "come". It is an action word. It doesn't mean sit or watch. It is participatory. So the faithful have to participate by coming. Once I got that coming meant I had to DO something, I decided I needed to know what I needed to do. So, I got out my study tools and dug into the Word to discover what God wanted me to COME and DO. As I dug around in the word "come", I uncovered an amazing truth. The word for "come" and the word for "follow" are the same. In fact, when Jesus called His disciples to "follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." (Matt 4), it was the same word that He used when He said "come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest." (Matt 11) The Word to "come" means to follow. Both are imperative commands that mean without hesitation, with urgency, without delay. To come to Jesus....means to follow Jesus....and not in a casual sense of following or coming, but with an urgent imperative that means come now or not at all. He told His disciples Follow me and they IMMEDIATELY dropped everything. They understood that the call to come was the call to follow and there was to be no delay. It is why Jesus told them to let the dead bury the dead and that they could not even say goodbye to their families. Because the call to come to Jesus is a call to follow Jesus immediately with no excuses, delays, if's, and's or but's.
Cool information, but why should this be our New Year's resolution?
First of all, it is time what we realize that coming to Jesus is an ACTION word. We must recognize that the action we must take is to FOLLOW JESUS. Simple church is nothing more than that. Making disciples that follow Him. Not half hearted, casual, delayed, hesitant, don't make me run, I am comfortable where I am kind of followers. That was not the call at all. But coming to Jesus, following Him and saying whatever HE says, we will do, no matter what kind of followers. It is focusing on our PURPOSE-to be a church that makes disciples by focusing on families. To equip the saints and make disciples not by programming, but because life is being poured onto life, by intentional relationships, creating relevant environments, meeting the needs of people; by showing the Word, sharing the Word, teaching the Word and serving the Word/World.
I'm not interested in coming to church. I want to follow at church. I don't want to come together. I want to follow together. I long not for a come to Jesus meeting, but a following of Jesus gathering. What if this year, we didn't just come to church, but we began to follow as the church? What if this year, we could sing the song....not out of rote or tradition, but with words that are true of my feet, that sounded like; "O follow, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant...O follow and adore Him....Follow and adore Him."
Now, there is a song, I long to sing-together. And a resolution for the New Year. Let's not just come to church...but let's follow as the church.
ALL FOR YOU

grown up christmas list

I sat down for a few minutes of down time this afternoon...flipped on the TV and Oprah was on. It was her FAVORITE THINGS show. I know very little about Oprah, however, it seems she must do a show every year where she shares her favorite things and then gives everyone in the audience the things she likes. For an hour, she displays unique item after unique item, from mixing bowls and board games to LG refrigerators, mixers and and UGs (some sort of shoe). I watched as the audience screamed and yelled, hollered and wept, stood speechless and jumped with excitement over the favorite things of Oprah, as she lavished on them her favorites, giving without measure and sharing what she loves.
But, somehow, I found myself a little sad. Not because I wasn't getting her favorite things, but because I wondered how many would rejoice if I gave them my favorite thing. This Christmas it has been my heart to lavish Jesus on people. Not just to talk about Him, show Him, share Him, teach others about Him, but to honestly be able to give them Jesus.... I know this sounds trite, but HE IS my favorite...and there is nothing I would rather do than give Him to the people in my world.
Although, I am still working on what that looks like, the thought that crossed my mind was how many would get as excited about my favorite thing as they did about Oprah's? How many would jump up and down, rejoice, scream, holler, yell, cry or stand speechless because Jesus was lavished on them? I kind of think it would look more like people saying...I have enough of that, I would rather have a refrigerator.
What if all we got this Christmas....was more of Jesus? Would our hearts rejoice on Christmas morning? Would we scream and tell the world about the gift we received? Jesus is received through life on life relationships. He lives IN US and through us...we give Jesus through building relationships with others and reflecting His goodness on them. And so, while I am thrilled that the Oprah show audience was blessed with things....I am a little sad because I think we would quickly rejoice over things and casually accept the gift of Jesus.
A few of my favorite things:
Time spent with family and friends.
A cup of coffee, so that we can linger over the moment.
Pouring over the Word of God.
Late night conversations.
Intimate pictures of His grace in our lives.
Sanctuary with Jesus.
Praying with others who have like minds.
Church in my living room.
Singing around the piano, song of praise.

Ok....so maybe I sound a little sappy....but these are the things I would lavish on you if I could...for they are a few of my favorite things. Merry Christmas...
ALL FOR YOU

tomorrow is not promised

I awoke this morning to a phone call saying that one of the most precious people in my life was in a car accident. Not a good way to start your day. My only peace in those first few moments was knowing that the last words we had spoken had been about the Kingdom and a love shared for one another.
Because of God's grace and a HEDGE of protection, she is fine. But today has been full of thought for me. Beginning with Tomorrow not being promised and ending with let's not WASTE a minute. Sure, life is not promised tomorrow. And that has been pressed in on us today. But I have also been reminded of the grace and provision of people in our lives. We take so much for granted, leave so much unsaid, assume much is given and known. We waste our words and so much time. I am so grateful for second chances, intentional relationships and the promise of journey. I am overwhelmed by the gift of LIFE in people.
The journey that lies ahead is full of ups and downs, but mostly is about the together. And today, I am thankful for another day together and don't want to waste it....but instead to lavish life on PEOPLE. Life IS about Intentional relationships. It is about being intentional with our walk with Christ and with those we walk with. It is about the WHO...not the what or the where. So, my life for theirs...live together or die alone and never forget to take time for PEOPLE. Those people that God has blessed you with... lavish life on them TODAY...for tomorrow is not promised.
ALL FOR YOU